All,

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is pleased to announce its intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to analyze the environmental impacts of issuing incidental take authorizations (ITAs) pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) for the taking of marine mammals incidental to anthropogenic activities in the waters of Cook Inlet, Alaska.

The Notice of Intent (NOI) is available on the Internet at:

https://federalregister.gov/a/2014-24317. 

For the purposes of this EIS, NMFS intends to analyze the effects on the human environment of issuing authorizations for the incidental take of marine mammals from activities occurring in both the state and Federal waters of Cook Inlet, AK, from Knik Arm in the northern part of the Inlet to the southern edge of Kachemak Bay on the southeastern part of the Inlet and to the southern edge of Cape Douglas on the southwestern part of the Inlet.

This programmatic EIS will analyze the potential effects on the human environment of issuing MMPA ITAs for various anthropogenic activities in Cook Inlet. An EIS that analyzes multiple activities over multiple years will provide a comprehensive decision-support tool for NMFS, allowing us to address cumulative effects over a longer time frame, consider a wider range of reasonable alternatives consistent with our statutory mandates, and analyze a wider range of practicable mitigation and monitoring measures for protecting marine mammals and the availability of marine mammals for subsistence uses.

Public Comment Period: Comments on the NOI will be accepted during the public comment period until December 29, 2014.  Comments on the NOI should be identified by NOAA-NMFS-2014-0129 and can be submitted by any of the following methods:

• Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking portal www.regulations.gov. To submit comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking portal, enter NOAA-NMFS-2014-0129 in the keyword search.  Locate the document you wish to comment on from the resulting list and click on the "Comment Now" icon on the right of that line.
  
• Mail: Jolie Harrison, Chief, Permits and Conservation Division, Office of Protected Resources, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910
• Fax: (301) 713-0376 attn: Jolie Harrison
  

We request that you include background documents to support your comments as appropriate.

THE DEADLINE FOR PROVIDING COMMENTS IS 11:59 PM EST DECEMBER 29, 2014.

Public Scoping Meeting: We will hold a public scoping meeting in Anchorage, AK, on Monday, November 3, 2014, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Loussac Library's Wilda Marston Theater located at 3600 Denali Street, Anchorage, AK 99503. Written and oral comments will be accepted at the public meeting.

Thank you for your interest and participation in this important process.

--
Candace Nachman
Fishery Biologist

NOAA Fisheries
Office of Protected Resources
Permits and Conservation Division
1315 East West Highway, Rm 13115
Silver Spring, MD 20910

Ph: (301) 427-8429
Fax: (301) 713-0376

Web: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/