[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 25 (Tuesday, February 7, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6084-6086]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-2741]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XA883


Taking and Importing Marine Mammals; U.S. Navy Training in the 
Southern California Range Complex

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, notice is hereby given that NMFS 
has issued a Letter of Authorization (LOA) to the U.S. Navy (Navy) to 
take marine mammals incidental to Navy training, maintenance, and 
research, development, testing, and evaluation (RDT&E) activities to be 
conducted within the Southern California (SOCAL) Range Complex, which 
extends south and southwest off the southern California coast.

DATES: This authorization is effective from February 8, 2012, through 
January 14, 2014.

ADDRESSES: The LOA and supporting documentation may be obtained by 
writing to P. Michael Payne, Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, 1315 
East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910, or by telephoning one of 
the contacts listed here.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 101(a)(5)(A) of the MMPA (16 U.S.C. 
1361 et seq.) directs NMFS to allow, upon request, the incidental 
taking of marine mammals by U.S. citizens who engage in a specified 
activity (other than commercial fishing), if certain findings are made 
by NMFS 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 marine mammals.
    Regulations governing the taking of marine mammals by the Navy 
incidental to training, maintenance, and RDT&E in the SOCAL Range 
Complex became effective on January 14, 2009 (74 FR 3881, January 21, 
2009), and remain in effect through January 14, 2014. An interim final 
rule was issued on February 7, 2011 (76 FR 6699, February 8, 2011) that 
included an amendment to allow for greater flexibility in the types and 
amounts of sound sources used by the Navy in SOCAL, the Hawaii Range 
Complex, and the Atlantic Fleet Active Sonar Training Study Area. NMFS 
issued the Navy a 1-year LOA on January 9, 2012, which is superseded by 
the 2-year LOA described in this notice. A modified final rule was 
issued on February 1, 2012 (77 FR 4917) that allows for multi-year 
LOAs. For detailed information on these documents, please refer to 
their respective Federal Register notices. The regulations include 
mitigation, monitoring, and reporting requirements and establish a 
framework to authorize incidental take through the issuance of LOAs.

Summary of Request

    On August 30, 2011, NMFS received a request from the Navy for a 
renewal of an LOA issued on January 22, 2011, for the taking of marine 
mammals incidental to training and research activities conducted within 
the SOCAL Range Complex under regulations issued on February 8, 2011 
(76 FR 6699). The Navy has complied with the measures required in 50 
CFR 216.274 and 216.275 and submitted the reports and other 
documentation required in the final rule and the 2011 LOA. Although the 
Navy exceeded the average annual estimated usage of two sonar systems, 
they remain well within the authorized 5-year source amounts and the 
authorized 5-year marine mammal takes.

Summary of Activity Under the 2011 LOA

    The Navy's classified 2010-2011 exercise report indicates that the 
Navy exceeded the average annual amount of two sonar systems during 
this monitoring period. However, the Navy remains well within their 
authorized 5-year source amounts. Sonar usage since January 22, 2009 
(when the first LOA was issued) remains below 60 percent for all source 
types. Furthermore, the interim final rule for SOCAL (76 FR 6699, 
February 8, 2011) increased flexibility of sonar usage, provided it 
does not result in exceeding the incidental take analyzed and 
identified in the final rule. Based on the amount of sonar system use, 
the Navy's post-calculation estimates show that exposures for eight 
species may have exceeded the annual authorization in

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the 2011 LOA. However, potential exposures for all species since 
January 22, 2009 (when the first LOA was issued) are still less than 50 
percent of the total 5-year authorization with only 2 years remaining 
under the current rule.

Planned Activities and Estimated Take for 2012 and 2013

    In 2012 and 2013, the Navy expects to conduct the same type and 
amount of training each year that was identified in the 2011 LOA. 
Similarly, the Navy expects to remain within the annual estimates 
analyzed in the final rule.

