[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 185 (Tuesday, September 24, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58524-58525]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-23105]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-BD69


Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities; U.S. 
Navy Training and Testing Activities in the Mariana Islands Training 
and Testing Study Area

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 marine mammals incidental to the training and 
testing activities conducted in the Mariana Islands Training and 
Testing (MITT) Study Area from July 2015 through July 2020. Pursuant to 
the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is announcing our receipt 
of the Navy's request for the development and implementation of 
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 October 
24, 2013.

ADDRESSES: Comments on the application should be addressed to Michael 
Payne, Chief, Permits and Conservation Division, Office of Protected 
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service, 1315 East-West Highway, 
Silver Spring, MD 20910-3225. The mailbox address for providing email 
comments is [email protected]. NMFS is not responsible for email 
comments sent to addresses other than the one provided here. Comments 
sent via email, 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 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.
    A copy of the Navy's application may be obtained by visiting the 
internet at: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/permits/incidental.htm. The 
Navy's Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for MITT was made 
available to the public on September 13, 2013. A 60-day public comment 
period is open through November 12, 2013. Documents cited in this 
notice may also be viewed, by appointment, during regular business 
hours, at the aforementioned address.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Sections 101(a)(5)(A) and (D) of the MMPA (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) 
direct the Secretary of Commerce 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 specific geographical region 
if certain findings are made and either regulations are issued or, if 
the taking is limited to harassment, a 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 takings 
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 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 April 22, 2013, NMFS received an application from the Navy 
requesting a Letters of Authorization (LOA) for the take of 26 species 
of marine mammals incidental to Navy training and testing activities to 
be conducted in the MITT Study Area over 5 years. The Navy is 
requesting a 5-year LOA for training and testing activities to be 
conducted from 2015 through 2020. The Study Area includes the existing 
Mariana Islands Range Complex, a transit corridor between the Mariana 
Islands and the Hawaii Range Complex, and Navy pierside locations where 
sonar maintenance or testing may occur (see Figure 2-1 of the Navy's 
application for a map of the MITT Study Area). The activities conducted 
within the MITT Study Area are classified as military readiness 
activities. The Navy states that these activities may expose some of 
the marine mammals present within the MITT Study Area to sound from 
underwater acoustic sources and explosives. In addition, incidental 
takes of marine mammals may occur from ship strike. The Navy is 
requesting authorization to take 26 marine mammal species by Level B 
(behavioral) harassment; 15 of those marine mammal species may be taken 
by injury or mortality.

Description of the Specified Activity

    In the application submitted to NMFS, the Navy requests 
authorization to take marine mammals incidental to conducting the 
following training and testing activities: anti-surface warfare; anti-
submarine warfare; mine warfare; naval special warfare; major training 
activities; Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) testing; anti-surface 
warfare testing; anti-submarine warfare testing; Naval Sea Systems 
Command (NAVSEA) testing; and Office of Naval Research (ONR) and Naval 
Research Laboratory (NRL) testing. Detailed descriptions of these 
activities, including duration, location, and equipment involved, are 
provided in the Navy's application. The Navy has also prepared a Draft 
Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) analyzing the effects on the 
human environment of implementing their preferred alternative (among 
others).

Information Solicited

    Interested persons may submit information, suggestions, and 
comments concerning the Navy's request (see

[[Page 58525]]

ADDRESSES). All input related to the Navy's MITT request and NMFS' role 
in governing the incidental taking of marine mammals will be considered 
by NMFS when developing, if appropriate, the most effective regulations 
governing the issuance of a Letter of Authorization.

    Dated: September 12, 2013.
Perry Gayaldo,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2013-23105 Filed 9-23-13; 8:45 am]
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