[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 199 (Friday, October 15, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61205-61207]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-23165]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration


Notice of Availability of the Final Reserve Operations Plan for 
the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve

AGENCY: National Marine Sanctuary Program (NMSP), National Ocean 
Service (NOS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 
Department of Commerce (DOC).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) 
announces the availability of the Final Reserve Operations Plan for the 
Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve (Reserve). 
The Reserve Operations Plan (ROP) is a requirement of Executive Order 
13178, as finalized by Executive Order 13196 (hereinafter Executive 
Order or EO). The ROP was presented to the public on two separate 
occasions in 2002 and 2004, and over 30,000 public comments resulted 
from both open public comment periods.
    The most recent public comment period for the ROP opened on March 
19, 2004 (69 FR 13022) and ended on May 15, 2004. Approximately 29,400 
public comments were received during this period, with about 27,000 
arriving by e-mail and the remainder by letter and fax. In addition, 
the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve Advisory 
Council provided both general and specific comments on the draft final 
ROP as did the Marine Mammal Commission, Western Pacific Regional 
Fisheries Management Council and a group of 13 local and national 
conservation organizations, claiming to represent over 3.4 million 
members. A similar letter was also received from a group of 10 
conservation organizations (many of the same as above), collectively 
representing more than 2.7 million members.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert P. Smith, (808) 933-8181, 
[email protected].
    To Obtain a Hard Copy of the Final Reserve Operations Plan: 
Requests can be mailed to NWHI Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve, 6700 
Kalanianaole Highway, 215, Honolulu, Hawaii 96825; faxed to 
(808) 397-2662; e-mailed to [email protected] or downloaded at http://www.hawaiireef.noaa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef 
Ecosystem Reserve (Reserve) was established by Executive Orders 13178 
and 13196. Pursuant to the EO, NOAA prepared a draft Reserve Operations 
Plan that was issued for public review in February 2002 (67 FR 11998), 
which provided a guide for management of the Reserve during a process 
that will consider the marine environment of the Northwestern Hawaiian 
Islands for designation as a National Marine Sanctuary. Significant 
public comment was received on the first draft, and the NMSP considered 
the public comment and worked with the Reserve Advisory Council to 
produce a second draft Reserve Operations Plan. A second public review 
period was conducted from March 19 through May 15, 2004 and over 29,000 
comments were received.

Comments and Responses

    From all of the public comments received, a number of comments were 
accepted by NOAA which corrected technical inaccuracies and/or added 
additional clarifying information as improvements to the ROP, and were 
incorporated into the final document, either verbatim as suggested, or 
addressed by explanation. An example of a comment received and accepted 
which addressed a technical inaccuracy was ``The correct Latin name for 
killer whale is `Orcinus' and should replace `Orsinus''. Significant 
comments to the ROP are generally described below, with NOAA's 
responses.
    1. Comment: NOAA should, through the Department of Commerce, carry 
out formal regulations for the Executive Orders that would be 
enforceable within the Reserve.
    Response: The NMSP will not pursue the issuance of any additional 
regulations for the Reserve. The NMSP's priority is to finalize the ROP 
and focus on the sanctuary designation process, which will include the 
development of regulations for the preferred alternative, rather than 
undertake a resource-intensive, concurrent process to issue regulations 
for the Reserve.
    2. Comment: The ROP should include a penalty schedule for violation 
of all Reserve prohibitions.
    Response: Executive Orders 13178 and 13196, which established the 
Reserve, provide specific conservation measures that apply to the 
Reserve.

