[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 169 (Wednesday, August 31, 2016)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 60227-60234]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-21138]
[[Page 60225]]
Vol. 81
Wednesday,
No. 169
August 31, 2016
Part IV
The President
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Proclamation 9478--Papah[amacr]naumoku[amacr]kea Marine National
Monument Expansion
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 81 , No. 169 / Wednesday, August 31, 2016 /
Presidential Documents
___________________________________________________________________
Title 3--
The President
[[Page 60227]]
Proclamation 9478 of August 26, 2016
Papah[amacr]naumoku[amacr]kea Marine National
Monument Expansion
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
Through Proclamation 8031 of June 15, 2006, as amended
by Proclamation 8112 of February 28, 2007, the
President established the Papah[amacr]naumoku[amacr]kea
Marine National Monument (Monument), to protect and
preserve the marine area of the Northwestern Hawaiian
Islands and the historic and scientific objects
therein. As stated in Proclamation 8031, the area,
including the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef
Ecosystem Reserve, the Midway Atoll National Wildlife
Refuge, the Battle of Midway National Memorial, and the
Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge, supports a
dynamic reef ecosystem with more than 7,000 marine
species, of which approximately one quarter are unique
to the Hawaiian Islands. This diverse ecosystem is home
to many species of coral, fish, birds, marine mammals,
and other flora and fauna, including the endangered
Hawaiian monk seal, the threatened green sea turtle,
and the endangered leatherback and hawksbill sea
turtles. In addition, this area has great cultural
significance to the Native Hawaiian community and a
connection to early Polynesian culture worthy of
protection and understanding.
An area adjacent to the Monument, and that will
constitute the Monument Expansion as set forth in this
proclamation, includes the waters and submerged lands
to the extent of the seaward limit of the United States
Exclusive Economic Zone (U.S. EEZ) west of 163[deg]
West Longitude, and extending from the boundaries
depicted on the map accompanying Proclamation 8031 as
amended by Proclamation 8112 (adjacent area).
As required by the Antiquities Act, the adjacent area
contains objects of historic and scientific interest
that are situated upon lands owned or controlled by the
Federal Government; they are geological and biological
resources that are part of a highly pristine deep sea
and open ocean ecosystem with unique biodiversity and
that constitute a sacred cultural, physical, and
spiritual place for the Native Hawaiian community.
This unique ecosystem has many significant features.
Important geological features of the adjacent area
include more than 75 seamounts, as well as a non-
volcanic ridge that extends southwest towards the
Johnston Atoll. Together, these features form
biodiverse hotspots in the open ocean that provide
habitat for deep-sea species, including sponges, other
invertebrates, fish, and colonies of corals many
thousands of years old. Recent science demonstrates
that seamounts harbor a multitude of species with
unique ecological traits, some newly discovered.
Seamounts, ridges, and other undersea topographic
features are important stepping stones that enable
marine organisms to spread throughout the Hawaiian
Archipelago, and between Hawaii and other
archipelagoes. Undisturbed seamount communities in the
adjacent area are of significant scientific interest
because they provide opportunities to examine the
impacts of physical, biological, and geological
processes on ecosystem diversity, including
understanding the impacts of climate change on these
deep-sea communities. These seamounts and ridges also
provide the opportunity for identification and
discovery of many species not yet known to humans, with
possible implications for research, medicine, and other
important uses.
[[Page 60228]]
Recent scientific research, utilizing new technology,
has shown that many species identified as objects in
Proclamation 8031 inhabit previously unknown
geographical ranges that span beyond the existing
Monument, and in some cases the adjacent area also
provides important foraging habitat for these species.
For example, the endangered Hawaiian monk seal forages
well beyond the existing Monument. Scientific research
on Hawaiian monk seal foraging behavior has shown that
monk seals may travel 80 miles and dive to depths of
almost 2,000 feet while feeding.
