Notice2022-23523
Taking and Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to the Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind Energy Projects Offshore of New Jersey; Extension of Public Comment Period
Primary source
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Published
October 28, 2022
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is extending the public comment period on the Notice of Receipt (NOR) of Atlantic Shores' application under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) requesting authorization to take marine mammals, by Level A harassment and Level B harassment, incidental to the Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind Energy Project, offshore of New Jersey. The comment period for the Notice of Receipt of Atlantic Shores' application that published on September 29, 2022 closes on October 31, 2022. At the request of a commenter, NMFS is extending the public comment period to provide the public with additional time to submit information and to comment on Atlantic Shores' application.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 208 (Friday, October 28, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 208 (Friday, October 28, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Page 65193]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-23523]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XC465]
Taking and Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals
Incidental to the Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind Energy Projects
Offshore of New Jersey; Extension of Public Comment Period
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; extension of public comment period.
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SUMMARY: The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is extending the
public comment period on the Notice of Receipt (NOR) of Atlantic
Shores' application under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA)
requesting authorization to take marine mammals, by Level A harassment
and Level B harassment, incidental to the Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind
Energy Project, offshore of New Jersey. The comment period for the
Notice of Receipt of Atlantic Shores' application that published on
September 29, 2022 closes on October 31, 2022. At the request of a
commenter, NMFS is extending the public comment period to provide the
public with additional time to submit information and to comment on
Atlantic Shores' application.
DATES: The comment period for the notice published on September 29,
2022, at 87 FR 59061, is extended. Comments and information must be
received no later than November 15, 2022. Comments received prior to
and between the close of the first public comment period and the end of
the extended comment period will be considered timely received.
ADDRESSES: Comments on the applications should be addressed to Jolie
Harrison, Chief, Permits and Conservation Division, Office of Protected
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service. Physical comments should
be sent to 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910 and
electronic comments should be sent to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#206974700e704f544c4f434b604e4f41410e474f56"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="e1a8b5b1cfb18e958d8e828aa18f8e8080cf868e97">[email protected]</span></a>.
Instructions: NMFS is not responsible for comments sent by any
other method, to any other address or individual, or received after the
end of the comment period. Comments received electronically, including
all attachments, must not exceed a 25-megabyte file size. Attachments
to electronic comments will be accepted in Microsoft Word or Excel or
Adobe PDF file formats only. All comments received are a part of the
public record and will generally be posted online at <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/permit/incidental-take-authorizations-under-marine-mammal-protection-act">https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/permit/incidental-take-authorizations-under-marine-mammal-protection-act</a> without change. All personal identifying
information (e.g., name, address) voluntarily submitted by the
commenter may be publicly accessible. Do not submit confidential
business information or otherwise sensitive or protected information.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kelsey Potlock, Office of Protected
Resources, NMFS, (301) 427-8401. An electronic copy of Atlantic Shores'
application may be obtained online at: <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/permit/incidental-take-authorizations-under-marine-mammal-protection-act">https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/permit/incidental-take-authorizations-under-marine-mammal-protection-act</a>. In case of problems accessing these documents, please call the
contact listed above.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On September 29, 2022, we published a Notice of Receipt (NOR)
regarding an adequate and complete application received by Atlantic
Shores, who has requested NMFS to authorize the taking of marine
mammals incidental to the construction of two offshore wind energy
projects located off of New Jersey in and around lease area OCS-A-0499
(87 FR 59061). The NOR allowed for a 30-day public comment period,
which is scheduled to close on October 31, 2022. On October 3, 2022, we
received a request from the Save Long Beach Island, Inc. Coalition for
Wind Without Impact (Save LBI) for a 15-day extension of the public
comment period. The request indicated that Save LBI needed more time to
conduct their review of the available documents and provide comments.
Given that the targeted publication date of the proposed rule is May 1,
2023 (per Title 41 of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act
(FAST-41); <a href="https://www.permits.performance.gov/permitting-project/atlantic-shores-south">https://www.permits.performance.gov/permitting-project/atlantic-shores-south</a>) and the requested extension would not interfere
with any of the intermediate milestones, NMFS has elected to provide
additional time (15 additional days) for public comment.
NMFS is extending the public comment period from an original end
date of October 31, 2022, (87 FR 59061) to November 15, 2022, per this
notice. No information has changed and all information that was
previously described in the Background section, the Summary of Request
section, and the Specified Activities section of the prior notice (87
FR 59061, September 29, 2022) remain applicable to this notice and the
activities proposed by Atlantic Shores. Furthermore, all information
remains available to the public on NMFS' website (<a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/incidental-take-authorization-atlantic-shores-offshore-wind-llc-construction-atlantic-shores">https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/incidental-take-authorization-atlantic-shores-offshore-wind-llc-construction-atlantic-shores</a>). All comments
and information submitted previously regarding Atlantic Shores'
projects will be fully considered in preparation of the proposed rule
and do not need to be resubmitted.
Dated: October 25, 2022.
Kimberly Damon-Randall,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-23523 Filed 10-27-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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