[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 50 (Friday, March 14, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14484-14485]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-05577]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XS35


Marine Mammals; File No. 14450

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

ACTION: Notice; receipt of application for permit amendment.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the National Marine Fisheries 
Service's Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC), 75 Virginia Beach 
Drive, Miami, FL 33149 [Principal Investigator: Dr. Keith Mullin], has 
applied for an amendment to Scientific Research Permit No. 14450.

DATES: Written, telefaxed, or email comments must be received on or 
before April 14, 2014.

ADDRESSES: The application and related documents are available for 
review by selecting ``Records Open for Public Comment'' from the 
Features box on the Applications and Permits for Protected Species home 
page, https://apps.nmfs.noaa.gov, and then selecting

[[Page 14485]]

File No. 14450-01 from the list of available applications.
    These documents are also available upon written request or by 
appointment in the following offices:
    Permits and Conservation Division, Office of Protected Resources, 
NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Room 13705, Silver Spring, MD 20910; 
phone (301) 427-8401; fax (301) 713-0376;
    Northeast Region, NMFS, 55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 
01930; phone (978) 281-9328; fax (978) 281-9394; and
    Southeast Region, NMFS, 263 13th Avenue South, Saint Petersburg, FL 
33701; phone (727) 824-5312; fax (727) 824-5309.
    Written comments on this application should be submitted to the 
Chief, Permits and Conservation Division, at the address listed above. 
Comments may also be submitted by facsimile to (301) 713-0376, or by 
email to [email protected]. Please include the File No. in the 
subject line of the email comment.
    Those individuals requesting a public hearing should submit a 
written request to the Chief, Permits and Conservation Division at the 
address listed above. The request should set forth the specific reasons 
why a hearing on this application would be appropriate.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kristy Beard, (301) 427-8401.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The subject amendment to Permit No. 14450 is 
requested under the authority of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 
1972, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.), the regulations governing 
the taking and importing of marine mammals (50 CFR part 216), the 
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), 
and the regulations governing the taking, importing, and exporting of 
endangered and threatened species (50 CFR parts 222-226).
    Permit No. 14450, issued on March 4, 2014 (79 FR 13042), authorizes 
the permit holder to take all cetacean species that occur in U.S. and 
international waters of the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico and 
Caribbean Sea by harassment during aerial and vessel-based line-
transect sampling, acoustic sampling, behavioral observations, and 
vessel-based photo-identification and biopsy sampling. Tissue samples 
collected in other countries may be imported into the U.S. The permit 
is valid for five years from the date of issuance.
    The permit holder is requesting the permit be amended to include 
authorization for takes by harassment during satellite tagging to 
support NMFS stock assessment research on ESA-listed large whales that 
occur in U.S. and international waters of the western North Atlantic. 
Up to four attempts would be made to attach a tag to an animal. 
Directed satellite tagging efforts would be conducted to tag 20 sperm 
whales and 5 North Atlantic right whales. Opportunistic tagging would 
occur of 10 fin, 5 blue, 5 sei, and 10 humpback whales when encountered 
during other SEFSC assessment surveys. Only adults would be tagged. The 
expiration date of the permit would not change.
    In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 
(42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), an initial determination has been made that 
the activity proposed is categorically excluded from the requirement to 
prepare an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement.
    Concurrent with the publication of this notice in the Federal 
Register, NMFS is forwarding copies of this application to the Marine 
Mammal Commission and its Committee of Scientific Advisors.

    Dated: March 10, 2014.
Donna S. Wieting,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2014-05577 Filed 3-13-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P