Important bird species abound in the Monument and the
adjacent area. Birds from the world's largest colonies
of Laysan albatross, Black-footed albatross, and Bonin
petrels, as well as significant populations of
shearwaters, petrels, tropicbirds, the endangered
Short-tailed albatross, and other seabird species
forage in the adjacent area. We now know that
albatrosses and Great Frigatebirds rely on the adjacent
area during chick-brooding periods, when their foraging
is focused within 200 miles of the nesting colonies on
the Monument's islands and atolls. At other times,
these wide-ranging species use a much broader range
(over 1,600 miles) for foraging.
The adjacent area is a foraging and migration path for
five species of protected sea turtles. While green and
hawksbill turtles use the near-shore waters of the
Monument for nesting, these species--along with the
endangered leatherback turtle and threatened loggerhead
and olive ridley turtles--migrate through the adjacent
area to reach high-productivity foraging areas.
Twenty-four species of whales and dolphins have been
sighted in the adjacent area. Three of these species
are listed under the Endangered Species Act as
threatened or endangered: sperm whales, fin whales, and
sei whales. Cetacean use of the Monument Expansion
varies; resident species such as spinner dolphins,
false killer whales, and rough-toothed dolphins utilize
the area year-round, whereas other species, such as
humpback whales, use it as a wintering area. A wide
variety of tropical and temperate water dolphin species
inhabit the Monument Expansion, including pantropical
spotted dolphins, spinner dolphins, striped dolphins,
rough-toothed dolphins, and bottlenose dolphins.
Several rarely sighted species of dolphin inhabit the
area, including Risso's and Fraser's dolphins. Both of
these species are primarily oceanic and found in waters
deeper than 1,000 meters. Acoustic evidence also shows
that endangered blue whales--the largest animals on
Earth--visit the area and may migrate past the Hawaiian
Islands twice a year.
Sharks, including tiger sharks and Galapagos sharks,
are key species in the ecosystems of the Monument and
adjacent area. These large and highly mobile predators
have expansive home ranges and regularly move across
the boundaries of the current Monument into the
adjacent waters. Additionally, blue sharks, three
species of thresher sharks, and two species of mako
sharks inhabit the open ocean environment of the
adjacent area.
The Monument and adjacent area are part of the most
remote island archipelago on Earth. This biological and
geographic isolation, coupled with unique oceanographic
and geological conditions, has resulted in an ecosystem
critical for new species formation and endemism. These
forces result in some of the most unique and diverse
ecological communities on the planet.
Importance to Native Hawaiian Culture
The ocean will always be seen as an integral part of
cultural identity for the Native Hawaiian community.
The deep sea, the ocean surface, the sky, and all the
living things in the area adjacent to the Monument are
important to this culture and are deeply rooted in
creation and settlement stories. Native Hawaiian
culture considers the Monument and the adjacent area a
sacred place. This place contains the boundary between
Ao, the world of light and the living, and P[omacr],
the world of the gods and spirits from which all life
is born and to which ancestors return after death.
Long-distance voyaging and wayfinding is one of the
most unique and valuable traditional practices that the
Native Hawaiian community has developed
[[Page 60229]]
and continues to advance. Once on the verge of cultural
extinction, new double-hulled sailing canoes, beginning
with the H[omacr]k[umacr]le[revaps]a in the 1970s, are
bringing voyaging and wayfinding to new generations.
This traditional practice relies on celestial,
biological, and natural signs, such as winds, waves,
currents and the presence of birds and marine life. The
open ocean ecosystem and its natural resources in the
adjacent area play an important role within the
cultural voyaging seascape within the Hawaiian
Archipelago.
