2020-12662. 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 modifications.

SUMMARY:

Notice is hereby given that permits and permit modifications 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:

Amy Hapeman (Permit Nos. 22156 and 23203), Shasta McClenahan (Nos. 21418 and 23220), and Erin Markin (Nos. 20528-02 and 23807); 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 Table 1 below.

Table 1—Issued Permits and Permit Modifications

Permit No.	RTID	Applicant	Previous Federal Register Notice	Permit or Amendment Issuance Date
20528-02	0648-XR109	South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, 217 Fort Johnson Road, Charleston, SC 29412 (Responsible Party: Bill Post)	85 FR 20678; April 14, 2020	May 28, 2020.
21418	0648-XA096	NMFS Alaska Fisheries Science Center's Marine Mammal Laboratory, 7600 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115-6349 (Responsible Party: John Bengtson, Ph.D.)	85 FR 17540; March 30, 2020	May 11, 2020.
22156	0648-XR002	Douglas Nowacek, Ph.D., Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University Marine Laboratory, 135 Duke Marine Lab Rd, Beaufort, NC 28516	84 FR 70501; December 23, 2019	May 8, 2020.
23203	0648-XR093	Environmental Institute of Houston at the University of Houston, Clear Lake, 2700 Bay Area Blvd, Box 540, Houston, TX 77508-1002 (Responsible Party: George Guillen)	85 FR 8572; February 14, 2020	May 27, 2020.
23220	0648-XR037	Andrew Trites, Ph.D., University of British Columbia, Room 247, Aquatic Ecosystems Research Laboratory, 2202 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC	85 FR 7296; February 7, 2020	May 13, 2020.
23807	0648-XR107	Plimsoll Productions Limited, 51-55 Whiteladies Road, Bristol, BS8 2LY, United Kingdom (Responsible Party: Anuschka Schofield)	85 FR 17867; March 31, 2020	May 14, 2020.

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.

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: June 8, 2020.

Julia Marie Harrison,

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