National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of Commerce, in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), invites the general public and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed, and continuing information collections, which helps us assess the impact of our information collection requirements and minimize the public's reporting burden. The purpose of this notice is to allow for 60 days of public comment preceding submission of the collection to OMB.

In accordance with the regulations implementing the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) as amended, notification is hereby given that NMFS has issued an IHA to the United States Department of the Navy (Navy) to incidentally harass marine mammals during pile driving activities associated with the replacement of Pier 3 at Naval Station Norfolk, in Norfolk, Virginia.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council's (Pacific Council) Ad Hoc Marine Planning Committee (MPC) will hold a public meeting.

In accordance with the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA), the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and a Consent Decree with BP Exploration & Production Inc. (BP), the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) Federal natural resource trustee agencies for the Louisiana Trustee Implementation Group (Louisiana TIG) have prepared a Draft Restoration Plan/Environmental Assessment #8: Wetlands, Coastal, and Nearshore Habitats (RP/EA #8). The Draft RP/EA #8 describes and proposes restoration project alternatives considered by the Louisiana TIG to partially restore natural resources and ecological services injured or lost as a result of the DWH oil spill. The Louisiana TIG evaluated these alternatives under criteria set forth in the OPA natural resource damage assessment (NRDA) regulations, and evaluated the environmental consequences of the restoration alternatives in accordance with NEPA. The purpose of this notice is to inform the public of the availability of the Draft RP/EA #8 and to seek public comments on the document.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) have received separate incidental take permit (ITP) applications from the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF), associated with the Western Oregon State Forests habitat conservation plan (HCP). The HCP has been submitted pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA). In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA), NMFS announces the availability of a draft environmental impact statement (Draft EIS). NMFS is the lead Federal agency under NEPA, and FWS is a cooperating agency. The Draft EIS analyzes the potential effects of issuance of the ITPs and approval of the HCP. If granted, the ITPs would authorize incidental take of the covered species resulting from the covered activities (see SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION), as well as take resulting from activities carried out as part of the HCP's conservation strategy.

NMFS is issuing an experimental fishing permit (EFP) to the Hawaii Longline Association (HLA) to evaluate the risk of seabird interactions in the Hawaii shallow-set longline fishery when setting fishing gear one hour before and one hour after local sunset and using tori lines instead of required blue-dyed bait and strategic offal discharge as seabird mitigation measures. The intent of the EFP is to conduct a preliminary evaluation of potential alternative effective methods of discouraging seabird interactions while providing operational flexibility during setting in the shallow-set longline fishery.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific cod by catcher/processors using pot gear in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the A season apportionment of the 2022 Pacific cod total allowable catch (TAC) allocated to catcher/processors using pot gear in the BSAI.

NMFS publishes for public review and comment information regarding a permit application for transshipment of farmed salmon from aquaculture operations in Maine waters to processing plants in Canada by Canadian flagged vessels. NMFS approved permits in January 2022 for four vessels for the entity requesting the permit, True North Salmon Limited Partnership and 697002 NB, Inc. The recent application is for one additional vessel to perform the same functions as the four previously permitted vessels. The application for a transshipment permit is submitted under provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). This action is necessary for NMFS to make a determination that the permit application can be approved.

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold public meetings of the Council.

NMFS has received a request from Ocean Wind, LLC (Ocean Wind) for authorization to take marine mammals incidental to marine site characterization surveys in the area of Commercial Lease of Submerged Lands for Renewable Energy Development on the Outer Continental Shelf Lease Area OCS-A 0532 and potential export cable routes to landfall locations in New Jersey. Pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is requesting comments on its proposal to issue an incidental harassment authorization (IHA) to incidentally take marine mammals during the specified activities. NMFS is also requesting comments on a possible one-year renewal that could be issued under certain circumstances and if all requirements are met, as described in Request for Public Comments at the end of this notice. NMFS will consider public comments prior to making any final decision on the issuance of the requested MMPA authorizations and agency responses will be summarized in the final notice of our decision.

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Joint Ecosystem-Based Fishery Management Committee and Plan Development Team (PDT) consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Recommendations from this group will be brought to the full Council for formal consideration and action, if appropriate.

The New England Fishery Management Council's is convening its Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) via webinar to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Recommendations from this group will be brought to the full Council for formal consideration and action, if appropriate.

The SEDAR 74 assessment of Gulf of Mexico red snapper will consist of a Data workshop, a series of assessment webinars, and a Review workshop. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council will hold a meeting of its Law Enforcement Technical Committee (LETC).

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold a four-day meeting to consider actions affecting the Gulf of Mexico fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). This is a hybrid meeting open to the public offering both in-person and virtual options for participation.

Notice is hereby given that permits have been issued to the following entities under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and the Endangered Species Act (ESA), as applicable.

The Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, Greater Atlantic Region, NMFS, has made a preliminary determination that an Exempted Fishing Permit application contains all of the required information and warrants further consideration. The Exempted Fishing Permit would allow commercial fishing vessels to fish outside fishery regulations in support of research conducted by the applicant. Regulations under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act require publication of this notification to provide interested parties the opportunity to comment on applications for proposed Exempted Fishing Permits.

On January 21, 2022, NOAA published a notice in the Federal Register requesting written and oral comments to facilitate ONMS' five- year review of the nomination for the Mariana Trench National Marine Sanctuary (NMS) at the five-year interval. In that notice, NOAA requested relevant information as it pertains to its 11 evaluation criteria for inclusion in the inventory. During the public comment period, NOAA received requests for an extension to the comment period. This notice reopens the public comment period by an additional 45 days.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) Ecosystem Committee will meet March 29, 2022 through March 30, 2022.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council)'s Enforcement Committee will hold a webconference March 29, 2022.

Combined in a single document, the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) Fishery Management Council (Gulf Council) has submitted Amendment 48 to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Reef Fish Resources of the Gulf of Mexico and Amendment 5 to the FMP for the Red Drum Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico (Amendments 48/5) for review, approval, and implementation by NMFS. Amendments 48/5 would establish or modify maximum sustainable yield (MSY) proxies, maximum fishing mortality thresholds (MFMTs), minimum stock size thresholds (MSSTs), and optimum yield (OY) for stocks in the Reef Fish and Red Drum FMPs. The need for this action is to have biological reference points that can be used for determining status of the stocks or stock complexes consistent with the requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act).

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council will hold a one day in-person and virtual meeting (hybrid) of its Shrimp Advisory Panel (AP).

NMFS will convene the Research Track Assessment Peer Review Meeting for the purpose of reviewing northern shortfin squid and butterfish stocks. The Research Track Assessment Peer Review is a formal scientific peer-review process for evaluating and presenting stock assessment results to managers for fish stocks in the offshore U.S. waters of the northwest Atlantic. Assessments are prepared by the research track working group and reviewed by an independent panel of stock assessment experts from the Center of Independent Experts (CIE). The public is invited to attend the presentations and discussions between the review panel and the scientists who have participated in the stock assessment process.