[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 172 (Friday, September 5, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53025-53026]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-21141]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XD462


Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities; U.S. 
Navy Training Activities in the Gulf of Alaska Temporary Maritime 
Activities 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 
activities conducted in the Gulf of Alaska Temporary Maritime 
Activities Area (GOA TMAA) from April 2016 through April 2021. 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 
6, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Comments on the application should be addressed to Jolie 
Harrison, 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 Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (DSEIS) for 
the GOA TMAA was made available to the public on August 23, 2014. A 60-
day public comment period is open through October 22, 2014. Documents 
cited in this notice may also be viewed, by appointment, during regular 
business hours, at the aforementioned address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Fiorentino, Office of Protected 
Resources, NMFS, (301) 427-8477.

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

[[Page 53026]]

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 July 28, 2014, NMFS received an application from the Navy 
requesting a Letter of Authorization (LOA) for the take of 19 species 
of marine mammals incidental to Navy training activities to be 
conducted in the Gulf of Alaska Temporary Maritime Activities Area (GOA 
TMAA) over 5 years. The Navy requests a 5-year LOA for training 
activities to be conducted from 2016 through 2021. The GOA TMAA is a 
polygon roughly the shape of a 300 nm by 150 nm rectangle oriented 
northwest to southeast in the long direction (see Figure 1-1 of the 
Navy's application for a map of the GOA TMAA). The activities conducted 
within the GOA TMAA are classified as military readiness activities. 
The Navy states that these activities may expose some of the marine 
mammals present within the GOA TMAA to sound from underwater acoustic 
sources and explosives. The Navy requests authorization to take 19 
marine mammal species by Level B (behavioral) harassment; one of those 
marine mammal species (Dall's porpoise) may be taken by Level A 
(injury) harassment.

Description of the Specified Activity

    In the application submitted to NMFS, the Navy requests 
authorization to take marine mammals incidental to conducting anti-
surface warfare and anti-submarine warfare training activities. 
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 Supplemental 
Environmental Impact Statement (DSEIS) 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 ADDRESSES). All input 
related to the Navy's GOA TMAA 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: August 29, 2014.
Donna S. Wieting,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2014-21141 Filed 9-4-14; 8:45 am]
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