[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 98 (Friday, May 21, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28587-28588]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-12294]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XW03


Taking and Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals 
Incidental to Missile Launch Operations from San Nicolas Island, CA

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 the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), 
as amended, and implementing regulations, notification is hereby given 
that a letter of authorization (LOA) has been issued to the Naval Air 
Warfare Center Weapons Division, U.S. Navy (Navy), to take three 
species of seals and sea lions incidental to missile launch operations 
from San Nicolas Island (SNI), California, a military readiness 
activity.

DATES: Effective June 4, 2010, through June 3, 2011.

ADDRESSES:  The LOA and supporting documentation are available for 
review by writing to P. Michael Payne, Chief, Permits, Conservation, 
and Education Division, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine 
Fisheries Service (NMFS), 1315 East West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 
20910-3225 or by telephoning one of the contacts listed below (FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT). Documents cited in this notice may be 
viewed, by appointment, during regular business hours, at the 
aforementioned address and at the Southwest Regional Office, NMFS, 501 
West Ocean Boulevard, Suite 4200, Long Beach, CA 90802.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michelle Magliocca, Office of 
Protected Resources, NMFS, 301-713-2289, or Monica DeAngelis, NMFS, 
562-980-3232.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Section 101(a)(5)(A) of the MMPA (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) directs 
the National Marine Fisheries Service (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 and regulations are issued. However, for military 
readiness activities, the National Defense Authorization Act (Public 
Law 108-136) removed the ``small numbers'' and ``specified geographical 
region'' limitations. Under the MMPA, the term ``take'' means to 
harass, hunt, capture, or kill, or to attempt to harass, hunt, capture, 
or kill marine mammals.
    Authorization may be granted for periods up to 5 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 of 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 for monitoring and reporting of 
such taking.
    Regulations governing the taking of northern elephant seals 
(Mirounga angustirostris), Pacific harbor seals

[[Page 28588]]

(Phoca vitulina richardsi), and California sea lions (Zalophus 
californianus), by harassment, incidental to missile launch operations 
at SNI, were issued on June 2, 2009, and remain in effect until June 2, 
2014 (74 FR 26580, June 3, 2009). For detailed information on this 
action, please refer to that document. The regulations include 
mitigation, monitoring, and reporting requirements for the incidental 
take of marine mammals during missile launches at SNI.

Summary of Request

    On April 19, 2010, NMFS received a request for an LOA renewal 
pursuant to the aforementioned regulations that would authorize, for a 
period not to exceed 1 year, take of pinnipeds, by harassment, 
incidental to missile launch operations from San Nicolas Island, CA.

Summary of Activity and Monitoring Conducted During 2009 and 2010

    The Navy's monitoring report for June 2009 through December 2009 
describes three single launches from SNI on three different days. These 
launches occurred at night during the Airborne Laser (ABL) testing 
program. A single Terrier-Lynx was launched on each of two days, June 6 
and 13, 2009, and a single Terrier-Black Brant was launched on August 
10, 2009. Vehicles were launched from the 807 Launch Complex located 
close to shore on the western end of SNI, 11 m above sea level. The 
launch azimuths caused the vehicles to pass over or near various 
pinniped monitoring and acoustic measurement sites where Autonomous 
Terrestrial Acoustic Recorders (ATARs) and video systems had been 
deployed. The video data were supplemented by direct visual scans of 
the haul-out groups several hours prior to the launches and following 
one of the launches. For each launch, the number, proportion, and 
(where determinable) ages of the individual pinnipeds that responded in 
various ways were extracted from the video, along with comparable data 
for those that did not respond overtly. Approximately 750 California 
sea lions, 60 Pacific harbor seals, and no northern elephant seals are 
estimated to have been harassed by launches during the June-December 
2009 monitoring report. The authorized level of take was not exceeded 
and no evidence of injury or mortality was observed during or 
immediately succeeding the launches for the monitored pinniped species.

