Federal Register Notice

31549

Notices

Federal Register
Vol. 72, No. 109
Thursday, June 7, 2007

This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER
contains documents other than rules or
proposed rules that are applicable to the
public. Notices of hearings and investigations,
committee meetings, agency decisions and
rulings, delegations of authority, filing of
petitions and applications and agency
statements of organization and functions are
examples of documents appearing in this
section.

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Siskiyou County Resource Advisory
Committee
Forest Service, USDA.
Notice of meeting.

AGENCY:
ACTION:

SUMMARY: The Siskiyou County
Resource Advisory Committee (RAC)
will meet in Yreka, California, June 18,
2007. The meeting will include routine
business and discussion of future
project submissions for RAC funding.
DATES: The meeting will be held June
18, 2007, from 4 p.m. until 6 p.m.
ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at
the Yreka High School Library, Preece
Way, Yreka, California.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bob
Talley, Forest RAC coordinator,
Klamath National Forest, (530) 841–
4423 or electronically at
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
meeting is open to the public. Public
comment opportunity will be provided
and individuals will have the
opportunity to address the Committee at
that time.

Dated: June 1, 2007.
Margaret J. Boland,
Designated Federal Official.
[FR Doc. 07–2828 Filed 6–6–07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–11–M

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Rural Utilities Service

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Information Collection Activity;
Comment Request
Rural Utilities Service, USDA.
Notice and request for
comments.

AGENCY:
ACTION:

SUMMARY: In accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44

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U.S.C. Chapter 35, as amended), the
Rural Utilities Service an agency
delivering the U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development
Utilities Programs, invites comments on
this information collection for which
approval from the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) will be requested.
DATES: Comments on this notice must be
received by August 6, 2007.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Michele Brooks, Acting Director,
Program Development and Regulatory
Analysis, USDA Rural Development,
1400 Independence Ave., SW., STOP
1522, Room 5168 South Building,
Washington, DC 20250–1522.
Telephone: (202) 690–1078. Fax: (202)
720–8435.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Office
of Management and Budget’s (OMB)
regulation (5 CFR 1320) implementing
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104–13) requires
that interested members of the public
and affected agencies have an
opportunity to comment on information
collection and recordkeeping activities
(see 5 CFR 1320.8(d)). This notice
identifies an information collection that
RUS is submitting to OMB for
extension.
Comments are invited on: (a) Whether
the proposed collection of information
is necessary for the proper performance
of the functions of the Agency,
including whether the information will
have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of
the Agency’s estimate of the burden of
the proposed collection of information
including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used; (c)
ways to enhance the quality, utility and
clarity of the information to be
collected; and (d) ways to minimize the
burden of the collection of information
on those who are to respond, including
through the use of appropriate
automated, electronic, mechanical, or
other technological collection
techniques or other forms of information
technology. Comments may be sent to:
Michele Brooks, Acting Director,
Program Development and Regulatory
Analysis, USDA Rural Development,
STOP 1522, 1400 Independence Ave.,
SW., Washington, DC 20250–1522. FAX:
(202) 720–8435.
Title: 7 CFR Part 1730, Electric
System Emergency Restoration Plan.
OMB Control Number: 0572–0140.

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Type of Request: Request for an
extension of a currently approved
information collection.
Abstract: Electric power systems have
been identified in Presidential Decision
Directive 63 (PDD–63), May 1998, as
one of the critical infrastructures of the
United States. The term ’’critical
infrastructure’’ is defined in section
1016(e) of the USA Patriot Act of 2001
(42 U.S.C. 5195c(e)) as ‘‘systems and
assets, whether physical or virtual, so
vital to the United States that the
incapacity or destruction of such
systems and assets would have a
debilitating impact on security, national
economic security, national public
health or safety, or any combination of
those matters.’’ Damage to or loss of
critical or significant parts of the U.S.
electric power system can cause
enormous damage to the environment,
loss of life and economic loss and can
affect the national security of the United
States. Such damage or loss can be
caused by acts of nature or human acts,
ranging from an accident to an act of
terrorism. Of particular concern are
physical and cyber threats from
terrorists. Protecting America’s critical
infrastructure is the shared
responsibility of Federal, State, and
local government in active partnership
with the private sector. Homeland
Security Presidential Directive 7
(HSPD–7), December 2003, established a
national policy for Federal departments
and agencies to identify and prioritize
United States critical infrastructure and
key resources and to protect them from
terrorist attacks. America’s open and
technologically complex society
includes a wide array of critical
infrastructure and key resources that are
potential terrorist targets. The majority
of these are owned and operated by the
private sector and State or local
governments. These critical
infrastructures and key resources are
both physical and cyber-based and span
all sectors of the economy. A substantial
portion of the electric infrastructure of
the United States resides in, and is
maintained by, rural America. To ensure
that the electric infrastructure in rural
America is adequately protected, RUS is
instituting the requirement that all
current electric borrowers enhance an
existing ERP or, if none exists, develop
and maintain an ERP.
Title 7 CFR Part 1730, Electric System
and Maintenance, establishes a

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Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 109 / Thursday, June 7, 2007 / Notices

requirement for electric program
distribution, generation, and
transmission borrowers to develop an
ERP or expand an existing ERP and to
provide RUS with a written certification
that they have an ERP based upon a
VRA.
Estimate of Burden: Public reporting
burden for this collection of information
is estimated to average 30 minutes per
response.
Respondents: Not for profit.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
676.
Estimated Number of Responses per
Respondent: 1.
Estimated Total Annual Burden on
Respondents: 338 hours.
Copies of this information collection
can be obtained from Joyce McNeil,
Program Development and Regulatory
Analysis at (202) 720–0812. FAX: (202)
720–8435.
All responses to this notice will be
summarized and included in the request
for OMB approval. All comments will
also become a matter of public record.
Dated: May 31, 2007.
James M. Andrew,
Administrator, Rural Utilities Service.
[FR Doc. E7–10943 Filed 6–6–07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–15–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
[I.D. 050307A]

Small Takes of Marine Mammals
Incidental to Specified Activities;
Movement of Barges through the
Beaufort Sea between West Dock and
Cape Simpson or Point Lonely, Alaska
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of receipt of application
and proposed incidental harassment
authorization; request for comments.

