[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 218 (Tuesday, November 12, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61081-61082]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-24542]


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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.

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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 in 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 December 12, 2019. 
This application may be inspected by interested parties at the Permit 
Office, address below.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be addressed to Permit Office, Office of 
Polar Programs, National Science Foundation, 2415 Eisenhower Avenue, 
Alexandria, Virginia 22314.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nature McGinn, ACA Permit Officer, at 
the above address, 703-292-8030, or [email protected].

[[Page 61082]]


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The National Science Foundation, as directed 
by the Antarctic Conservation Act of 1978 (Pub. L. 95-541, 45 CFR 670), 
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 requiring special protection. The 
regulations establish such a permit system to designate Antarctic 
Specially Protected Areas.

Application Details

Permit Application: 2020-010

1. Applicant: Heather J. Lynch, Stony Brook University, 610 Life 
Sciences Building, Stony Brook, NY 11794.

    Activity for Which Permit is Requested: Harmful Interference; Enter 
Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA). The applicant would survey 
chinstrap penguin (Pygoscelis antarctica) colonies in the South 
Shetland Islands including multiple sites on Low Island. The outcomes 
of the surveys would be useful in determining population abundance and 
distribution of chinstrap penguins, important consumers of Antarctic 
krill. Surveys would be completed using direct manual counts (on foot) 
and by operating small, remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) over 
colonies. RPAS would be operated by experienced pilots at altitudes of 
at least 30 meters above wildlife. Although no significant disturbance 
is expected, both manual counts and RPAS overflights have the potential 
to disturb chinstrap penguins as well as Adelie penguin (Pygoscelis 
adeliae), gentoo penguin (P. papua), southern giant petrel (Macronectes 
giganteus), southern fulmar (Fulmarus glacialoides), cape petrel 
(Daption capense), Antarctic blue-eyed shag (Phalacrocorax atriceps), 
Antarctic brown skua (Catharacta antarctica), south polar skua (C. 
maccormicki), kelp gull (Larus dominicanus), and Antarctic tern (Sterna 
vittata) based on the locations of the surveys. The applicant expects 
that several million chinstrap penguins would be surveyed by RPAS. The 
applicant would enter ASPA 152 to complete surveys at Low Island. The 
applicant would also collect samples of ticks, guano, and tissue 
samples salvaged from already dead gentoo penguins in support of the 
research.
    Location: ASPA 152 Western Bransfield Strait; South Shetland 
Islands: Low Island, Smith Island, Snow Island, Elephant Island; 
Antarctic Peninsula region.
    Dates of Permitted Activities: January 1-March 1, 2020.

Permit Application: 2020-017

2. Applicant: Joseph A. Covi, University of North Carolina at 
Wilmington, Department of Biology and Marine Biology, Wilmington, NC 
28403.

    Activity for Which Permit is Requested: Enter Antarctic Specially 
Protected Areas. The application proposes to enter four Antarctic 
Specially Protected Areas (ASPAs) on King George Island, South Shetland 
Islands, Antarctica for the purposes of collecting small sediment 
samples from freshwater lakes and ephemeral ponds. The applicant would 
enter ASPA 125, Fildes Peninsula; ASPA 132, Potter Peninsula; ASPA 150, 
Ardley Island, Maxwell Bay; and ASPA 171 Narebski Point, Barton 
Peninsula. The applicant plans to access the ASPAs by boat and on foot. 
Up to six sediment samples will be collected near the shoreline or from 
an inflatable boat from each of up to eight lakes and eight ephemeral 
ponds in total. Sediment core samples may be taken through holes 
drilled in the ice cover, as applicable. The applicant and agents will 
adhere to the management plans for each of the ASPAs that they propose 
to enter.
    Location: King George Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica; 
ASPA 125, Fildes Peninsula; ASPA 132, Potter Peninsula; ASPA 150, 
Ardley Island, Maxwell Bay; and ASPA 171 Narebski Point, Barton 
Peninsula.
    Dates of Permitted Activities: December 1, 2019-March 31, 2022.

Permit Application: 2020-018

3. Applicant: Zicheng Yu, Department of Earth and Environmental 
Science, Lehigh University, 1 West Packer Avenue, Bethlehem, PA 18015.

    Activity for Which Permit is Requested: Enter Antarctic Specially 
Protected Area (ASPA). The applicant requests access to ASPA 113, 126, 
and 134 to collect small samples of moss and peat and carry out field 
measurements. Moss samples would primarily consist of two species, 
Polytrichum strictum and Chorisodontium aciphyllum, and would be 
collected by hand. Cores of peat moss up to 100 cm deep would be 
collected by box corer (3 inches by 4 inches) or permafrost corer (2-
inch diameter). A limited number of samples would be collected from 
within the ASPAs and from other nearby locations within the Palmer 
Basin ASMA. No equipment or instrumentation would be installed in any 
ASPA. To minimize the potential for unintentional transfer of soils or 
organisms, the application and agents would clean sample collection 
tools, as well as clothing and shoes, between visits to different field 
sites. The samples would be processed at the home institution. Data 
gathered from this research will advance the understanding of peat moss 
banks to climate change during the last 3,000 years. The applicant 
would also operate a small, remotely piloted aircraft system equipped 
with a camera in order to map vegetation and peat moss beds.
    Location: Antarctic Peninsula region; ASMA 7, Southwest Anvers 
Island and Palmer Basin; ASPA 113, Litchfield Island, Arthur Harbor, 
Anvers Island, Palmer Archipelago; ASPA 126, Byers Peninsula, 
Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands; ASPA 134 Cierva Point and 
offshore islands, Danco Coast, Antarctic Peninsula.
    Dates of Permitted Activities: February 16, 2020-March 31, 2020.

Erika N. Davis,
Program Specialist, Office of Polar Programs.
[FR Doc. 2019-24542 Filed 11-8-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7555-01-P