[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 236 (Monday, December 9, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 73893-73894]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-29211]
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NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Notice of Permit Modification Received Under the Antarctic
Conservation Act of 1978 (Pub. L. 95-541)
AGENCY: National Science Foundation.
ACTION: Notice of Permit Modification Request Received under the
Antarctic Conservation Act of 1978, Public Law 95-541.
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SUMMARY: The National Science Foundation (NSF) is required to publish a
notice of requests to modify permits issued to conduct activities
regulated under the Antarctic Conservation Act of 1978. NSF has
published regulations under the Antarctic Conservation Act at Title 45
Part 670 of the Code of Federal Regulations. This is the required
notice of a requested permit modification.
DATES: Interested parties are invited to submit written data, comments,
or views with respect to this permit application by January 8, 2014.
Permit applications may be inspected by interested parties at the
Permit Office, address below.
ADDRESSES: Comments should be addressed to Permit Office, Room 755,
Division of Polar Programs, National Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson
Boulevard, Arlington, Virginia 22230.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Adrian Dahood, ACA Permit Officer, at
the above address or [email protected] or (703) 292-7149.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The National Science Foundation, as directed
by the Antarctic Conservation Act of 1978 (Pub. L. 95-541), as amended
by the Antarctic Science, Tourism and Conservation Act of 1996, has
developed regulations for the establishment of a permit system for
various activities in Antarctica and designation of certain animals and
certain geographic areas a requiring special protection. The
regulations establish such a permit system to designate Antarctic
Specially Protected Areas.
Description of Permit Modification Requested: The Foundation issued
a permit (ACA 2014-006) to Eric Stangeland of Quark Expeditions on
September 18, 2013 . The issued permit allows the applicant to conduct
waste management activities associated with tourism activities
including shore
[[Page 73894]]
excursions, kayaking, camping, cross country skiing, ice climbing and
mountaineering, and downhill skiing in the Antarctic Peninsula region.
Mitigation measures are in place to reduce the risk of non-native
species introductions and the risk of spills.
Now the applicant proposes a modification to his permit to allow
for the conduct of waste management activities associated with
conducting ice swimming and remote controlled camera copter activities.
Ice swimming activities would be sanctioned by the International
Ice swimming Association. The ice swimming activity would consist of up
to seven passengers completing a one mile swim between the tour ship
and land (Detaille Island, Stonington Island, or Horseshoe Island).
Quark staff would maintain a watch for leopard seals and killer whales
and abort the swim if these animals are sighted. Swimmers would be
accompanied by Quark staff in kayaks and zodiacs in case of emergency.
Mitigation measures would be in place to reduce the risk of non-native
species introductions and the risk of spills ashore.
The applicants wish to fly a small, battery operated, remotely
controlled copter equipped with a camera to take scenic photos of the
Antarctic. The copter would not be flown over concentrations of birds
or mammals or over Antarctic Specially Protected Areas. Several
measures would be taken to prevent against loss of the copter including
painting the copter a highly visible color, only flying it when the
wind is calm, flying the copter for short periods of time that last
less than half a battery charge, equipping the copter with floatation
so that it could be recovered from the sea, allowing only trained
operators to fly the copter and ensuring that the separation between
the operator and copter does not exceed its ``operational range'' of
500 meters. The copter itself has safety features programmed into such
as returning to its take off location if connection is lost with the
remote control device. The applicants are seeking a modification to
their waste Permit to cover any accidental releases that may result
from flying the copter.
Location: Antarctic Peninsula Region.
Dates: (That the mod would be valid) January 7, 2014-March 31,
2017.
Nadene G. Kennedy,
Polar Coordination Specialist, Division of Polar Programs.
[FR Doc. 2013-29211 Filed 12-6-13; 8:45 am]
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