[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 168 (Tuesday, August 30, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53884-53885]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-22163]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XA638


Taking and Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals 
Incidental to U.S. Navy Operations of Surveillance Towed Array Sensor 
System Low Frequency Active Sonar

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

ACTION: Notice; receipt of application for letter of authorization; 
request for comments and information.

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SUMMARY: NMFS has received a request from the U.S. Navy (Navy) for 
authorization to take, by harassment, marine mammals incidental to 
conducting operations of Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System 
(SURTASS) Low Frequency Active (LFA) sonar for the period beginning 
August 2012 and ending August 2017. Pursuant to the implementing 
regulations of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is 
announcing our receipt of the Navy's request for regulations governing 
the incidental taking of marine mammals and inviting information, 
suggestions, and comments on the Navy's application and request.

DATES: Comments and information must be received no later than 
September 29, 2011.

ADDRESSES: Comments on the application should be addressed 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 20910-3225. The mailbox address 
for providing e-mail comments is [email protected]. NMFS is not 
responsible for e-mail comments sent to addresses other than the one 
provided here. Comments sent via e-mail, including all attachments, 
must not exceed a 10-megabyte file size.
    Instructions: All comments received are a part of the public record 
and will generally be posted to http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/permits/incidental.htm#applications without change. All Personal Identifying 
Information (for example, name, address, etc.) voluntarily submitted by 
the commenter may be publicly accessible. Do not submit Confidential 
Business Information or otherwise sensitive or protected information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeannine Cody, Office of Protected 
Resources, NMFS, (301) 427-8401.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Availability

    An electronic copy of the Navy's application may be obtained by 
writing to the address specified above (See ADDRESSES), telephoning the 
contact listed above (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT), or visiting 
the internet at: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/permits/incidental.htm#applications. The Navy released a draft Supplemental 
Environmental Impact Statement (DSEIS) for the employment of SURTASS 
LFA sonar on August 19, 2011. A copy of the DSEIS, which would also 
support NMFS' proposed rulemaking under the MMPA, is available at 
http://www.surtass-lfa-eis.com.

Background

    Sections 101(a)(5)(A) and (D) of the Marine Mammal Protection Act 
of 1972, as amended (MMPA; 16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) direct the Secretary 
of Commerce (Secretary) to allow, upon request, the incidental, but not 
intentional taking of marine mammals by U.S. citizens who engage in a 
specified activity (other than commercial fishing) if certain findings 
are made and regulations are issued or, if the taking is limited to 
harassment, notice of a proposed authorization is provided to the 
public for review.
    Authorization for incidental takings shall be granted if NMFS finds 
that the taking will have a negligible impact on the species or 
stock(s), will not have an unmitigable adverse impact on the 
availability of the species or stock(s) for subsistence uses (where 
relevant), and if the permissible methods of taking and requirements 
pertaining to the mitigation, monitoring and reporting of such taking 
are set forth.
    NMFS has defined ``negligible impact'' in 50 CFR 216.103 as `` * * 
* an impact resulting from the specified activity that cannot be 
reasonably expected to, and is not reasonably likely to, adversely 
affect the species or stock through effects on annual rates of 
recruitment or survival.''
    With respect to military readiness activities, the MMPA defines 
``harassment'' as:

    (i) any act that injures or has the significant potential to 
injure a marine mammal or marine mammal stock in the wild [Level A 
Harassment]; or (ii) any act that disturbs or is likely to disturb a 
marine mammal or marine mammal stock in the wild by causing 
disruption of natural behavioral patterns, including, but not 
limited to, migration, surfacing, nursing, breeding, feeding, or 
sheltering, to a point where such behavioral patterns are abandoned 
or significantly altered [Level B Harassment].

Summary of Request

    On August 17, 2011, NMFS received an application from the Navy 
requesting authorization to take individuals of 94 species of marine 
mammals (70 cetaceans and 24 pinnipeds), by harassment, incidental to 
upcoming training, testing, and routine military operations (all 
categorized as military readiness activities) using SURTASS LFA sonar 
over the course of five years.
    The Navy states that these training, testing, and routine military 
activities may expose some of the marine mammals present in the 
operational areas to sound from low-frequency active sonar sources. 
Because marine mammals may be harassed due to noise disturbance 
incidental to the use of SURTASS LFA sonar during training, testing, 
and routine military operations, the Navy requests authorization to 
take individuals of 94 species of marine mammals by Level B Harassment. 
Further, the Navy states that the probability of taking marine mammals 
by Level A Harassment is less than 0.001 percent. However, because the 
probability is not zero, the Navy has

[[Page 53885]]

included Level A harassment in its authorization request.
    This will be NMFS' third rule making for SURTASS LFA sonar 
operations under the MMPA. NMFS published the first rule effective from 
August 2002 through August 2007 on July 16, 2002 (67 FR 46712), and 
published the second rule effective from August 2007 through August 
2012 on August 21, 2007 (72 FR 46846). For this third rule making, the 
Navy is proposing to conduct the same types of sonar activities in the 
proposed rule making as they have conducted over the past nine years in 
the previous two rule makings.

Specified Activities

    The Navy proposes to deploy the system on a maximum of four U.S. 
Naval ships: the USNS ABLE, the USNS EFFECTIVE, the USNS IMPECCABLE and 
the USNS VICTORIOUS) in certain areas of the Pacific, Atlantic, and 
Indian Oceans and the Mediterranean Sea. Nominal at-sea missions for 
each vessel using SURTASS LFA sonar would last up to 294 days, with 240 
days of active sonar transmissions and 54 days of transit. The maximum 
number of actual transmission hours per vessel would not exceed 432 
hours annually. The application describes the activity types, the 
equipment and platforms involved, and the duration and potential 
locations of the specified activities.
    Included within a larger suite of proposed mitigation measures for 
marine mammals that potentially could be affected during SURTASS LFA 
sonar operations, the Navy proposes to restrict the use of SURTASS LFA 
sonar such that it will not operate in Arctic and Antarctic waters, and 
sound pressure levels (SPL) will not exceed 180 decibels (dB) re 1 
[mu]Pa (rms) within 12 nautical miles of any coastline or within 
designated offshore biologically important areas for marine mammals.

Information Solicited

    Interested persons may submit information, suggestions, and 
comments concerning the Navy's request (see ADDRESSES). NMFS will 
consider all information, suggestions, and comments related to the 
Navy's request and NMFS' potential development and implementation of 
regulations governing the incidental taking of marine mammals by the 
Navy's SURTASS LFA sonar activities.

    Dated: August 24, 2011.
James H. Lecky,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-22163 Filed 8-29-11; 8:45 am]
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