[Federal Register: December 28, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 248)]
[Notices]
[Page 76777-76780]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr28de05-56]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[I.D. 120805B]
Notice of Intent to Conduct Public Scoping Meetings and Prepare
an Environmental Impact Statement on the Activities of the National
Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of Intent to prepare environmental impact statement;
request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) announces its
intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to analyze
the environmental impacts of the national administration of the Marine
Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program (MMHSRP).
Publication of this notice begins the official scoping process that
will help identify alternatives and determine the scope of
environmental issues to be addressed in the EIS. This notice requests
public participation in the scoping process, provides information on
how to participate, and identifies a set of preliminary alternatives to
serve as a starting point for discussions.
ADDRESSES: See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for specific dates, times, and
locations of public scoping meetings for this issue.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: All comments, written statements and
questions regarding the scoping process, NEPA process, and preparation
of the EIS must be postmarked by February 28, 2006, and should be
mailed to: P. Michael Payne, Chief, Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle
Division, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries
Service, 1315 East-West Highway, Room 13635, Silver Spring, MD 20910-
3226, Fax: 301-427-2584 ATTN: MMHSRP EIS or e-mail at
mmhsrpeis.comments@noaa.gov with the subject line MMHSRP EIS.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
[[Page 76778]]
Background
NMFS proposes to continue to coordinate and operate the National
Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program (MMHSRP) for
response to stranded marine mammals and research into questions related
to marine mammal health, including causes and trends in marine mammal
health and the causes of strandings, pursuant to Title IV of the Marine
Mammal Protection Act (MMPA; 16 U.S.C. 1421). Title IV of the MMPA
established the MMHSRP under NMFS. The mandated goals and purposes for
the program are to: (1) facilitate the collection and dissemination of
reference data on the health of marine mammals and health trends of
marine mammal populations in the wild; (2) correlate the health of
marine mammals and marine mammal populations, in the wild, with
available data on physical, chemical, and biological environmental
parameters; and (3) coordinate effective responses to unusual mortality
events by establishing a process in the Department of Commerce in
accordance with section 404.
To meet the goals of the MMPA, the MMHSRP carries out several
important activities, including the National Marine Mammal Stranding
Network, the John H. Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance Grant
Program, the Marine Mammal Disentanglement Program, the Marine Mammal
Unusual Mortality Event and Emergency Response Program, the Marine
Mammal Biomonitoring Program, the Marine Mammal Tissue and Serum Bank
Program, the Marine Mammal Analytical Quality Assurance Program, the
MMHSRP Information Management Program, and the facilitation of several
regional health assessment programs on wild marine mammals.
A marine mammal is defined as ``stranded'' under the MMPA if it is
dead and on the beach or shore or floating in waters under US
jurisdiction, or alive and on the beach and unable to return to the
water, in need of medical assistance, or out of its natural habitat and
unable to return to its natural habitat without assistance. NMFS is
currently developing and plans to issue national protocols that will
help standardize the stranding network across the country while
maintaining regional flexibility. These protocols are proposed to be
issued in one consolidated manual, titled Policies and Best Practices
for Marine Mammal Stranding Response, Rehabilitation and Release
(Policies and Practices). This document is currently released on an
interim basis, and will be available on our website after January 9,
2006, at: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/health/ for reference and review.
The future development of these policies may involve issuance of
regulations, but none are currently proposed.
Individuals, groups and organizations throughout the country have
been responding to stranded marine mammals for decades. After the
passage of Title IV, NMFS codified the roles and responsibilities of
participant organizations in the National Marine Mammal Stranding
Network through a Letter of Agreement (LOA) or Stranding Agreement
(SA), issued under MMPA section 112(c). By issuing SAs, NMFS allows
stranding network response organizations, acting as 'agents' of the
government, an exemption to the prohibition on ``takes'' of marine
mammals established under the MMPA. Federal, state and local government
officials already have an exemption to the take prohibition under
section 109(h) of the MMPA, which allows the taking of marine mammals
(not listed as threatened or endangered) during the course of official
duties, provided such taking is for the protection or welfare of the
mammal, for public health, or for the nonlethal removal of nuisance
animals. SAs (as conceived) extend the same exemption to organizations
and individuals that are outside of the government.
