[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 44 (Friday, March 6, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11221-11222]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-5836]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[I.D. 022498C]


Endangered Species; Permits

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Receipt of an application for modification 5 to scientific 
research permit 822.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the Fish Passage Center at 
Portland, OR (FPC) has applied in due form for a modification to a 
permit that would authorize takes of endangered and threatened 
anadromous steelhead for the purpose of scientific research.

DATES: Written comments or requests for a public hearing on this 
application must be received on or before April 6, 1998.
ADDRESSES: The application and related documents are available for 
review in the following offices, by appointment:
    Office of Protected Resources, F/PR3, NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, 
Silver Spring, MD 20910-3226 (301-713-1401); and
    Protected Resources Division (PRD), F/NWO3, 525 NE Oregon Street, 
Suite 500, Portland, OR 97232-4169 (503-230-5400).
    Written comments or requests for a public hearing should be 
submitted to the Chief, PRD in Portland, OR.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert Koch, PRD (503-230-5424).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: FPC requests a modification to a permit 
under the authority of section 10 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 
(ESA) (16 U.S.C. 1531-1543) and the NMFS regulations governing ESA-
listed fish and wildlife permits (50 CFR parts 217-227).
    FPC requests modification 5 to permit 822. Permit 822 authorizes 
FPC annual direct takes of juvenile, endangered, Snake River sockeye 
salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka); juvenile, threatened, naturally produced 
and artificially propagated, Snake River spring/summer chinook salmon

[[Page 11222]]

(Oncorhynchus tshawytscha); and juvenile, threatened, Snake River fall 
chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) associated with the Smolt 
Monitoring Program (SMP), conducted at hydropower dams on the Snake and 
Columbia Rivers in the Pacific Northwest and at a number of upriver 
locations in the state of ID. Permit 822 also authorizes FPC annual 
incidental takes of ESA-listed adult Snake River salmon associated with 
fallbacks through the juvenile bypass systems at Bonneville and John 
Day Dams on the Columbia River. The purpose of the SMP is to generate 
information on the migrational characteristics of anadromous fish 
stocks in the Columbia River Basin. The information is used to 
implement flow and spill measures designed to improve fish passage 
conditions at the dams and reservoirs on the Snake and Columbia Rivers.
    For modification 5 to the permit, FPC requests: (1) annual direct 
takes of juvenile, endangered, naturally produced and artificially 
propagated, upper Columbia River steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and 
juvenile, threatened, Snake River steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) 
associated with the SMP; (2) an annual direct take of juvenile lower 
Columbia River steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss), a species currently 
proposed as threatened, at Bonneville Dam; and (3) annual incidental 
takes of ESA-listed adult steelhead associated with fallbacks through 
the juvenile fish bypass systems at Bonneville and John Day Dams. ESA-
listed steelhead indirect and incidental mortalities associated with 
the SMP are requested. Modification 5 to permit 822 is requested to be 
valid for the duration of the permit. Permit 822 expires on December 
31, 1998.
    To date, protective regulations for threatened Snake River 
steelhead under section 4(d) of the ESA have not been promulgated by 
NMFS. This notice of receipt of an application requesting a take of 
this species is issued as a precaution in the event that NMFS issues 
protective regulations that prohibit takes of Snake River steelhead. 
The initiation of a 30-day public comment period on the application, 
including its proposed take of Snake River steelhead, does not 
presuppose the contents of the eventual protective regulations. To 
date, a listing determination for lower Columbia River steelhead under 
the ESA has not been promulgated by NMFS. This notice of receipt of 
applications requesting takes of this species is issued as a precaution 
in the event that NMFS issues a listing determination. The initiation 
of a 30-day public comment period on the applications, including their 
proposed takes of lower Columbia River steelhead, does not presuppose a 
listing determination.
    Aspects of this proposed permit modification, and a request 
received from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to modify permit 895 to 
include takes of ESA-listed steelhead, will be the subject of scheduled 
hearings, as previously noticed (63-FR-9204, February 24, 1998). Those 
individuals requesting a hearing on the request for modification 5 to 
permit 822 should set out the specific reasons why a hearing would be 
appropriate (see ADDRESSES). The holding of such a hearing is at the 
discretion of the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA. All 
statements and opinions contained in the above application summary are 
those of the applicant and do not necessarily reflect the views of 
NMFS.

    Dated: March 2, 1998.
Marta F. Nammack,
Acting Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected 
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 98-5836 Filed 3-5-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F