[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 239 (Thursday, December 16, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71422-71423]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-27234]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration


Extension of Public Comment Period for the Notice of Intent To 
Conduct Scoping and To Prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement 
for the Proposed Chumash Heritage 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 extension of public comment period.

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SUMMARY: On November 10, 2021, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration (NOAA) published a Notice of Intent to conduct scoping 
and to prepare a draft environmental impact statement for the proposed 
Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary. With this notice, NOAA is 
extending the public comment period by 21 days to January 31, 2022, to 
provide the public with additional time to provide comments on the 
Notice of Intent.

DATES: Comments must be received by January 31, 2022, as specified 
under ADDRESSES. Comments received after this date may not be accepted. 
The dates for virtual public scoping meetings are unchanged. NOAA 
hosted two virtual public scoping meetings on December 8 and December 
13, 2021, and will

[[Page 71423]]

conduct a third meeting at the following date and time:
     Thursday, January 6, 2022, 4 p.m.-7 p.m. Pacific Time.
    NOAA may end the meeting before the time noted above if all those 
participating have completed their oral comments.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments for this public scoping process by 
any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and enter ``NOAA-NOS-2021-0080'' in the Search box. 
Click on the ``Comment'' icon, complete the required fields, and enter 
or attach your comments.
     Mail: Send any hard copy public comments by mail to: Paul 
Michel, NOAA Sanctuaries West Coast Regional Office, 99 Pacific Street, 
Building 100F, Monterey, CA 93940.
     Public Scoping Meeting: Provide oral comments during the 
remaining virtual public scoping meeting, as described under DATES. 
Webinar registration details and additional information about how to 
participate in this meeting is available at www.sanctuaries.noaa.gov/chumash-heritage.
    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 
https://www.regulations.gov without change. All personal identifying 
information (for example, name, address, etc.), confidential business 
information, or otherwise sensitive information submitted voluntarily 
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: Paul Michel, (831) 647-4217, 
[email protected], West Coast Region Policy Coordinator.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On November 10, 2021, NOAA issued a Notice 
of Intent to Conduct Scoping and to Prepare a Draft Environmental 
Impact Statement for the Proposed Chumash Heritage National Marine 
Sanctuary (``Notice of Intent'') (86 FR 62512).
    With that Notice of Intent, NOAA initiated a process to consider 
designating a portion of waters along and offshore of the central coast 
of California as a national marine sanctuary, in accordance with the 
National Marine Sanctuaries Act, 16 U.S.C. 1431 et seq. This process is 
based on the area's qualities and boundaries as described in the 
community-based nomination \1\ submitted on July 17, 2015, excluding 
any geographical overlap of the boundaries proposed for the Morro Bay 
399 Area as described in the July 29, 2021, Federal Register Notice of 
Commercial Leasing for Wind Power Development on the Outer Continental 
Shelf Offshore Morro Bay, California, East and West Extensions--Call 
for Information and Nominations (86 FR 40869).\2\ For more information, 
refer to the Notice of Intent (86 FR 62512) or visit 
www.sanctuaries.noaa.gov/chumash-heritage.
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    \1\ https://nominate.noaa.gov/media/documents/nomination_chumash_heritage_071715.pdf.
    \2\ https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/07/29/2021-16134/commercial-leasing-for-wind-power-development-on-the-outer-continental-shelf-ocs-offshore-morro-bay.
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    The designation process will be conducted concurrently with a 
public process under the National Environmental Policy Act to prepare 
an environmental impact statement. This public scoping process invites 
comments on the scope and significance of issues to be addressed in the 
environmental impact statement that are 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, including preparation and release of draft designation 
documents, and in formulating alternatives for the draft environmental 
impact statement, including developing national marine sanctuary 
boundaries, regulations, and a management plan. This scoping process 
will also inform the initiation of any consultations with Federal, 
State, or local agencies, tribes, and other interested parties, as 
appropriate.
    NOAA has received requests for an extension of the public comment 
period and has decided to extend the comment period by 21 days to 
provide the public with additional time to provide comments. At this 
time, NOAA does not expect any changes to the Schedule for the 
Decision-Making Process outlined in Section IV of the Notice of Intent 
(86 FR 62512).
    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.; 40 CFR 
1500-1508 (National Environmental Policy Act Implementing Regulations); 
Companion Manual for NOAA Administrative Order 216-6A.

John Armor,
Director, Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, National Ocean 
Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
[FR Doc. 2021-27234 Filed 12-15-21; 8:45 am]
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