# Marine Mammals; File No. 13428
**AGENCY:**
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
**ACTION:**
Notice; issuance of permit.
**SUMMARY:**
Notice is hereby given that Niladri Basu, Ph.D., Department of Environmental Health Sciences, University of Michigan, 109 South Observatory Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2029, has been issued a scientific research permit to import marine mammal specimens for scientific research.
**ADDRESSES:**
The permit and related documents are available for review upon written request or by appointment in the following offices:
Permits, Conservation and Education Division, Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Room 13705, Silver Spring, MD 20910; phone (301)713-2289; fax (301)427-2521; and
Northeast Region, NMFS, One Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930-2298; phone (978)281-9300; fax (978)281-9394.
**FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:**
Jennifer Skidmore or Kate Swails, (301) 713-2289.
**SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:**
On June 12, 2008, notice was published in the *Federal Register* (73 FR 33399) that a request for a scientific research permit had been submitted by the above-named individual. The requested permit has been issued under the authority of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1361 *et seq.* ) and the regulations governing the taking and importing of marine mammals (50 CFR part 216).
The permit authorizes the importation of brain tissues from 40 baikal seals ( *Phoca sibirica* ). These samples were collected in 2005 under a joint agreement between the East-Siberian Research and Production Fisheries Center (Russia) and the Center for Marine Environmental Studies (Japan). The purpose of this study is to determine: (1) the types and amounts of heavy metals that baikal seals accumulate in specific brain regions; and (2) whether these exposures are a neurotoxicological concern by using novel biomarker technologies. This permit will expire one year from date of issuance.
In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 *et seq.* ), a final determination has been made that the activity proposed is categorically excluded from the requirement to prepare an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement.
Dated: September 8, 2008.
P. Michael Payne,
Chief, Permits, Conservation and Education Division, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.