[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 194 (Wednesday, October 7, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60631-60632]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-25509]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration


Notice of Intent To Conduct Scoping and To Prepare a Draft 
Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Wisconsin--Lake 
Michigan National Marine Sanctuary

AGENCY: Office of National Marine Sanctuaries (ONMS), National Ocean 
Service (NOS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 
Department of Commerce (DOC).

ACTION: Notice of intent to conduct scoping, hold public scoping 
meetings and to prepare a draft environmental impact statement and 
management plan.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with section 304(a) of the National Marine 
Sanctuaries Act, as amended, (NMSA) (16 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.), and based 
on the resources and boundaries described in the community-based 
nomination submitted to NOAA on December 2, 2014 
(www.nominate.noaa.gov/nominations), NOAA is initiating a process to 
consider designating an area of Wisconsin's Lake Michigan as a national 
marine sanctuary. The designation process, as required by the NMSA, 
will be conducted concurrently with a public process under the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). This notice 
also informs the public that NOAA will coordinate its responsibilities 
under section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) (16 
U.S.C. 470) with its ongoing NEPA process, pursuant to 36 CFR 800.8(a), 
including the use of NEPA documents and public and stakeholder meetings 
to also meet the requirements of section 106. The public scoping 
process is intended to solicit information and comments on the range of 
issues and the significant issues to be analyzed in depth in an 
environmental impact statement related to designating this area as a 
national marine sanctuary. The results of this scoping process will 
assist NOAA in moving forward with the designation process and in 
formulating alternatives for the draft environmental impact statement 
and proposed regulations, including developing national marine 
sanctuary boundaries. It will also inform the initiation of any 
consultations with federal, state, or local agencies and other 
interested parties, as appropriate.

DATES: Comments must be received by January 15, 2016. Public scoping 
meetings will be held as detailed below:

(1) Manitowoc, WI
    Date: November 17, 2015
    Location: Wisconsin Maritime Museum
    Address: 75 Maritime Drive, Manitowoc, WI
    Time: 6:30-8:30 p.m.
(2) Port Washington, WI
    Date: November 18, 2015
    Location: Wilson House
    Address: 200 N. Franklin St., Port Washington, WI
    Time: 6:30-8:30 p.m.
(3) Sheboygan, WI
    Date: November 19, 2015
    Location: University of Wisconsin-Sheboygan, Main Building, Wombat 
Room (Room 2114)
    Address: 1 University Drive, Sheboygan, WI
    Time: 6:30-8:30 p.m.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted by any one of the following 
methods:
     Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public 
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to 
www.regulations.gov//#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NOS-2015-0112, click the 
``Comment Now!'' icon, complete the required fields and enter or attach 
your comments.
     Mail: Ellen Brody, Great Lakes Regional Coordinator, 4840 
S State Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48108-9719.
    Instructions: Comments sent by any other method, to any other 
address or individual, or received after the end of the comment period, 
may not be considered by NOAA. All comments received are a part of the 
public record and will generally be posted for public viewing on 
www.regulations.gov without change. All personal identifying 
information (for example, name, address, etc.), confidential business 
information, or otherwise sensitive information submitted voluntarily 
submitted by the commenter will be publicly accessible. NOAA will 
accept anonymous comments (enter ``N/A'' in the required fields if you 
wish to remain anonymous).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ellen Brody, Great Lakes Regional 
Coordinator, 734-741-2270, [email protected]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    The NMSA authorizes the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) to 
designate and protect as national marine sanctuaries areas of the 
marine environment that are of special national significance due to 
their conservation, recreational, ecological, historical, scientific, 
cultural, archeological, educational, or esthetic qualities. Day-to-day 
management of national marine sanctuaries has been delegated by the 
Secretary to ONMS. The primary objective of the NMSA is to protect the 
biological and cultural resources of the sanctuary system, such as 
coral reefs, marine animals, historic shipwrecks, historic structures, 
and archaeological sites.
    The area being considered for designation as a national marine 
sanctuary is a region that includes 875 square miles of Lake Michigan 
waters and bottomlands adjacent to Manitowoc, Sheboygan, and Ozaukee 
counties and the cities of Port Washington, Sheboygan, Manitowoc, and 
Two Rivers. It includes 80 miles of

[[Page 60632]]

shoreline and extends 9 to 14 miles from the shoreline. The area 
contains an extraordinary collection of submerged maritime heritage 
resources as demonstrated by the listing of 15 shipwrecks on the 
National Register of Historic Places. The area includes 39 known 
shipwrecks, 123 reported vessel losses, numerous other historic 
maritime-related features, and is adjacent to communities that have 
embraced their centuries-long relationship with Lake Michigan.
    This collection of shipwrecks is nationally significant because of 
the architectural and archaeological integrity of the shipwrecks, the 
representative nature of the sample of vessels, their location on one 
of the nation's most important transportation corridors, and the 
potential for the discovery of other shipwrecks and submerged pre-
contact cultural sites. The historic shipwrecks are representative of 
the vessels that sailed and steamed this corridor, carrying grain and 
raw materials east as other vessels came west loaded with coal. Many of 
the shipwrecks retain an unusual degree of architectural integrity, 
with 15 vessels that are intact. NOAA encourages the public to review 
the full nomination at www.nominate.noaa.gov/nominations.