Summary of Monitoring, Reporting, and Other Requirements Under the 2011 
LOA

Annual Exercise Reports

    The Navy submitted their classified and unclassified 2011 exercise 
reports within the required timeframes and the unclassified report is 
posted on NMFS Web site: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/permits/incidental.htm. NMFS has reviewed both reports and they contain the 
information required by the 2011 LOA. The reports indicate the amounts 
of different types of training that occurred from August 2, 2010, 
through August 1, 2011. The Navy conducted eleven Major Training 
Exercises (MTEs)--one Sustainment Exercise (SUSTEX), three Integrated 
Anti-Submarine Warfare Courses (IAC II), five Composite Training 
Exercises (C2X), and two Joint Task Force Exercises (JTFEX)--for a 
total of 134 days.
    The reports also list specific information gathered when marine 
mammals were detected by Navy watchstanders, such as how far an animal 
was from the vessel, whether sonar was in use, and whether it was 
powered or shut down. This information indicates that the Navy 
implemented the safety zone mitigation measures as required. No 
instances of obvious behavioral disturbance were reported by the Navy 
watchstanders in their 428 marine mammal sightings totaling 5,848 
animals.

2010-2011 Monitoring

    The Navy conducted the monitoring required by the 2011 LOA and 
described in the Monitoring Plan, which included aerial and vessel 
surveys of sonar and exercises by dedicated MMOs, passive acoustic 
monitoring utilizing high-frequency acoustic recording packages 
(HARPs), and marine mammal tagging and tracking. The Navy submitted 
their 2010-2011 Monitoring Report, which is posted on NMFS' Web site 
(http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/permits/incidental.htm), within the 
required timeframe. The Navy included a summary of their 2010-2011 
monitoring effort and results (beginning on page 341 of the monitoring 
report) and the specific reports for each individual effort are 
presented in the appendices. Because data is gathered through August 1 
and the report is due in October, some of the data analysis will occur 
in the subsequent year's report. Navy-funded marine mammal monitoring 
accomplishments within SOCAL for the past year includes the following:

Visual Surveys

    The Navy completed a total of 1,001 hours of compliance funded 
visual surveys, exceeding their 2011 commitment by over 800 hours. 
During this time, there were 1,225 sightings of more than 100,594 
marine mammals and 30.1 hours of detailed behavioral focal follows were 
recorded. Results from a single aerial survey in May 2011, show that 
the most frequent initial behavioral state observed for dolphins and 
whales was resting. Sperm whales were seen for the first time since 
SOCAL aerial monitoring began in fall 2008. There was a Major Training 
Exercise (MTE) the same day of the sighting, but it was 30-50 nautical 
miles away and on the other side of San Clemente Island.

Marine Mammal Observations

    The Navy completed 83 hours of marine mammal observer (MMO) effort 
out of a planned 50-100 hours. During the four-day training event with 
MMOs, 24 sightings were made of about 599 marine mammals. The frequency 
of sightings was much higher compared to other Navy range complexes and 
the MMOs provided input on how to account for the faster rate of 
sightings unique to Southern California. Of the 428 Navy marine mammal 
sightings during MTEs, there were 110 sightings within 1,000 yards that 
qualified as mitigation events. There were no reports of marine mammals 
behaving in any unusual manner during these events.

Passive Acoustic Monitoring

    Two high-frequency acoustic recording packages (HARP) remained 
deployed at two sites during the 2010-2011 monitoring period. The 
devices detected at least 16 different marine mammal species during the 
monitoring period, including six baleen whale species, California sea 
lions, and nine odontocete species.

Tagging

    A total of 14 satellite tags were deployed on seven different 
species of marine mammals. Highlights from the tagging results 
continued to show long-term movement of three out of five Cuvier's 
beaked whales, one of the first indications that Southern California 
beaked whales may engage in non-local, out of area movement. Movements 
of a fin whale showed that individuals spent much of their time in 
deep, offshore waters.

SOCAL-10

    SOCAL-10 was a scientific research project conducted around 
important biological areas near southern California in fall 2010. The 
project was an extension of previous behavioral response studies in the 
Bahamas (2007-2008) and Mediterranean Sea (2009) and will be continued 
in southern California for a total of 5 years. The objective of the 
project is to provide a better understanding of marine mammal behavior, 
while providing direct scientific information for the Navy and 
regulatory agencies to estimate risk and minimize the effect of human 
sounds, particularly military sonar. Preliminary results based 
primarily on clearly observable behavior in the field and from initial 
data assessment indicate variable responses, depending on species, type 
of sound, and behavioral state during the experiments. Some 
observations in certain conditions suggest marine mammal avoidance 
responses, while in other cases animals seemed to not respond, at least 
overtly. Additional analysis and interpretation is underway of the 
nearly 400 hours of tag data from the project, as well as thousands of 
marine mammal observations, photographs, tissue samples, and acoustic 
measurements.

