[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 208 (Friday, October 28, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Page 65193]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-23523]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XC465]


Taking and Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals 
Incidental to the Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind Energy Projects 
Offshore of New Jersey; Extension of Public Comment Period

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

ACTION: Notice; extension of public comment period.

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SUMMARY: The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is extending the 
public comment period on the Notice of Receipt (NOR) of Atlantic 
Shores' application under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) 
requesting authorization to take marine mammals, by Level A harassment 
and Level B harassment, incidental to the Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind 
Energy Project, offshore of New Jersey. The comment period for the 
Notice of Receipt of Atlantic Shores' application that published on 
September 29, 2022 closes on October 31, 2022. At the request of a 
commenter, NMFS is extending the public comment period to provide the 
public with additional time to submit information and to comment on 
Atlantic Shores' application.

DATES: The comment period for the notice published on September 29, 
2022, at 87 FR 59061, is extended. Comments and information must be 
received no later than November 15, 2022. Comments received prior to 
and between the close of the first public comment period and the end of 
the extended comment period will be considered timely received.

ADDRESSES: Comments on the applications should be addressed to Jolie 
Harrison, Chief, Permits and Conservation Division, Office of Protected 
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service. Physical comments should 
be sent to 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910 and 
electronic comments should be sent to [email protected].
    Instructions: NMFS is not responsible for comments sent by any 
other method, to any other address or individual, or received after the 
end of the comment period. Comments received electronically, including 
all attachments, must not exceed a 25-megabyte file size. Attachments 
to electronic comments will be accepted in Microsoft Word or Excel or 
Adobe PDF file formats only. All comments received are a part of the 
public record and will generally be posted online at https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/permit/incidental-take-authorizations-under-marine-mammal-protection-act without change. All personal identifying 
information (e.g., name, address) voluntarily submitted by the 
commenter may be publicly accessible. Do not submit confidential 
business information or otherwise sensitive or protected information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kelsey Potlock, Office of Protected 
Resources, NMFS, (301) 427-8401. An electronic copy of Atlantic Shores' 
application may be obtained online at: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/permit/incidental-take-authorizations-under-marine-mammal-protection-act. In case of problems accessing these documents, please call the 
contact listed above.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    On September 29, 2022, we published a Notice of Receipt (NOR) 
regarding an adequate and complete application received by Atlantic 
Shores, who has requested NMFS to authorize the taking of marine 
mammals incidental to the construction of two offshore wind energy 
projects located off of New Jersey in and around lease area OCS-A-0499 
(87 FR 59061). The NOR allowed for a 30-day public comment period, 
which is scheduled to close on October 31, 2022. On October 3, 2022, we 
received a request from the Save Long Beach Island, Inc. Coalition for 
Wind Without Impact (Save LBI) for a 15-day extension of the public 
comment period. The request indicated that Save LBI needed more time to 
conduct their review of the available documents and provide comments. 
Given that the targeted publication date of the proposed rule is May 1, 
2023 (per Title 41 of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act 
(FAST-41); https://www.permits.performance.gov/permitting-project/atlantic-shores-south) and the requested extension would not interfere 
with any of the intermediate milestones, NMFS has elected to provide 
additional time (15 additional days) for public comment.
    NMFS is extending the public comment period from an original end 
date of October 31, 2022, (87 FR 59061) to November 15, 2022, per this 
notice. No information has changed and all information that was 
previously described in the Background section, the Summary of Request 
section, and the Specified Activities section of the prior notice (87 
FR 59061, September 29, 2022) remain applicable to this notice and the 
activities proposed by Atlantic Shores. Furthermore, all information 
remains available to the public on NMFS' website (https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/incidental-take-authorization-atlantic-shores-offshore-wind-llc-construction-atlantic-shores). All comments 
and information submitted previously regarding Atlantic Shores' 
projects will be fully considered in preparation of the proposed rule 
and do not need to be resubmitted.

    Dated: October 25, 2022.
Kimberly Damon-Randall,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-23523 Filed 10-27-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P