[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 67 (Friday, April 6, 2012)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 20774-20775]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-8373]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 223
RIN 0648-XZ58
Endangered and Threatened Species; Proposed Threatened Status for
Distinct Population Segments of the Bearded Seal
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Proposed rule; notice of availability and opening of comment
period.
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SUMMARY: NMFS has conducted special independent peer review of the
December 2010 status review report of the bearded seal (Erignathus
barbatus) under the Endangered Species Act, as amended (ESA). This
notice announces availability of a peer review report that consolidates
the comments received from the reviewers and the opening of a 30-day
public comment period on that report. Please note that comments
previously submitted need not be resubmitted since they are already
part of the record and will be considered when NMFS makes its final
determination.
DATES: Comments and information must be received by May 7, 2012.
ADDRESSES: Send comments to Jon Kurland, Assistant Regional
Administrator, Protected Resources Division, Alaska Region, NMFS, Attn:
Ellen Sebastian. You may submit comments, identified by FDMS Docket
Number NOAA-NMFS-2010-0259, by any one of the following methods:
Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public comments via
the Federal eRulemaking Portal http://www.regulations.gov. To submit
comments via the e-Rulemaking Portal, first click the ``submit a
comment'' icon, then enter NOAA-NMFS-2010-0259 in the keyword search.
Locate the document you wish to comment on from the resulting list and
click on the ``Submit a Comment'' icon on the right of that line.
Mail: Submit written comments to P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802.
Fax: (907) 586-7557.
Hand delivery to the Federal Building: 709 West 9th Street, Room
420A, Juneau, AK.
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 information on obtaining a copy of the peer review report, see
the ``Obtaining a Copy of the Peer Review Report'' section below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tamara Olson, NMFS Alaska Region,
(907) 271-5006; Jon Kurland, NMFS Alaska Region, (907) 586-7638; or
Marta Nammack, Office of Protected Resources, Silver Spring, MD (301)
713-1401.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On December 10, 2010, NMFS made a 12-month petition finding and
proposed to list the Beringia DPS and the Okhotsk DPS of the Erignathus
barbatus nauticus subspecies of bearded seals as threatened (75 FR
77496). On December 13, 2011, in consideration of substantial
disagreement regarding the sufficiency or accuracy of the model
projections and analysis of future sea ice habitat in the range of the
Beringia DPS of bearded seals, NMFS announced a 6-month extension of
the deadline for the final listing determination to June 10, 2012 (76
FR 77465). At that time, we also announced that we were conducting
special independent peer review of the sections of the status review
report of the bearded seal (Cameron et al., 2010) related to the
disagreement, and that the resulting peer review report would be made
available for public comment.
We have conducted this special peer review, and are notifying the
public of the availability of a peer review report that consolidates
the comments received. We are also providing the public an opportunity
to submit comments or information on the peer review report for 30
days. The comment
[[Page 20775]]
period shall be limited to 30 days because the statutory deadline
requires a final listing determination by June 10, 2012.
Obtaining a Copy of the Peer Review Report
You may obtain a copy of the peer review report for review:
Via the Federal eRulemaking Portal http://www.regulations.gov at
Docket No. NOAA-NMFS-2010-0259.
By visiting the Internet at: http://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/protectedresources/seals/ice.htm.
Documents cited in this notice, including the peer review report,
may also be viewed, by appointment, during regular business hours, at
the aforementioned address in Juneau, AK (see ADDRESSES).
Public Comments Solicited
Comments and information submitted during the initial comment
period on the December 10, 2011 (75 FR 77496), proposed rule should not
be resubmitted since they are already part of the record. Comments and
information submitted should focus on the information contained in the
peer review report listed above. Our final determination of whether the
Beringia and Okhotsk DPSs of bearded seals qualify as threatened or
endangered under the ESA will take into consideration all comments and
information we receive and have previously received during both comment
periods. We request that all comments and information be accompanied by
supporting documentation such as maps, bibliographic references, or
reprints of pertinent publications. Please submit any comments to the
ADDRESSES listed above.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.
Dated: April 2, 2012.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2012-8373 Filed 4-5-12; 8:45 am]
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