Meetings: Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force,

FR, March 25, 1998 › Notices › Fish and Wildlife Service

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Federal Register: March 25, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 57)NoticesPage 14472From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

DOCID:fr25mr98-124

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

Forum on Ecological Surveys of Aquatic Nuisance Species--Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of meeting.

SUMMARY: This notice announces the Forum on Ecological Surveys of Aquatic Nuisance Species. The 1996 amendments to the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act added a new subsection requiring that the Aquatic Nuisance Species (ANS) Task Force, in consultation with the U.S. Coast Guard, conduct ecological surveys in nationally significant estuaries and other waters that are highly susceptible to invasion by ANS resulting from ballast water operations and other operations of vessels and require further study. The surveys shall determine what nonindigenous aquatic species are present and estimate the effectiveness of ballast water and other vessel management guidelines and regulations in abating invasions. Studies of the Chesapeake Bay, San Francisco Bay, and Honolulu Harbor are specifically required.

DATES: The Workshop will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on April 21, 1998.

ADDRESSES: The Workshop will be held at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, 647 Contees Wharf Road, Edgewater, Maryland 21037. Minutes of the meeting will be maintained by the Executive Secretary, ANS Task Force, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 4401 North Fairfax Drive, Suite 840, Arlington, Virginia 22203-1622.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Craig A. Czarnecki, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, by telephone at 703-358-2025 or E-mail at craig__czarnecki@fws.gov or Dr. Gregory Ruiz, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center at 301-261-4190 (ext. 227) or E-mail at ruiz@serc.edu.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to section 10(a)(2) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App. I), this notice announces the Forum on Ecological Surveys of Aquatic Nuisance Species pursuant to section 1102(b) of the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act of 1990 (16 U.S.C. 4701-4741).

The purposes of this meeting are to (1) provide background on the statutory requirements for ecological surveys, (2) provide an update on past, ongoing, and future studies with a similar focus, (3) discuss standardized approaches for conducting and disseminating results from future ecological surveys, and (4) identify strategies for synthesis and comprehensive analysis among completed surveys.

The meeting is open to the public. Interested persons may make oral statements at the meeting or submit written statements for consideration.

Dated: March 20, 1998. Rowan Gould, Acting Assistant Director--Fisheries, Co-Chair, Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force.

FR Doc. 98-7805Filed3-24-98; 8:45 amBILLING CODE 4310-55-M