[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 132 (Wednesday, July 11, 2007)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 37697-37698]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-13481]


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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 amended. 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 and one public hearing to be held in Maryland in 
two previous Federal Register notices. In addition, NMFS is announcing 
a separate hearing in this notice that will be held in Soldotna, 
Alaska, in order to provide greater opportunity for public comment.

DATES: The hearing will be held on July 27, 2007, from 6 to 9 p.m. in 
Soldotna, AK. Written comments must be received by August 3, 2007.

ADDRESSES: The July 27, 2007, hearing will be held at the Kenai 
Peninsula Borough Assembly chambers, 144 North Binkley Street, 
Soldotna, AK.
    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: Brad Smith, NMFS, 222 West 7th Avenue, 
Anchorage, AK 99517, telephone (907) 271-5006; Kaja Brix, NMFS, (907) 
586-7235; or Marta Nammack, NMFS, (301) 713-1401.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On April 20, 2007, NMFS published a proposed rule to list the Cook 
Inlet beluga whale as an endangered species under the Endangered 
Species Act of 1973 (ESA), as amended (72 FR 19854). 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.
    Following the publication of the proposed rule to list the Cook 
Inlet beluga whale as endangered, NMFS received requests to schedule 
public hearings on this issue. In response to these requests, NMFS 
published two separate notices in the Federal Register announcing 
public hearings in Alaska (72 FR 32605; June 13, 2007) and Maryland (72 
FR 34661; June 25, 2007). Following these announcements, NMFS received 
an additional request for a public hearing to be held in Soldotna, AK. 
NMFS has decided to honor the request in order to provide additional 
opportunities for public comment.

[[Page 37698]]

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-making NMFS has conducted traditional 
public hearings, consisting of recorded oral testimony from interested 
individuals. This format, although providing a means for public input, 
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. 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, 
above) 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/.

    Dated: July 6, 2007.
James H. Lecky,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. E7-13481 Filed 7-10-07; 8:45 am]
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