[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 190 (Friday, October 1, 1999)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 53305-53307]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-25573]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 679

[I.D. 092799E]


Groundfish Fisheries of the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea/
Aleutian Islands Area

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

ACTION: Notice of intent; scoping meetings; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces its intention to prepare a programmatic 
supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) on Federal 
groundfish fishery management in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) 
waters off Alaska. The scope of the analysis will include all 
activities addressing the conduct of groundfish fisheries authorized 
and managed under two of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council's 
fishery management plans (FMPs): Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska 
(GOA), and amendments thereto; and Groundfish Fishery of the Bering Sea 
and Aleutian Islands Area (BSAI), and amendments thereto.
    NMFS will hold scoping meetings to receive public input on the 
structure of the alternatives and the range of issues to be covered in 
the programmatic SEIS. NMFS is accepting written comments on the same 
topics.

DATES: Written comments will be accepted through November 15, 1999 (see 
ADDRESSES). See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION, Public Involvement for 
meeting dates.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and requests to be included on a mailing 
list of persons interested in the programmatic SEIS should be sent to 
Lori Gravel, Sustainable Fisheries Division, National Marine Fisheries 
Service, P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802. Comments may also be hand-

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delivered to Room 457-1 Federal Office Building, 907 West 
9th Street, Juneau, AK. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION, 
Public Involvement for meeting locations.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Steve Davis, NMFS, (907) 271-3523.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
Conservation and Management Act, the United States has exclusive 
fishery management authority over all living marine resources found 
within the EEZ, except marine mammals and birds. The management of 
these marine resources is vested in the Secretary of Commerce 
(Secretary). Eight Regional Fishery Management Councils prepare FMPs 
for approval and implementation by the Secretary. The North Pacific 
Fishery Management Council has the responsibility to prepare FMPs for 
the fishery resources that require conservation and management in the 
EEZ off Alaska. The North Pacific Fishery Management Council consists 
of Federal and state officials having authority for fishery management, 
and of private persons nominated by the governors of the States of 
Alaska, Oregon, and Washington, and appointed by the Secretary.
    The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires preparation 
of environmental impact statements (EISs) for major Federal actions 
significantly impacting the quality of the human environment. 40 CFR 
1502.9(c) states: ``Agencies shall prepare supplements to either draft 
or final environmental impact statements if: (i) The agency makes 
substantial changes in the proposed action that are relevant to 
environmental concerns; or (ii) There are significant new circumstances 
or information relevant to environmental concerns and bearing on the 
proposed action or its impacts.''
    The Council prepared, and the Secretary approved, the Fishery 
Management Plan for Gulf of Alaska Groundfish in 1978 and the Fishery 
Management Plan for Groundfish Fishery of the Bering Sea and Aleutian 
Islands Area in 1981. EISs were prepared for those FMPs and were filed 
in 1978 and 1981, respectively. Both FMPs have been amended numerous 
times. NEPA environmental documents (categorical exclusion, 
environmental assessments, or EISs) have been prepared for each FMP 
amendment and regulatory amendment. Additionally, NMFS prepared and 
issued an SEIS for the groundfish fisheries authorized under both FMPs 
in December 1998. In July 1999, the U.S. District Court, Western 
District of Washington at Seattle (NO. C98-0492Z) ruled in Greenpeace 
v. NMFS that the 1998 SEIS was legally inadequate, and remanded the 
document to NMFS for further action consistent with the requirements of 
NEPA.
    In this document, NMFS announces its intent to prepare a 
programmatic SEIS that defines the Federal action under review as, 
among other things, all activities authorized and managed under the 
FMPs and all amendments thereto, and that addresses the conduct of the 
GOA and BSAI groundfish fisheries and the FMPs as a whole. NMFS will 
present in the SEIS an overview and an assessment of all impacts 
(including environmental, biological, and socio-economic) that result 
from directed and incidental groundfish harvest regulations affecting 
amount of harvest, location of harvest, time of harvest, method of 
harvest, distribution of harvest among fishermen, use of the harvest, 
and methods used to monitor harvest and the fisheries. Also, NMFS will 
identify and evaluate the significant changes that have occurred in the 
GOA and BSAI groundfish fisheries, including significant cumulative 
effects of environmental and management changes in the groundfish 
fisheries since the issuance of the 1978 and 1981 EISs. Further, NMFS 
will also analyze the impacts (including environmental, biological and 
socio-economic) resulting from the current fishery management regime, 
and reasonable alternatives to the current management regime. The 
Responsible Program Manager for this SEIS is Steven Pennoyer, Alaska 
Regional Administrator, NMFS.

