Due to continued public interest, the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Coastal Management (DCM) has received an extension from NOAA to conclude the division’s review of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s) National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Office of Protected Resources federal consistency submission regarding the proposed amendments to the North Atlantic Right Whale Vessel Strike Reduction Rule (“speed rule”). The comment period was scheduled to end at 5 p.m. on July 31 but has now been extended until 5 p.m. on Aug. 31.