2019-21999. Marine Mammals and Endangered Species

AGENCY:

National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION:

Notice; issuance of permits and permit amendments.

SUMMARY:

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

ADDRESSES:

The permits and related documents are available for review upon written request or by appointment in the Permits and Conservation Division, Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Room 13705, Silver Spring, MD 20910; phone: [phone]; fax: [phone].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Sara Young (Permit No. 21006-01), Amy Hapeman (Permit No. 21163), and Erin Markin (Permit Nos. 22822, 22988, and 22991), Shasta McClenahan (Permit No. 22884); at [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Notices were published in the Federal Register on the dates listed below that requests for a permit or permit amendment had been submitted by the below-named applicants. To locate the Federal Register notice that announced our receipt of the application and a complete description of the research, go to www.federalregister.gov and search on the permit number provided in the table below.

Permit No.	RIN	Applicant	Previous Federal Register notice	Permit or amendment issuance date
21006-01	0648-XF530	Linnea Pearson, California Polytechnic State University, 1 Grand Ave, San Luis Obispo, CA 93407	84 FR 31306; July 1, 2019	September 12, 2019.
21163	0648-XR004	Marine Ecology and Telemetry Research, 2468 Camp McKenzie Trl NW, Seabeck WA 98380 (Responsible Party: Greg Schorr)	84 FR 30093; June 26, 2019	September 23, 2019.
22822	0648-XR019	Pamela Plotkin, Ph.D., Texas A&M University, 797 Lamar Street, 4115 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843	84 FR 33239; July 12, 2019	September 26, 2019.
22884	0648-XR022	Mark Baumgartner, Ph.D., Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, MS No. 33, Biology Department, Woods Hole, MA 02543	84 FR 43793; August 22, 2019	September 26, 2019.
22988	0648-XR019	Lawrence Wood, Ph.D., LDWood BioConsulting, Inc., 425 Kennedy Street, Jupiter, FL 33468	84 FR 33239; July 12, 2019	September 26, 2019.
22991	0648-XR019	NMFS Pacific Islands Regional Office 1845 Wasp Boulevard, Building 176, Honolulu, HI 96818 (Responsible Party: Michael Tosatto)	84 FR 33239; July 12, 2019	September 26, 2019.

In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), a final determination has been made that the activities proposed are categorically excluded from the requirement to prepare an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement.

As required by the ESA, as applicable, issuance of these permit was based on a finding that such permits: (1) Were applied for in good faith; (2) will not operate to the disadvantage of such endangered species; and (3) are consistent with the purposes and policies set forth in Section 2 of the ESA.

Authority: The requested permits have been issued under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.), the regulations governing the taking and importing of marine mammals (50 CFR part 216), the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), and the regulations governing the taking, importing, and exporting of endangered and threatened species (50 CFR parts 222-226), as applicable.

Dated: October 3, 2019.

Julia Marie Harrison,

Chief, Permits and Conservation Division, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.