II. Need for Action

    Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, on behalf of the State of 
Wisconsin; the Cities of Two Rivers, Manitowoc, Sheboygan, and Port 
Washington; the Counties of Manitowoc, Sheboygan, and Ozaukee submitted 
a nomination to NOAA on December 2, 2014 through the Sanctuary 
Nomination Process (SNP) (79 FR 33851) asking NOAA to consider 
designating this area of Wisconsin's Lake Michigan waters as a national 
marine sanctuary. The State of Wisconsin's selection of this geographic 
area for the nomination drew heavily from a 2008 report conducted by 
the Wisconsin History Society and funded by the Wisconsin Coastal 
Management Program (Wisconsin's Historic Shipwrecks: An Overview and 
Analysis of Locations for a State/Federal Partnership with the National 
Marine Sanctuary Program, 2008). This report analyzed all Wisconsin 
shipwrecks in both Lake Superior and Lake Michigan, concluding that the 
875-square-mile area in the nomination had the best potential for a 
national marine sanctuary designation based on the national 
significance of the shipwrecks. The nomination also identified 
opportunities for NOAA to strengthen and expand on resource protection, 
education, and research programs by state of Wisconsin agencies and in 
the four communities along the Lake Michigan coast.
    NOAA is initiating the process to designate this area as a national 
marine sanctuary based on the nomination submitted to the agency as 
part of the SNP. NOAA's review of the nomination against the criteria 
and considerations of the SNP, including the requirement for broad-
based community support indicated strong merit in proposing this area 
as a national marine sanctuary. NOAA completed its review of the 
nomination on February 5, 2015, and added the area to the inventory of 
nominations that are eligible for designation. Designation under the 
NMSA would allow NOAA to supplement and complement work by the State of 
Wisconsin and other federal agencies to protect this collection of 
nationally significant shipwrecks.

III. Process

    The process for designating the Wisconsin-Lake Michigan area as a 
national marine sanctuary includes the following stages:
    1. Public Scoping Process-- Information collection and 
characterization, including the consideration of public comments 
received during scoping;
    2. Preparation and release of draft designation documents including 
a draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) that identifies boundary 
alternatives, a draft management plan (DMP), as well as a notice of 
proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to define proposed sanctuary regulations. 
Draft documents would be used to initiate consultations with federal, 
state, or local agencies and other interested parties, as appropriate;
    3. Public review and comment on the DEIS, DMP and NPRM;
    4. Preparation and release of a final environmental impact 
statement, final management plan, including a response to public 
comments, with a final rule and regulations, if appropriate.
    With this notice, NOAA is initiating a public scoping process to:
    1. Gather information and public comments from individuals, 
organizations, and government agencies on the designation of the 
Wisconsin-Lake Michigan area as a national marine sanctuary based on 
the community-based nomination of December 2014, especially: (a) The 
spatial extent of the proposed boundary; and (b) the resources that 
would be protected;
    2. Help determine the scope and significance of issues to be 
addressed in the preparation of an environmental analysis under NEPA 
including socioeconomic impacts of designation, effects of designation 
on cultural and biological resources, and threats to resources within 
the proposed area;
    3. Help determine the proposed action and possible alternatives 
pursuant to NEPA and to conduct any appropriate consultations.

IV. Consultation Under Section 106 of the National Historic 
Preservation Act

    This notice confirms that NOAA will fulfill its responsibility 
under section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) 
through the ongoing NEPA process, pursuant to 36 CFR 800.8(a) including 
the use of NEPA documents and public and stakeholder meetings to meet 
the section 106 requirements. The NHPA specifically applies to any 
agency undertaking that may affect historic properties. Pursuant to 36 
CFR 800.16(1)(1), historic properties includes: ``any prehistoric or 
historic district, site, building, structure or object included in, or 
eligible for inclusion in, the National Register of Historic Places 
maintained by the Secretary of the Interior. The term includes 
artifacts, records, and remains that are related to and located within 
such properties. The term includes properties of traditional religious 
and cultural importance to an Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian 
organization and that meet the National Register criteria.''
    In fulfilling its responsibility under the NHPA and NEPA, NOAA 
intends to identify consulting parties; identify historic properties 
and assess the effects of the undertaking on such properties; initiate 
formal consultation with the State Historic Preservation Officer, the 
Advisory Council of Historic Preservation, and other consulting 
parties; involve the public in accordance with NOAA's NEPA procedures, 
and develop in consultation with identified consulting parties 
alternatives and proposed measures that might avoid, minimize or 
mitigate any adverse effects on historic properties and describe them 
in any environmental assessment or draft environmental impact 
statement.

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1431 et seq

    Dated: September 30, 2015.
John Armor,
Acting Director for the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries.
[FR Doc. 2015-25509 Filed 10-5-15; 11:15 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-NK-P