[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 231 (Friday, December 2, 1994)] [Unknown Section] [Page 0] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 94-29620] [[Page Unknown]] [Federal Register: December 2, 1994] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Office of the Secretary Marine Mammals AGENCY: Department of Defense, Advanced Research Projects Agency. ACTION: Notice of public hearing on draft environmental impact statement. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), in cooperation with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), and the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) as the state lead agency, will hold a public hearing on a draft environmental impact statement/environmental impact report EIS/EIR) for the California Acoustic Thermometry of Ocean Climate (ATOC) Project and its associated Marine Mammal Research Program. DATES: The public hearing will take place on January 6, 1995 at 5:30 PM, and the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium, 307 Church Street, Santa Cruz, California. ADDRESSES: For a copy of the Draft EIS/EIR, contact Marilyn E. Cox, Campus Planning Office, 0006, 9500 Gilman Drive, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093. Telephone (619) 534-3860. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: All non-government organizations and scientists who wish to present prepared testimony should contact Ms. Marilyn E. Cox at the address given above at least 48 hours in advance of the hearing so that a general agenda can be prepared. People who are deaf or hearing impaired may place call through the California Relay Service at 1-800 735-2922. A written copy of each testimony to be presented is requested on the day of the hearing. It is advised to use slides or overheads only if absolutely necessary during presentations, and copies of any slides or overheads are requested to be made available to Ms. Cox on the day of the hearing. Other people who are interested in making a statement at this hearing should bring a written copy of the statement to the hearing, and will be given an opportunity to make such statements following the prepared testimonies. Anyone who needs additional information or requires special accommodations to attend the public hearing should contact the person named above at least 7 days in advance of the hearing. Comments on the Draft EIS/EIR will be accepted until January 17, 1995. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On May 3, 1994 notice was published in the Federal Register (49 FR 22822) that the ARPA, in cooperation with the NMFS, intended to prepare an EIS, pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), on an application for a scientific research permit to allow harassment of marine mammals and sea turtles by a low frequency sound source associated with the ATOC program in California waters, and to monitor the effects thereof. The ATOC project is a basin scale research effort to determine long-term ocean climate changes by using acoustic sound paths in the sea's deep ``sound channel'' to precisely measure average ocean temperatures. A two-year research program is proposed to be carried out to study any potential effects of the ATOC sound transmissions on marine mammals and sea turtles. Two sound sources are currently proposed; one offshore California near Point Sur (which is the subject of this Draft EIS/EIR) and the other off the north shore of Kauai, Hawaii (the subject of a separate draft EIS). Dated: November 28, 1994. Patricia L. Toppings, Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison Officer, Department of Defense. [FR Doc. 94-29620 Filed 12-1-94; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 5000-04-M