[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 157 (Wednesday, August 16, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Page 55668]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-17523]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XD254]


Endangered Species; File No. 27490; Extension of Public Comment 
Period

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

ACTION: Notice; receipt of application; reopening of public comment 
period.

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SUMMARY: On July 6, 2023, NMFS published a notice of receipt of 
application for an Endangered Species Act incidental take permit, with 
comments due by August 7, 2023. In response to two requests to extend 
the public comment period, NMFS has decided to reopen the public 
comment period for an additional 15 calendar days. All comments 
received will become part of the public record and will be available 
for review.

DATES: The comment period for the notice of receipt of application 
published on July 6, 2023 (88 FR 43082) is reopened from August 16, 
2023 to August 31, 2023. NMFS must receive written comments and 
information on or before August 31, 2023. Comments previously submitted 
do not need to be resubmitted.

ADDRESSES: The application is available for download and review at 
https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/endangered-species-conservation/incidental-take-permits and at https://www.regulations.gov. The application is also available upon request 
(see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
    You may submit comments, identified by NOAA-NMFS-2023-0090, by:
    Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public comments via 
the Federal eRulemaking Portal https://www.regulations.gov and enter 
NOAA-NMFS-2023-0090 in the Search box. Click on the ``Comment'' icon, 
complete the required fields, and enter or attach your comments.
    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 NMFS. 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 (e.g., name, address, etc.) voluntarily submitted by the 
commenter may be publicly accessible. Do not submit Confidential 
Business Information or otherwise sensitive or protected information. 
We will accept anonymous comments (enter N/A in the required fields, if 
you wish to remain anonymous).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alison Verkade, (301) 427-8074, 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    On July 6, 2023, we published a notice of receipt of application 
from University of Massachusetts Dartmouth School for Marine Science 
and Technology (SMAST) for an incidental take permit pursuant to the 
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA). In that notice we 
made the incidental take permit application available for public 
comment. The permit application is for the incidental take of ESA-
listed sturgeon and sea turtles associated with the otherwise lawful 
fisheries survey activities within and adjacent to the Massachusetts/
Rhode Island Wind Energy Area.
    We received two requests to extend the public comment period by 15 
and 30 calendar days in order to provide the public with additional 
time to gather relevant information and adequately comment on the 
application in a meaningful and constructive manner. We considered the 
requests and concluded that a 15-day extension should allow sufficient 
time for responders to submit comments without significantly delaying 
the completion of our review. We are therefore reopening the public 
comment period from August 16, 2023, to August 31, 2023. Comments 
previously submitted do not need to be resubmitted.
    Authority: The authority for this action is the Endangered Species 
Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).

    Dated: August 10, 2023.
Shannon Bettridge,
Chief, Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Division, Office of Protected 
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-17523 Filed 8-15-23; 8:45 am]
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