[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 127 (Tuesday, July 5, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39804-39805]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-14245]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XC120


Request for Public Comment on a Supplemental Draft Environmental 
Impact Statement Regarding the Makah Tribe's Request To Hunt Eastern 
North Pacific Gray Whales

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), this 
notice announces that NMFS has prepared a Supplemental Draft 
Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) to supplement information in the 
2015 Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) on the Makah Tribe's 
request that NMFS waive the take moratorium of the Marine Mammal 
Protection Act (MMPA) to allow for treaty right hunting of eastern 
North Pacific (ENP) gray whales in usual and accustomed grounds off the 
coast of Washington State. The SDEIS considers a composite action 
alternative, which is composed of elements from the five action 
alternatives already analyzed in the DEIS, and provides recent updates 
on the affected environment and the environmental impacts associated 
with the composite alternative. NMFS is requesting written comments on 
the SDEIS to assist NMFS with its final decision on the Tribe's 
request.

DATES: Written or electronic comments from all interested parties are 
encouraged and must be received no later than 5 p.m. Pacific Daylight 
Time on August 15, 2022. All comments and material received, including 
names and addresses, will become part of the

[[Page 39805]]

administrative record and may be released to the public.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by NOAA-NMFS-2012-0104-
0454, by any of the following methods:
    Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public comments via 
the Federal eRulemaking Portal https://www.regulations.gov.

--OR--

    Email: Submit electronic public comments via the following NMFS 
email address: [email protected].

--OR--

    Mail: Submit written comments to: Grace Ferrara, NMFS West Coast 
Region, 7600 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115.
    Instructions: All comments received are a part of the public record 
and will generally be posted to https://www.regulations.gov without 
change. All Personal Identifying Information (for example, name, 
address, etc.) voluntarily submitted by the commenter may be publicly 
accessible. Do not submit Confidential Business Information or 
otherwise sensitive or protected information.
    NMFS will accept anonymous comments (enter N/A in the required 
fields, if you wish to remain anonymous). You may submit attachments to 
electronic comments in Microsoft Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF 
file formats only.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Grace Ferrara, NMFS Northwest Region, 
(206) 526-6172, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The SDEIS is available in electronic form on 
the internet at the following address: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/west-coast/marine-mammal-protection/makah-tribal-whale-hunt. In 
addition, copies of the SDEIS are available on CD by contacting Grace 
Ferrara (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).

Background

    On July 1, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced 
the availability of NMFS' SDEIS concerning the Makah Indian Tribe's 
February 2005 request to resume limited hunting of ENP gray whales in 
the coastal portion of the Tribe's usual and accustomed fishing 
grounds, off the coast of Washington State, for ceremonial and 
subsistence purposes. Informed by information received during public 
scoping and public comments on a DEIS released on March 13, 2015 (80 FR 
13373), this SDEIS contains updates and evaluates a composite 
alternative composed of elements of the alternatives analyzed in the 
2015 DEIS. The SDEIS also incorporates information presented at a 5-day 
hearing on this matter, held before an administrative law judge (ALJ) 
in November 2019, as well as recommendations provided in the ALJ's 
Recommended Decision. The Tribe's proposed action stems from the 1855 
Treaty of Neah Bay, which expressly secures the Makah Tribe's right to 
hunt whales. To exercise that right, the Tribe is seeking authorization 
from NMFS under the MMPA and the Whaling Convention Act. The release of 
this SDEIS is one of several steps NMFS will undertake to evaluate the 
Tribe's request.
    The SDEIS, prepared pursuant to the NEPA, separately evaluates an 
additional action alternative that was derived from other action 
alternatives analyzed in the DEIS and the ALJ's recommended decision. 
It also provides recent updates on the affected environment and the 
environmental impacts associated with NMFS' proposed hunt plan as set 
forth in the new composite alternative. The composite alternative--
identified in the SDEIS as the Preferred Alternative--includes many of 
the same principal components of the other action alternatives, 
including: restrictions on the time when whale hunting would occur; 
annual limits on the number of whales harvested, struck, and struck and 
lost; cessation of whale hunting if a predetermined number of 
identified whales (i.e., whales included in a photographic catalog of 
whales from the Pacific Coast Feeding Group area) were harvested; and 
the method of hunting. The Preferred Alternative also limits the 
duration of the waiver period to ten years. This SDEIS addresses a 
number of resources identified for review during both internal and 
public scoping for the DEIS, including: water quality, marine habitat 
and species, eastern and western North Pacific gray whales, other 
wildlife species, economics, environmental justice, social environment, 
cultural resources, ceremonial and subsistence resources, noise, 
aesthetics, transportation, public services, public safety, and human 
health.
    The SDEIS provides an important opportunity for the public to 
formally comment on the preferred alternative. These comments, in 
conjunction with considerations described in the DEIS and SDEIS, will 
provide key information to assist NMFS with its final decision on the 
Tribe's request.
    Authority: The environmental review of the Makah Tribe's request to 
resume treaty-based hunting of ENP gray whales will be conducted under 
the authority and in accordance with the requirements of the NEPA of 
1969 as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), Council on Environmental 
Quality Regulations (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), the MMPA (16 U.S.C. 1361-
1421h), other applicable Federal laws and regulations, and policies and 
procedures of NMFS for compliance with those regulations.

    Dated: June 29, 2022.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-14245 Filed 7-1-22; 8:45 am]
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