Chapter XI — Permits for Marine Mammals 



sufficient to demonstrate a commercial and/or educa- 

 tional purpose and a likelihood of publication. 



To reflect the many changes to the Marine Mam- 

 mal Protection Act's permit provisions enacted in 

 1994, the National Marine Fisheries Service plans to 

 revise its existing permit regulations. As discussed in 

 previous annual reports, in 1993 the Service proposed 

 extensive revisions to those regulations. Some of the 

 Service's proposals, however, particularly with 

 respect to public display permits, were nullified by the 

 1994 amendments. Nevertheless, the Service intends 

 to issue a final rule early in 1996 to institute some of 

 the changes proposed in 1993 and to reflect the non- 

 discretionary elements of the 1994 amendments. The 

 Commission expects the rule to provide a clearer 

 explanation of the permitting process and to institute 

 needed administrative changes. In this regard, the 

 Commission conducted two workshops on various 

 aspects of scientific research in 1993. It is expected 

 that the Service's rule will reflect the suggestions on 

 ways to streamline the permitting process made by the 

 workshop participants. The Commission understands 

 that the Service is working on separate rulemakings to 

 implement other aspects of the 1994 amendments, 

 e.g., permits for educational and commercial photog- 

 raphy and those provisions applicable to public display 

 permits, and to finalize its general authorization 

 regulations. 



As discussed in previous annual reports, the 

 Commission wrote to the Fish and Wildlife Service in 

 1990 recommending that it work with the National 

 Marine Fisheries Service to ensure consistent interpre- 

 tation and implementation of the 1988 amendments to 

 the Marine Mammal Protection Act and other permit 

 requirements. The Fish and Wildlife Service in- 

 formed the Commission, most recently at the Com- 

 mission's 1994 annual meeting, that it intended to 

 defer adoption of revised permit regulations until the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service published its 

 revised regulations. At that time, the Fish and 

 Wildlife Service expected to propose its own regula- 

 tions. On 5 September 1995 the Fish and Wildlife 

 Service did, however, publish a proposed rule to 

 amend its permit procedures to provide uniform rules 

 and procedures for submitting applications, and for 

 the issuance, denial, suspension, and revocation of 

 permits issued by the Service. The proposed rule is 



intended to explain more clearly the procedures for 

 submitting permit applications and the criteria used by 

 the Service in making issuance determinations. 



Permit Application Review 



Whether for a scientific research, public display, 

 species enhancement, or photography permit, the 

 application review process involves the same four 

 stages: (1) receipt and initial review of the application 

 by either the Department of Commerce or the Depart- 

 ment of the Interior; (2) publication in the Federal 

 Register of a notice of the application, inviting public 

 review and comment, and transmittal to the Marine 

 Mammal Commission; (3) review of the application 

 by the Commission, in consultation with its Commit- 

 tee of Scientific Advisors, and transmittal of its 

 recommendation to the Department; and (4) final 

 Departmental action on the application, including 

 consideration of comments and recommendations 

 made by the Commission and the public, and, if 

 captive maintenance of animals is involved, the views 

 of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service on 

 the adequacy of facilities and transportation. Figure 

 4 on the following page illustrates this process. 



Once a permit has been issued, it can be modified 

 by the responsible agency, provided the proposed 

 modification meets statutory and regulatory require- 

 ments. In some cases, a modification is subject to the 

 same notice, review, and comment procedures as a 

 permit application. Modifications involving a request 

 to amend an existing permit, a request for authoriza- 

 tion to continue activities under a permit, or a request 

 for extension of a permit are subject to review by the 

 Commission. 



The total review time for a permit (from initial 

 receipt of an application at the Service until final 

 departmental action is taken) depends on many fac- 

 tors, including the sufficiency of the information 

 provided by the applicant, any special requirements 

 that must be satisfied before the application can be 

 processed, and the efficiency of the review process in 

 the agencies. 



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