[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 68 (Friday, April 7, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18310-18312]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-8672]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 033100C]


Endangered Species; Permits

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

ACTION: Receipt of applications to modify scientific research permits 
(900, 1116, 1141, 1152, 1156, 1212).

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that NMFS has received applications for 
permit modifications from: the Northwest Fisheries Science Center, NMFS 
at Seattle, WA (NWFSC)(900, 1212), Douglas County Public Utility 
District No. 1 at East Wenatchee, WA (DCPUD)(1116), Grant County Public 
Utility District No. 2 at Ephrata, WA (GCPUD)(1141), Oregon Department 
of Fish and Wildlife at LaGrande, OR (ODFW)(1152), and the U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency at Corvallis, OR (USEPA)(1156).

DATES: Comments or requests for a public hearing on any of these 
modification requests must be received at the appropriate address or 
fax number no later than 5:00pm Pacific standard time on May 8, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on any of the modification requests should 
be sent to Protected Resources Division, F/NWO3, 525 NE Oregon Street, 
Suite 500, Portland, OR 97232-2737. Comments may also be sent via fax 
to 503-230-5435. Comments will not be accepted if submitted via e-mail 
or the internet. The applications and related

[[Page 18311]]

documents are available for review in the Protected Resources Division, 
F/NWO3, 525 NE Oregon Street, Suite 500, Portland, OR 97232-2737 (ph: 
503-230-5400).
    Documents may also be reviewed by appointment in the Office of 
Protected Resources, F/PR3, NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver 
Spring, MD 20910-3226 (301-713-1401).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For permits 900, 1152, and 1156: 
Leslie Schaeffer, Portland, OR (ph: 503-230-5433, fax: 503-230-5435, e-
mail: [email protected]).
    For permits 1116, 1141, and 1212: Robert Koch, Portland, OR (ph: 
503-230-5424, fax: 503-230-5435, e-mail: [email protected]).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Authority

    Issuance of permits and permit modifications, as required by the 
Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531-1543) (ESA), is based on 
a finding that such permits/modifications: (1) Are applied for in good 
faith; (2) would not operate to the disadvantage of the listed species 
which are the subject of the permits; and (3) are consistent with the 
purposes and policies set forth in section 2 of the ESA. Authority to 
take listed species is subject to conditions set forth in the permits. 
Permits and modifications are issued in accordance with and are subject 
to the ESA and NMFS regulations governing listed fish and wildlife 
permits (50 CFR parts 222-226).
    Those individuals requesting a hearing on a modification request 
listed in this notice should set out the specific reasons why a hearing 
on that request would be appropriate (see ADDRESSES). The holding of 
such hearing(s) is at the discretion of the Assistant Administrator for 
Fisheries, NOAA. All statements and opinions contained in the permit 
action summaries are those of the applicant and do not necessarily 
reflect the views of NMFS.

Species Covered in this Notice

    The following species, evolutionarily significant units (ESU's), 
and runs are covered in this notice:
    Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha): threatened Snake River 
(SnR) spring/summer, threatened SnR fall, endangered upper Columbia 
River (UCR) spring, threatened Puget Sound (PS), threatened upper 
Willamette River (UWR).
    Coho salmon (O. kisutch): threatened Southern Oregon/Northern 
California Coast (SONCC).
    Sockeye salmon (O. nerka): endangered SnR.
    Steelhead (O. mykiss): threatened SnR, endangered UCR, threatened 
middle Columbia River (MCR), threatened lower Columbia River (LCR).
    To date, final protective regulations for threatened PS and UWR 
chinook salmon and SnR, MCR, and LCR steelhead under section 4(d) of 
the ESA have not been promulgated by NMFS. Protective regulations are 
currently proposed for PS and UWR chinook salmon (65 FR 169, January 3, 
2000) and SnR, MCR, and LCR steelhead (64 FR 73479, December 30, 1999). 
This notice of receipt of applications requesting takes of these 
species is issued as a precaution in the event that NMFS issues final 
protective regulations. The initiation of a 30-day public comment 
period on the applications, including their proposed takes of PS and 
UWR chinook salmon and SnR, MCR, and LCR steelhead does not presuppose 
the contents of the eventual final protective regulations.

