[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]
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