[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 7 (Wednesday, January 11, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3349-3350]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-00404]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R1-R-2016-N167; 1265-0000-10135-S3]


Marianas Trench Marine National Monument, Commonwealth of the 
Northern Mariana Islands; Completion of the Northern Islands Submerged 
Lands Transfer to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the 
availability of our finding of no significant impact (FONSI) and final 
environmental assessment (Final EA) for the Marianas Trench Marine 
National Monument (Monument) Northern Islands Submerged Lands 
(submerged lands) Transfer to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 
Islands (CNMI). The FONSI documents our decision to implement 
Alternative 2, as it is described in the Final EA, resulting in the 
Department of the Interior (DOI) conveying title to certain submerged 
lands within the Monument from the United States to the CNMI Government 
through a Patent, under the authority of the Territorial Submerged 
Lands Act (TSLA), as amended, 48 U.S.C. 1705, et seq. The effective 
date of the submerged lands transfer was December 21, 2016, the day the 
Patent was signed by the Governor of the CNMI.

DATES: The Service's Regional Director, Pacific Region, signed the 
FONSI on September 15, 2016, and the conveyance was effective December 
21, 2016.

ADDRESSES: You may download the FONSI, Final EA, and related documents 
from our Web site https://www.fws.gov/marianastrenchmarinemonument/, 
and view copies of them in person at the libraries listed under 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.
    You may direct questions to the Service regarding the submerged 
lands transfer by any one of the following methods.
    Email: [email protected]. Include ``Submerged Lands 
Transfer'' in the subject line of the message.
    Fax: Attn: Charles Houghten, 503-231-6161.
    U.S. Mail: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Pacific Region, Attn: 
Charles Houghten, Chief, Lands Division, 911 NE 11th Ave., Portland, OR 
97232.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Charles Houghten, 503-231-6207 
(phone).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Introduction

    With this notice, we are announcing the completion of our Final EA, 
FONSI, Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), and Patent, developed in 
cooperation with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 
(NOAA) and the CNMI Government. Copies of the documents are available 
on the Monument's Web site: https://www.fws.gov/refuge/mariana_trench_marine_national_monument/.

[[Page 3350]]

    The Final EA and FONSI were developed in compliance with the 
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 
4321 et seq.); NEPA Regulations (40 CFR parts 1500-1508); other Federal 
laws and regulations; and our policies and procedures for compliance 
with those laws and regulations.
    The subject of our Final EA and FONSI is the submerged lands 
adjacent to the islands of Farallon de Pajaros (Uracas), Maug, and 
Asuncion permanently covered by tidal waters up to the mean low water 
line and extending three miles seaward from the mean high tide line. 
The submerged lands are among some of the most biologically diverse in 
the Western Pacific Ocean, with relatively pristine coral reef 
ecosystems that have been proclaimed objects of scientific interest and 
reserved for their protection as part of the Islands Unit of the 
Monument by Presidential Proclamation (PP) 8335 of January 6, 2009.
    The submerged lands were excepted from transfer by operation of law 
(TSLA) to the CNMI Government by PP 9077 of January 15, 2014. PP 9077 
also stated that it did not affect the authority of the Secretary of 
the Interior under the TSLA to convey the excepted submerged lands to 
CNMI after an agreement has been entered for coordination of management 
that ensures the protection of the Monument within the excepted area. 
We developed the agreement (Memorandum of Agreement or MOA) in 
cooperation with the CNMI Government, DOI, and the Department of 
Commerce (DOC) as part of our conveyance process and Draft and Final 
EA.

Submerged Lands Conveyance Process

Draft and Final EA

    We released our Draft EA to the public for a 30-day comment period 
announced in the Federal Register (81 FR 26825) on May 4, 2016. We 
identified two alternatives in the Draft EA and conducted a thorough 
analysis of their impacts on the human environment. We received 
comments during the May-June 2016 public comment period; substantive 
comments and our responses are provided in the Final EA. Comments 
concerning technical or minor edits were incorporated where relevant 
into the Final EA.

Alternatives/Selected Alternative

    Alternative 1 was the Current Land Status Alternative (No Action); 
under it, DOI would not convey the submerged lands, including 
associated mineral rights to CNMI, and the Service and NOAA would 
continue to coordinate management of the submerged lands and associated 
waters, including fishery-related activities, in consultation with the 
CNMI Government.
    We selected Alternative 2 for implementation in our Finding of No 
Significant Impact, signed by the Service's Regional Director for the 
Pacific Region on September 15, 2016. Under this alternative (the 
Northern Islands Submerged Lands Conveyance Alternative), the parties 
would sign the MOA, and DOI would convey the submerged lands, including 
mineral rights, to the CNMI Government through the Patent with a 
reserved conservation easement.

Memorandum of Agreement

    The MOA was signed by the CNMI Government, DOI, and the Department 
of Commerce (DOC), on September 22, 2016. The MOA identifies the roles 
and responsibilities of the CNMI Government, DOI, and DOC, for ensuring 
the protection of and coordinating the management of the conveyed 
submerged lands and associated waters. Under the MOA, the Service and 
NOAA are managing the conveyed submerged lands for the benefit of the 
CNMI people and in consultation with the CNMI Government.
    The MOA provides for the CNMI Government to assume primary 
responsibility for managing the submerged lands and associated waters, 
consistent with the purposes and requirements of PP 8335 and PP 9077, 
by notifying DOI and DOC of its desire to do so. CNMI's management 
would include the benthic and living marine resources of the associated 
water column, and subterranean of the submerged lands and the 
associated mineral rights within. The MOA became effective upon 
conveyance of the submerged lands, consistent with the requirements of 
PP 9077. A copy of the MOA is available in the Final EA.

Congressional Review and Patent

    Completing the Draft EA and public comment period, and the Final 
EA, FONSI, MOA, and Patent, were milestone accomplishments in our 
conveyance process. After the public comment period ended for the Draft 
EA, we initiated the Congressional Review (CR) period for the proposed 
conveyance, in accordance with the process required by subsection 1(c) 
of the TSLA. The CR period was 60 legislative days, which was initiated 
by the Secretary of the Interior by describing our proposal in letters 
to the House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources and the 
Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, dated June 17, 2016. 
The CR period was completed on November 14, 2016, thereafter we moved 
forward with completing the conveyance.
    Interior Secretary Sally Jewell executed a Patent conveying the 
submerged lands from the United States to the CNMI Government on 
November 29, 2016. Governor Ralph Torres (CNMI) accepted and signed the 
patent on December 21, 2016. The Patent reserves an easement to ensure 
that the submerged lands and associated resources conveyed to the CNMI 
Government are managed and maintained for the protection of the 
Monument or other federal conservation status, unless such conservation 
status is withdrawn by an Act of Congress. A copy of the Patent is 
available in an appendix in the Final EA.

Public Availability of Documents

    A copy of the Final EA/FONSI, which includes copies of the MOA and 
Patent, are available at the following libraries and through sources 
identified under ADDRESSES.
     Joeten-Kiyu Public Library, Ins[aring]tto Street, Susupe, 
Sa'ipan, MP, 96950-1092.
     Tini'an Municipal Public Library, Riverside Drive, Tinian, 
MP 96952.
     Antonio Camacho Atalig Memorial Library, Rota Northern 
Marianas Campus, Tatachog Village, Rota, MP.

Robyn Thorson,
Regional Director, Pacific Region, Portland, Oregon.
[FR Doc. 2017-00404 Filed 1-10-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4333-15-P