[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 97 (Thursday, May 20, 1999)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 27484]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-12711]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

15 CFR Part 922


Regulation of the Operation of Motorized Personal Watercraft in 
the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary

AGENCY: Marine Sanctuaries Division (MSD), Office of Ocean and Coastal 
Resource Management (OCRM), National Ocean Service (NOS), National 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Public meeting and extension of comment period.

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SUMMARY: On April 23, 1999, NOAA published a proposed rule and notice 
of availability of a Draft Environmental Assessment (DEA) restricting 
the use of motorized personal watercraft in the Gulf of the Farallones 
National Marine Sanctuary (FR Volume 64, Number 78, pages 19945-19952). 
The document announces the time and place of the public meeting and 
extends the comment period.

DATES: The public meeting will be held on Wednesday, June 2, 1999, from 
7:00 until 9:00 p.m.
    Comments on the proposed rule or DEA must be received by June 11, 
1999.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Bear Valley Visitors Center 
at the Point Reyes National Seashore, Inverness, California.

    Comments should be sent to Ed Ueber, Sanctuary Manager, Gulf of the 
Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, Ft. Mason, Building 201, San 
Francisco, California 94123; fax: (415) 561-6616; email: 
[email protected]. Comments received will be available for public 
inspection at the above address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ed Ueber at (415) 561-6622.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The purpose of the public meeting is to 
provide the public with information regarding NOAA's proposed rule and 
to give the public the opportunity to provide NOAA with verbal or 
written comments.
    NOAA proposes to amend the regulations governing the Gulf of the 
Farallones National Marine Sanctuary (Sanctuary) to prohibit the 
operation of motorized personal watercraft (MPWC) in the nearshore 
waters of the Sanctuary. Specifically, the operation of MPWC would be 
prohibited from the mean high-tide line seaward to 1,000 yards 
(approximately 0.5 nautical mile), including seaward of the Farallon 
Islands. The proposed rule would ensure that Sanctuary resources and 
qualities are not adversely impacted and would help avoid conflicts 
among various users of the Sanctuary.

Federal Domestic Assistance Catalog Number 11.429
Marine Sanctuary Program

    Dated: May 14, 1999.
Ted Lillestolen,
Deputy Assistant Administrator, Ocean Services and Coastal Zone 
Management.
[FR Doc. 99-12711 Filed 5-19-99; 8:45 am]
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