[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 246 (Tuesday, December 23, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67052-67053]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-33474]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[I.D. 121797C]
Marine Mammals; Scientific Research Permit No. 875-1401
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Receipt of application for amendment.
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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that Dr. Christopher W. Clark, Cornell
University, Ithaca, New York 14850, has requested an amendment to
permit No. 875-1401.
DATES: Written comments must be received on or before January 22, 1998.
ADDRESSES: The application for amendment and related documents,
including a draft environmental assessment (EA) that examines the
environmental consequences of issuing the requested amended permit, are
available for review upon written request or by appointment in the
following offices:
Permits Division, Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, 1315 East-
West Highway, Room 13705, Silver Spring, MD 20910 (301/713-2289); and
Regional Administrator, Southwest Region, 501 West Ocean Boulevard,
Suite 4200, Long Beach, CA 90802-4213 (562/980-4001).
Written data or views, or requests for a public hearing on this
request, should be submitted to the Director, Office of Protected
Resources, NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Room 13705, Silver Spring, MD
20910. Those individuals requesting a hearing should set forth the
specific reasons why a hearing on this application would be
appropriate.
Concurrent with the publication of this notice in the Federal
Register, NMFS is forwarding copies of this application for amendment
to the Marine Mammal Commission and its Committee of Scientific
Advisors.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The subject amendment to permit No. 875-1401
is requested under the authority of 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 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.),
and the regulations governing the taking, importing, and exporting of
endangered fish and wildlife (50 CFR part 222.23).
[[Page 67053]]
Permit No. 875-1401 currently authorizes the harassment of several
species of marine mammals during the conduct of research to study the
effects of low-frequency sound produced by the Navy's Surface Towed
Array Surveillance System Low Frequency Active (SURTASS LFA) system on
the behavior of blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus) and fin whales
(Balaenoptera physalus) feeding in the Southern California Bight during
September/October of 1997 and/or 1998. An amendment to the Permit to
conduct playback experiments on gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus)
migrating along the central California coast during January 1998 is in
final review.
Dr. Clark is now requesting that the Permit be amended to provide
for the conduct of playback experiments using the SURTASS LFA sound
source to study behavioral responses of breeding and nursing humpback
whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) and foraging sperm whales (Physeter
macrocephalus) in Hawaii during February-April of 1998. Individuals of
several other cetacean, pinniped, and sea turtle species may be taken
(i.e., by harassment or auditory temporary threshold shift) during the
proposed experiments.
In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969
(42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), a draft EA examining the environmental
consequences of issuing the requested amended permit has been prepared.
Based upon this draft EA, NMFS has preliminarily concluded that
issuance of the requested permit will not have a significant effect on
the human environment.
Dated: December 18, 1997.
Ann D. Terbush,
Chief, Permits and Documentation Division, Office of Protected
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 97-33474 Filed 12-22-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F
