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Endangered and Threatened Species; Proposed Endangered Status for the Cook Inlet Beluga Whale; Public Hearing

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[Federal Register: July 11, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 132)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 37697-37698]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr11jy07-18]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 224
[I.D. 021607C]

Endangered and Threatened Species; Proposed Endangered Status for
the Cook Inlet Beluga Whale; Public Hearing

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of public hearing.

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SUMMARY: On April 20, 2007, NMFS proposed the listing of the Cook Inlet
beluga whale as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act
of 1973 (ESA), as amended. As part of that proposal, NMFS announced a
public comment period to end on June 19, 2007, and then extended the
comment period to August 3, 2007. NMFS has received requests for public
hearings on this issue. In response, NMFS announced two public hearings
to be held in Alaska and one public hearing to be held in Maryland in
two previous Federal Register notices. In addition, NMFS is announcing
a separate hearing in this notice that will be held in Soldotna,
Alaska, in order to provide greater opportunity for public comment.

DATES: The hearing will be held on July 27, 2007, from 6 to 9 p.m. in
Soldotna, AK. Written comments must be received by August 3, 2007.

ADDRESSES: The July 27, 2007, hearing will be held at the Kenai Peninsula
Borough Assembly chambers, 144 North Binkley Street, Soldotna, AK.
    Written comments can be sent to Kaja Brix, Assistant Regional
Administrator, Protected Resources Division, Alaska Region, NMFS, Attn:
Ellen Sebastian. Comments may be submitted by:
    • E-mail: CIB-ESA-Endangered@noaa.gov. Include in the
subject line the following document identifier: Cook Inlet Beluga Whale
PR. E-mail comments, with or without attachments, are limited to 5
megabytes.
    • Webform at the Federal eRulemaking Portal:
http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions at that site for
submitting comments.
    • Mail: P. O Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802.
    • Hand delivery to the Federal Building: 709 W. 9th Street, Juneau, AK.
    • Fax: (907) 586-7557.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brad Smith, NMFS, 222 West 7th Avenue,
Anchorage, AK 99517, telephone (907) 271-5006; Kaja Brix, NMFS, (907)
586-7235; or Marta Nammack, NMFS, (301) 713-1401.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On April 20, 2007, NMFS published a proposed rule to list the Cook
Inlet beluga whale as an endangered species under the Endangered
Species Act of 1973 (ESA), as amended (72 FR 19854). This action
followed completion of the Cook Inlet beluga whale status review, which
found this population to be at risk of extinction within the next 100
years and described NMFS= determination that this population
constitutes a ``species'', or distinct population segment under the ESA.
    Following the publication of the proposed rule to list the Cook
Inlet beluga whale as endangered, NMFS received requests to schedule
public hearings on this issue. In response to these requests, NMFS
published two separate notices in the Federal Register announcing
public hearings in Alaska (72 FR 32605; June 13, 2007) and Maryland (72
FR 34661; June 25, 2007). Following these announcements, NMFS received
an additional request for a public hearing to be held in Soldotna, AK.
NMFS has decided to honor the request in order to provide additional
opportunities for public comment.

[[Page 37698]]

Public Hearings

    Joint Commerce-Interior ESA implementing regulations state that the
Secretary shall promptly hold at least one public hearing if any person
requests one within 45 days of publication of a proposed regulation to
list a species or to designate critical habitat (see 50 CFR
424.16(c)(3)). In past ESA rule-making NMFS has conducted traditional
public hearings, consisting of recorded oral testimony from interested
individuals. This format, although providing a means for public input,
does not provide opportunities for dialogue and information exchange.
NMFS believes that the traditional public hearing format can be
improved upon by also including a brief presentation on the results of
the Cook Inlet beluga Status Review and other topics of interest.
    The preferred means for providing public comment to the official
record is via written testimony prepared in advance of the meeting
which may also be presented orally. Blank ``comment sheets'' will be
provided at the meetings for those without prepared written comments,
and opportunity will also be provided for additional oral testimony.
There is no need to register for these hearings.
    In scheduling these public hearings, NMFS has anticipated that many
affected stakeholders and members of the public may prefer to discuss
the proposed listing directly with staff during the public comment
period. These public meetings are not the only opportunity for the
public to provide input on this proposal. The public and stakeholders
are encouraged to continue to comment and provide input to NMFS on the
proposal (via correspondence, e-mail, and the Internet; see ADDRESSES,
above) up until the scheduled close of the comment period on August 3,
2007.

References

    The proposed rule, status review, maps, a list of the references
cited in this document, and other materials relating to the proposed
listing can be found on the NMFS Alaska Region website 
http://www.fakr.noaa.gov/.

    Dated: July 6, 2007.
James H. Lecky,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. E7-13481 Filed 7-10-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S

 
 

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