Shipwrecks
World War II shipwrecks and aircraft in the adjacent
area, though not identified as objects under the
Antiquities Act in this proclamation, are of great
historic interest. The naval portion of the Battle of
Midway, one of the most important naval battles of
World War II, occurred approximately 200 miles to the
northeast of Midway Atoll, in the adjacent area. Deep-
sea technologies have enabled the USS Yorktown, an
aircraft carrier torpedoed during the battle, to be
found at more than 16,000 feet below the ocean's
surface. Eyewitness accounts and historical records
tell the stories of the destroyer USS Hammann, five
Japanese vessels (the four aircraft carriers Hiryu,
Soryu, Kaga, and Akagi, and the cruiser Mikuma), and
several hundred aircraft that were also lost during the
battle in this area. The locations of these vessels
have yet to be identified. All told, the adjacent area
serves as a final resting place for the more than 3,000
people lost during the battle.
WHEREAS, the waters and submerged lands adjacent to the
Monument (west of 163[deg] West Longitude and seaward
from the boundaries delineated in Proclamation 8031 as
amended by Proclamation 8112 out to the limit of the
U.S. EEZ) contain objects of historic and scientific
interest that are situated upon lands owned or
controlled by the Federal Government;
WHEREAS, section 320301 of title 54, United States Code
(the ``Antiquities Act''), authorizes the President, in
his discretion, to declare by public proclamation
historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric
structures, and other objects of historic or scientific
interest that are situated upon lands owned or
controlled by the Federal Government to be national
monuments, and to reserve as a part thereof parcels of
land, the limits of which in all cases shall be
confined to the smallest area compatible with the
proper care and management of the objects to be
protected;
WHEREAS, it is in the public interest to preserve the
marine environment, including the waters and submerged
lands in the U.S. EEZ west of 163[deg] West Longitude
adjacent to Papah[amacr]naumoku[amacr]kea Marine
National Monument for the care and management of the
historic and scientific objects therein;
WHEREAS, the well-being of the United States, the
prosperity of its citizens and the protection of the
ocean environment are complementary and reinforcing
priorities; and the United States continues to act with
due regard for the rights, freedoms, and lawful uses of
the sea enjoyed by other nations under the law of the
sea in managing the Papah[amacr]naumoku[amacr]kea
Marine National Monument and adjacent areas, and does
not compromise the readiness, training, and global
mobility of the U.S. Armed Forces when establishing
marine protected areas;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the
United States of America, by the authority vested in me
by section 320301 of title 54, United States Code,
hereby proclaim the objects identified above that are
situated upon lands and interests in lands owned or
controlled by the Federal Government to be part of the
Papah[amacr]naumoku[amacr]kea Marine National Monument
Expansion (Monument Expansion) and, for the purpose of
protecting those objects, reserve as a part thereof all
lands and interests in lands owned or controlled by the
Federal Government within the boundaries described on
the accompanying map entitled
``Papah[amacr]naumoku[amacr]kea Marine National
Monument Expansion'' attached hereto, which forms a
part of this proclamation. The Monument Expansion
comprises the waters and submerged lands in the U.S.
EEZ west of 163[deg] West Longitude adjacent to
[[Page 60230]]
the Monument. The Federal lands and interests in lands
reserved consist of approximately 442,781 square miles,
which is the smallest area compatible with the proper
care and management of the objects to be protected.
All Federal lands and interests in lands within the
boundaries of the Monument Expansion are hereby
appropriated and withdrawn from all forms of entry,
location, selection, sale, leasing, or other
disposition under the public land laws to the extent
that those laws apply, including but not limited to,
withdrawal from location, entry, and patent under
mining laws, and from disposition under all laws
relating to development of oil and gas, minerals,
geothermal, or renewable energy. Lands and interest in
lands within the Monument Expansion not owned or
controlled by the United States shall be reserved as
part of the Monument Expansion upon acquisition of
title or control by the United States.
Management of the Marine National Monument
Nothing in this proclamation shall change the
management of the Papah[amacr]naumoku[amacr]kea Marine
National Monument or any of the provisions specified in
Proclamations 8031 and 8112. Terms used in this
proclamation shall have the same meaning as those
defined in Proclamation 8031. The Secretaries of
Commerce and the Interior (Secretaries) shall share
management responsibility for the Monument Expansion.
