SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The subject amendment to Permit No. 19425 is requested under the authority of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.), the regulations governing the taking and importing of marine mammals (50 CFR part 216), the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), the regulations governing the taking, importing, and exporting of endangered and threatened species (50 CFR parts 222-226), and the Fur Seal Act of 1966, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1151 et seq.).

Permit No. 19425, issued on July 31, 2015 (80 FR 52453), authorizes the permit holder to analyze marine mammal samples to study contaminant levels, specifically using fatty acid and table isotopes to examine diets and contaminant loads and how they are affected by climate change. Cetacean and pinniped tissue samples come from remote biopsy sampling, captured animals, and animals collected during subsistence harvests and originate in the United States, Canada, and Greenland/Denmark. No live animals are harassed or taken, lethally or otherwise, under the permit. The permit holder is requesting the permit be amended to increase the number of samples from 50 per year to 300 per year, for both pinniped and cetacean species. The additional samples would increase the robustness of the analyses. The permit is valid through August 1, 2020.

In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), an initial determination has been made that the activity proposed is categorically excluded from the requirement to prepare an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement.

Concurrent with the publication of this notice in the Federal Register , NMFS is forwarding copies of this application to the Marine Mammal Commission and its Committee of Scientific Advisors.