Notice2022-16575
Notice of Permit Modification Received Under the Antarctic Conservation Act of 1978
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
August 3, 2022
Issuing agencies
National Science Foundation
Abstract
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 in the Code of Federal Regulations. This is the required notice of a requested permit modification issued.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 148 (Wednesday, August 3, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 148 (Wednesday, August 3, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47472-47473]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-16575]
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NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Notice of Permit Modification Received Under the Antarctic
Conservation Act of 1978
AGENCY: National Science Foundation.
ACTION: Notice of permit modification request received and permit
issued.
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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 in the Code
of Federal Regulations. This is the required notice of a requested
permit modification issued.
DATES: July 27, 2022 to September 30, 2023.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Andrew Titmus, ACA Permit Officer,
Office of Polar Programs, National Science Foundation, 2415 Eisenhower
Avenue, Alexandria, VA 22314; 703-292-4479; email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#561715172633243b3f22251638253078313920"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="90d1d3d1e0f5e2fdf9e4e3d0fee3f6bef7ffe6">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The National Science Foundation (NSF), as
directed by the Antarctic Conservation Act of 1978 (Pub. L. 95-541, 45
CFR 671), 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 as requiring special
protection.
Description of Permit Modification Requested: The Foundation issued
a permit (ACA 2021-002) to Megan Cimino on August 12, 2020. The issued
permit allows the permit holder and agents to enter Antarctic Specially
Protected Areas (ASPAs), as well as engage in research activities that
would result in Take, Harmful Interference, and Import into the USA.
The permit holder and agents may conduct activities associated with
long-term studies of seabird ecology including diets, breeding success,
growth rates, survival, recruitment, behavior, population trends,
foraging success, and seasonal dispersal. Study species include Adelie,
Chinstrap, and Gentoo Penguins; Brown and South Polar Skua; Southern
Giant Petrel; Blue-eyed Shag; Kelp Gull; and Snowy Sheathbill.
Specimens from these and other species may be salvaged from birds that
have died of natural causes.
A recent modification to this permit, dated April 21, 2021,
permitted the permit holder to deploy three time-lapse cameras, two on
Torgersen Island and one on Humble Island (Restricted Zones within ASMA
7, Southwest Anvers Island and Palmer Basin), to monitor Adelie penguin
occupation patterns in relation to the Palmer Station pier
construction. The two islands of interest are where Adelie penguin
foraging behavior, diet, and phenology have been routinely studied and
are the largest Adelie colonies near Palmer Station. The equipment
consists of a small camera attached to a steel pole with a square base
that is anchored under rocks. The cameras would be deployed at the end
of May 2021 by permit agents (if there are any delays, the cameras
would be installed during October 2021). The equipment would be hand
carried in pieces to the sites of interest and assembled in the field.
The cameras would remain in place for at least two years to obtain
information during the pier construction and the year after
construction.
Now the permit holder proposes a modification to deploy seven
acoustic recorders, four on Humble Island and three on Torgersen Island
(Restricted Zones within ASMA 7, Southwest Anvers Island and Palmer
Basin), to record Adelie penguin vocalizations throughout the breeding
season for assessing the validity of a new approach for high resolution
population censusing and metapopulation modeling. The equipment
consists of small battery powered acoustic recorders attached to a PVC
pole with PVC pole bases that would be anchored under rocks. The
recorders would be deployed in November 2022 by permit agents and
retrieved in March 2023. Recorders will be visited weekly to replace
batteries and memory cards.
The ACA Permit Officer has reviewed the modification request and
has determined that the amendment is not a material change to the
permit, and it
[[Page 47473]]
will have a less than a minor or transitory impact.
The permit modification was issued on July 27, 2022.
Erika N. Davis,
Program Specialist, Office of Polar Programs.
[FR Doc. 2022-16575 Filed 8-2-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7555-01-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on August 3, 2022.
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