[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 162 (Wednesday, August 23, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57438-57439]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-18177]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration


Final Revised Management Plan for the He`eia National Estuarine 
Research Reserve

AGENCY: Office for Coastal Management, National Ocean Service, National 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of approval for the final revised management plan for 
the He`eia National Estuarine Research Reserve.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the Office for Coastal Management, 
National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 
(NOAA), U.S. Department of Commerce approves the revised management 
plan for the He`eia National Estuarine Research Reserve in Hawai`i. In 
accordance with the Coastal Zone Management Act and its implementing 
regulations. The University of Hawai`i Institute of Marine Biology 
revised the reserve's management plan, which replaces the management 
plan previously approved in 2016.

ADDRESSES: The revised management plan can be downloaded or viewed at 
https://heeianerr.org/resources/. The document is also available by 
sending a written request to the point of contact identified below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Leah Keller of NOAA's Office for

[[Page 57439]]

Coastal Management, [email protected], (808) 465-2720.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to 15 CFR 921.33(c), Hawai`i must 
revise the management plan for the He`eia National Estuarine Research 
Reserve at least every five years. Major changes to a reserve's 
management plan may be made only after receiving written approval from 
NOAA. NOAA approves changes to management plans via notice in the 
Federal Register. On July 22, 2022 NOAA issued a notice in the Federal 
Register announcing a thirty-day public comment period for the proposed 
revision of this management plan (87 FR 43790).
    Appendix D of the plan contains a summary of written and oral 
comments received, and an explanation of how comments were 
incorporated.
    The management plan outlines the reserve's strategic goals and 
objectives; administrative structure; programs for conducting research 
and monitoring, education, and training; resource protection, 
restoration, and manipulation plans; public access and visitor use 
plans; consideration for future land acquisition; and facility 
development to support reserve operations. Since 2016, this research 
reserve has supported community-led ahupua`a scale restoration in the 
He`eia estuary with the removal of 20 acres (80,000 square meters) of 
invasive mangroves and plants, replacing them with native plant 
species; agroforestry and lo`i cultivation; produced publications on 
Native Hawaiian land and sea management practices; and restored the 
He`eia fishpond.\1\ As a newly established reserve, the reserve hired 
staff consisting of a reserve manager, research coordinator, education 
coordinator, coastal training program coordinator, and research 
technician. These staff play an important role in building community-
supported education, research, stewardship, and training programming 
across the He`eia community. The reserve also installed and launched 
monitoring equipment across the ahupua`a to monitor water quality, 
abiotic and biotic features, and changes related to sea level rise and 
coastal inundation; completed needs assessments for education and 
training needs in He`eia; and supported various graduate assistants, 
fellows, and research interns. The revised management plan will serve 
as the guiding document for the 1,385-acre (5.6-square kilometer) 
He`eia National Estuarine Research Reserve for the next five years.
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    \1\ An ahupua`a is a Hawaiian conceptualization of community 
that typically extends from the mountains to the ocean, and includes 
zones for forest, various forms of Indigenous agro-ecology and 
aquaculture, as well as nearshore zones for fisheries management.
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    NOAA reviewed the environmental impacts of the revised management 
plan and determined that this action is categorically excluded from 
further analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act, as 
amended, 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq., and the Council on Environmental 
Quality Regulations for Implementing the Procedural Provisions of NEPA 
(40 CFR 1500-1508 (2022)), consistent with NOAA Administrative Order 
216-6A.
    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1451 et seq.; 15 CFR 921.33.

Keelin S. Kuipers,
Deputy Director, Office for Coastal Management, National Ocean Service, 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
[FR Doc. 2023-18177 Filed 8-22-23; 8:45 am]
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