Notice2023-18177
Final Revised Management Plan for the He`eia National Estuarine Research Reserve
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 23, 2023
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
Notice is hereby given that the Office for Coastal Management, National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Department of Commerce approves the revised management plan for the He`eia National Estuarine Research Reserve in Hawai`i. In accordance with the Coastal Zone Management Act and its implementing regulations. The University of Hawai`i Institute of Marine Biology revised the reserve's management plan, which replaces the management plan previously approved in 2016.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 162 (Wednesday, August 23, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 162 (Wednesday, August 23, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57438-57439]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-18177]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Final Revised Management Plan for the He`eia National Estuarine
Research Reserve
AGENCY: Office for Coastal Management, National Ocean Service, National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of approval for the final revised management plan for
the He`eia National Estuarine Research Reserve.
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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the Office for Coastal Management,
National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA), U.S. Department of Commerce approves the revised management
plan for the He`eia National Estuarine Research Reserve in Hawai`i. In
accordance with the Coastal Zone Management Act and its implementing
regulations. The University of Hawai`i Institute of Marine Biology
revised the reserve's management plan, which replaces the management
plan previously approved in 2016.
ADDRESSES: The revised management plan can be downloaded or viewed at
<a href="https://heeianerr.org/resources/">https://heeianerr.org/resources/</a>. The document is also available by
sending a written request to the point of contact identified below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Leah Keller of NOAA's Office for
[[Page 57439]]
Coastal Management, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#0e626b6f6620656b62626b7c4e60616f6f20696178"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="6a060f0b0244010f06060f182a04050b0b440d051c">[email protected]</span></a>, (808) 465-2720.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to 15 CFR 921.33(c), Hawai`i must
revise the management plan for the He`eia National Estuarine Research
Reserve at least every five years. Major changes to a reserve's
management plan may be made only after receiving written approval from
NOAA. NOAA approves changes to management plans via notice in the
Federal Register. On July 22, 2022 NOAA issued a notice in the Federal
Register announcing a thirty-day public comment period for the proposed
revision of this management plan (87 FR 43790).
Appendix D of the plan contains a summary of written and oral
comments received, and an explanation of how comments were
incorporated.
The management plan outlines the reserve's strategic goals and
objectives; administrative structure; programs for conducting research
and monitoring, education, and training; resource protection,
restoration, and manipulation plans; public access and visitor use
plans; consideration for future land acquisition; and facility
development to support reserve operations. Since 2016, this research
reserve has supported community-led ahupua`a scale restoration in the
He`eia estuary with the removal of 20 acres (80,000 square meters) of
invasive mangroves and plants, replacing them with native plant
species; agroforestry and lo`i cultivation; produced publications on
Native Hawaiian land and sea management practices; and restored the
He`eia fishpond.\1\ As a newly established reserve, the reserve hired
staff consisting of a reserve manager, research coordinator, education
coordinator, coastal training program coordinator, and research
technician. These staff play an important role in building community-
supported education, research, stewardship, and training programming
across the He`eia community. The reserve also installed and launched
monitoring equipment across the ahupua`a to monitor water quality,
abiotic and biotic features, and changes related to sea level rise and
coastal inundation; completed needs assessments for education and
training needs in He`eia; and supported various graduate assistants,
fellows, and research interns. The revised management plan will serve
as the guiding document for the 1,385-acre (5.6-square kilometer)
He`eia National Estuarine Research Reserve for the next five years.
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\1\ An ahupua`a is a Hawaiian conceptualization of community
that typically extends from the mountains to the ocean, and includes
zones for forest, various forms of Indigenous agro-ecology and
aquaculture, as well as nearshore zones for fisheries management.
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NOAA reviewed the environmental impacts of the revised management
plan and determined that this action is categorically excluded from
further analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act, as
amended, 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq., and the Council on Environmental
Quality Regulations for Implementing the Procedural Provisions of NEPA
(40 CFR 1500-1508 (2022)), consistent with NOAA Administrative Order
216-6A.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1451 et seq.; 15 CFR 921.33.
Keelin S. Kuipers,
Deputy Director, Office for Coastal Management, National Ocean Service,
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
[FR Doc. 2023-18177 Filed 8-22-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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