[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 58 (Tuesday, March 25, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15742-15743]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-5938]



[[Page 15742]]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XF88


Incidental Take of Marine Mammals; Taking of Marine Mammals 
Incidental to Conducting Precision Strike Weapons Testing and Training 
by Eglin Air Force Base in the Gulf of Mexico

AGENCY:  National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION:  Notice of issuance of a letter of authorization.

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SUMMARY:  In accordance with provisions of the Marine Mammal Protection 
Act (MMPA), as amended, notification is hereby given that a letter of 
authorization (LOA) to take four species of marine mammals, by 
harassment, incidental to testing and training during Precision Strike 
Weapons (PSW) tests in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), a military readiness 
activity, has been issued to Eglin Air Force Base (AFB).

DATES:  This authorization is effective from March 19, 2008, through 
March 18, 2009.

ADDRESSES:  The application and LOA are available for review in the 
Permits, Conservation, and Education Division, Office of Protected 
Resources, NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910 or by 
contacting one of the individuals mentioned below (See FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kenneth Hollingshead or Candace 
Nachman, NMFS, (301) 713-2289.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Section 101(a)(5)(A) of the MMPA (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) directs 
NMFS to allow, upon request, the incidental, but not intentional, 
taking of small numbers of marine mammals by U.S. citizens who engage 
in a specified activity (other than commercial fishing) within a 
specified geographical region, if certain findings are made by NMFS and 
regulations are issued. Under the MMPA, the term ``taking'' means to 
harass, hunt, capture, or kill or to attempt to harass, hunt, capture 
or kill marine mammals.
    Authorization, in the form of annual LOAs, may be granted for 
periods up to five years if NMFS finds, after notification and 
opportunity for public comment, that the taking will have a negligible 
impact on the species or stock(s) of marine mammals and will not have 
an unmitigable adverse impact on the availability of the species or 
stock(s) for subsistence uses. In addition, NMFS must prescribe 
regulations that include permissible methods of taking and other means 
effecting the least practicable adverse impact on the species and its 
habitat, and on the availability of the species for subsistence uses, 
paying particular attention to rookeries, mating grounds, and areas of 
similar significance. The regulations must include requirements 
pertaining to the monitoring and reporting of such taking. Regulations 
governing the taking of marine mammals incidental to PSW testing and 
training within the Eglin Gulf Test and Training Range in the GOM, were 
published on November 24, 2006 (71 FR 67810), and remain in effect from 
December 26, 2006, through December 27, 2011. The four species that 
Eglin AFB may take in small numbers during PSW testing and training are 
Atlantic bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), Atlantic spotted 
dolphins (Stenella frontalis), dwarf sperm whales (Kogia simus), and 
pygmy sperm whales (Kogia breviceps).
    Issuance of the annual LOA to Eglin AFB is based on findings made 
in the preamble to the final rule that the total takings by this 
project would result in no more than a negligible impact on the 
affected marine mammal stocks or habitats and would not have an 
unmitigable adverse impact on subsistence uses of marine mammals. NMFS 
also finds that the applicant will meet the requirements contained in 
the implementing regulations and LOA, including monitoring and 
reporting requirements. Without any mitigation measures, a small 
possibility exists for one bottlenose dolphin and one spotted dolphin 
to be exposed to blast levels from the PSW testing sufficient to cause 
mortality. Additionally, less than two cetaceans might be exposed to 
noise levels sufficient to induce Level A harassment (injury) annually, 
and as few as 31 or as many as 52 cetaceans (depending on the season 
and water depth) could potentially be exposed (annually) to noise 
levels sufficient to induce Level B harassment in the form of temporary 
(auditory) threshold shift (TTS).
    While none of these impact estimates consider the proposed 
mitigation measures that will be employed by Eglin AFB to minimize 
potential impacts to protected species, NMFS has authorized Eglin AFB a 
total of one mortality, two takes by Level A harassment, and 53 takes 
by Level B harassment (temporary auditory threshold shift) annually. 
However, the proposed mitigation measures described in the final rule 
(71 FR 67810, November 24, 2006) and the LOA are anticipated to reduce 
potential impacts to marine mammals in both numbers and degree of 
severity. These measures include a conservative safety range for marine 
mammal exclusion; incorporation of aerial and shipboard survey 
monitoring efforts in the program both prior to and after detonation of 
explosives; and a prohibition on detonations whenever marine mammals 
are detected within the safety zone, may enter the safety zone at the 
time of detonation, or if weather and sea conditions preclude adequate 
aerial surveillance. This LOA may be renewed annually based on a review 
of the activity, completion of monitoring requirements, and receipt of 
reports required by the LOA.

Summary of Request

    NMFS received a request for a LOA pursuant to the aforementioned 
regulations that would authorize, for a period not to exceed 1 year, 
take of marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to PSW testing and 
training in the GOM.

Summary of Activity and Monitoring Under the Current LOA

    In 2007, only one Focused Lethality Munition, a low collateral 
variant of the Small Diameter Bomb, was released over the GOM on July 
11, 2007. It was a single release of a Guided Test Vehicle (GTV) with 
an inert fuse. The GTV has no explosives. Because it was not a live PSW 
test and did not have any impacts to protected species, a survey plan 
was not included in Eglin AFB's report. The Joint Air-to-Surface Stand-
off Missile program had no activity in 2007.

Authorization

    The U.S. Air Force complied with the requirements of the 2007 LOA, 
and NMFS has determined that there was no take of marine mammals by the 
U.S. Air Force in 2007. Accordingly, NMFS has issued a LOA to Eglin AFB 
authorizing the take by harassment of marine mammals incidental to PSW 
testing and training in the EGTTR in the GOM. Issuance of this LOA is 
based on findings described in the preamble to the final rule (71 FR 
67810, November 24, 2006) and supported by information contained in 
Eglin's 2008 request for a new LOA that the activities described under 
this LOA will not result in more than the incidental harassment of 
certain marine mammal species and will have a negligible impact on the 
affected species or stocks. The provision requiring that the activity 
not have an

[[Page 15743]]

unmitigable adverse impact on the availability of the affected species 
or stock for subsistence uses does not apply for this action.

    Dated: March 19, 2008.
James H. Lecky,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. E8-5938 Filed 3-24-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S