[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 193 (Thursday, October 5, 2006)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 58767]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-8491]



[[Page 58767]]

=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

15 CFR Part 922

[Docket No. 060707188-6188-01]
RIN 0648-AT18


Consideration of Marine Reserves and Marine Conservation Areas 
Within the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary

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

ACTION: Proposed rule; correction.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: On August 11, 2006, NOAA published a proposed rule in the 
Federal Register to establish marine reserves and marine conservation 
areas within the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary (Sanctuary). 
The preamble of that rule contained inconsistent or inaccurate figures 
denoting the current size of the Sanctuary that need to be corrected. 
This document corrects and clarifies those figures.

DATES: The deadline for submitting comments on the proposed rule and 
hearing dates remains October 10, 2006.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the draft environmental impact statement, 
regulatory impact review, and initial regulatory flexibility analyses 
may still be obtained from NOAA's Channel Islands National Marine 
Sanctuary Web site at http://channelislands.noaa.gov/ or by writing to 
Sean Hastings, Resource Protection Coordinator, Channel Islands 
National Marine Sanctuary, 113 Harbor Way, Suite 150, Santa Barbara, CA 
93109; e-mail: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sean Hastings, (805) 884-1472; e-mail: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Need for Correction

    On August 11, 2006 (71 FR 46134), NOAA published a proposed rule to 
establish a network of marine zones within the Sanctuary. The proposed 
rule contained three inconsistent or inaccurate figures denoting the 
current size of the Sanctuary and the increase in total area of the 
Sanctuary that would result from the proposed rule. These descriptions 
appear in the preamble to that proposed rule and do not affect the 
substance of the regulatory text or modify NOAA's proposal in any 
substantive way.
    The first reference that needs to be corrected appears in the 
SUMMARY section of the proposed rule (page 46135; first column), where 
the current size of the Sanctuary is cited as ``approximately 1268 
square nautical miles.'' When NOAA issued final regulations for the 
Sanctuary on October 2, 1980, the area of the Sanctuary was estimated 
to be approximately 1252.5 square nautical miles (45 FR 65198). NOAA 
updated the estimate to approximately 1243 square nautical miles using 
more accurate information and the North American Datum 1983. In a 
separate proposed rule issued earlier this year, NOAA proposed, among 
other things, to update the legal description of the Sanctuary boundary 
to reflect this change (71 FR 29096; May 19, 2006). This update does 
not constitute a change in the geographic area of the Sanctuary, but 
rather an improved estimate of its size. For these reasons, the current 
size of the Sanctuary should be cited as ``approximately 1243 square 
nautical miles.''
    The second reference that needs to be clarified appears in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of the proposed rule on page 46135 
(second column), where NOAA cites ``1,252.5 square nautical miles'' as 
the current size of the Sanctuary. For the reason discussed above, the 
proposed rule should have cited the current size of the Sanctuary as 
``approximately 1243 square nautical miles.''
    The third reference that needs to be clarified appears in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of the proposed rule on page 46138 
(third column), where NOAA cites ``1252 square nautical miles'' as the 
current size of the Sanctuary and ``16 square nautical miles'' as the 
increase in area that would result from the proposed rule. For the 
reasons described above, the proposed rule should have cited the 
current size of the Sanctuary as ``approximately 1243 square nautical 
miles.'' Similarly, the increase in the size of the Sanctuary that 
would result from the proposed rule should be cited as ``approximately 
25 square nautical miles'' instead of ``16 square nautical miles.'' 
This increase in the difference between the proposed Sanctuary size and 
the current Sanctuary size is a product of the smaller size estimate of 
1,243 square nautical miles and does not result from an increase in the 
proposed area that would be added to the Sanctuary by the proposed 
rule.
    The draft environmental impact statement associated with the 
proposed rule, entitled ``Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the 
Consideration of Marine Reserves and Marine Conservation Areas'' (71 FR 
46220; August 11, 2006), also uses both ``1,243'' and ``1252'' square 
nautical miles to approximate the current size of the Sanctuary. As 
discussed above, when discussing the current size of the Sanctuary in 
general terms, those references should be ``approximately 1243 square 
nautical miles.'' Similarly, references to the difference between the 
current size of the Sanctuary and its expanded size under the proposed 
rule should be cited as ``approximately 25 square nautical miles.''

    Dated: September 26, 2006.
Elizabeth R. Scheffler,
Assistant Administrator for Management, Ocean Services and Coastal Zone 
Management.
[FR Doc. 06-8491 Filed 10-4-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-NK-M