[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 175 (Friday, September 9, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62541-62542]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-21669]



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NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION


Notice of Permit Applications Received Under the Antarctic 
Conservation Act of 1978

AGENCY: National Science Foundation.

ACTION: Notice of permit applications received under the Antarctic 
Conservation Act of 1978, Public Law 95-541.

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SUMMARY: The National Science Foundation (NSF) is required to publish a 
notice of permit applications received to conduct activities regulated 
under the Antarctic Conservation Act of 1978. NSF has published 
regulations under the Antarctic Conservation Act at title 45 part 671 
of the Code of Federal Regulations. This is the required notice of 
permit applications received.

DATES: Interested parties are invited to submit written data, comments, 
or views with respect to this permit application by October 11, 2016. 
This application may be inspected by interested parties at the Permit 
Office, address below.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be addressed to Permit Office, Room 755, 
Division of Polar Programs, National Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson 
Boulevard, Arlington, Virginia 22230.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nature McGinn, ACA Permit Officer, at 
the above address or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The National Science Foundation, as directed 
by the Antarctic Conservation Act of 1978 (Pub. L. 95-541), as amended 
by the Antarctic Science, Tourism and Conservation Act of 1996, has 
developed regulations for the establishment of a permit system for 
various activities in Antarctica and designation of certain animals and 
certain geographic areas a requiring special protection. The 
regulations establish such a permit system to designate Antarctic 
Specially Protected Areas.

Application Details

Permit Application: 2017-013

1. Applicant: Dr. George Watters, Director, AMLR Program, Southwest 
Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, 8901 La 
Jolla Shores Drive, La Jolla, CA 92037.
Activity for Which Permit Is Requested
    Waste Management Permit. This permit application pertains to ship 
and shore-based research and logistic activities conducted by the 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Antarctic 
Marine Living Resources (AMLR) Program. The AMLR Program conducts 
research from a vessel platform in the Antarctic Peninsula region, 
collecting environmental, oceanographic, primary productivity, finfish 
and prey data (zooplankton abundance and distribution, particularly 
Antarctic krill Euphausia superba). In addition, the applicant conducts 
krill-dependent, land-based predator investigations at two temporary 
field camps in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica: Cape Shirreff 
and Copacabana.
    Cape Shirreff is a temporary, multi-year field camp on Livingston 
Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. During each year of the 
proposed permitting period (2016-2021), the field camp will typically 
be occupied for less than five months (<=150 days; normally around 120 
days) during the austral spring/summers and will house 4-6 researchers. 
Semiannually for short durations only (usually less than two weeks), an 
additional group of two to four researchers may reside in a temporary 
tent structure; tent location will be setup to minimize impact on flora 
and fauna. In addition, the AMLR Program utilizes an all-terrain 
vehicle (ATV) that is stored at the Cape Shirreff field camp.
    Copacabana field camp is located in Antarctic Specially Protected 
Area (ASPA) Number 8 (Western Shore of Admiralty Bay, King George 
Island, South Shetland Islands). The approximate coordinates of the 
camp are 62[deg]10' South latitude by 58[deg] 28' West longitude. The 
camp consists of four structures connected by walkways. All buildings 
and equipment are properly sealed and stored over the winters such that 
they are inaccessible to wildlife. The AMLR Program recognizes the 
status of Copacabana as an ASPA (No. 128) and adheres to all protection 
afforded as such. During the proposed permitting period (2016-2021), 
the field camp may be occupied for significantly shorter periods than 
historically, typically less than one month (<=30 days) during the 
austral summer of each year.
    Research equipment deployed near both field will include a snow 
measurement gauge and remote, autonomous cameras and will be removed 
from the field at the conclusion of the work. The AMLR program will 
also continue their use of a vertical take-off and landing unmanned 
aerial vehicle (VTOL-UAV) for conducting census surveys of animal 
colonies. The VTOL-UAV that the applicant proposes to deploy has GPS 
capability and will fly missions up to 30 minutes at altitudes between 
75 and 300 feet. The aircraft are operated by trained, experienced 
pilots and flight crews. Observers will be used to maintain visual 
line-of-sight with the UAV any time the aircraft is more than 300 m 
from the pilot. Appropriate safety measures will be in place and best 
practices for operating in polar environments will be employed.
    Wastes and designated pollutants associated with typical field camp 
operations will be generated, released, stored, and removed. The field 
camps will release wastes to air in the form of emissions resulting 
from the combustion of gasoline, propane, and charcoal. Releases of 
wastes to water will be limited to greywater and human sewage only. 
Sewage is disposed of directly into the sea with appropriate mixing. 
Wastes and designated pollutants resulting from scientific research 
include materials used to mark animals (e.g. paints, dyes, tags) and 
doubly-labeled water used to measure energetics and body condition in 
fur seals. All radioisotope materials will be handled to minimize the 
risk of inadvertent release.
    Releases associated with camp logistics and operations occur daily 
throughout the period of camp occupation. Releases resulting from 
research activities occur episodically throughout the field season. 
Other than the above releases, all other wastes will be packaged (or 
otherwise contained) and removed from the site for proper disposal 
under approved guidelines. As far as possible, removal via transfer to 
the AMLR research vessel will occur annually. Waste awaiting retrograde 
will be stored under cover (e.g., in buildings, fish boxes, tents, or 
under tarps) to ensure that it is isolated from wildlife and is not 
scattered by wind.
    Over the period 2017-2021, the AMLR Program plans to conduct three 
surveys including 30-90 days of vessel operations in the Antarctic 
Peninsula region annually during the austral summer. The vessel follows 
a standardized survey grid, and depending on the focus any given year, 
additional smaller sections of the region are surveyed. During the 
surveys, the Program deploys drifters and expendable bathythermographs 
(XBTs) and expendable conductivity-temperature and depth (XCTDS) probes 
to collect hydrographic data within the study area to better understand 
the relationship between the target species and their environment, and 
to help partner programs (NOAA Global Drifter Program) with deployment 
of their instruments. The applicant plan annual

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deployments up to 150 XBTs, 20 XCTDS and 55 drifters. The U.S. AMLR 
Program may deploy upwards of three mooring arrays which will release 
up to 6 ferrous weights (train wheels), at the recovery of the 
mooring(s). Each mooring weight set will weigh between 750 and 1500lbs, 
depending on the magnitude of the current speed in the vicinity of the 
mooring locations. These mooring weights will not be recovered. In 
addition to drifters and XBTs, the AMLR Program also deploys and 
recovers a variety of gears that are not intentionally released into 
the environment. These may include both oceanographic instruments and 
fishing gears, for example: Conductivity-temperature-depth profilers 
(CTD), plankton nets, commercial bottom trawls, continuous plankton 
records, winged optical particle counters, towed current profilers, and 
acoustic buoys.

Location

    Cape Shirreff, Livingston Island; Copacabana, western shore of 
Admiralty Bay; Western Antarctic Peninsula

    Dates: October 1, 2016-July 30, 2021.
Nadene G. Kennedy,
Polar Coordination Specialist, Division of Polar Programs.
[FR Doc. 2016-21669 Filed 9-8-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7555-01-P