[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 190 (Friday, October 1, 1999)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 53305-53307]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-25573]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 679
[I.D. 092799E]
Groundfish Fisheries of the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea/
Aleutian Islands Area
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of intent; scoping meetings; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: NMFS announces its intention to prepare a programmatic
supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) on Federal
groundfish fishery management in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)
waters off Alaska. The scope of the analysis will include all
activities addressing the conduct of groundfish fisheries authorized
and managed under two of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council's
fishery management plans (FMPs): Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska
(GOA), and amendments thereto; and Groundfish Fishery of the Bering Sea
and Aleutian Islands Area (BSAI), and amendments thereto.
NMFS will hold scoping meetings to receive public input on the
structure of the alternatives and the range of issues to be covered in
the programmatic SEIS. NMFS is accepting written comments on the same
topics.
DATES: Written comments will be accepted through November 15, 1999 (see
ADDRESSES). See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION, Public Involvement for
meeting dates.
ADDRESSES: Written comments and requests to be included on a mailing
list of persons interested in the programmatic SEIS should be sent to
Lori Gravel, Sustainable Fisheries Division, National Marine Fisheries
Service, P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802. Comments may also be hand-
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delivered to Room 457-1 Federal Office Building, 907 West
9th Street, Juneau, AK. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION,
Public Involvement for meeting locations.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Steve Davis, NMFS, (907) 271-3523.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act, the United States has exclusive
fishery management authority over all living marine resources found
within the EEZ, except marine mammals and birds. The management of
these marine resources is vested in the Secretary of Commerce
(Secretary). Eight Regional Fishery Management Councils prepare FMPs
for approval and implementation by the Secretary. The North Pacific
Fishery Management Council has the responsibility to prepare FMPs for
the fishery resources that require conservation and management in the
EEZ off Alaska. The North Pacific Fishery Management Council consists
of Federal and state officials having authority for fishery management,
and of private persons nominated by the governors of the States of
Alaska, Oregon, and Washington, and appointed by the Secretary.
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires preparation
of environmental impact statements (EISs) for major Federal actions
significantly impacting the quality of the human environment. 40 CFR
1502.9(c) states: ``Agencies shall prepare supplements to either draft
or final environmental impact statements if: (i) The agency makes
substantial changes in the proposed action that are relevant to
environmental concerns; or (ii) There are significant new circumstances
or information relevant to environmental concerns and bearing on the
proposed action or its impacts.''
The Council prepared, and the Secretary approved, the Fishery
Management Plan for Gulf of Alaska Groundfish in 1978 and the Fishery
Management Plan for Groundfish Fishery of the Bering Sea and Aleutian
Islands Area in 1981. EISs were prepared for those FMPs and were filed
in 1978 and 1981, respectively. Both FMPs have been amended numerous
times. NEPA environmental documents (categorical exclusion,
environmental assessments, or EISs) have been prepared for each FMP
amendment and regulatory amendment. Additionally, NMFS prepared and
issued an SEIS for the groundfish fisheries authorized under both FMPs
in December 1998. In July 1999, the U.S. District Court, Western
District of Washington at Seattle (NO. C98-0492Z) ruled in Greenpeace
v. NMFS that the 1998 SEIS was legally inadequate, and remanded the
document to NMFS for further action consistent with the requirements of
NEPA.
In this document, NMFS announces its intent to prepare a
programmatic SEIS that defines the Federal action under review as,
among other things, all activities authorized and managed under the
FMPs and all amendments thereto, and that addresses the conduct of the
GOA and BSAI groundfish fisheries and the FMPs as a whole. NMFS will
present in the SEIS an overview and an assessment of all impacts
(including environmental, biological, and socio-economic) that result
from directed and incidental groundfish harvest regulations affecting
amount of harvest, location of harvest, time of harvest, method of
harvest, distribution of harvest among fishermen, use of the harvest,
and methods used to monitor harvest and the fisheries. Also, NMFS will
identify and evaluate the significant changes that have occurred in the
GOA and BSAI groundfish fisheries, including significant cumulative
effects of environmental and management changes in the groundfish
fisheries since the issuance of the 1978 and 1981 EISs. Further, NMFS
will also analyze the impacts (including environmental, biological and
socio-economic) resulting from the current fishery management regime,
and reasonable alternatives to the current management regime. The
Responsible Program Manager for this SEIS is Steven Pennoyer, Alaska
Regional Administrator, NMFS.
