Appendix A — Commission Recommendations 



13 April Interior, commenting to the Minerals Management Service on the draft environmental impact statement 



for the Cook Inlet planning area oil and gas lease sale #149; recommending, among other things, that 

 ( 1 ) the statement more fully describe what is being or will be done to meet the monitoring require- 

 ments of section 20 of the Outer 'Continental Shelf Lands Act and to ensure that lessees are aware of 

 the Marine Mammal Protection Act's general moratorium on taking marine mammals and of the Act's 

 provisions to obtain a small-take exemption or waiver of the Act's moratorium on taking marine 

 mammals, (2) the Service revise the statement to ensure that it incorporates the best available 

 information on the natural history, size, status, and sources and levels of human-related mortality of 

 the marine mammal stocks that could potentially be affected by the proposed action, and (3) the 

 statement be expanded to provide a more thorough assessment of how the proposed action, by itself 

 and in combination with other sources of human-caused mortality, injury, and habitat degradation, 

 might affect the marine mammal populations in Cook Inlet. 



14 April Commerce, scientific research permit, Bradford E. Brown. 



14 April Commerce, modification of scientific research permit, Sherman C. Jones, III. 



14 April Commerce, modification of scientific research permit, Robin Brown. 

 18 April Commerce, scientific research permit, Michael A. Castellini. 



18 April Commerce, scientific research permit, National Marine Mammal Laboratory. 



18 April Commerce, public display permit, Emil Popescu. 



18 April Commerce, modification of scientific research permit, Southwest Fisheries Science Center. 



18 April Commerce, modification of scientific research permit, Southwest Fisheries Science Center. 



18 April Interior, public display permit, The Seattle Aquarium. 



1 May Commerce, scientific research permit, Mason Weinrich. 



15 May Commerce, scientific research permit, Continental Shelf Associates, Inc. 



16 May Interior, commenting to the Fish and Wildlife Service on the draft habitat conservation strategy for 



polar bears in Alaska; recommending that the strategy be revised to provide a clearer, more accurate 

 description of the relevant provisions of the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the 1973 Agreement 

 on the Conservation of Polar Bears; and suggesting that the Service advise the Minerals Management 

 Service that (1) environmental impact statements regarding proposed oil and gas lease sales in the 

 Beaufort and Chukchi Seas should explicitly consider how exploration and development activities might 

 affect important habitat areas described in the strategy, (2) prior to completing environmental impact 

 statements, the Minerals Management Service consult with the Fish and Wildlife Service to determine 

 measures that should be taken to prevent degradation or destruction of important polar bear habitat 

 areas or other adverse effects on polar bears, (3) Wrangel Island is an important polar bear denning 

 area and that a simultaneous lease offering would be contrary to the provisions of the 1973 Agreement 

 on the Conservation of Polar Bears if subsequent exploration or development activities would affect 

 denning sites or the bears' access to and use of denning sites on the island. 



19 May Commerce, scientific research permit, Alaska Department of Fish and Game. 

 25 May Interior, scientific research permit, National Biological Service. 



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