[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 81 (Wednesday, April 27, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23570-23571]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-10177]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XA356


Incidental Taking of Marine Mammals; Taking of Marine Mammals 
Incidental to the Explosive Removal of Offshore Structures in the Gulf 
of Mexico

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

ACTION: Notice; issuance of letters of authorization.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and 
implementing regulations, notification is hereby given that NMFS has 
issued six one-year Letters of Authorization (LOA) to take marine 
mammals incidental to the explosive removal of offshore oil and gas 
structures (EROS) in the Gulf of Mexico.

DATES: These authorizations are effective from May 1, 2011 through 
April 30, 2012, and June 1, 2011, through May 31, 2012.

ADDRESSES: The application and LOAs are available for review by writing 
to P. Michael Payne, Chief, Permits, Conservation, and Education 
Division, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries 
Service, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910-3235 or by 
telephoning the contact listed here (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT), or online at: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/permits/incidental.htm. Documents cited in this notice may be viewed, by 
appointment, during regular business hours, at the aforementioned 
address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Howard Goldstein or Jolie Harrison, 
Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, 301-713-2289.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 101(a)(5)(A) of the MMPA (16 U.S.C. 
1361 et seq.) directs the Secretary of Commerce (who has delegated the 
authority to NMFS) to allow, upon request, the incidental, but not 
intentional, taking of small numbers of marine mammals by United States 
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. Under the MMPA, the term ``take'' 
means to harass, hunt, capture, or kill or to attempt to harass, hunt, 
capture, or kill any marine mammal.
    Authorization for incidental taking, in the form of annual LOAs, 
may be granted by NMFS for periods up to five years if NMFS finds, 
after notice 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 (where relevant). 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 (i.e., mitigation), and 
on the availability of the species for subsistence uses, paying 
particular attention to rookeries, mating rounds, and areas of similar 
significance. The regulations also must include requirements pertaining 
to the monitoring and reporting of such taking.
    Regulations governing the taking of marine mammals incidental to 
EROS were published on June 19, 2008 (73 FR 34875), and remain in 
effect through July 19, 2013. For detailed information on this action, 
please refer to that Federal Register notice. The species that 
applicants may take in small numbers during EROS activities are 
bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), Atlantic spotted dolphins 
(Stenella frontalis), pantropical spotted dolphins (Stenella 
attenuata), Clymene dolphins (Stenella clymene), striped dolphins 
(Stenella coeruleoalba), spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris), 
rough-toothed dolphins (Steno bredanensis), Risso's dolphins (Grampus 
griseus), melon-headed whales (Peponocephala electra), short-

[[Page 23571]]

finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus), and sperm whales 
(Physeter macrocephalus). NMFS received requests for LOAs from Merit 
Energy Company (Merit), Northstar Interests, LLC. (Northstar 
Interests), Northstar Offshore Energy Partners, LLC. (Northstar 
Offshore), Ridgelake Energy, Inc. (Ridgelake), Rosetta Resources 
Offshore, LLC. (Rosetta), and Sojitz Energy Venture, Inc. (Sojitz) for 
activities covered by the EROS regulations.

Reporting

    NMFS regulations require timely receipt of reports for activities 
conducted under the previously issued LOA and a determination that the 
required mitigation, monitoring, and reporting were undertaken. NMFS 
Galveston Laboratory's Platform Removal Observer Program (PROP) has 
provided reports for Merit Energy Company's (Merit) removal of offshore 
structures during 2010. While Merit did not have a LOA in 2010 to 2011 
or previous years, the energy company used the explosives company, 
Demex International, Inc., which was issued an LOA for 2010 to 2011, 
and renewed their LOA again for 2011 to 2012. Northstar Interests, 
Northstar Offshore, Ridgelake, Rosetta, and Sojitz have not conducted 
any EROS operations to date. NMFS PROP observers reported the following 
during Merit's EROS operations in 2010 to 2011:

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                                                                    Marine mammal          Biological impacts
       Company               Structure              Dates             sightings            observed to marine
                                                                    (Individuals)               mammals
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Merit................  High Island Area,      May 23 to 28,     Bottlenose dolphins    None.
                        Block 138, Platform    2010.             (150).
                        A.
Merit................  High Island Area,      May 23 to 24,     Bottlenose dolphins    None.
                        Block 39, Caisson      2010.             (1).
                        9.
Merit................  High Island Area,      May 25 to 26,     None.................  None.
                        Block 39, Platform B.  2010.
Merit................  High Island Area,      May 27 to 30,     Bottlenose dolphins    None.
                        Block 39, Caisson      2010.             (4).
                        10.
Merit................  Vermilion Area, Block  May 31 to June    Bottlenose dolphins    None.
                        28, Platform A.        4, 2010.          (33).
Merit................  High Island Area,      June 5 to 9,      Bottlenose dolphins    None.
                        Block 38, Caisson 1.   2010.             (103).
Merit................  Matagorda Island       June 6 to 14,     Bottlenose dolphins    None.
                        Area, Block 682,       2010.             (16).
                        Platform A.
Merit................  High Island Area,      June 16, 2010...  Bottlenose dolphins    None.
                        Block 39, Platform A.                    (10).
Merit................  Matagorda Island       June 15 to 20,    Bottlenose dolphins    None.
                        Area, Block 672,       2010.             (13).
                        Platform A.
Merit................  Mustang Island Area,   June 21 to 27     Bottlenose dolphins    None.
                        Block A22, Platform    and July 3 to     (4) and Spotted
                        A.                     9, 2010.          dolphins (8).
Merit................  Mustang Island Area,   July 10 to 18,    Unidentified dolphins  None.
                        Block 785, Platform    2010.             (15).
                        A.
Merit................  Matagorda Island       July 19 to 25,    Bottlenose dolphins    None.
                        Area, Block 704,       2010.             (3) and Unidentified
                        Platform B.                              dolphins (29).
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    Pursuant to these regulations, NMFS has issued an LOA to Merit, 
Northstar Interests, Northstar Offshore, Ridgelake, Rosetta, and 
Sojitz. Issuance of the LOAs is based on a finding made in the preamble 
to the final rule that the total taking by these activities (with 
monitoring, mitigation, and reporting measures) will result in no more 
than a negligible impact on the affected species or stock(s) of marine 
mammals and will not have an unmitigable adverse impact on subsistence 
uses. NMFS will review reports to ensure that the applicants are in 
compliance with meeting the requirements contained in the implementing 
regulations and LOA, including monitoring, mitigation, and reporting 
requirements.

    Dated: April 20, 2011.
James H. Lecky,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-10177 Filed 4-26-11; 8:45 am]
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