[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 54 (Friday, March 20, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14912-14913]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-06432]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XC021
Public Meetings and Request for Comments on a Draft Environmental
Impact Statement Regarding 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; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: We are issuing this notice to advise the public that NMFS has
prepared a new 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 two
public meetings regarding the DEIS.
DATES: Two public meetings will be held as follows:
(1) April 27, 2015, Seattle, Washington; and
(2) April 29, 2015, Port Angeles, Washington.
Specific times and locations for each of these meetings are
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
June 11, 2015. All comments and material received, including names and
addresses, will become part of the administrative record and may be
released to the public.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by NOAA-NMFS-2012-0104,
by any of the following methods:
Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public comments via
the Federal eRulemaking Portal http://www.regulations.gov.
--OR--
Email: Submit electronic public comments via the following NMFS
email site: [email protected].
--OR--
Mail: Submit written comments to: Steve Stone, NMFS West Coast
Region, 1201 NE Lloyd Blvd., Suite 1100, Portland, OR 97232.
Instructions: All comments received are a part of the public record
and will generally be posted to http://www.regulations.gov without
change. All Personal Identifying Information (for example, name,
address, etc.) voluntarily submitted by the commenter may be publicly
accessible. Do not submit Confidential Business Information or
otherwise sensitive or protected information.
NMFS will accept anonymous comments (enter N/A in the required
fields, if you wish to remain anonymous). You may submit attachments to
electronic comments in Microsoft Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF
file formats only.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Steve Stone, NMFS Northwest Region,
(503) 231-2317 or Shannon Bettridge, NMFS Office of Protected
Resources, (301) 427-8402.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The DEIS is available in electronic form on
the Internet at the following address: http://www.westcoast.fisheries
.noaa.gov/protected_species/marine_mammals/cetaceans/whale_hunt.html.
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 Leah Mattox at 206-526-
6150.
In addition, copies of the DEIS are available on CD by contacting Steve
Stone (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
Meeting Information
The public will have the opportunity to provide written and oral
comments on the DEIS at two public meetings. Dates, times, and
addresses for the public meetings are as follows:
(1) April 27, 2015, 6:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m., NOAA Western Regional
Center, Building 9 (Kelly C. Sandy III Auditorium), 7600 Sand Point Way
NE., Seattle, WA 98115; and
(2) April 29, 2015, 6:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m., Vern Burton Memorial
Community Center, 308 East 4th Street, Port Angeles, WA.
[[Page 14913]]
Background
On March 13, 2015, 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. Informed by information received during public
scoping, this DEIS contains updates and a new set of alternatives
compared to a previous DEIS released on May 9, 2008 (73 FR 26394) and
later terminated on May 21, 2012 (77 FR 29967). 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 new 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 six-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 Group
area) were harvested; and the method of hunting. This DEIS addresses a
number of resources identified for review during both internal and
public scoping, including: Water quality, marine habitat and species,
eastern and western North Pacific 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 the Federal government building in Seattle,
Washington, the Department of Commerce Western Region Security Office
has advised that all attendees must have valid government-issued
identification (e.g., driver's license, tribal identification card, or
passport). Prospective attendees for the public meeting in the NOAA
Auditorium in Seattle, Washington should submit their first and last
names and affiliation, if appropriate, via the NMFS email site (See
ADDRESSES) by 4 p.m. PDT on April 26, 2015.
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: March 17, 2015.
Perry F. Gayaldo,
Deputy Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-06432 Filed 3-19-15; 8:45 am]
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