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AGENCY:

SUMMARY: NMFS has received a request
to authorize FEX L.P. (FEX) to take
small numbers of marine mammals by
harassment incidental to conducting a
barging operation within the U.S.
Beaufort Sea. Under the Marine
Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS
is requesting comments on its proposal
to authorize FEX to incidentally take, by
harassment, small numbers of bowhead
whales, gray whales, beluga whales,
ringed seals, bearded seals, and spotted
seals in the above mentioned area
between approximately July 1 and
November 30, 2007.

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Comments and information must
be received no later than July 9, 2007.
ADDRESSES: Comments on the
application should be addressed to P.
Michael Payne, Chief, Permits,
Conservation and Education Division,
Office of Protected Resources, National
Marine Fisheries Service, 1315 EastWest Highway, Silver Spring, MD
20910–3225, or by telephoning the
contact listed here. The mailbox address
for providing email comments is
[email protected]. Comments
sent via e-mail, including all
attachments, must not exceed a 10–
megabyte file size. A copy of the
application containing a list of the
references used in this document may
be obtained by writing to this address or
by telephoning the contact listed here
and is also available at: http://
www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/permits/
incidental.htm. Documents cited in this
notice may be viewed, by appointment,
during regular business hours, at this
address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Shane Guan, Office of Protected
Resources, NMFS, (301) 713–2289, ext
137, or Brad Smith, Alaska Region,
NMFS, (907) 271–3023.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
DATES:

Background
Sections 101(a)(5)(A) and (D) of the
MMPA (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) direct
the Secretary of Commerce to allow,
upon 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 either regulations are
issued or, if the taking is limited to
harassment, a notice of a proposed
authorization is provided to the public
for review.
An authorization shall be granted if
NMFS finds that the taking will have a
negligible impact on the species or
stock(s), will not have an unmitigable
adverse impact on the availability of the
species or stock(s) for subsistence uses,
and that the permissible methods of
taking and requirements pertaining to
the mitigation, monitoring and reporting
of such takings are set forth. NMFS has
defined ‘‘negligible impact’’ in 50 CFR
216.103 as ’’...an impact resulting from
the specified activity that cannot be
reasonably expected to, and is not
reasonably likely to, adversely affect the
species or stock through effects on
annual rates of recruitment or survival.’’
Section 101(a)(5)(D) of the MMPA
established an expedited process by
which citizens of the United States can

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apply for an authorization to
incidentally take small numbers of
marine mammals by harassment. Except
with respect to certain activities not
pertinent here, the MMPA defines
‘‘harassment’’ as:
any act of pursuit, torment, or annoyance
which (i) has the potential to injure a marine
mammal or marine mammal stock in the wild
[Level A harassment]; or (ii) has the potential
to disturb a marine mammal or marine
mammal stock in the wild by causing
disruption of behavioral patterns, including,
but not limited to, migration, breathing,
nursing, breeding, feeding, or sheltering
[Level B harassment].

Section 101(a)(5)(D) establishes a 45–
day time limit for NMFS review of an
application followed by a 30–day public
notice and comment period on any
proposed authorizations for the
incidental harassment of marine
mammals. Within 45 days of the close
of the comment period, NMFS must
either issue or deny the authorization.
Summary of Request
On April 26, 2007, NMFS received an
application from FEX to take several
species of marine mammals incidental
to the movement of two tugs towing
barges in the U.S. Beaufort Sea. Marine
barges would be used to either resupply
or demobilize from their ongoing
drilling activities on the Northwest
National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska Oil
and Gas Leases. For a resupply
operation, consumables, fuel, and
essential pad construction equipment
would be marine lifted from West Dock
(Prudhoe Bay) to the Cape Simpson
operational staging area, where it would
be stored in preparation of the 2007 2008 winter exploration season. Barges
proposed for the marine lift from the
West Dock Causeway include but are
not limited to: Crowley Marine Kavik
River and the Sag River (1,100
horsepower each) tugs, and Bowhead
Stryker or Garrett (two engines x 220
horsepower each) barges or comparable
class vessels. Additional barges and
support vessels may be utilized as
available and needed. Barges would be
moving at a speed at about 5 knots.
Barge traffic between West Dock and
Cape Simpson or Pt. Lonely is
scheduled to occur during the 2007
open-water season. The distance
between West Dock and Cape Simpson
is approximately 240 km (149 mi). From
West Dock Causeway, it would take
approximately 17.5 hours one way for a
barge to reach Point Lonely and 22
hours to Cape Simpson. Typically the
open-water season begins mid- to late
July. Every effort will be made to
complete the barging activities prior to
August 15, but no later than September
1, 2007. A late season barge effort after

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