2021-11488. Endangered Species; Marine Mammals; Issuance of Permits

AGENCY:

Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice of issuance of permits.

SUMMARY:

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), have issued the following permits to conduct certain activities with endangered species, marine mammals, or both. We issue these permits under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA).

ADDRESSES:

Information about the applications for the permits listed in this notice is available online at www.regulations.gov. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for details.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Timothy MacDonald, by phone at 703-358-2185, via email at [e-mail], or via the Federal Relay Service at 800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), have issued permits to conduct certain activities with endangered and threatened species in response to permit applications that we received under the authority of section 10(a)(1)(A) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.)

After considering the information submitted with each permit application and the public comments received, we issued the requested permits subject to certain conditions set forth in each permit. For each application for an endangered species, we found that (1) the application was filed in good faith, (2) the granted permit would not operate to the disadvantage of the endangered species, and (3) the granted permit would be consistent with the purposes and policy set forth in section 2 of the ESA.

Availability of Documents

The permittees' original permit application materials, along with public comments we received during public comment periods for the applications, are available for review. To locate the application materials and received comments, go to www.regulations.gov and search for the appropriate permit number (e.g., 12345C) provided in the following table:

Permit No.	ePermit No.	Applicant	Permit issuance date
Endangered Species
56547D		Institute for the Conservation of Tropical Environments	January 12, 2021.
56679D		Tufts University	March 3, 2021.
71918D		Saint Louis Zoo	March 5, 2021.
Marine Mammals
672624		U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)	December 7, 2020.
73634A		Seward Association for the Advancement of Marine Science dba Alaska Sealife Center	December 8, 2020.

Authorities

We issue this notice under the authority of the Endangered Species Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), and the Marine Mammal Protection Act as amended (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) and their implementing regulations.

Timothy MacDonald,

Information Specialist, Branch of Permits, Division of Management Authority.