The Secretary of Commerce, through the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and in
consultation with the Secretary of the Interior, shall
have responsibility for management of activities and
species within the Monument Expansion under the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management
Act, the Endangered Species Act (for species regulated
by NOAA), the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and any
other applicable Department of Commerce legal
authorities. The Secretary of the Interior, through the
United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and in
consultation with the Secretary of Commerce, shall have
responsibility for management of activities and species
within the Monument Expansion under its applicable
legal authorities, including the National Wildlife
Refuge System Administration Act, the Refuge Recreation
Act, and the Endangered Species Act (for species
regulated by FWS), and Public Law 98-532 and Executive
Order 6166 of June 10, 1933.
Additionally, the Secretary of Commerce should consider
initiating the process under the National Marine
Sanctuaries Act (16 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.) to designate
the Monument Expansion area and the Monument seaward of
the Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge and
Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge and Battle of
Midway National Memorial as a National Marine Sanctuary
to supplement and complement existing authorities.
The Secretaries shall prepare a joint management plan,
within their respective authorities and after
consultation with the State of Hawaii, for the Monument
Expansion within 3 years of the date of this
proclamation, and shall promulgate as appropriate
implementing regulations, within their respective
authorities, that address any further specific actions
necessary for the proper care and management of the
objects and areas identified in this proclamation. The
Secretaries shall revise and update the management plan
as necessary. In developing and implementing any
management plans and any management rules and
regulations, the Secretaries shall consult, designate,
and involve as cooperating agencies the agencies with
jurisdiction or special expertise, including the
Department of Defense and Department of State, in
accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act
(42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), and its implementing
regulations. If the Secretaries deem it beneficial,
they may prepare a joint management plan for the entire
Monument and Monument Expansion area, consistent with
the provisions of the respective proclamations.
The Secretaries shall coordinate and work cooperatively
with the Department of Defense, through the United
States Navy, to protect, under the Sunken Military
Craft Act, Public Law 108-375, 118 Stat. 1811, and any
other applicable legal authorities, United States
sunken military vessels and aircraft
[[Page 60231]]
that are found within the geographic boundaries of the
Monument Expansion. Any sunken craft of a foreign state
found within the geographic boundaries of the Monument
Expansion may be protected to the extent authorized
under U.S. law, consistent with the President's
Statement on United States Policy for the Protection of
Sunken Warships (January 19, 2001).
This proclamation shall be applied in accordance with
international law. The management plans and their
implementing regulations shall impose no unlawful
restrictions on innocent passage or otherwise
unlawfully restrict navigation and overflight and other
internationally recognized lawful uses of the sea in
the Monument and Monument Expansion and shall
incorporate the provisions of this proclamation
regarding U.S. Armed Forces actions and compliance with
international law. No restrictions shall apply to or be
enforced against a person who is not a citizen,
national, or resident alien of the United States
(including foreign flag vessels) unless in accordance
with international law. Also, in accordance with
international law, no restrictions shall apply to
foreign warships, naval auxiliaries, and other vessels
owned or operated by a state and used, for the time
being, only on Government non-commercial service, in
order to fully respect the sovereign immunity of such
vessels under international law. The Secretary of
State, in consultation with the Secretaries of Commerce
and the Interior, shall take steps to protect the
Monument Expansion as it does with respect to the
Monument as specified in Proclamation 8031.
Restrictions
Prohibited Activities
The Secretaries shall prohibit persons from
conducting or causing to be conducted the following
activities:
1. Exploring for, developing, or producing oil,
gas, or minerals, or any energy development activities
within the Monument Expansion;
2. Using or attempting to use poisons, electrical
charges, or explosives in the collection or harvest of
a Monument Expansion resource;
3. Introducing or otherwise releasing an introduced
species from within or into the Monument Expansion;
4. Removing, moving, taking, harvesting,
possessing, injuring, disturbing, or damaging, or
attempting to remove, move, take, harvest, possess,
injure, disturb, or damage, any living or nonliving
Monument Expansion resource, except as provided under
regulated activities below;
5. Drilling into, dredging, or otherwise altering
the submerged lands, or constructing, placing, or
abandoning any structure, material, or other matter on
the submerged lands, except for scientific instruments;
6. Anchoring on or having a vessel anchored on any
living or dead coral with an anchor, anchor chain, or
anchor rope;
7. Deserting a vessel at anchor or adrift within
the Monument Expansion; and
8. Commercial fishing and possessing commercial
fishing gear except when stowed and not available for
immediate use during passage without interruption
through the Monument Expansion.
