The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is preparing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the activities of the Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program (MMHSRP). The MMHSRP encompasses: - the National Marine Mammal Stranding Network, - the Marine Mammal Disentanglement Program, - the Marine Mammal Unusual Mortality Event and Emergency Response Program, - the Marine Mammal Biomonitoring and Research Program, - the John H. Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance Grant Program, - the National Marine Mammal Tissue and Serum Bank, and - the MMHSRP Information Management Program. More information regarding the EIS is available on our website: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/health/eis.htm The EIS will address the information needs for the conservation of marine mammals; the types and levels of stranding response and rehabilitation activities, including level of effort; and the cumulative impacts of MMHSRP activities on marine mammals and the environment. The EIS will also address appropriate mitigation measures and potential cumulative impacts of the MMHSRP. As part of and concurrent with the EIS, the MMHSRP is proposing to issue national standards for marine mammal stranding and disentanglement response, including marine mammal rehabilitation and release of rehabilitated animals, in a document titled "Policies and Best Practices for Marine Mammal Stranding Response, Rehabilitation and Release." Interim versions of the chapters of this document are available for your review and comment on the website listed above. As an initial step in the EIS process, NMFS is hosting a series of public scoping meetings. NMFS invites the public, including stranding network participants, Stranding Agreement (LOA) holders, marine mammal researchers and scientists, elected officials, regulatory agencies, environmental groups, and other interested individuals, to attend the scoping meetings and to provide input on the range of actions, alternatives, and impacts that should be considered in the EIS. Eight scoping meetings will be held in January and February 2006 at the following locations and dates: 1. Tuesday, January 24, 2006, 7-10 P.M., Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, 2559 Puesta del Sol, Santa Barbara, CA; 2. Wednesday, January 25, 2006, 2-5 P.M., Bay Conservation and Development Commission, 50 California St., Suite 2600, San Francisco, CA; 3. Friday, January 27, 2006, 3-6 P.M., Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary O'ahu Office, 6600 Kalaniana'ole Highway, Honolulu, HI; 4. Monday, January 30, 2006, 2-5 P.M., NMFS Northwest Regional Office, Building 9, 7600 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA; 5. Wednesday, February 1, 2006; 2-5 P.M., U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1011 East Tudor Road, Anchorage, AK; 6. Tuesday, February 7, 2006; 5-8 P.M., NMFS Southeast Regional Office, 263 13th Ave. S., St. Petersburg, FL; 7. Monday, February 13, 2006; 5-8 P.M., New England Aquarium Conference Center, Central Wharf, Boston, MA; 8. Friday, February 17, 2006; 2-5 P.M, Silver Spring Metro Center Building 4, Science Center, 1301 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD. Each scoping meeting will consist of an informational poster session, a formal presentation of the EIS, and a formal public comment period. Each attendee is invited to give a statement of up to four minutes. These public comments will not be responded to during the meeting, although they will be incorporated into the EIS. However, if there is interest, there may be an informal (off the record) question and answer session following the formal comment period. In addition to the scoping meetings, comments may be submitted in writing through February 28, 2006 in one of the following ways: Email: mmhsrpeis.comments@noaa.gov Fax: 301-427-2584 Mail to: Mr. P. Michael Payne Chief, Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Division (F/PR2) Office of Protected Resources National Marine Fisheries Service 1315 East-West Highway, Room 13635 Silver Spring, MD 20910 For additional information about the EIS and the Interim Policies and Practices documents, please visit our website at: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/health/eis.htm or one of the following information repositories (information will be available approximately one week prior to the public scoping meetings): 1. Santa Barbara Public Library, 40 East Anapamu Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101; 2. San Francisco Public Library, 100 Larkin Street, San Francisco, CA 94102; 3. Hawaii State Library, 478 South King Street, Honolulu, HI 96813; 4. Seattle Public Library, 1000 4th Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104; 5. Z.J. Loussac Public Library, 3600 Denali Street, Anchorage, AK 99503; 6. St. Petersburg Public Library, 3745 9th Avenue North, St. Petersburg, FL 33713; 7. Boston Public Library, 700 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02116; 8. NOAA Central Library, 1315 East-West Highway, 2nd Floor, SSMC3, Silver Spring, MD 20910. These meetings are accessible to people with disabilities. If you need to request sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids, or if you have additional questions, please contact myself (sarah.wilkin@noaa.gov) or Sarah Howlett (sarah.howlett@noaa.gov) at least five days before the scheduled meeting date.