[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 37 (Friday, February 24, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 10312-10313]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-4534]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

15 CFR Part 943

[Docket 950207042-5042-01]
RIN 0648-AB49


Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary Regulations

agency: Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM), 
National Ocean Service (NOS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce (DOC).

action: Final rule.

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summary: This document adopts as final regulations without change the 
interim final portion of regulations implementing the designation of 
the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, published on 
December 5, 1991 (56 FR 63634).

effective date: March 27, 1995.

for further information contact: Edward Lindelof, Gulf and Caribbean 
Regional Manager, Sanctuaries and Reserves Division, Office of Ocean 
and Coastal Resource Management, National Ocean Service, National 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 1305 East West Highway, SSMC-4, 
Silver Spring, MD 20910 (301/713-3137).

supplementary information: Section 101 of P.L. 102-251, signed into law 
on March 9, 1992, provides that the designation of the Flower Garden 
Banks National Marine Sanctuary took effect on January 17, 1992. Both 
final and interim final regulations implementing the designation were 
published on December 5, 1991 (56 FR 63634); NOAA invited comments on 
the interim final regulations to be submitted in writing on or before 
February 3, 1992. NOAA received one comment, which is discussed below 
under Background. The comment results in no change. Accordingly, the 
interim final portions of 15 CFR part 943 (Sec. 943.3(a)(5), (6), (7), 
(9), (12), (14), and (15), Sec. 943.5 (a)(1), (11) (12) (13), and (e), 
and Sec. 943.6, published at 56 FR 63634, December 5, 1991) are adopted 
as final regulations without change.

I. Background

    As indicated above, NOAA invited comments on the interim final 
regulations to be considered if submitted in writing on or before 
February 3, 1992. The following comment was received by NOAA in 
response to the interim final regulations prohibiting exploring for, 
developing or producing oil, gas or minerals within a no-activity zone 
(15 CFR Sec. 943.5(a)(1)).
    (1) Comment: The commenter recommends that the prohibition against 
exploring for, developing or producing oil, gas or minerals within a 
no-activity zone not apply to geophysical surveys and seismic 
exploration.
    Response: The prohibition against exploring for, developing or 
producing oil, gas or minerals within a no-activity zone does not apply 
to geophysical surveys and seismic exploration. However, seismic 
techniques involving possessing or using explosives, or releasing 
electrical discharges, are prohibited in the Sanctuary by regulation 15 
CFR Sec. 943.5(a)(14).
    The use of air guns involved in seismic surveys in the Flower 
Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary has been listed for possible 
regulation, so that if the use of air guns in seismic surveys is later 
demonstrated to have an adverse impact on Sanctuary resources, 
additional regulations can be proposed. If such regulations are 
eventually proposed, the public will have an [[Page 10313]] opportunity 
to comment on them at that time.
    Because air gun use in seismic operations may cause short-term 
behavioral changes in marine organisms (especially sharks and rays 
which school in the Sanctuary), and interfere with recreational diving, 
NOAA will seek additional information on these effects, and also 
identify time periods when air gun operations will have the least 
potential for impacts on Sanctuary resources and recreational divers. 
Because air gun operations may result in accidental loss of mooring 
buoys at the Sanctuary site, NOAA has requested that the Minerals 
Management Service require seismic surveyors to:

--Remove mooring buoys immediately before, and replace immediately 
after, a seismic survey is run through the Sanctuary;
--Announce the time that the mooring buoys will not be available in a 
Notice to Mariners.

II. Miscellaneous Rulemaking Requirements

    The information in the December 5, 1991, Federal Register document 
addressing miscellaneous rulemaking requirements has not changed. There 
are no additional collection of information requirements.

Federal Domestic Assistance Catalog Number 11.429 Marine Sanctuary 
Program.

    Dated: February 15, 1995.
W. Stanley Wilson,
Assistant Administrator for Ocean Services and Coastal Zone Management.

PART 943--FLOWER GARDENS BANKS NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY

    Accordingly, the interim final rule portion of 15 CFR part 943, 
which was published at 56 FR 63634 on December 5, 1991, is adopted as a 
final rule without change.

[FR Doc. 95-4534 Filed 2-23-95; 8:45 am]
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