[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 55 (Wednesday, March 21, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16538-16539]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-6575]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XB085
Endangered and Threatened Species; Initiation of 5-Year Review
for the North Atlantic Right Whale and the North Pacific Right Whale
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of initiation of 5-year reviews; request for
information.
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SUMMARY: NMFS announces a 5-year review of North Atlantic right whale
(Eubalaena glacialis) and North Pacific right whale (Eubalaena
japonica) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA), as amended. A
5-year review is based on the best scientific and commercial data
available at the time of the review; therefore, we are requesting
submission of any such information on these whales that has become
available since the last status review in 2006.
DATES: To allow us adequate time to conduct this review, we must
receive your information no later than April 20, 2012. However, we will
continue to accept new information about any listed species at any
time.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on this document, identified by
NOAA-NMFS-2012-0057, by any of the following methods:
Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal www.regulations.gov. To
submit comments via the e-Rulemaking Portal, first click the ``submit a
comment'' icon, then enter NOAA-NMFS-2012-0057 in the keyword search.
Locate the document you wish to comment on from the resulting list and
click on the ``Submit a Comment'' icon to the right of that line.
Mail or hand-delivery: Angela Somma, National Marine
Fisheries Service, Office of Protected Resources, Endangered Species
Division, 1325 East West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910.
Instructions: Comments must be submitted by one of the above
methods to ensure that the comments are received, documented, and
considered by NMFS. 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. All comments received are a part of the public
record and will generally be posted for public viewing on
www.regulations.gov without change. All personal identifying
information (e.g., name, address, etc.) submitted voluntarily by the
sender will be publicly accessible. Do not submit confidential business
information, or otherwise sensitive or protected information. NMFS will
accept anonymous comments (enter ``N/A'' in the required fields if you
wish to remain anonymous). Attachments to electronic comments will be
accepted in Microsoft Word or Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF file
formats only.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Larissa Plants, Office of Protected
Resources, 301-427-8471, or Shannon Bettridge, Office of Protected
Resources 301-427-8437.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 4(c)(2)(A) of the ESA requires that
we conduct a review of listed species at least once every five years.
The regulations in 50 CFR 424.21 require that we publish a notice in
the Federal Register announcing species currently under active review.
This notice announces our active review of right whales, currently
listed as endangered.
To ensure that the 5-year review is complete and based on the best
available scientific and commercial information, we are soliciting new
information from the public, governmental agencies, Tribes, the
scientific community, industry, environmental entities, and any other
interested parties concerning the status of right whales. Categories of
requested information include: (1) Species biology and demographics
(population trends, distribution, abundance, genetics, etc.); (2)
habitat conditions (amount, distribution, suitability, quality, etc.);
(3) conservation measures that have been implemented that benefit the
species; (4) status and trends of threats; and (5) other new
information, data, or corrections including, but not limited to,
taxonomic or nomenclatural changes, identification of erroneous
information
[[Page 16539]]
contained in the list of threatened and endangered species, and
improved analytical methods, if any. Any new information will be
considered during the 5-year review and will also be useful in
evaluating the ongoing recovery programs for these whales.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.
Dated: March 12, 2012.
Angela Somma,
Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected Resources,
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2012-6575 Filed 3-20-12; 8:45 am]
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