Regulated Activities
Subject to such terms and conditions as the Secretaries
deem appropriate, the Secretaries may permit any of the
following activities regulated by this proclamation if
such activity is consistent with the care and
management of the objects within the Monument Expansion
and is not prohibited as defined above:
1. Native Hawaiian practices, including exercise of
traditional, customary, cultural, subsistence,
spiritual, and religious practices within the Monument
Expansion;
2. Research and scientific exploration designed to
further understanding of Monument Expansion resources
and qualities;
[[Page 60232]]
3. Scientific research and development by Federal
agencies that cannot be conducted in any other
location;
4. Activities that will further the educational
value of the Monument Expansion or will assist in the
conservation and management of the Monument Expansion;
5. Anchoring scientific instruments; and
6. Non-commercial fishing, provided that the fish
harvested, either in whole or in part, cannot enter
commerce through sale, barter, or trade, and that the
resource is managed sustainably.
Regulation of Scientific Exploration and Research
The prohibitions required by this proclamation shall
not restrict scientific exploration or research
activities by or for the Secretaries, and nothing in
this proclamation shall be construed to require a
permit or other authorization from the other Secretary
for their respective scientific activities.
Emergencies and Law Enforcement Activities
The prohibitions required by this proclamation shall
not apply to activities necessary to respond to
emergencies threatening life, property, or the
environment, or to activities necessary for law
enforcement purposes.
U.S. Armed Forces Actions
1. The prohibitions required by this proclamation
shall not apply to activities and exercises of the U.S.
Armed Forces, including those carried out by the United
States Coast Guard.
2. The U.S. Armed Forces shall ensure, by the
adoption of appropriate measures not impairing
operations or operation capabilities, that its vessels
and aircraft act in a manner consistent, so far as is
practicable, with this proclamation.
3. In the event of threatened or actual destruction
of, loss of, or injury to a Monument Expansion resource
or quality resulting from an incident, including but
not limited to spills and groundings, caused by a
component of the Department of Defense or the United
States Coast Guard, the cognizant component shall
promptly coordinate with the Secretaries for the
purpose of taking appropriate action to respond to and
mitigate any harm and, if possible, restore or replace
the Monument resource or quality.
4. Nothing in this proclamation or any regulation
implementing it shall limit or otherwise affect the
U.S. Armed Forces discretion to use, maintain, improve,
manage, or control any property under the
administrative control of a Military Department or
otherwise limit the availability of such property for
military mission purposes, including, but not limited
to, defensive areas and airspace reservations.
Other Provisions
Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to
diminish or enlarge the jurisdiction of the State of
Hawaii.
The Monument Expansion shall be the dominant
reservation.
Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to revoke
any existing withdrawal, reservation, or appropriation.
Warning is hereby given to all unauthorized persons not
to appropriate, excavate, injure, destroy, or remove
any feature of this Monument Expansion and not to
locate or settle upon any lands thereof.
This proclamation is not intended to, and does not,
create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural,
enforceable at law or in equity by any party against
the United States, its departments, agencies, or
entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any
other person.
[[Page 60233]]
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
twenty-sixth day of August, in the year of our Lord two
thousand sixteen, and of the Independence of the United
States of America the two hundred and forty-first.
(Presidential Sig.)
Billing code 3295-F6-P
[[Page 60234]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TD31AU16.003
[FR Doc. 2016-21138
Filed 8-30-16; 11:15 a.m.]
Billing code 4310-10-C