[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 148 (Wednesday, August 3, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47472-47473]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-16575]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION


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

AGENCY: National Science Foundation.

ACTION: Notice of permit modification request received and permit 
issued.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The National Science Foundation (NSF) is required to publish a 
notice of requests to modify permits issued 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 a requested 
permit modification issued.

DATES: July 27, 2022 to September 30, 2023.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Andrew Titmus, ACA Permit Officer, 
Office of Polar Programs, National Science Foundation, 2415 Eisenhower 
Avenue, Alexandria, VA 22314; 703-292-4479; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The National Science Foundation (NSF), as 
directed by the Antarctic Conservation Act of 1978 (Pub. L. 95-541, 45 
CFR 671), 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 as requiring special 
protection.
    Description of Permit Modification Requested: The Foundation issued 
a permit (ACA 2021-002) to Megan Cimino on August 12, 2020. The issued 
permit allows the permit holder and agents to enter Antarctic Specially 
Protected Areas (ASPAs), as well as engage in research activities that 
would result in Take, Harmful Interference, and Import into the USA. 
The permit holder and agents may conduct activities associated with 
long-term studies of seabird ecology including diets, breeding success, 
growth rates, survival, recruitment, behavior, population trends, 
foraging success, and seasonal dispersal. Study species include Adelie, 
Chinstrap, and Gentoo Penguins; Brown and South Polar Skua; Southern 
Giant Petrel; Blue-eyed Shag; Kelp Gull; and Snowy Sheathbill. 
Specimens from these and other species may be salvaged from birds that 
have died of natural causes.
    A recent modification to this permit, dated April 21, 2021, 
permitted the permit holder to deploy three time-lapse cameras, two on 
Torgersen Island and one on Humble Island (Restricted Zones within ASMA 
7, Southwest Anvers Island and Palmer Basin), to monitor Adelie penguin 
occupation patterns in relation to the Palmer Station pier 
construction. The two islands of interest are where Adelie penguin 
foraging behavior, diet, and phenology have been routinely studied and 
are the largest Adelie colonies near Palmer Station. The equipment 
consists of a small camera attached to a steel pole with a square base 
that is anchored under rocks. The cameras would be deployed at the end 
of May 2021 by permit agents (if there are any delays, the cameras 
would be installed during October 2021). The equipment would be hand 
carried in pieces to the sites of interest and assembled in the field. 
The cameras would remain in place for at least two years to obtain 
information during the pier construction and the year after 
construction.
    Now the permit holder proposes a modification to deploy seven 
acoustic recorders, four on Humble Island and three on Torgersen Island 
(Restricted Zones within ASMA 7, Southwest Anvers Island and Palmer 
Basin), to record Adelie penguin vocalizations throughout the breeding 
season for assessing the validity of a new approach for high resolution 
population censusing and metapopulation modeling. The equipment 
consists of small battery powered acoustic recorders attached to a PVC 
pole with PVC pole bases that would be anchored under rocks. The 
recorders would be deployed in November 2022 by permit agents and 
retrieved in March 2023. Recorders will be visited weekly to replace 
batteries and memory cards.
    The ACA Permit Officer has reviewed the modification request and 
has determined that the amendment is not a material change to the 
permit, and it

[[Page 47473]]

will have a less than a minor or transitory impact.
    The permit modification was issued on July 27, 2022.

Erika N. Davis,
Program Specialist, Office of Polar Programs.
[FR Doc. 2022-16575 Filed 8-2-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7555-01-P