[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 11 (Friday, January 16, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2995-2996]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-981]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XL89


Incidental Takes of Marine Mammals During Specified Activities; 
Marine Geophysical Survey in Southeast Asia, March-July 2009

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

ACTION:  Notice; proposed incidental take authorization; extension of 
comment period.

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SUMMARY:  On December 22, 2008, the NMFS announced notice of its 
proposed issuance of an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) to 
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (L-DEO), a part of Columbia 
University, to take small numbers of marine mammals, by harassment 
incidental to conducting a marine seismic survey in Southeast Asia 
during March-July 2009. Written comments were due by January 21, 2009. 
Under the unique circumstances of the timing of the publication of the 
Federal Register notice relative to several Federal holidays, NMFS has 
decided to extend the public comment period by 15 days, to February 5, 
2009.

DATES: The public comment period for this action has been extended from 
January 21 to February 5, 2009. Written comments and information must 
be received no later than February 5, 2009.

ADDRESSES:  Comments on the application should be addressed to P. 
Michael Payne, Chief, Permits, Conservation, and Education Division, 
Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service, 1315 
East-West Highway, Room 13705, Silver Spring, MD 20910-3225. The 
mailbox address for providing email comments is [email protected]. 
Comments sent via email, including all attachments, must not exceed 10-
megabyte file size.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Howard Goldstein, Office of Protected 
Resources, NMFS, 301-713-2289.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On December 22, 2008 (73 FR 78294), the NMFS 
announced notice of its proposed issuance of an Incidental harassment 
Authorization (IHA) to L-DEO, a part of Columbia University, to take 
small numbers of marine mammals by harassment incidental to conducting 
a marine seismic survey in Southeast Asia during March-July 2009. Under 
the unique circumstances of the timing of the publication of the 
Federal Register notice relative to several Federal holidays, NMFS had 
decided to extend the public comment period by 15 days, to February 5, 
2009. The Federal Register notice published three days before the 
Christmas holiday, which fell on Thursday, December 25, 2008. The 
following day, Friday, December, 26, 2008 was declared a Federal 
holiday for executive branch departments and agencies. New Year's Day, 
a Federal holiday, was the following Thursday, January 1, 2009. In 
recognition of the fact that the timing of these three holidays led 
many workers to be away for much of the two-week period and some non-
government organizations closed their offices during that period, NMFS' 
public comment period for this proposed action is hereby extended to 
February 5, 2009. NMFS is also aware that the proposed action is for a 
new geographical area rather than a renewal of a prior action, where 
the associated

[[Page 2996]]

documents are lengthy and would likely not be familiar to many 
interested parties. Finally, NMFS does not anticipate that the comment 
period extension will delay its decision of whether to issue an IHA.
    Background information concerning the proposed IHA can be found in 
the Federal Register notice and is not repeated here. For additional 
information about the IHA application and associated EA, please visit 
the website at: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/permits/incidental.htm

    Dated: January 12, 2009.
James H. Lecky,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. E9-981 Filed 1-15-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S