[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 91 (Friday, May 9, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26375-26376]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-10377]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XH76


Public Meetings on the Makah Tribe's Request To Hunt Eastern 
North Pacific Gray Whales

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

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: We are issuing this notice to advise the public that NMFS has 
prepared a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) in response to 
the Makah Tribe's request that NMFS waive the take moratorium of the 
Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) to allow for treaty right hunting 
of eastern North Pacific (ENP) gray whales in usual and accustomed 
grounds off the coast of Washington State. We are requesting written 
comments on the DEIS and announcing the dates and locations of three 
public meetings regarding the DEIS.

DATES: Three public meetings will be held as follows:
    (1) May 28, 2008, Port Angeles, Washington;
    (2) June 2, 2008, Seattle, Washington; and
    (3) June 5, 2008, Silver Spring, Maryland.
    Specific times and locations for each of these meetings is included 
in SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.
    Written or electronic comments on the DEIS from all interested 
parties are encouraged and must be received no later than 5 p.m. PDT on 
July 8, 2008. All comments and material received, including names and 
addresses, will become part of the administrative record and may be 
released to the public.

ADDRESSES: All comments concerning the DEIS should be addressed to: 
Steve Stone, NMFS Northwest Region, 1201 NE Lloyd Blvd., Suite 1100, 
Portland, OR 97232. Comments may also be submitted via fax (503) 230-
5441, Attn: 2008 Makah DEIS, or by e-mail to [email protected] 
with a subject line containing the document identifier: 2008 Makah 
DEIS.
    The DEIS is available in electronic form on the Internet at the 
following address: http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/Marine-Mammals/Whales-Dolphins-Porpoise/Gray-Whales/. The DEIS also may be viewed at various 
libraries identified at this Internet address or at the following NMFS 
offices:
    (1) NMFS Protected Resources Division, 1201 NE Lloyd Blvd., Suite 
1100, Portland, OR 97232. Contact Steve Stone at 503-231-2317; and
    (2) NMFS, Protected Resources Division, 7600 Sand Point Way, NE, 
Building 1, Seattle, WA 98115-6349. Contact Josephine Evans at 206-526-
6150.
    In addition, copies of the DEIS are available on CD by contacting 
Steve Stone (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Steve Stone, NMFS Northwest Region, 
(503) 231-2317, or Tom Eagle, Office of Protected Resources, (301) 713-
2322, ext. 105.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Meeting Information

    Dates, times, and addresses for the public meetings are as follows:
    (1) May 28, 2008, 6:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m., Vern Burton Memorial 
Community

[[Page 26376]]

Center, 308 East 4th Street, Port Angeles, WA;
    (2) June 2, 2008, 6:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m., Lake Union Park Armory-Great 
Hall, Seattle, 860 Terry Avenue North, Washington; and
    (3) June 5, 2008, 10 a.m.-1 p.m., NOAA Auditorium, 1301 East-West 
Highway, Silver Spring, Maryland.

Background

    On May 9, 2008, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced 
the availability of NMFS' DEIS concerning the Makah Indian Tribe's 
February 2005 request to resume limited hunting of ENP gray whales in 
the coastal portion of the Tribe's usual and accustomed fishing 
grounds, off the coast of Washington State, for ceremonial and 
subsistence purposes. The Tribe's proposed action stems from the 1855 
Treaty of Neah Bay, which expressly secures the Makah Tribe's right to 
hunt whales. To exercise that right, the Tribe is seeking authorization 
from NMFS under the MMPA and the Whaling Convention Act. The release of 
this DEIS is one of several steps NMFS will undertake to evaluate the 
Tribe's request.
    The DEIS, prepared pursuant to the National Environmental Policy 
Act, considers various alternatives to the Tribe's proposed action. To 
develop the full range of action alternatives--five in total--we 
considered the principal components associated with a hunt, including: 
the time when whale hunting would occur; the area where whale hunting 
would occur; the annual and five-year limits on the number of whales 
harvested, struck, and struck and lost; cessation of whale hunting if a 
predetermined number of identified whales (i.e., included in a 
photographic catalog of whales from the Pacific Coast Feeding 
Aggregation area) were harvested; and the method of hunting. We 
developed these alternatives with input from NMFS staff, the applicant, 
the cooperating agency (i.e., Bureau of Indian Affairs), and oral and 
written comments from the public. This DEIS addresses a number of 
resources identified for review during both internal and public 
scoping, including: water quality, marine habitat and species, ENP gray 
whales, other wildlife species, economics, environmental justice, 
social environment, cultural resources, ceremonial and subsistence 
resources, noise, aesthetics, transportation, public services, public 
safety, and human health.
    The DEIS provides an important opportunity for the public to 
formally comment on the Tribe's proposal and the various alternatives. 
These comments, in conjunction with considerations described in the 
DEIS, will provide key information to assist NMFS with its final 
decision on the Tribe's request.

Access to Government Building

    For access to a Federal government building, the Department of 
Commerce Office of Security at NOAA has advised that all attendees must 
register for the meeting and must have a valid government-issued 
identification (e.g, driver's license or passport) with a photograph. 
Therefore, prospective attendees for the public meeting in the NOAA 
Auditorium, Silver Spring, MD, should submit their first and last names 
and affiliation, if appropriate, by telephone or e-mail to Tom Eagle 
(See FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT) by 4 p.m. EDT on June 2, 2008.

Reasonable Accommodation

    Persons needing reasonable accommodations to attend and participate 
in the public meetings should contact Steve Stone (see FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT). To allow sufficient time to process requests, 
please call at least 5 business days prior to the relevant meeting(s).

    Dated: May 5, 2008.
Barbara A. Schroeder,
Acting Chief, Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Conservation Division, 
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E8-10377 Filed 5-8-08; 8:45 am]
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