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review the application and determine, within 30 days of receipt, 

 whether it presents information that, in the Secretary's 

 estimation, warrants the convening of a Regional Intentional Lethal 

 Taking Task Force. If the Secretary determines that the applicant 

 has produced sufficient information to warrant the convening of a 

 Task Force, he or she shall immediately publish a notice to that 

 effect in the Federal Register requesting information and comments 

 concerning this decision. 



(4) REGIONAL INTENTIONAL LETHAL TAKING TASK FORCES 



(a) TASK FORCE MEMBERS - Regional Intentional Lethal 

 Taking Task Forces shall consist of members 

 appointed by the Secretary, and shall include 

 members drawn from the Secretary's staff, reputable 

 scientists who are knowledgeable about the 

 predation that the application addresses, affected 

 conservation and fishing community organizations, 

 and such other sources as the Secretary deems 

 appropriate; 



(b) TASK FORCE MEETINGS - Task Forces Bhall meet no 

 later than 30 days after the Secretary's notice is 

 published in the Federal Register and shall 

 consider the application and the information and 

 comments provided in response to the Federal 

 Register notice. The Task Force may hear oral 

 testimony at this time. After considering all 

 pertinent information, the Task Force shall 

 determine whether the lethal taking of the pinniped 

 or pinnipeds is warranted and recommend non-lethal 

 alternatives or lethal takings, in response to the 

 application, to the Secretary. 



(C) TASK FORCE RECOMMENDATIONS - Within 30 days of its 

 first meeting, a Task Force shall develop its 

 recommendation, subject to the following 

 conditions . 



(1) A Task Force may recommend that no action be 

 taken or that only non-lethal alternatives be 



implemented; 



(2) In recommending intentional lethal taking, the 

 Task Force shall, based upon all information 

 available to it, describe the following 



conditions . 



(a) The number of animals proposed to be 

 lethally taken including, if applicable, 

 a description of any specific individual 

 pinnipeds proposed to be lethally taken 