Stranding Agreements are issued by NMFS Regional Administrators,
and in the past a high level of variability has occurred between
regions. A standardized national template for the format of the SA has
been developed, including sections that may be customized by each
region in order to maintain flexibility. This SA template has been
subject to public comment on several occasions after publication on
NMFS' public website and distribution to interested parties (most
recently on Nov. 8, 2004). NMFS has also developed a list of minimum
criteria for organizations wishing to obtain a SA and participate in
the stranding network, and these have also been distributed for public
comment. These criteria differ based on the level of involvement of the
participant (response only; response and transport; rehabilitation,
etc.). Substantive comments received on these documents have been
either incorporated or responded to, if the authors chose not to
incorporate them. The LOA Template and Minimum Eligibility Criteria are
the first two elements of the ``Policies and Practices'' manual.
While the MMPA provides an exception to the take prohibition for
the health and welfare of stranded marine mammals, no similar exemption
is contained in the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Not all, but many,
species of marine mammals are listed as threatened or endangered under
the ESA, and are therefore protected by both laws. Therefore, the
MMHSRP has obtained a permit from the Permits, Conservation and
Education Division of the NMFS Office of Protected Resources, issued
under the MMPA and section 10(a)(1)(A) of the ESA, to provide the
necessary exemption to the take prohibition where the stranded animal
in question is listed under the ESA, or when response to a stranded
animal would or could incidentally harass a listed species. The permit
covers stranding and emergency response activities, including for
example, disentanglement, hazing, close approaches, and humane
euthanasia. Captures of wild (presumably healthy) animals are also
permitted to conduct health assessment studies, where such activities
are part of an investigation into a morbidity or mortality issue in the
wild population, but this is a rare occurrence (not routine procedure).
Stranding network responders are listed as co-investigators under this
permit. The permit also authorizes a variety of research projects
utilizing stranded animals, tissue samples, and marine mammal parts for
investigations into die-offs and other questions regarding marine
mammal health and stranding. The current permit issued to the MMHSRP
will expire on June 30, 2007, and a NEPA analysis of the activities
covered under the permit must be completed prior to the issuance of a
new permit. This EIS will serve as the NEPA analysis of these permitted
activities.
Marine mammals that are undergoing rehabilitation, and the
facilities that are conducting rehabilitation activities, are not
subject to inspection or review by the Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service (APHIS) under the United States Department of
Agriculture, provided that they are not also a public display facility
(separate from their rehabilitation activities) or a research facility.
These facilities are therefore not subject to APHIS minimum
requirements for facilities, husbandry, or veterinary standards. NMFS
has developed minimum standards for marine mammal rehabilitation
facilities that will be required of all facilities operating under a SA
with NMFS, and the interim rehabilitation facility standards document
is the third element of the Policies and Practices manual.
Section 402 (a) of the MMPA charges NMFS with providing ``guidance
for determining at what point a rehabilitated marine mammal is
[[Page 76779]]
releasable to the wild.'' Interim standards for release of
rehabilitated marine mammals have been developed by NMFS and the US
Fish and Wildlife Service in consultation with marine mammal experts
through review and public comments, including publication in the
Federal Register on April 8, 1998 (63 FR 17156). Three panels of
experts were also assembled in 2001 to provide individual
recommendations, which have been incorporated into the current interim
document. These guidelines provide an evaluative process for the
veterinarians and animal husbandry staff at rehabilitation facilities
to use in determining if a stranded marine mammal is suitable for
release to the wild, and under what conditions such a release should
occur. The interim standards are provided in the Policies and Practices
manual.
