65FR37361A Taking and Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Rocket Launches
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Posting-number: Volume 65, Issue 115, Page 37361A
[Federal Register: June 14, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 115)]
[Notices]
[Page 37361]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr14jn00-45]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[I.D. 051600C]
Taking and Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals
Incidental to Rocket Launches
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of issuance of a letter of authorization.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), as
amended, and implementing regulations, notification is hereby given
that a 1-year letter of authorization to take small numbers of seals
and sea lions was issued on May 31, 2000, to the 30<SUP>th</SUP> Space
Wing, U.S. Air Force.
ADDRESSES: The letter of authorization and supporting documentation are
available for review during regular business hours in the following
offices: Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway,
Silver Spring, MD 20910, and the Southwest Region, NMFS, 501 West Ocean
Boulevard, Suite 4200, Long Beach, CA 90802.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kenneth R. Hollingshead, Office of
Protected Resources, NMFS, (301) 713-2055, or Christina Fahy, NMFS,
(562) 980-4023.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 101(a)(5)(A) of the MMPA (16 U.S.C.
1361 et seq.) directs NMFS to allow, on request, the incidental, but
not intentional, taking of small numbers of marine mammals by U.S.
citizens who engage in a specified activity (other than commercial
fishing) within a specified geographical region if certain findings are
made and regulations are issued. Under the MMPA, the term ``taking''
means to harass, hunt, capture, or kill or to attempt to harass, hunt,
capture or kill marine mammals.
Permission may be granted for periods up to 5 years if NMFS finds,
after notification and opportunity for public comment, that the taking
will have a negligible impact on the species or stock(s) of marine
mammals and will not have an unmitigable adverse impact on the
availability of the species or stock(s) for subsistence uses. In
addition, NMFS must prescribe regulations that include permissible
methods of taking and other means effecting the least practicable
adverse impact on the species and its habitat and on the availability
of the species for subsistence uses, paying particular attention to
rookeries, mating grounds, and areas of similar significance. The
regulations must include requirements pertaining to the monitoring and
reporting of such taking. Regulations governing the taking of seals and
sea lions incidental to missile and rocket launches, aircraft flight
test operations, and helicopter operations at Vandenberg Air Force
Base, CA were published on March 1, 1999 (64 FR 9925), and remain in
effect until December 31, 2003.
Issuance of this letter of authorization is based on a finding that
the total takings will have no more than a negligible impact on the
seal and sea lion populations off the Vandenberg coast and on the
Northern Channel Islands.
Dated: May 31, 2000.
Donald R. Knowles,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 00-15022 Filed 6-13-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F