2019-12538. 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, or modifications.

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:

Jennifer Skidmore (Permit Nos. 22387 and 22311), Erin Markin (Permit No. 20315-01), Courtney Smith (Permit No. 20648), Shasta McClenahan (Permit No. 21938), Carrie Hubard (Permit No. 22479), and Sara Young (Permit No. 19108-04); 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
19108-04	0648-D953	Daniel P. Costa, Ph.D., University of California at Santa Cruz, Long Marine Laboratory, 100 Shaffer Road, Santa Cruz, CA 95064	84 FR 13638; April 5, 2019	May 9, 2019.
20315-01	0648-XF215	Kristen Hart, Ph.D., U.S. Geological Survey, 3205 College Avenue, Davie, FL 33314	84 FR 2172; February 6, 2019	May 13, 2019.
20648	0648-XG360	Heidi Pearson, Ph.D., University of Alaska Southeast, 11066 Auke Lake Way, AND1, Juneau, AK 99801	83 FR 49548; October 2, 2018	May 20, 2019.
21938	0648-XG344	NMFS Southeast Fisheries Science Center, 75 Virginia Beach Drive, Miami, FL 33149 (Responsible Party: Theophilus Brainerd, Ph.D.)	83 FR 40755; August 16, 2018	May 21, 2019.
22311	0648-XG875	David Johnston, Ph.D., Duke University, Marine Science and Conservation, 135 Duke Marine Lab Road, Beaufort, NC 28516	84 FR 10045; March 19, 2019	May 14, 2019.
22387	0648-XG878	Benjamin Hubert, Ph.D., New York Genome Center, 101 Avenue of the Americas, New York City, NY 10013	84 FR 9761; March 18, 2019	May 2, 2019.
22479	0648-XG906	Jose Pablo Vazquez-Medina, Ph.D., University of California Berkley, Department of Integrative Biology, 3040 Valley Life Sciences Building, No. 3140, Berkley, CA 94720	84 FR 13006; April 3, 2019	May 20, 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: June 10, 2019.

Julia Marie Harrison,

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