Purpose and Scope of the Action
NMFS will prepare an EIS to evaluate the cumulative impacts of the
activities of the MMHSRP, including the issuance of a final Policies
and Procedures manual and a new MMPA/ESA permit for the program. This
EIS will assess the likely environmental effects of marine mammal
health and stranding response under a range of alternatives
characterized by different methods, mitigation measures, and level of
response. In addition, the EIS will identify potentially significant
direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts on geology and soils, air
quality, water quality, other fish and wildlife species and their
habitat, vegetation, socioeconomics and tourism, treaty rights and
Federal trust responsibilities, environmental justice, cultural
resources, noise, aesthetics, transportation, public services, and
human health and safety, and other environmental issues that could
occur with the implementation of the proposed action. For all
potentially significant impacts, the EIS will identify avoidance,
minimization and mitigation measures to reduce these impacts, where
feasible, to a level below significance.
Major environmental concerns that will be addressed in the EIS
include: NMFS' information needs for the conservation of marine
mammals; the types and levels of stranding response and rehabilitation
activities, including level of effort; and the cumulative impacts of
MMHSRP activities on marine mammals and the environment. Comments and
suggestions are invited from all interested parties to ensure that the
full range of issues related to the MMHSRP and its activities are
identified. NMFS is therefore seeking public comments especially in the
following areas:
(1) Types of activities. What sort of activities in response to
stranded marine mammals or outbreaks of disease in marine mammals
should be conducted on a national level? Are there critical research
needs that may be met by stranding investigations, rehabilitation,
biomonitoring, disentanglement, and other health-related research
activities? If so, are these needs currently being met? If there are
additional needs, what are they, how are they likely to benefit the
marine mammal species, and how should they best be met?
(2) Level of response effort. For example, should there be
different standards or levels of effort for different species or groups
of species (i.e. pinnipeds vs. cetaceans; threatened or endangered
species vs. increasing populations, etc.)? How should NMFS set these
standards or limits?
(3) Organization and qualifications. How should the national
stranding network be organized at the local, state, regional, eco-
system, and national levels? How should health assessment research be
coordinated or organized nationally? What should the minimum
qualifications of an individual or organization be prior to becoming an
SA holder or researcher (utilizing samples from stranded animals) to
ensure that animals are treated successfully, humanely, and with the
minimum of adverse impacts?
(4) Effects of activities. NMFS will be assessing possible effects
of the activities conducted by, for, and under the authorization of the
MMHSRP using all appropriate available information. Anyone having
relevant information they believe NMFS should consider in its analysis
should provide a complete citation or reference for retrieving the
information. We seek public input on the scope of the required NEPA
analysis, including th range of reasonable alternatives; associated
impacts of any alternatives on the human environment, including geology
and soils, air quality, water quality, other fish and wildlife species
and their habitat, vegetation, socioeconomics and tourism, treaty
rights and Federal trust responsibilities, environmental justice,
cultural resources, noise, aesthetics, transportation, public services,
and human health and safety, and suitable mitigation measures. We ask
that comments be as specific as possible.
Alternatives
NMFS has identified several preliminary alternatives for public
comment during the scoping period and encourage information on
additional alternatives to consider. Alternative 1, the Proposed Action
Alternative, would result in the publication of the Practices and
Protocols Handbook and the establishment of required minimum standards
for the national marine mammal stranding and disentanglement networks.
The MMHSRP permit would also be issued under this alternative to permit
response activities for endangered species, disentanglement activities,
biomonitoring projects, other research projects conducted by or in
cooperation with the program, and import and export of tissue and other
diagnostic or research samples.
Alternative 2, the No Action Alternative, would continue the
activities of the national stranding and disentanglement networks
without issuance of the Policies and Practices. No new or renewal
Stranding Agreements would be issued or extended, and the MMHSRP would
not apply for or receive a new permit. As Stranding Agreements with
organizations expired, the network would cease to function. The No
Action Alternative is required to be included for consideration by CEQ
regulations.
Alternative 3 is considered the Status Quo alternative and would
allow for the continuation of the stranding and disentanglement
networks currently in place in the country, and the Policies and
Practices documents would not be issued. However, under the Status Quo
alternative, Stranding Agreements could be renewed or extended (though
not modified), such that the current level of response would continue.