Alternatives

    The SEIS will consider a range of alternative harvest management 
regimes, incorporating variations on various elements of the FMPs. It 
will not consider detailed alternatives for every aspect of the FMPs. A 
principal objective, therefore, of the scoping and public input 
processes is to identify a reasonable set of programmatic management 
alternatives that, with adequate analysis, will sharply define critical 
issues and provide a clear basis for choice among the alternatives.
    Management of the GOA and the BSAI groundfish fisheries pursuant to 
the FMPs involves decision making that can result in changes to the 
harvest management strategy. Accordingly, in the programmatic SEIS, 
NMFS will consider a full range of management alternatives, including 
the No Action alternative (i.e., the management regime currently in 
place would continue to apply), and evaluate their potential 
environmental impacts (including biological and socio-economic). 
Through this scoping process, NMFS requests public input on the 
management alternatives that should be considered in this programmatic 
SEIS. Prior to the scoping meetings, NMFS will publish in the Federal 
Register draft alternatives to be developed further at the public 
scoping meetings and in the programmatic SEIS.

Issues

    The environmental consequences section of the EIS will display the 
impacts of groundfish harvest accruing with present management 
regulations and under a range of representative alternative management 
regulations on North Pacific and Bering Sea ecosystem issues. These 
issues include: (1) Marine habitat, (2) major species of fish, (3) 
major species and groups of invertebrates, (4) marine mammals, (5) 
seabirds, and (6) cumulative and synergistic impacts on species across 
the foodweb. In addition, the environmental consequences section will 
contain summary, interpretation, and predictions for socio-economic 
issues associated with conduct of those fisheries on the following 
groups of individuals: (1) Those who participate in harvesting the 
groundfish resources and other living marine resources, (2) those who 
process and market the fish and fishery products, (3) those who are 
involved in allied support industries, (4) those who consume fishery 
products, (5) those who rely on living marine resources in the 
management area either for subsistence needs or for recreational 
benefits, (6) those who benefit from non-consumptive uses of living 
marine resources, (7) those involved in managing and monitoring 
fisheries, and (8) fishing communities.

Consultations

    Pursuant to section 7(a)(2) of the Endangered Species Act (ESA), 
consultations for listed species and critical habitat affected by these 
fisheries have been or will be initiated and will be prepared in 
parallel with development of the programmatic SEIS. These consultations 
will be conducted in accordance with the ESA and implementing 
regulations, 50 CFR 402 et seq., and will analyze the individual and 
cumulative impacts of activities relating to the groundfish fisheries 
authorized and managed under the FMPs, and amendments thereto, to 
determine whether the cumulative impacts of the groundfish fisheries 
are likely to jeopardize the continued existence of listed species, 
including Steller sea lions, or adversely modify

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critical habitat. Results from these consultations will be incorporated 
into the SEIS to the maximum extent practicable. The schedule for 
completion of consultation will correspond generally to the schedule 
for the issuance of the programmatic SEIS as the information, 
evaluations, and conclusions that are required for both documents will 
be similar in many respects.

Public Involvement

    Scoping for the programmatic SEIS begins with publication of this 
notice. An informational presentation of the project will be made 
during the Council's October meeting (Seattle, WA, Seattle Airport, 
Doubletree Hotel, October 10 through 18, 1999.) Subsequent scoping 
meetings will be held in Anchorage, Juneau, Kodiak, and Seattle at the 
following times and locations:
    1. Juneau--November 8, 1999, 1-3 p.m., Juneau Federal Building, 
Room 445, 709 West 9th Street, Juneau, AK.
    2. Anchorage--November 9, 1999, 1-3 p.m., Anchorage Federal 
Building, Room 135, 222 West Seventh Avenue, Anchorage, AK.
    3. Kodiak--November 10, 1999, 1-3 p.m., Kodiak Inn, 236 West 
Rezanof Drive, Kodiak, AK.
    4. Seattle-November 12, 1-3 p.m., Alaska Fisheries Science Center, 
7600 Sand Point Way NE, Building 4, Room 2039, Seattle, WA.

Special Accommodations

    Theses meetings are physically accessible to people with 
disabilities, Reqests for sign language interpretation or other 
auxiliary aids should be directed to Rebecca Campbell (907) 586-7228 at 
least 5 days before the meeting dates.

    Dated: September 27, 1999.
Bruce C. Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 99-25573 Filed 9-30-99; 8:45 am]
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