Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior, Florida Manatees; Incidental Take During Specified Activities: Proposed rule; notice of Draft EIS availability.

We, the Fish and Wildlife Service, are proposing regulations that would authorize for the next five years the incidental, unintentional take of small numbers of Florida manatees (Trichechus manatus latirostris) resulting from government activities related to watercraft and watercraft access facilities within three regions of Florida. Under the provisions of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), the Secretary of the Department of the Interior may authorize the incidental taking of small numbers of marine mammals in a specified geographic area if the Secretary finds, based on the best scientific evidence available, that the total taking for the authorized period will have no more than a negligible impact on the species or stock. If this finding is made, specific regulations will be established for the activities that describe permissible methods of taking; means of effecting the least practicable adverse impact on the species and its habitat; and requirements for monitoring and reporting. If the Secretary cannot make a finding that the total taking will have a negligible impact on the species or stock, the Secretary must publish the negative finding in the Federal Register along with the basis for such determination. We have defined the specified geographic area for this proposed rule to be the species' range within the State of Florida. Long-term studies suggest four regional populations of manatees in Florida-- Northwest, Upper St. Johns River (from Palatka south), Atlantic (including the St. Johns River north of Palatka), and Southwest. Through this rule, we have defined these populations as stocks. We are proposing a finding that the total expected takings of Florida manatee resulting from government activities related to watercraft and watercraft access facilities would have a negligible impact in the Upper St. Johns River and Northwest stocks and a negligible impact with the implementation of additional mitigating measures on the Atlantic Stock. For the Southwest Stock, the best available information indicates that these activities would have more than a negligible impact on the Stock and, therefore, we are not proposing to authorize incidental take for this Stock (i.e., a negative finding). We also announce the availability of a draft environmental impact statement for this action.