Taking and Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Rocket Launches

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 031599B]

Taking and Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals

Incidental to Rocket Launches

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

[[Page 17146]]

ACTION: Notice of issuance of a letter of authorization.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), as

amended, and implementing regulations, notification is hereby given

that a 1-year letter of authorization to take small numbers of seals

and sea lions was issued on April 2, 1999, to the 30th Space

Wing, U.S. Air Force.

ADDRESSES: The letter of authorization and supporting documentation are

available for review during regular business hours in the following

offices: Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway,

Silver Spring, MD 20910, and the Southwest Region, NMFS, 501 West Ocean

Boulevard, Suite 4200, Long Beach, CA 90802.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kenneth R. Hollingshead, Office of

Protected Resources, NMFS, (301) 713-2055, or Christina Fahy, NMFS,

(562) 980-4023.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 101(a)(5)(A) of the MMPA (16 U.S.C.

1361 et seq.) directs NMFS to allow, on request, the incidental, but

not intentional, taking of small numbers of marine mammals by U.S.

citizens who engage in a specified activity (other than commercial

fishing) within a specified geographical region if certain findings are

made and regulations are issued. Under the MMPA, the term ``taking''

means to harass, hunt, capture, or kill or to attempt to harass, hunt,

capture or kill marine mammals.

Permission may be granted for periods up to 5 years if NMFS finds,

after notification and opportunity for public comment, that the taking

will have a negligible impact on the species or stock(s) of marine

mammals and will not have an unmitigable adverse impact on the

availability of the species or stock(s) for subsistence uses. In

addition, NMFS must prescribe regulations that include permissible

methods of taking and other means effecting the least practicable

adverse impact on the species and its habitat and on the availability

of the species for subsistence uses, paying particular attention to

rookeries, mating grounds, and areas of similar significance. The

regulations must include requirements pertaining to the monitoring and

reporting of such taking. Regulations governing the taking of seals and

sea lions incidental to missile and rocket launches, aircraft flight

test operations, and helicopter operations at Vandenberg Air Force

Base, CA were published on March 1, 1999 (64 FR 9925), and remain in

effect until December 31, 2003.

Issuance of this letter of authorization is based on a finding that

the total takings will have no more than a negligible impact on the

seal and sea lion populations off the Vandenberg coast and on the

Northern Channel Islands.

Dated: April 2, 1999.

Art Jeffers,

Deputy Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine

Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 99-8767 Filed 4-7-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-22-F