Alternatives
The SEIS will consider a range of alternative harvest management
regimes, incorporating variations on various elements of the FMPs. It
will not consider detailed alternatives for every aspect of the FMPs. A
principal objective, therefore, of the scoping and public input
processes is to identify a reasonable set of programmatic management
alternatives that, with adequate analysis, will sharply define critical
issues and provide a clear basis for choice among the alternatives.
Management of the GOA and the BSAI groundfish fisheries pursuant to
the FMPs involves decision making that can result in changes to the
harvest management strategy. Accordingly, in the programmatic SEIS,
NMFS will consider a full range of management alternatives, including
the No Action alternative (i.e., the management regime currently in
place would continue to apply), and evaluate their potential
environmental impacts (including biological and socio-economic).
Through this scoping process, NMFS requests public input on the
management alternatives that should be considered in this programmatic
SEIS. Prior to the scoping meetings, NMFS will publish in the Federal
Register draft alternatives to be developed further at the public
scoping meetings and in the programmatic SEIS.
Issues
The environmental consequences section of the EIS will display the
impacts of groundfish harvest accruing with present management
regulations and under a range of representative alternative management
regulations on North Pacific and Bering Sea ecosystem issues. These
issues include: (1) Marine habitat, (2) major species of fish, (3)
major species and groups of invertebrates, (4) marine mammals, (5)
seabirds, and (6) cumulative and synergistic impacts on species across
the foodweb. In addition, the environmental consequences section will
contain summary, interpretation, and predictions for socio-economic
issues associated with conduct of those fisheries on the following
groups of individuals: (1) Those who participate in harvesting the
groundfish resources and other living marine resources, (2) those who
process and market the fish and fishery products, (3) those who are
involved in allied support industries, (4) those who consume fishery
products, (5) those who rely on living marine resources in the
management area either for subsistence needs or for recreational
benefits, (6) those who benefit from non-consumptive uses of living
marine resources, (7) those involved in managing and monitoring
fisheries, and (8) fishing communities.
Consultations
Pursuant to section 7(a)(2) of the Endangered Species Act (ESA),
consultations for listed species and critical habitat affected by these
fisheries have been or will be initiated and will be prepared in
parallel with development of the programmatic SEIS. These consultations
will be conducted in accordance with the ESA and implementing
regulations, 50 CFR 402 et seq., and will analyze the individual and
cumulative impacts of activities relating to the groundfish fisheries
authorized and managed under the FMPs, and amendments thereto, to
determine whether the cumulative impacts of the groundfish fisheries
are likely to jeopardize the continued existence of listed species,
including Steller sea lions, or adversely modify
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critical habitat. Results from these consultations will be incorporated
into the SEIS to the maximum extent practicable. The schedule for
completion of consultation will correspond generally to the schedule
for the issuance of the programmatic SEIS as the information,
evaluations, and conclusions that are required for both documents will
be similar in many respects.
Public Involvement
Scoping for the programmatic SEIS begins with publication of this
notice. An informational presentation of the project will be made
during the Council's October meeting (Seattle, WA, Seattle Airport,
Doubletree Hotel, October 10 through 18, 1999.) Subsequent scoping
meetings will be held in Anchorage, Juneau, Kodiak, and Seattle at the
following times and locations:
1. Juneau--November 8, 1999, 1-3 p.m., Juneau Federal Building,
Room 445, 709 West 9th Street, Juneau, AK.
2. Anchorage--November 9, 1999, 1-3 p.m., Anchorage Federal
Building, Room 135, 222 West Seventh Avenue, Anchorage, AK.
3. Kodiak--November 10, 1999, 1-3 p.m., Kodiak Inn, 236 West
Rezanof Drive, Kodiak, AK.
4. Seattle-November 12, 1-3 p.m., Alaska Fisheries Science Center,
7600 Sand Point Way NE, Building 4, Room 2039, Seattle, WA.
Special Accommodations
Theses meetings are physically accessible to people with
disabilities, Reqests for sign language interpretation or other
auxiliary aids should be directed to Rebecca Campbell (907) 586-7228 at
least 5 days before the meeting dates.
Dated: September 27, 1999.
Bruce C. Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 99-25573 Filed 9-30-99; 8:45 am]
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