[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 131 (Monday, July 10, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Page 38863]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-10734]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 111505A]


Pacific Fishery Management Council; Notice of Intent; Extension 
of Public Scoping Period for Intersector Groundfish Allocations

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

ACTION: Extension of public scoping period for an environmental impact 
statement (EIS); request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS and the Pacific Fishery Management Council (Pacific 
Council) announce their intent to extend the public scoping period for 
an EIS in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 
to analyze proposals to allocate groundfish among various sectors of 
the non-tribal Pacific Coast groundfish fishery.

DATES: Public scoping meetings will be announced in the Federal 
Register at a later date. Written comments will be accepted at the 
Pacific Council office through October 27, 2006. The public comment 
period will be reopened as part of the public comment section under the 
intersector allocation agenda item at the Pacific Council meeting in 
Del Mar, CA, the week of November 12, 2006. Additional information on 
the time and location for this meeting will be provided when the 
meeting is announced in the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, on issues and alternatives, 
identified by 111505A by any of the following methods:
     E-mail: ##[email protected]. Include [111505A] 
and enter ``Scoping Comments'' in the subject line of the message.
     Fax: 503-820-2299.
     Mail: Donald McIsaac, Pacific Fishery Management Council, 
7700 NE Ambassador Pl., Suite 200, Portland, OR 97220.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John DeVore, Pacific Fishery 
Management Council, phone: 503-820-2280, fax: 503-820-2299 and email: 
[email protected]; or Yvonne de Reynier NMFS, Northwest Region, 
phone: 206-526-6129, fax: 206-526-6426 and email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Electronic Access

    This Federal Register document is available on the Government 
Printing Office's Web site at: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index/html.

Description of the Proposal

    The proposed action with a description of the proposal was 
published in the Federal Register on November 21, 2005 (70 FR 70054).

Preliminary Identification of Environmental Issues

    A principal objective of this scoping and public input process is 
to identify potentially significant impacts to the human environment 
that should be analyzed in depth in the intersector allocation EIS. 
Concomitant with identification of those impacts to be analyzed in 
depth is identification and elimination from detailed study of issues 
that are not significant or which have been covered in prior 
environmental reviews. This narrowing is intended to allow greater 
focus on those impacts that are potentially most significant. Impacts 
on the following components of the biological and physical environment 
will be evaluated: (1) Essential fish habitat and ecosystems; (2) 
protected species listed under the Endangered Species Act and Marine 
Mammal Protection Act and their habitat; and (3) the fishery management 
unit, including target and non-target fish stocks. Socioeconomic 
impacts are also considered in terms of the effect changes will have on 
the following groups: (1) Those who participate in harvesting the 
fishery resources and other living marine resources (for commercial, 
subsistence, or recreational purposes); (2) those who process and 
market fish and fish products; (3) those who are involved in allied 
support industries; (4) those who rely on living marine resources in 
the management area; (5) those who consume fish products; (6) those who 
benefit from non-consumptive use (e.g., wildlife viewing); (7) those 
who do not use the resource, but derive benefit from it by virtue of 
its existence, the option to use it, or the bequest of the resource to 
future generations; (8) those involved in managing and monitoring 
fisheries; and (9) fishing communities. Analysis of the effects of the 
alternatives on these groups will be presented in a manner that allows 
the identification of any disproportionate impacts on low income and 
minority segments of the identified groups, impacts on small entities, 
and cumulative impacts. Additional comment is sought on other types of 
impacts that should be considered or specific impacts to which 
particular attention should be paid within these categories.

Scoping and Public Involvement

    Scoping is an early and open process for identifying the scope of 
notable issues related to proposed alternatives (including status quo 
and other alternatives identified during the scoping process). A 
principal objective of the scoping and public input process is to 
identify a reasonable set of alternatives that, with adequate analysis, 
sharply define critical issues and provide a clear basis for 
distinguishing among those alternatives and selecting a preferred 
alternative. The public scoping process provides the public with the 
opportunity to comment on the range of alternatives. The scope of the 
alternatives to be analyzed should be broad enough for the Pacific 
Council and NMFS to make informed decisions on whether an alternative 
should be developed and, if so, how it should be designed, and to 
assess other changes to the fishery management plan and regulations 
necessary for the implementation of the alternative.
    Written comments will be accepted at the Pacific Council office 
through October 27, 2006 (see ADDRESSES). The public comment period 
will be reopened as part of the public comment section under the 
intersector allocation environmental impact statement agenda item 
considered at the Council meeting in Del Mar, California, the week of 
November 12, 2006. Additional information on the time and location for 
this meeting will be provided when the meeting is announced in the 
Federal Register. This information will also be posted on the Council 
Web site (http://www.pcouncil.org) (see ADDRESSES).

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

    Dated: July 3, 2006.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E6-10734 Filed 7-7-06; 8:45 am]
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