[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 178 (Friday, September 12, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52949-52950]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-21349]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XJ54


Marine Mammals; File No. 13428

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

ACTION:  Notice; issuance of permit.

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SUMMARY:  Notice is hereby given that Niladri Basu, Ph.D., Department 
of Environmental Health Sciences, University of Michigan, 109 South 
Observatory Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2029, has been issued a 
scientific research permit to import marine mammal specimens for 
scientific research.

ADDRESSES:  The permit and related documents are available for review 
upon written request or by appointment in the following offices:
    Permits, Conservation and Education Division, Office of Protected 
Resources, NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Room 13705, Silver Spring, MD 
20910; phone (301)713-2289; fax (301)427-2521; and
    Northeast Region, NMFS, One Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930-
2298; phone (978)281-9300; fax (978)281-9394.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Jennifer Skidmore or Kate Swails, 
(301) 713-2289.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On June 12, 2008, notice was published in 
the Federal Register (73 FR 33399) that a request for a scientific 
research permit had been submitted by the above-named individual. The 
requested permit has been issued under the authority of the Marine 
Mammal Protection Act of 1972, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) and 
the regulations governing the taking and importing of marine mammals 
(50 CFR part 216).
    The permit authorizes the importation of brain tissues from 40 
baikal seals (Phoca sibirica). These samples were collected in 2005 
under a joint agreement between the East-Siberian Research and 
Production Fisheries Center (Russia) and the Center for Marine 
Environmental Studies (Japan). The purpose of this study is to 
determine: (1) the types and amounts of heavy metals that baikal seals 
accumulate in specific brain regions; and (2) whether these exposures 
are a neurotoxicological concern by using novel biomarker technologies. 
This permit will expire one year from date of issuance.
    In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 
(42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), a final determination has been made that the 
activity proposed is categorically excluded from the requirement to 
prepare an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement.


[[Page 52950]]


    Dated: September 8, 2008.
P. Michael Payne,
Chief, Permits, Conservation and Education Division, Office of 
Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E8-21349 Filed 9-11-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S