[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 155 (Thursday, August 11, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49735-49736]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-20460]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XA631


Endangered and Threatened Species; Take of Anadromous Fish

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

ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comment.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that NMFS has received two Tribal 
Resource Management Plans (TRMPs), one from the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes 
(SBT) and one from the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian 
Reservation (CTUIR), and two Fishery Management and Evaluation Plans 
(FMEPs) from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW), for 
fishery management in the Snake River Basin in Northeast Oregon. The 
TRMPs are provided pursuant to the Tribal 4(d) Rule; the ODFW FMEPs are 
submitted for approval under Limit 4 of the 4(d) Rule for Pacific 
salmon and steelhead. This document serves to notify the public of the 
availability for comment of the proposed evaluation of the Secretary of 
Commerce (Secretary) as to how the TRMPs address the criteria in the 
ESA, and the availability of the state FMEPs for public comment. NMFS 
also announces the availability of a draft Environmental Assessment 
(EA) for the pending determinations.

DATES: Comments and other submissions must be received at the 
appropriate address or fax number (see ADDRESSES) no later than 5 p.m. 
Pacific time on September 12, 2011.

ADDRESSES: Written responses to the application should be sent to 
Enrique Pati[ntilde]o, National Marine Fisheries Services, Salmon 
Management Division, 7600 Sand Point Way, NE., Seattle, WA 98115. 
Comments may also be submitted by e-mail to: 
[email protected]. Include in the subject line of the 
e-mail comment the following identifier: Comments on Northeast Oregon 
Fishery Plans. Comments may also be sent via facsimile (fax) to (206) 
526-6736. Requests for copies of the permit applications should be 
directed to the

[[Page 49736]]

National Marine Fisheries Services, Salmon Management Division, 7600 
Sand Point Way NE., Seattle, WA 98115. The documents are also available 
on the Internet at http://www.nwr.noaa.gov. Comments received will also 
be available for public inspection, by appointment, during normal 
business hours by calling (503) 230-5418.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Enrique Pati[ntilde]o at (206) 526-
4655 or e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Species Covered in This Notice

    Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha): Threatened, naturally 
produced and artificially propagated Snake River Spring/Summer-run.
    Steelhead (O. mykiss): Threatened, naturally produced and 
artificially propagated Snake River Basin.

Background

    On June 7, 2011, NMFS received a final revised TRMP from the SBT, 
addressing management of SBT fisheries in the Grande Ronde and Imnaha 
Rivers. On June 8, 2011, NMFS received a final revised TRMP from the 
CTUIR, addressing management of CTUIR fisheries in the Grande Ronde and 
Imnaha Rivers. On June 14, 2011, NMFS received two final revised FMEPs 
from the ODFW, one describing state-managed recreational fisheries in 
the Grande Ronde River and one describing state-managed fisheries in 
the Imnaha River. The FMEPs and TRMPs include adaptive management 
measures to limit ESA impacts and propose conservative harvest regimes 
on the affected listed species. The FMEPs and TRMPs describe monitoring 
programs that would be in place to ensure that the implementation of 
the fisheries is as intended, and that assumptions regarding the 
effects of the fisheries, particularly in application of the proposed 
ESA take limits, continue to remain valid.
    The FMEPs and TRMPs propose to manage all spring/summer Chinook 
salmon fisheries to achieve escapement objectives. The FMEPs and TRMPs 
utilize a harvest rate with five tiers based on predicted adult 
abundance to each of the affected populations. The majority of the 
harvest is anticipated to come from hatchery-origin stocks. The FMEPs 
and TRMPs also describe a process to guide coordination of fishery 
design and implementation between the agencies implementing fisheries 
in the action area.
    As required by the ESA 4(d) Rule for Tribal Plans (65 FR 42481, 
July 10, 2000 [50 CFR 223.209]), the Secretary must determine pursuant 
to 50 CFR 223.209 and pursuant to the government-to-government 
processes therein whether the TRMPs for fisheries in Northeast Oregon 
would appreciably reduce the likelihood of survival and recovery of 
Snake River spring/summer and Snake River Basin steelhead. The 
Secretary must take comments on his pending determination as to whether 
the TRMPs address the criteria in the Tribal 4(d) Rule and in Sec.  
223.203(b)(4).
    As specified in Sec.  223.203(b)(4) of the ESA 4(d) Rule, NMFS may 
approve an FMEP if it meets criteria set forth in Sec.  
223.203(b)(4)(i)(A) through (I). Prior to final approval of an FMEP, 
NMFS must publish notification announcing its availability for public 
review and comment.
    NEPA requires Federal agencies to conduct an environmental analysis 
of their proposed actions to determine if the actions may affect the 
human environment. NMFS expects to take action on two ESA section 4(d) 
TRMPs and two ESA section 4(d) FMEPs. Therefore, NMFS is seeking public 
input on the scope of the required NEPA analysis, including the range 
of reasonable alternatives and associated impacts of any alternatives.
    The final NEPA, TRMP, and FMEP determinations will not be completed 
until after the end of the 30-day comment period and will fully 
consider all public comments received during the comment period. NMFS 
will publish a record of its final action on the TRMPs in the Federal 
Register.

Authority

    Under section 4 of the ESA, NMFS, by delegated authority from the 
Secretary of Commerce, is required to adopt such regulations as he 
deems necessary and advisable for the conservation of the species 
listed as threatened. The ESA salmon and steelhead 4(d) Rule (65 FR 
42422, July 10, 2000) specifies categories of activities that 
contribute to the conservation of listed salmonids and sets out the 
criteria for such activities. Limit 4 of the updated 4(d) rule (50 CFR 
223.203(b)(4)) further provides that the prohibitions of paragraph (a) 
of the updated 4(d) rule (50 CFR 223.203(a)) do not apply to activities 
associated with fishery harvest provided that an FMEP has been approved 
by NMFS to be in accordance with the salmon and steelhead 4(d) rule (65 
FR 42422, July 10, 2000, as updated in 70 FR 37160, June 28, 2005). The 
ESA Tribal 4(d) Rule (65 FR 42481, July 10, 2000) states that the ESA 
section 9 take prohibitions will not apply to TRMPs that will not 
appreciably reduce the likelihood of survival and recovery for the 
listed species.

    Dated: August 5, 2011.
Therese Conant,
Acting Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected 
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-20460 Filed 8-10-11; 8:45 am]
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