Description of 2010 Activities

    This LOA is effective from June 4, 2010, through June 3, 2011, and 
authorizes the incidental take of the three pinniped species listed 
above that may result from the launching of up to 40 missiles from SNI 
per year. Up to 10 launches per year may occur at night. Nighttime 
launches will only occur when required by the test objectives, e.g., 
when testing the Airborne Laser system (ABL). Northern elephant seals, 
Pacific harbor seals, and California sea lions are found on various 
haul-out sites and rookeries on SNI.
    Potential impacts of the planned missile launch operations from SNI 
on marine mammals involve both acoustic and non-acoustic effects. 
Acoustic effects relate to sound produced by the engines of all launch 
vehicles, and, in some cases, their booster rockets. Potential non-
acoustic effects could result from the physical presence of personnel 
during placement of video and acoustical monitoring equipment. However, 
careful deployment of monitoring equipment is not expected to result in 
any disturbance to pinnipeds hauled out nearby. Any visual disturbance 
caused by passage of a vehicle overhead is likely to be minor and brief 
as the launch vehicles are relatively small and move at great speed. 
The noise generated by Navy activities may result in the incidental 
harassment of pinnipeds, both behaviorally and in terms of 
physiological (auditory) impacts. The noise and visual disturbances 
from missile launches may cause the animals to move towards or enter 
the water. This LOA authorizes the following numbers of pinnipeds to be 
incidentally taken by Level B harassment: 474 northern elephant seals; 
467 Pacific harbor seals; and 1606 California sea lions.
    Take of pinnipeds will be minimized through implementation of the 
following mitigation measures: (1) The Navy must avoid launch 
activities during harbor seal pupping season (February through April), 
unless constrained by factors including, but not limited to, human 
safety, national security, or for launch trajectory necessary to meet 
mission objectives; (2) the Navy must limit launch activities during 
other pinniped pupping seasons, unless constrained by factors 
including, but not limited to, human safety, national security, or for 
launch trajectory necessary to meet mission objectives; (3) the Navy 
must not launch missiles from the Alpha Complex at low elevation (less 
than 305 m [1,000 ft]) on launch azimuths that pass close to pinniped 
haul-out site(s) when occupied; (4) the Navy must avoid multiple 
vehicle launches in quick succession over haul-out sites when occupied, 
especially when young pups are present, except when required by mission 
objectives; and (5) the Navy must limit launch activities during 
nighttime hours, except when required by mission objectives (e.g., up 
to 10 nighttime launches for ABL testing per year). Additionally, for 2 
hours prior to, during, and approximately 30 minutes following each 
launch, personnel are not allowed near any of the pinniped haul-out 
beaches that are close to the flight track on the western end of SNI. 
Associated fixed-wing and rotary aircraft will maintain an altitude of 
at least 305 m (1,000 ft) when traveling near beaches on which 
pinnipeds are hauled out, except in emergencies or for real-time 
security incidents (e.g., search-and-rescue, fire-fighting, adverse 
weather conditions), which may require approaching pinniped haul-outs 
and rookeries closer than 305 m (1,000 ft). Additionally, plain 
monitoring methods will be reviewed by NMFS if post-launch surveys 
determine that an injurious or lethal take of a marine mammal occurred. 
The Navy will also use monitoring surveys and time-lapse video to 
monitor the animals before, during, and after missile launches. Reports 
will be submitted to NMFS after each LOA expires, and a final 
comprehensive report, which will summarize all previous reports and 
assess cumulative impacts, will be submitted before the rule expires. 
This LOA will be renewed annually based on review of the annual 
monitoring report.

Authorization

    The Navy complied with the requirements of the 2009 LOA and NMFS 
has determined that there was no evidence of pinniped injuries or 
fatalities related to vehicle launches from SNI. The Navy's activities 
fell within the scope of the activities analyzed in the 2009 rule and 
the observed take did not exceed that authorized in the 2009 LOA. NMFS 
has determined that this action continues to have a negligible impact 
on the affected species or stocks of marine mammals on SNI. 
Accordingly, NMFS has issued a LOA to the Navy authorizing the take of 
marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to missile launch activities 
from SNI. The provision requiring that the activities not have an 
unmitigable adverse impact on the availability of the affected species 
or stock for subsistence uses does not apply for this action.

    Dated: May 17, 2010.
James H. Lecky,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2010-12294 Filed 5-20-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S