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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 11 / Tuesday, January 19, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
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areas, given existing prohibitions, outside of the BOEM-designated No Activity Zones. Pursuant to NMSA
Section 301b6, NOAA will continue to facilitate to the extent compatible with the primary objective of resource protection, all public and private uses of the resources of these marine areas not prohibited pursuant to other authorities. Please also refer to comment 49 and FEIS Table 1.1, Section 1.4 for current sanctuary regulations.
50. Comment: NOAA received comments from oil and gas industry companies in support of this expansion that recognized the balance between conservation, extraction, and user groups achieved through the Sanctuary Advisory Councils process in developing the Revised Preferred Alternative NOAAs Final Preferred Alternative.
Response: NOAA has carried forward the 2018 BEWGs recommendation, which is now NOAAs Final Preferred Alternative. Please refer above to the Boundaries section and to FEIS Chapter 3, Sections 3.1 and 3.2 for more information regarding the development of alternatives and selection of the Final Preferred Alternative.
Sanctuary Management and Administration, Funding, Education and Outreach, and Sanctuary Advisory Council 51. Comment: NOAA received comments requesting that FGBNMS
develop a Resilient Habitat Plan, which seeks to enhance habitat resilience to uncertain and unpredictable effects of future change, such as climate change.
Response: The current FGBNMS
management plan serves as a framework for addressing issues facing the sanctuary and lays the foundation for protecting, conserving, and enhancing FGBNMS and its regional environment in the Gulf of Mexico. Following this expansion, NOAA will begin the process to review and update the FGBNMS Management Plan as needed.
NOAA acknowledges the growing need to integrate resiliency plans into their habitat management schemes and are beginning to implement sanctuary climate assessment and adaptations plans sitewide. As determined during management plan review, FGBNMS will aim to integrate adaptation and resiliency strategies into their habitat and resource management.
Additionally, FGBNMS will begin development of a Condition Report describing the current status of sanctuary resources, including the expansion areas. As described in the FEIS Executive Summary, NOAA will
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be extending the existing sanctuary management plan and regulations to the newly expanded area.
52. Comment: NOAA received a comment on DEIS Section 5.3.6
Irreversible and Irretrievable Commitments of Resources requesting NOAA include costs of expansion and evaluate potential impacts to conservation and management activities.
Response: NEPA requires an analysis of the extent to which the proposed projects primary and secondary effects would commit nonrenewable resources to uses that future generations would be unable to reverse 42 U.S.C. 4332Cv;
40 CFR 1502.16. See FEIS Chapter 5, Section 5.6.4 which describes any impacts, or losses, to resources that cannot be recovered or reversed associated with the proposed action or alternatives. Alternatives 13 and the Final Preferred Alternative are within the current operational budget, and NOAA expects field operations to continue at current intensity in the expanded sanctuary. Also refer to the 2012 FGBNMS Management Plan for additional budgetary information.
53. Comment: NOAA received comments requesting the FEIS to clearly describe best diving practices in Section 5.3.9.4, how they will be implemented, how they will protect FGBNMS, and how NOAA will enforce their use.
Response: The existing sanctuary regulations 15 CFR 922.122a2iii require any vessel moored in the sanctuary to exhibit the blue and white International Code flag A alpha dive flag or red and white sports diver flag whenever a scuba diver from that vessel is in the water and remove the alpha dive flag or sports diver flag after all divers exit the water and return on board the vessel, consistent with U.S. Coast Guard guidelines relating to sports diving as contained within Special Notice to Mariners 002008 for the Gulf of Mexico. This final rule will apply that requirement to the expanded areas and must be followed. The FGBNMS Trip Prep web page 15 provides recreational divers with information to prepare for their trip to the sanctuary, information about the challenging diving conditions that can be experienced at FGBNMS, and how to safely prepare for these visits, and includes information on best diving and boating practices to ensure the safety of visitors. Additionally, the FGBNMS
Trip Prep web page includes a link to reef etiquette, which provides 15 https flowergarden.noaa.gov/visiting/

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information about the best diving practices to ensure the protection of the environment. A link to this reef etiquette web page 16 has been added to Section 5.3.6. NOAA believes when these practices are followed, reefs sustain very minimal, if any, damage.
While compliance with the sanctuary regulations is mandatory, some of the best diving practices set forth on the FGBNMS Trip Prep web page are voluntary.
FGBNMS also has regulations prohibiting resources from being taken from the sanctuary e.g., shells, coral, invertebrates and restricting harassment of marine wildlife e.g., Mobula rays, whale sharks. A list of the regulations is provided in FEIS Chapter 1, Section 1.4, Table 1.1. The USCG and NOAAs OLE are jointly responsible for enforcing regulations at FGBNMS.
54. Comment: NOAA received comments regarding sharing its coral and habitat information with the GMFMC so the data could be included in the coral portal. Also, FGBNMS was asked to collaborate with NOAAs National Resource Damage Assessments NRDA Trustee Councils Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group to restore mesophotic and deep benthic communities MDBC.
Response: NOAA welcomes the opportunity to collaborate with organizations to build community partnerships for education, outreach, research, monitoring, and resource protection. Before, during, and after the release of the DEIS and the NPRM, the FGBNMS Superintendent presented information to the GMFMC on the FGBNMS proposed sanctuary expansion. Additionally, FGBNMS
provides benthic e.g., coral data from the current and expanded FGBNMS, as well as other offshore banks and reefs in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico to GMFMC for its publicly accessible coral portal.17 FGBNMS has been intently involved as an Active Management Project Partner with NRDAs Mesophotic Deepwater Benthic Communitys planning projects. Project goals include: 1 Enhancing public awareness and performing active management and protection activities by undertaking education and outreach targeting MDBC resource users and the general public; 2 engaging stakeholders and developing socioeconomic analyses to evaluate potential impacts of management or protection actions; and 3 directly 16 https flowergarden.noaa.gov/visiting/
reefetiquette.html.
17 https portal.gulfcouncil.org/cp/.

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