Conclusion

    The Navy achieved all of its planned annual monitoring objectives 
during the 2010-2011 monitoring period. In conclusion, the Navy's 
implementation of the monitoring plan accomplished several goals, 
primarily through contributions to larger bodies of data intended to 
better characterize the abundance, distribution, life history, and 
behaviors of the species in the SOCAL Range Complex. The monitoring 
satisfied the objectives of the monitoring plan and contributed to a 
greater knowledge and understanding of the following: baseline marine 
mammal occurrence, density, and distribution of species within the 
SOCAL Range Complex, which will be added to a growing database of 
marine mammal aggregations around the world; vocalizations of different 
species, which contributes to the development of automated 
classification software;

[[Page 6086]]

movement patterns of individuals (both vertically in the water column 
on a daily basis, as well as horizontally over weeks and months); and 
observable behavioral patterns of marine mammals, both with and without 
exposure to Navy training activities.
    Except as described below in the Adaptive Management section, NMFS 
concludes that the results of these monitoring efforts, when taken 
together with the findings presented in the 2010-2011 exercise report 
(see Annual Exercise Report section), do not warrant making changes to 
the current monitoring and mitigation requirements identified in the 
LOA. While the data collected by the Navy through monitoring and 
reporting builds on the existing body of information in a valuable way, 
none of the new data contradict, or amend, the assumptions that 
underlie the findings in the 2009 rule in a manner that would suggest 
that the mitigation or monitoring should change.

Adaptive Management

    In general, adaptive management allows NMFS to consider new 
information and determine (with input from the Navy regarding 
practicability) if modifications to monitoring efforts are appropriate. 
All of the 5-year rules and LOAs issued to the Navy include an adaptive 
management component, which requires an annual meeting between NMFS and 
the Navy. NMFS and the Navy conducted an adaptive management meeting in 
October, 2011, which representatives from the Marine Mammal Commission 
participated in, wherein we reviewed the Navy monitoring results 
through August 1, 2011, discussed other Navy research and development 
efforts, and discussed other new information that could potentially 
inform decisions regarding Navy mitigation and monitoring. None of the 
information discussed led NMFS to recommend any modifications to the 
existing mitigation or monitoring measures.

Integrated Comprehensive Monitoring Report

    Further, the Navy convened a monitoring meeting in June, 2011 to 
solicit input from NMFS, marine mammal and acoustic scientists, and 
interested members of the public regarding the comprehensive 
development and improvement of the more specific monitoring that should 
occur across the Navy's training areas. The Navy is currently working 
on a Navy-wide Strategic Plan for monitoring based on applicable input 
from the 2011 monitoring workshop and may propose appropriate changes 
to the monitoring measures in specific LOAs for the different Range 
Complexes and training areas. If substantive monitoring modifications 
are proposed for any areas, NMFS will subsequently publish proposed 
LOAs, with the modifications, in the Federal Register and solicit 
public input. After addressing public comments and making changes as 
appropriate, NMFS would, as appropriate, issue new LOAs for the 
different training areas that reflect the updated ICMP and associated 
new Strategic Plan for Navy monitoring.

Authorization

    The Navy complied with the mitigation and monitoring requirements 
of the 2011 LOA. Although the Navy exceeded the average annual 
authorization for two sonar systems, they remain well within the 5-year 
rule for all source amounts. Similarly, although the Navy potentially 
exceeded the average annual take authorization for eight species, they 
still remain well within the 5-year rule amounts. NMFS has determined 
that the marine mammal take resulting from the 2011 military readiness 
training and research activities falls within the 5-year rule levels 
previously anticipated, analyzed, and authorized. Further, the level of 
taking authorized in 2012 and 2013 for the Navy's SOCAL Range Complex 
activities is consistent with our previous findings made for the total 
taking allowed under the SOCAL Range Complex regulations. Finally, the 
record supports NMFS' conclusion that the total number of marine 
mammals taken by the 2010-2011 monitoring period will have no more than 
a negligible impact on the affected species or stock of marine mammals 
and will not have an unmitigable adverse impact on the availability of 
these species or stocks for taking for subsistence uses. Accordingly, 
NMFS has issued a 2-year LOA for Navy training exercises conducted in 
the SOCAL Range Complex from February 8, 2012, through January 14, 
2014.

    Dated: February 1, 2012.
Helen M. Golde,
Deputy Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2012-2741 Filed 2-6-12; 8:45 am]
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