Modification Requests Received

    On March 22, 2000, NMFS published a notice in the Federal Register 
(65 FR 15312) that an application had been received from NWFSC for a 
modification to permit 900. For the modification, NWFSC requested an 
annual take of juvenile MCR steelhead and an increase in the annual 
take of juvenile naturally produced UCR steelhead associated with the 
research. NMFS has received an amendment of NWFSC's application for a 
modification to permit 900. In the application amendment, NWFSC 
requests an increase in the annual take of juvenile SnR fall chinook 
salmon associated with the research. The increased take is requested 
because fall chinook salmon stock abundance estimates in the Snake 
River have recently been revised. The ESA-listed juvenile fish are 
proposed to be captured at John Day Dam on the Columbia River and/or 
obtained from the Fish Passage Center's Smolt Monitoring Program, 
authorized to be collected under a separate permit. The fish are 
proposed to be handled and released or tagged with passive integrated 
transponders, transported to the Dalles Dam, held for up to 24 hours, 
and released in front of The Dalles Dam spillway, sluiceway, turbines, 
or downstream from the dam. PIT-tag interrogations made at Bonneville 
Dam and Rice Island will be used to estimate relative survival of the 
release groups. An associated increase in ESA-listed juvenile chinook 
salmon indirect mortalities is also requested. The modification as 
amended is requested to be valid for the duration of the permit, which 
expires on December 31, 2000.
    DCPUD requests a modification to permit 1116, which authorizes 
annual takes of juvenile naturally produced and artificially propagated 
UCR steelhead associated with five research studies. The purpose of 
Study 1 is to determine the survival and migration differences of 
juvenile fish as they pass downstream through Lake Pateros and Wells 
Dam on the Columbia River. The purpose of Study 2 is to understand the 
status of juvenile salmonid migration at Wells Dam by verifying 
hydroacoustic accuracy. For Study 2, ESA-listed juvenile fish are 
collected in fyke nets and sacrificed as a means to estimate the number 
of unguided fish at the dam. The purpose of Study 3 is to inventory the 
fish species in Wells Reservoir on the Columbia River. The purpose of 
Study 4 is to assess the survival of juvenile, artificially propagated, 
UCR steelhead as they pass Wells Dam. The purpose of Study 5 is to 
evaluate the relative benefits of passive integrated transponder (PIT) 
and radio tag technologies. The results from the research will be used 
to enhance the survival of emigrating smolts and improve the operation 
of the fish passage facilities at Wells Dam. For the modification, 
DCPUD requests a lethal take of juvenile naturally produced and 
artificially propagated UCR spring chinook salmon associated with the 
conduct of Study 2. The modification is requested to be valid for the 
duration of permit 1116, which expires on December 31, 2002.
    GCPUD requests a modification to permit 1141, which authorizes 
annual takes of adult and juvenile, naturally produced and artificially 
propagated, UCR steelhead associated with four scientific research 
studies at or in the vicinity of Wanapum and Priest Rapids Dams located 
on the upper Columbia River in Washington. The purpose of Study 1 is to 
monitor outmigrating adult and juvenile steelhead condition, survival, 
and travel time relative to spill effectiveness at the dams. The 
purpose of Study 2 is to substantiate and document hydroacoustic 
accuracy at Wanapum Dam. The purpose of Study 3 is to evaluate the 
relative abundance of the fish fauna inhabiting the Priest Rapids 
project area. The purpose of Study 4 is to assess the survival of 
juvenile, artificially propagated, UCR steelhead as they migrate past 
Wanapum and Priest Rapids Dams. For Study 4, ESA-listed juvenile 
steelhead are collected with dip nets at the dam gatewells, 
anesthetized, tagged with radiotransmitters, allowed to recover, 
released downstream, and tracked

[[Page 18312]]

