[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]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P