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Most of these measures are self-executing and need no additional action 
on the part of the NMSP. Remedies applicable to violations will depend 
on the circumstances of the particular case. Further, the National 
Marine Sanctuaries Amendments Act of 2000 does not contain a provision 
for assessing penalties. As such, the National Marine Sanctuary Program 
has determined it is not necessary to list a schedule of penalties for 
the Reserve.
    3. Comment: The ROP fails to provide specific plans and actions on 
how to recover endangered and threatened species within the Reserve.
    Response: Actions needed for the recovery of species listed as 
endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as 
amended, are addressed in formal Recovery Plans. Recovery Plans for 
most terrestrial species are written and carried out under the 
authority of the U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife 
Service. Similarly, Recovery Plans for most species of marine mammals 
are prepared and implemented under the authority of the U.S. Department 
of Commerce, National Marine Fisheries Service. In some instances where 
species rely on both the land and the ocean for essential life stages 
(such as with sea turtles and monk seals in the NWHI), the Recovery 
Plans are jointly written by the agencies, and recovery actions are 
shared. Copies of Recovery Plans pertaining to threatened and 
endangered species within the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands may be 
obtained by contacting the offices of the agencies mentioned above. The 
Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve, through 
cooperative interagency efforts described in the Reserve Operations 
Plan, will coordinate and assist either responsible agency in the 
Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.
    4. Comment: The Reserve should implement mandatory access permits 
and a mandatory access notification system.
    Response: The Reserve manager currently reviews requests for 
permits pertaining to activities proposed in the Reserve that are 
otherwise prohibited by the Executive Order. However, a mandatory 
access notification system is not mandated by the EO and thus is not a 
requirement for the ROP.
    5. Comment: The ROP should constitute the ``No Action'' alternative 
for any sanctuary designation proposal. The Executive Summary should be 
expanded to note that the ROP establishes a Reserve management 
framework that will remain in place until modified or replaced by a 
management program that incorporates provisions of the Executive Orders 
in an approved sanctuary decision.
    Response: A statement regarding the ROP as a ``No Action'' 
alternative has been added to the ROP. However, the NMSP does not agree 
with the portion of the comment which suggests that the ROP and 
provisions of the EO be approved as part of a sanctuary decision, as 
this is speculative and premature relative to the process mandated by 
the National Marine Sanctuaries Act and the National Environmental 
Policy Act.
    6. Comment: Clearly some of the responsibilities related to 
enforcement in the NWHI reside with other parts of NOAA or with other 
federal agencies. Including such high costs for enforcement in the 
draft ROP greatly inflates the estimate of total funding required for 
maintaining and operating the Reserve.
    Response: An enforcement workshop effort took place in May and June 
of 2004 to gather knowledge and exchange ideas among multiple federal 
and state agencies with the intent to develop a unified approach to 
surveillance and monitoring in the NWHI. The cost of surveillance and 
monitoring of the Reserve or who will bear the costs have yet to be 
determined. The enforcement costs in the draft ROP are the best 
projections at this point in time.
    7. Comment: NOAA's marine debris cleanup efforts should focus on 
areas that pose a high risk of monk seal entanglement (i.e., adjacent 
to places where monk seal pups are born and where young seals may learn 
to swim and feed). Given the magnitude of the debris problem and the 
length of time that will likely be required to adequately cleanup the 
entire region, the Marine Mammal Commission continues to believe that 
it is necessary to prioritize areas for clean up. Therefore, the ROP 
should indicate the highest priority need is to remove debris from 
areas of particular importance to monk seals.
    Response: The Desired Outcome of the Marine Debris Action Plan of 
the ROP was expanded to read ``To reduce threats by marine debris to 
natural resources in the Reserve and neighboring waters with an 
emphasis on preventing endangered species entanglement.'' The following 
statement was also added ``Areas identified as most important for 
marine debris removal should be consistent with endangered species 
recovery efforts, such as monk seal recovery.''
    8. Comment: The ROP does not contain enough background information 
on the four fisheries (lobster, pelagic species, bottomfish, and 
precious coral) undertaken or proposed in recent years in the NWHI. 
This lack of information on current NWHI stocks, allowable fishing 
levels, and efforts to manage these fisheries stands in sharp contrast 
to the more detailed discussions of other resources such as cultural 
and historic resources. Its brevity is inappropriate given the major 
focus on fishery management needs and measures in the Executive Orders. 
The discussion should be expanded and included in a separate action 
plan on fisheries.
    Response: The NMSP believes the ROP contains adequate descriptions 
of fisheries for the purposes of implementing the Executive Order. 
Sanctuary designation requires an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). 
The EIS will contain detailed background information on the relevant 
fisheries, will include a thorough analysis of issues associated with 
fishing activities, and will also assess management implications to 
fishing activities.
    9. Comment: The ROP should implement a mandatory domestic Vessel 
Monitoring System (VMS).
    Response: The Executive Order does not state that a vessel 
monitoring system be mandatory; rather it directs the ROP to consider 
the use of VMS, if warranted (see Sec 5(b)(10) of EO 13178).

Reserve Operations Plan

    The EO directs that the ROP shall be directed at priority issues 
and actions. The EO also directs that the ROP should address such 
issues as coordinated management among the agencies with relevant 
jurisdiction in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, clean up and 
prevention of marine debris, restoration of degraded or injured 
resources, research and education, enforcement and surveillance, 
identification and coordination with Native Hawaiian interests on 
cultural uses and locations, and designation of the Reserve as a 
National Marine Sanctuary.
    The NMSP prepared the revised draft Reserve Operations Plan, 
following templates used for the management plans of the National 
Marine Sanctuary Program. The document is composed of a set of 
function- and issue-oriented action plans (as topically identified in 
the Executive Order), with supporting documentation. Each action plan 
focuses on strategies, and outlines what, who, why, when, and how 
different activities will be conducted. Following is a list of the 
action plans contained in the final Reserve Operations Plan:
     Operations: includes interagency coordination, activity 
and area

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identification, Reserve/Sanctuary Advisory Council operations, 
development of fishing caps and permitting procedures, and 
infrastructure development;
     Education: encompasses all education, outreach, and 
interpretive projects;
     Native Hawaiian Cultural Resources: consists of all 
projects related to Native Hawaiian culture, uses, and locations;
     Maritime Heritage: contains projects related to maritime 
historic resources;
     Research and Monitoring: contains all projects related to 
research and monitoring;
     Mapping: covers all projects related to developing 
nautical charts and maps of the NWHI;
     Response, Damage Assessment, and Restoration: contains 
projects related to contingency planning, response, and restoration;
     Marine Debris: consists of projects related to the removal 
of marine debris from the NWHI;
     Enforcement: includes air and sea support for existing 
enforcement operations and expansion of a vessel monitoring system; and
     Designation: comprised of all projects related to the 
Sanctuary designation process.
    The ROP provides a guide for management of the Reserve during the 
time necessary to consider the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands for 
designation as a National Marine Sanctuary. The designation process is 
currently underway (January 19, 2001, 66 FR 5509).

    Authority: Pub. L. 106-513; Executive Order 13178; and Executive 
Order 13196.

    Dated: October 7, 2004.
Richard W. Spinrad,
Assistant Administrator, Ocean Services and Coastal Zone Management, 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
[FR Doc. 04-23165 Filed 10-14-04; 8:45 am]
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