electronically. The results from the research will be used to enhance 
the survival of emigrating smolts and improve the operation of the fish 
passage facilities at Wanapum and Priest Rapids Dams. For the 
modification, GCPUD requests an increase in the annual take of juvenile 
artificially propagated UCR steelhead associated with Study 4. An 
associated increase in ESA-listed juvenile steelhead indirect 
mortalities is also requested. The modification is requested to be 
valid for the duration of permit 1141, which expires on December 31, 
2002.
    ODFW requests a modification to permit 1152, which authorizes 
annual takes of adult and juvenile naturally produced and artificially 
propagated SnR spring/summer chinook salmon associated with 5 
scientific research studies conducted in the Grande Ronde and Imnaha 
River Basins in the state of OR: (1) Spring chinook salmon spawning 
ground surveys, (2) a spring chinook salmon early life history study, 
(3) habitat and fish inventory surveys, (4) passage and irrigation 
screening evaluations, and (5) residual hatchery steelhead monitoring. 
For the modification, ODFW requests an increase in the annual take of 
juvenile artificially propagated SnR spring/summer chinook salmon 
associated with Study 2. Production levels for juvenile artificially 
propagated SnR spring/summer chinook salmon have increased for 2000, 
2001 and 2002. ODFW also proposes to apply temporary marks to juvenile 
artificially propagated SnR spring/summer chinook salmon to determine 
trap efficiencies. An associated increase in ESA-listed juvenile fish 
indirect mortalities is also requested. The modification is requested 
to be valid for the duration of permit 1152, which expires on December 
31, 2002.
    USEPA requests a modification to permit 1156, which authorizes 
annual takes of juvenile SONCC coho salmon, juvenile SnR fall chinook 
salmon, and juvenile naturally produced and artificially propagated SnR 
spring/summer chinook salmon associated with research designed to 
collect data used to enforce the Clean Water Act which will increase 
the recovery potential of ESA-listed species in various rivers in the 
Pacific Northwest. For the modification, USEPA requests an annual take 
of juvenile naturally produced and artificially propagated UCR spring 
chinook salmon, juvenile naturally produced and artificially propagated 
PS chinook salmon, juvenile UWR chinook salmon, juvenile SnR steelhead, 
juvenile naturally produced and artificially propagated UCR steelhead, 
juvenile MCR steelhead, and juvenile LCR steelhead. ESA-listed juvenile 
fish are proposed to be captured using electrofishing, examined, and 
released. USEPA also requests an increase in the annual take of 
juvenile SnR fall chinook salmon and juvenile naturally produced and 
artificially propagated SnR spring/summer chinook salmon. The 
modification is requested to be valid for the duration of permit 1156, 
which expires on December 31, 2002.
    On March 21, 2000, NMFS published a notice in the Federal Register 
(65 FR 15131) that NWFSC had applied for a modification to permit 1212, 
which authorizes annual takes of juvenile SnR sockeye salmon, juvenile 
naturally produced and artificially propagated SnR spring/summer 
chinook salmon, juvenile SnR fall chinook salmon, juvenile naturally 
produced and artificially propagated UCR steelhead, and juvenile 
naturally produced and artificially propagated UCR spring chinook 
salmon associated with four studies at the hydropower dams on the Snake 
and Columbia Rivers in the Pacific Northwest. The goal of Study 1 is to 
provide up-to-date survival estimates of juvenile salmonids as they 
migrate past McNary Dam on the Columbia River. The goal of Study 2 is 
to evaluate the specific trouble areas in the juvenile fish bypass 
system at Lower Monumental Dam on the Snake River. The goal of Study 3 
is to compare the performance of juvenile salmonids tagged with Sham 
radiotransmitters with juvenile salmonids tagged with PITs at Lower 
Granite Dam on the Snake River. The goal of Study 4 is to determine 
tailrace residence times of radio-tagged hatchery chinook salmon under 
varying operational conditions at Lower Monumental Dam and to identify 
spill conditions that utilize the smallest volumes of water to maximize 
fish passage efficiency at Ice Harbor Dam on the Snake River. The 
research will provide information that will be used to develop 
corrective measures to improve juvenile fish passage at the dams. For 
the modification, NWFSC requested an annual take of juvenile MCR 
steelhead associated with the research. NWFSC has amended their 
application for a modification to request an increase in the annual 
take of juvenile SnR fall chinook salmon associated with the research. 
The increased take is requested because fall chinook salmon stock 
abundance estimates in the Snake River have recently been revised. The 
ESA-listed juvenile fish are proposed to be captured at McNary Dam, 
sampled for biological information, and released. An associated 
increase in ESA-listed juvenile chinook salmon indirect mortalities is 
also requested. The modification as amended is requested to be valid 
for the duration of permit 1212, which expires on December 31, 2003.

    Dated: April 4, 2000.
Barbara A. Schroeder,
Acting Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected 
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 00-8672 Filed 4-6-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F