[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 111 (Thursday, June 9, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33704-33705]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-14312]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XA436


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 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 July 1, 2011 through 
June 30, 2012, and September 3, 2011 through September 2, 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-finned 
pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus), and sperm whales (Physeter 
macrocephalus). NMFS received requests for LOAs from El Paso 
Exploration & Production Company, L.P. (El Paso) and EOG Resources, 
Inc. (EOG Resources) for activities covered by 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 El Paso and EOG Resources removal of offshore 
structures in 2010. NMFS PROP observers reported the following during 
El Paso and EOG Resources' 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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El Paso.........................  Ship Shoal Area,    August 14 to 23,    None..............  None.
                                   Block 278,          2010.
                                   Platform A.
El Paso.........................  West Cameron Area,  August 20 to 21,    Bottlenose          None.
                                   Block 150,          2010.               Dolphins (12).
                                   Platform F.

[[Page 33705]]

 
El Paso.........................  South Timbalier     August 23 to 26,    None..............  None.
                                   Area, Block 212,    2010.
                                   Platform C.
EOG Resources...................  Viosca Knoll Area,  September 9 to 12,  None..............  None.
                                   Block 31,           18, 20 to 22,
                                   Platform A.         2010.
EOG Resources...................  Viosca Knoll Area,  September 1 to 4,   None..............  None.
                                   Block 74,           2010.
                                   Platform 2.
EOG Resources...................  Viosca Knoll Area,  September 5 to 8,   None..............  None.
                                   Block 124,          2010.
                                   Platform A.
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    Pursuant to these regulations, NMFS has issued an LOA to El Paso 
and EOG Resources. 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: June 3, 2011.
Helen M. Golde,
Deputy Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-14312 Filed 6-8-11; 8:45 am]
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