The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is announcing its
intent to update a recovery plan for the blue whale (Balaenoptera
musculus) and prepare a recovery plan for the North Pacific right whale
(Eubalaena japonica) and requests information from the public. NMFS is
required by the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA), as amended to
develop plans for the conservation and survival of federally listed species, i.e., recovery
plans.

DATES: To allow NMFS adequate time to conduct the reviews, all
information must be received no later than May 17, 2012.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on these documents, identified by
NOAA-NMFS-2012-0091, by any of the following methods:

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) of the Department of
Homeland Security will be submitting the following information
collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for
review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act:
Passenger List/Crew List (CBP Form I-418). This is a proposed extension
of an information collection that was previously approved. CBP is
proposing that this information collection be extended with no change
to the burden hours. This document is published to obtain comments from
the public and affected agencies. This information collection was
previously published in the Federal Register (77 FR 2561) on January
18, 2012, allowing for a 60-day comment period. This notice allows for
an additional 30 days for public comments. This process is conducted in
accordance with 5 CFR 1320.10.

DATES: Written comments should be received on or before May 17, 2012.

Oceans and Marine Resources are included in this committee thus it may be of interest to you.

This notice announces the selection of the authors for the
report of the next National Climate Assessment by the National Climate
Assessment and Development Advisory Committee (NCADAC). The next
National Climate Assessment will consist of 28 chapters, each drafted
by a set of Convening Lead Authors and Lead Authors. The list of these
by chapter can be found on the Web page

http://www.globalchange.gov/what-we-do/assessment/people/nca-author-teams

The Merchant Mariner Medical Advisory Committee (MMMAC) will meet on May 8-9, 2012 to discuss matters relating to medical certification determinations for issuance of merchant mariner credentials, medical standards and guidelines for physical qualifications of operators of commercial vessels, medical examiner education, and medical research. The meeting will be open to the public.

DATES: MMMAC will meet on Tuesday, May 8, and Wednesday, May 9, 2012 from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Please note that the meeting may close early if the committee has completed its business.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the National Maritime Center (NMC), 3rd floor conference room, 100 Forbes Drive, Martinsburg, West Virginia 25404.

For agenda and information you need to attend:

On February 23, 2012, House Natural Resources Committee Chair Doc Hastings (WA) sent a letter to National Ocean Council Co-Chairs Nancy Sutley and John Holdren seeking a 90-day extension of the public comment period on the draft Implementation Plan, as well as responses and documentation by March 5, 2012 on a number of items related to the funding and activities of the National Ocean Council.
 

Clean Water Act Compliance Orders Can Be Challenged In Court

By: George J. Mannina, Carollyn B. Lobell, Robert C. Horton
03/27/12

Reversing the U.S. EPA, and every Federal Court of Appeals that has considered the specific issue, a landmark 9-0 Supreme Court decision handed down March 21, 2012 holds that land-owners may challenge EPA administrative compliance orders issued under the Clean Water Act ("CWA") in court before EPA asks a court to enforce the order.  Sackett v. EPA, 2012 U.S. LEXIS 2320 (March 21, 2012).

The case arose because Michael and Chantell Sackett put fill dirt on their land in Bonner County, Idaho to build a house.  EPA, which shares enforcement authority with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ("Corps"), asserted the filled-in area contained wetlands subject to the CWA and the Sacketts violated the CWA by filling in jurisdictional wetlands without a CWA section 404 "dredge and fill" permit.  EPA issued an administrative compliance order that required the Sacketts to undo all work on their property and restore the area to its pre-construction condition.

Until now, landowners who found themselves in the Sacketts' position had little choice but to obey such compliance orders.  Under a compliance order, civil penalties of up to $75,000 per day per alleged violation accrue – up to $37,500 for allegedly violating the CWA, and up to an additional $37,500 for violating the administrative compliance order itself.  And the penalties mount up to a point in time of EPA's choosing to seek a court order enforcing the compliance order.  To put this into perspective, civil penalties could accrue at the rate of $1 million every two weeks.  Thus, compliance orders carried virtually irresistible pressure to comply as quickly as possible, even where CWA jurisdiction is questionable.

As all USCG COI vessel owners know by now Congress passed the 2010 USCG Appropriations Law which includes a provision to require all USCG COI vessels to install USCG certified Inflatable life rafts no later than January 2015. The current USCG orange life floats will no longer be accepted after that date. In June of 2011 NACO contacted every major passenger for-hire vessel association and requested we all work together to have the law changed and to be able to continue using the orange life floats. Our efforts have been fairly successful as we were able to have language placed in the House 2011 appropriations bill and had similar language being discussed for inclusion in the Senate version.

NACO now issues an Attitude Award to recipients who have shown service to work for benefits to the Charter Boat sector. The award for this year was presented to Capt. Ed O’Brien, NACO First Vice President. Ed has been the NACO liaison to the USCG since he first was elected to the Board and has been responsible for negotiating and coordinating many of the reductions of regulations, limiting fees, and easing drug consortium requirements.

Boat US asked Mercury Marine's Ed Alyanak and Frank Kelley, who between them have over 60 years of experience, to find out what's made these decades-old outboards more susceptible to ethanol's well-known problems and what owners can do.

To Be Webcast

Anyone wishing to follow the proceedings of the MRIP Calibration Workshop in North Carolina March 27-29 will be able to do so online. The full workshop will be available via webcast at http://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/NOAA714581928 during the following times:

• Tuesday, March 27, 1:00-5:30pm
• Wednesday, March 28, 8:30am-5:30pm
• Thursday, March 29, 8:30am-12:00pm