[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 92 (Wednesday, May 12, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26363-26364]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-10787]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 042304B]


Endangered and Threatened Species; Take of Anadromous Fish

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

ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comment.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that NMFS has received an application 
for incidental take permit 1481 (Permit) from the Idaho Department of 
Fish and Game (IDFG) pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as 
amended (ESA). As required by the ESA, IDFG's application includes a 
conservation plan (Plan) designed to minimize and mitigate any such 
take of endangered or threatened species. The Permit application is for 
the incidental take of ESA-listed adult and juvenile salmonids 
associated with otherwise lawful recreational fisheries on non-listed 
species in the Snake River and its tributaries in the State of Idaho. 
NMFS also announces the availability of a draft Environmental 
Assessment (EA) for the Permit modification application under the 
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). This document serves to 
notify the public of the availability for comment of the permit 
modification application and the associated draft EA before a final 
decision on whether to issue a Finding of No Significant Impact is made 
by NMFS. All comments received will become part of the public record 
and will be available for review pursuant to section 10(c) of the ESA.

DATES: Written comments on the draft EA must be received no later than 
5 p.m. Pacific daylight time on May 27, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and requests for copies of the draft EA 
should be addressed to Herb Pollard, Salmon Recovery Division, 10215 W. 
Emerald, Suite 180, Boise, ID 83704, or faxed to (208) 378-5699. 
Comments on this draft EA may be submitted by e-mail. The mailbox 
address for providing e-mail comments is [email protected]. 
Include in the subject line the following document

[[Page 26364]]

identifier: ``Permit 1481 assessment''. The documents will also be 
available on the Internet at www.nwr.noaa.gov. Comments may also be 
submitted electronically through the Federal e-Rulemaking portal: 
www.regulations.gov. Comments received will also be available for 
public inspection, by appointment, during normal business hours by 
calling (208) 378-5614.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Herb Pollard, Boise, ID, at phone 
number (208) 378-5614 or e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is relevant to the Snake River 
spring/summer chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), Snake River 
fall-run chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha), Snake River sockeye salmon 
(O. nerka), and Snake River steelhead (O. mykiss) ESUs. The proposed 
permit will renew and replace permit 1233 which will expire on December 
31, 2004. The duration of the proposed Permit and Plan is 5 years, 
expiring on May 31, 2008.

Background

    On May 26, 2000, NMFS issued permit 1233 to the State of Idaho to 
conduct recreational fisheries managed by IDFG during 2000 through 2004 
on non-listed species in the Snake River and its tributaries in the 
State of Idaho. Permit 1233 authorizes IDFG an incidental take of adult 
and juvenile, threatened, naturally produced Snake River spring/summer 
chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), adult and juvenile, 
threatened, naturally produced Snake River fall chinook salmon (O. 
tshawytscha), and adult and juvenile, threatened, naturally produced 
Snake River sockeye salmon (O. nerka) in recreational fisheries managed 
by the State of Idaho.
    IDFG requests a new permit to modify timing of currently authorized 
fisheries, to expand currently authorized fishing areas, and to apply 
an abundance-based sliding scale to incidental take limits for the 
fisheries. The fishery area in the Salmon River would be increased from 
the current boundaries of the mouth of Hammer Creek 30 miles (48.2803 
km) upstream to the mouth of the Little Salmon River, to include the 
area from the mouth of the Salmon River upstream approximately 120 
miles (193.121 km) to the mouth of the South Fork Salmon River. IDFG 
also requests that a sliding scale of harvest impacts, based on the 
combined return of listed spring and summer run chinook salmon counted 
at Lower Granite Dam be applied to the allowable incidental take of 
adult, threatened, Snake River spring/summer chinook salmon associated 
with the authorized fisheries. The proposed permit is the fourth in a 
series of permits (Permit 844, 1993-1998; Permit 1150, 1999; and Permit 
1233, 2000-2004 preceded this application) which have provided ESA 
authorization for recreational fishing activities that may incidentally 
take listed Snake River salmon and steelhead.
    In its Plan, IDFG is proposing to limit state recreational 
fisheries such that the incidental impacts on ESA-listed salmonids will 
be minimized. Three alternatives for the IDFG fisheries are provided in 
the Plan: (1) The no action alternative; (2) the proposed conservation 
plan alternative (based on continuing fisheries at levels similar to 
those permitted since 1995); and (3) historical fishing levels.

Environmental Assessment/Finding of No Significant Impact

    The EA package includes a draft EA evaluating whether the potential 
effects of issuing the new incidental take permit to replace the 
existing permit and whether such issuance is a major Federal action 
significantly affecting the quality of the human environment, within 
the meaning of section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy 
Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended. Three Federal action alternatives have 
been analyzed in the draft EA: (1) The no action alternative; (2) issue 
a permit with conditions; and (3) issue a permit without conditions. 
NEPA requires Federal agencies to conduct an environmental analysis of 
their proposed actions to determine if the actions may affect the human 
environment. NMFS expects to take action on the ESA section 10(a)(1)(B) 
submittal received from the applicant. Therefore, NMFS is seeking 
public input on the scope of the required NEPA analysis, including the 
range of reasonable alternatives and associated impacts of any 
alternatives.
    This notice is provided pursuant to section 10(c) of the ESA and 
the NEPA regulations (40 CFR 1506.6). NMFS will evaluate the 
application, associated documents, and comments submitted thereon to 
determine whether the application meets the requirements of the NEPA 
regulations and section 10(a) of the ESA. If it is determined that the 
requirements are met, a permit will be issued for incidental takes of 
ESA-listed anadromous salmonids under the jurisdiction of NMFS. The 
final NEPA and permit determinations will not be completed until after 
the end of the 15-day comment period and will fully consider all public 
comments received during the comment period. NMFS will publish a record 
of its final action in the Federal Register.

    Dated: May 7, 2004.
Phil Williams,
Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected Resources, 
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 04-10787 Filed 5-11-04; 8:45 am]
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