[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 153 (Thursday, August 8, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51547-51548]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-20092]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 080102D]


Environmental Impact Statement; Public Scoping; Endangered and 
Threatened Species

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

ACTION: Notice of intent to conduct public scoping and prepare an 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), NMFS 
intends to gather the information necessary to prepare an EIS on a 
determination pursuant to the Endangered Species Act (ESA) related to a 
resource management plan (RMP) for harvest of Puget Sound chinook 
populations. NMFS is furnishing this notification to: advise other 
agencies and the public of its intent, and to obtain suggestions and 
information on the scope of issues to include in the EIS, specifically 
to assist NMFS in identifying the range of alternatives to include in 
the EIS analysis. In addition, NMFS will hold a scoping meeting (see 
ADDRESSES) to provide for public input into the range of alternatives 
and issues that the EIS should consider. NMFS is accepting written 
comments on the range of alternatives and issues it should consider for 
this EIS.

DATES: Written comments from all interested parties must be received at 
the appropriate address or fax number (see ADDRESSES), no later than 5 
p.m. Pacific Standard Time on September 9, 2002. Written comments will 
also be accepted at a public scoping meeting held from 6:30-8:30 p.m., 
August 22, 2002, in Building 9 of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration facility at Sand Point, 7600 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, 
Washington. Each attendee will be asked for his/her photo 
identification and the reason for his/her visit by NMFS security at the 
facility entrance.

ADDRESSES: Comments and requests to be included on a mailing list of 
persons interested in the EIS should be sent to Susan Bishop, Puget 
Sound and Washington Coastal Harvest Management Team Leader, 
Sustainable Fisheries Division, National Marine Fisheries Service, 7600 
Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115-0070; telephone 206/526-4587; 
facsimile (fax) 206/526-6736. Comments will not be accepted if 
submitted via e-mail or the Internet.
    As reference material, the RMP implemented in April 2001 under the 
ESA 4(d) Rule Limit 6, Puget Sound Comprehensive Chinook Management 
Plan: Harvest Management Component, is available on the Internet at 
http://www.nwifc.wa.gov/recovery/. NMFS's evaluation and determination 
on the 2001 RMP is available at http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/1sustfish/limit6/rmpfinal.htm .

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Susan Bishop, NMFS, Northwest Region, 
206/526-4587, or e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Puget Sound chinook Evolutionarily Significant Unit (ESU) was 
listed as threatened under the ESA in March 1999 (64 FR 14308). The ESU 
encompasses all naturally spawned spring-, summer-, and fall-runs of 
chinook salmon in the Puget Sound region from the North Fork Nooksack 
River to the Elwha River on the Olympic Peninsula. This ESU is located 
in portions of Clallam, Island, King, Kitsap, Jefferson, Mason, Pierce, 
San Juan, Skagit, Snohomish, and Whatcom Counties in Washington state. 
Puget Sound chinook have a complex life history, migrating from their 
natal streams throughout Puget Sound to the Pacific Ocean where they 
generally spend 1 to 3 years before returning to their natal streams, 
primarily as 3 and 4 year old adults. In their ocean migration, they 
travel north along the west coast into Canadian, and at times as far 
north as Alaskan, waters. In doing so, they are caught in a broad range 
of fisheries which are managed by an array of agencies, bodies and 
governments including the U.S. Department of Commerce, States of 
Washington, Oregon, and Alaska, over 20 Native American tribal 
jurisdictions, the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council, the 
Pacific Fisheries Management Council, and the Pacific Salmon 
Commission.
    Since the listing, NMFS has evaluated the impact of some fisheries 
affecting listed Puget Sound chinook in compliance with section 7 of 
the ESA and also evaluated the 2001 RMP for Puget Sound chinook under 
the 4(d) Rule Limit 6. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife 
(WDFW) and the Puget Sound Treaty Tribes (co-managers) are jointly 
developing another RMP intended to take effect when the current RMP 
expires in April 2003. It will encompass commercial, recreational, 
ceremonial, and subsistence salmon fisheries

[[Page 51548]]

potentially affecting the listed Puget Sound Chinook ESU within the 
marine and freshwater areas of Puget Sound, from the entrance of the 
Strait of Juan de Fuca inward, including fisheries under the 
jurisdiction of the U.S. Fraser Panel. However, as with the current 
RMP, harvest objectives specified in the RMP will account for 
fisheries-related mortality of Puget Sound chinook throughout its 
migratory range from Oregon and Washington to Southeast Alaska. The RMP 
will also include implementation, monitoring, and evaluation procedures 
designed to ensure fisheries are consistent with the RMP's objectives. 
Under the ESA 4(d) Rule Limit 6 NMFS must make a determination that the 
RMP, as proposed and implemented by the Puget Sound Treaty Tribes and 
State of Washington, does not appreciably reduce the likelihood of 
survival and recovery of Puget Sound chinook while providing for 
fishing opportunities and the exercise of federally protected treaty 
fishing rights, as implemented and enforced within the continuing 
jurisdiction of U.S. v. Washington.
    NMFS will conduct an environmental review of the RMP and prepare an 
EIS. The environmental review will analyze the proposed action, the 
proposed RMP, as well as a full range of reasonable alternatives and 
the associated impacts of each. NMFS is currently developing 
alternatives for analysis. In addition to the No Action Alternative (no 
authorized take of listed Puget Sound chinook within the Strait of Juan 
de Fuca and Puget Sound area), the alternatives could include at least 
the following: (1) a harvest regime based on escapement goal management 
and (2) an alternative that combines escapement goal management at the 
individual population level with terminal fisheries.

Authority

    The environmental review of this project will be conducted in 
accordance with requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act 
of 1969, National Environmental Policy Act Regulations (40 CFR 1500-
1508), other appropriate Federal laws and regulations, and policies and 
procedures of NOAA for compliance with those regulations.

Special Accommodations

    Requests for sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids 
should be directed to Susan Bishop (206/526-4587, or email: 
[email protected]) at least 5 days before the meeting date.

    Dated: August 2, 2002.
Susan L. Pultz,
Acting Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected 
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 02-20092 Filed 8-7-02; 8:45 am]
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