No new SAs would be issued to facilities that are not currently part of
the national stranding network. This would preclude adaptive changes in
the stranding network as organizations change priorities and wish to
leave the network, or as new facilities are created and wish to become
involved. The MMHSRP permit could be renewed or reissued as written,
with no modifications. There could be no adaptive changes to the
research protocols as new issues were raised or advances made in
technology.
Other alternatives considered by NMFS may be eliminated from
detailed study because they would limit or prohibit activities
necessary for the conservation of the species by NMFS. The other
alternatives that have been considered but may be eliminated from
further study are: (1) An alternative that allows for biomonitoring
activities only (tissue sampling and study of animals caught during
targeted health assessment projects, subsistence hunts, and as
incidental bycatch in fishery activities only); (2) an alternative that
allows for a stranding response only (no
[[Page 76780]]
rehabilitation activities; response to live animals would be limited to
euthanasia or release; no disentanglement or health assessment
activities; ); (3) an alternative that allows for response and
rehabilitation for cetaceans only; and (4) an alternative that allows
for response and rehabilitation for ESA-listed marine mammals only. The
elimination of any of these activities would impede data collection
regarding strandings and the health of marine mammals that is necessary
for NMFS conservation and recovery efforts for many species.
In addition to the alternatives listed above, NMFS will also
utilize the scoping process to identify other alternatives for
consideration. It should be noted that although several of the listed
alternatives would not allow for the mandated activities listed in the
MMPA, under 40 CFR 1506.2(d), reasonable alternatives cannot be
excluded strictly because they are inconsistent with Federal or state
laws, but must still be evaluated in the EIS.
For additional information about the MMHSRP, the national stranding
network, and related information, please visit our website at http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/health/
.
Public Involvement and Scoping Meetings Agenda
Public scoping meetings will be held at the following dates, times,
and locations:
1. Tuesday, January 24, 2006, 7 - 10 p.m., Santa Barbara Natural
History Museum, 2559 Puesta del Sol, Santa Barbara, CA;
2. Wednesday, January 25, 2006, 2 - 5 p.m.; Bay Conservation and
Development Commission, 50 California Street, Suite 2600, San
Francisco, CA;
3. Friday, January 27, 2006, 3 - 6 p.m., Hawaiian Islands Humpback
Whale National Marine Sanctuary O'ahu Office, 6600 Kalaniana'ole
Highway, Honolulu, HI;
4. Monday, January 30, 2006, 2 - 5 p.m., NMFS Northwest Regional
Office, Building 9, 7600 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA;
5. Wednesday, February 1, 2006, 2 - 5 p.m., U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, 1011 East Tudor Road, Anchorage, AK;
6. Tuesday, February 7, 2006, 5 - 8 p.m., NMFS Southeast Regional
Office, 263 13th Avenue, South, St. Petersburg, FL;
7. Monday, February 13, 2006, 5 - 8 p.m., New England Aquarium,
Conference Center, Central Wharf, Boston, MA;
8. Friday, February 17, 2006, 2 - 5 p.m., Silver Spring Metro
Center, Building 4, Science Center, 1301 East-West Highway, Silver
Spring, MD.
Comments will be accepted at these meetings as well as during the
scoping period, and can be mailed to NMFS by February 28, 2006 (see FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
We will consider all comments received during the comment period.
All hardcopy submissions must be unbound, on paper no larger than 8 1/2
by 11 inches (216 by 279 mm), and suitable for copying and electronic
scanning. We request that you include in your comments:
(1) Your name and address;
(2) Whether or not you would like to receive a copy of the Draft
EIS (please specify electronic or paper format of the Draft EIS); and
(3) Any background documents to support your comments as you feel
necessary.
All comments and material received, including names and addresses,
will become part of the administrative record and may be released to
the public.
Special Accommodations
These meetings are accessible to people with disabilities. Requests
for sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids should be
directed to Sarah Howlett or Sarah Wilkin, 301-713-2322 (voice) or 301-
427-2522 (fax), at least 5 days before the scheduled meeting date.
P. Michael Payne,
Chief, Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Division, Office of Protected
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E5-7990 Filed 12-27-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S