[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 121 (Monday, June 25, 2007)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 34661-34662]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-12262]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 224

[I.D. 021607C]


Endangered and Threatened Species; Proposed Endangered Status for 
the Cook Inlet Beluga Whale; Public Hearing

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

ACTION: Notice of public hearing.

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SUMMARY: On April 20, 2007, NMFS proposed the listing of the Cook Inlet 
beluga whale as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act 
of 1973 (ESA). As part of that proposal, NMFS announced a public 
comment period to end on June 19, 2007, and then extended the comment 
period to August 3, 2007. NMFS has received requests for public 
hearings on this issue. In response, NMFS announced two public hearings 
to be held in Alaska in a previous Federal Register notice. In 
addition, NMFS is announcing a separate hearing in this notice that 
will be held in Silver Spring, Maryland, in order to provide greater 
opportunity for public comment.

DATES:  The hearing will be held on July 31, 2007, from 3:30 to 6:30 
p.m. in Silver Spring, MD. Written comments must be received by August 
3, 2007.

ADDRESSES: The July 31, 2007, hearing will be held at NOAA 
Headquarters, Building 2, Conference Room 2358, 1325 East-West Highway, 
Silver Spring, MD.
    Written comments can be sent to Kaja Brix, Assistant Regional 
Administrator, Protected Resources Division, Alaska Region, NMFS, Attn: 
Ellen Sebastian. Comments may be submitted by:
     E-mail: [email protected]. Include in the 
subject line the following document identifier: Cook Inlet Beluga Whale 
PR. E-mail comments, with or without attachments, are limited to 5 
megabytes.
     Webform at the Federal eRulemaking Portal: 
www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions at that site for 
submitting comments.
     Mail: P. O Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802.
     Hand delivery to the Federal Building : 709 W. 9th Street, 
Juneau, AK.
     Fax: (907) 586-7557.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For specific information regarding the 
July 31, 2007, hearing in Silver Spring, MD, contact Chris Uyeda, NMFS, 
1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910-3226, telephone (301) 
713-1401 . For all other information regarding the proposed listing of 
the Cook Inlet beluga whale contact Brad Smith, NMFS, 222 West 7th 
Avenue, Anchorage, AK 99517, telephone (907) 271-5006; Kaja Brix, NMFS, 
(907) 586-7235; or Marta Nammack, (301) 713-1401.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On April 20, 2007, NMFS published a proposed rule (72 FR 19854) to 
list the Cook Inlet beluga whale as an endangered species under the 
Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA), as amended. This action followed 
completion of the Cook Inlet beluga whale status review, which found 
this population to be at risk of extinction within the next 100 years 
and described NMFS' determination that this population constitutes a 
``species'', or distinct population segment under the ESA.
    On June 13, 2007, in response to requests, NMFS announced that two 
public hearings would be held in Alaska regarding the proposed listing 
of the Cook Inlet beluga whale (72 FR 32605). Following this 
announcement, NMFS received an additional request for a public hearing 
to be held in Silver Spring. This request was submitted beyond the 45-
day statutory deadline for public hearing requests (16 U.S.C. 
1533(b)(5)(E)). However, NMFS has decided to voluntarily honor the 
request in order to provide additional opportunities for public 
comment.

Public Hearings

    Joint Commerce-Interior ESA implementing regulations state that the 
Secretary shall promptly hold at least one public hearing if any person 
requests one within 45 days of publication of a proposed regulation to 
list a species or to designate critical habitat (see 50 CFR 
424.16(c)(3)). In past ESA rule-makings NMFS has conducted traditional 
public hearings, consisting of recorded oral testimony from interested 
individuals. This format, although providing a means for public input,

[[Page 34662]]

does not provide opportunities for dialogue and information exchange. 
NMFS believes that the traditional public hearing format can be 
improved upon by also including a brief presentation on the results of 
the Cook Inlet beluga Status Review and other topics of interest.
    The preferred means for providing public comment to the official 
record is via written testimony prepared in advance of the meeting 
which may also be presented orally. Blank ``comment sheets'' will be 
provided at the meetings for those without prepared written comments, 
and opportunity will also be provided for additional oral testimony. 
There is no need to register for these hearings.
    In scheduling these public hearings, NMFS has anticipated that many 
affected stakeholders and members of the public may prefer to discuss 
the proposed listing directly with staff during the public comment 
period. However, these public meetings are not the only opportunity for 
the public to provide input on this proposal. The public and 
stakeholders are encouraged to continue to comment and provide input to 
NMFS on the proposal (via correspondence, e-mail, and the Internet; see 
ADDRESSES) up until the scheduled close of the comment period on August 
3, 2007.

References

    The proposed rule, status review, maps, a list of the references 
cited in this document, and other materials relating to the proposed 
listing can be found on the NMFS Alaska Region website http://www.fakr.noaa.gov/.

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.

    Dated: June 19, 2007.
James H. Lecky,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. E7-12262 Filed 6-22-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S