CHANNEL ISLANDS SANCTUARY PLAN
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) publishes this rule to finalize the regulations for the Channel IslandsNational Marine Sanctuary (CINMS or Sanctuary). This final rule revises the regulations to implement prohibitions on: Exploring for,developing, or producing minerals within the Sanctuary; abandoning matter on or in Sanctuary submerged lands; taking marine mammals, sea turtles, or seabirds within or above the Sanctuary; possessing within the Sanctuary any marine mammal, sea turtle, or seabird; marking, defacing, damaging, moving, removing, or tampering with Sanctuary signs, monuments, boundary markers, or similar items; introducing or otherwise releasing from within or into the Sanctuary an introduced species; and operating motorized personal watercraft within waters of the Sanctuary that are coextensive with the Channel Islands National Park. NOAA also makes additional changes to the grammar and wording of several sections of the regulations to ensure clarity. Finally, NOAA publishes the Sanctuary's revised terms of designation.

DATES: Effective Date: Pursuant to section 304(b) of the National Marine Sanctuaries Act (NMSA) (16 U.S.C. 1434(b)), the revised terms of designation and regulations shall take effect and become final after the close of a review period of forty-five days of continuous sessionof Congress beginning on January 16, 2009. Announcement of the effective date of the final regulations will be published in the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the final management plan (FMP) and final environmental impact statement (FEIS) are available at Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, 113 Harbor Way, Suite 150, Santa Barbara, California and on the Web at http://channelislands.noaa.gov

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Murray at (805) 884-1464.