[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 204 (Friday, October 21, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72780-72781]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-25475]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XE841
Notice of Availability of a Final Environmental Impact Statement
for Effects of Oil and Gas Activities in the Arctic Ocean
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of availability of a Final Environmental Impact
Statement; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: NMFS announces the availability of the ``Final Environmental
Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Effects of Oil and Gas Activities in
the Arctic Ocean.'' The purpose of the FEIS is to evaluate, in
compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the
potential direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts of implementing the
alternative approaches for authorizing take of marine mammals
incidental to oil and gas activities in the Arctic Ocean pursuant to
the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). The U.S. Department of the
Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) was a cooperating
agency on this FEIS, and as such, this FEIS also evaluates the
potential direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts of implementing the
alternative approaches for authorizing geological and geophysical (G&G)
surveys and concurring on ancillary activities under the Outer
Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) in the Arctic Ocean. The North
Slope Borough (NSB) was also a cooperating agency on this FEIS. The
Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
were consulting agencies, and NMFS coordinated with the Alaska Eskimo
Whaling Commission pursuant to our co-management agreement under the
MMPA.
DATES: Federal, State, and local agencies, as well as other interested
parties, are invited to review this FEIS. Comments must be received on
or before November 21, 2016, to be considered for our Record of
Decision. The Record of Decision will include information on the
alternatives considered, the preferred alternative and why we chose it,
and required mitigation and monitoring.
ADDRESSES: The FEIS is available for review online at: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/permits/eis/arctic.htm. You may submit comments on
this document by:
Email: [email protected].
Fax: (301) 713-0376, Attn: Jolie Harrison.
Mail: NOAA, NMFS, Office of Protected Resources, 1315
East-West Highway, Room 13805, Silver Spring, MD 20910, Attn: Jolie
Harrison.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Candace Nachman, Office of Policy,
NMFS at (301) 427-8031, or Jolie Harrison, Office of Protected
Resources, NMFS at (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 U.S. citizens who engage in a specified activity (other than
commercial fishing) within a specified geographical region if certain
findings are made and either regulations are issued or, if the taking
is limited to harassment, a notice of proposed authorization is
provided to the public for review. The term ``take'' under the MMPA
means ``to harass, hunt, capture or kill, or attempt to harass, hunt,
capture, or kill.'' Except with respect to certain activities not
pertinent here, the MMPA defines ``harassment'' as ``any act of
pursuit, torment, or annoyance which (i) has the potential to injure a
marine mammal or marine mammal stock in the wild (Level A harassment);
or (ii) has the potential to disturb a
[[Page 72781]]
marine mammal or marine mammal stock in the wild by causing disruption
of behavioral patterns, including, but not limited to, migration,
breathing, nursing, breeding, feeding, or sheltering (Level B
harassment).''
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.''
NMFS, as the lead federal agency, prepared this FEIS to evaluate a
broad range of reasonably foreseeable levels of exploration activities
and associated mitigation measures that may occur in the U.S. Beaufort
and Chukchi Seas. The FEIS presents the potential impacts associated
with the issuance of incidental take authorizations (ITAs) under
section 101(a)(5) of the MMPA for seismic surveys, ancillary
activities, and exploratory drilling. NMFS recognizes that the current
level of oil and gas exploration activities is lower than what
previously occurred and what was projected when the scoping process for
this EIS began in February 2010. However, NMFS still receives requests
for MMPA ITAs in the U.S. Beaufort and Chukchi Seas, and this FEIS
provides decision-makers and the public with an evaluation of the
environmental, social, and economic effects of the proposed action and
alternatives.
On December 30, 2011, NMFS published a Notice of Availability of
the Draft EIS in the Federal Register (76 FR 82275). The 2011 Draft EIS
includes an analysis of the proposed actions identified in the 2010
Notice of Intent (i.e., NMFS' issuance of MMPA ITAs for take of marine
mammals incidental to G&G surveys, ancillary activities, and
exploratory drilling in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas and BOEM's
issuance of G&G permits and concurrence on ancillary activities in the
Chukchi and Beaufort Seas), the anticipated environmental impacts, and
measures to minimize the impacts associated with these activities. On
March 29, 2013, NMFS published a Notice of Availability of a
Supplemental Draft EIS in the Federal Register (78 FR 19212). The
Supplemental Draft EIS included one new alternative not contained in
the 2011 Draft EIS and a few other substantive changes. Please refer to
the Notices of Availability for the Draft and Supplemental Draft EISs
for that information.
Alternatives
NMFS evaluated a preferred alternative (Alternative 2) and five
others in the FEIS. Each alternative includes an analysis of a suite of
standard and additional mitigation measures that have been identified
to help reduce impacts to marine mammals and to ensure no unmitigable
adverse impact on the availability of marine mammals for subsistence
uses. Each alternative also considers a reasonable range of oil and gas
exploration activities for which MMPA ITAs could be issued. Table 1
outlines the activity levels considered in each alternative. Activity
levels noted are a maximum for each alternative.
Table 1--Levels of G&G, Ancillary, and Exploratory Drilling Activities Proposed for Consideration in the
Alternatives in the FEIS on the Effects of Oil and Gas Activities in the Arctic Ocean. Activity Levels Noted are
a Maximum, and Any Combination Up to That Amount Could Be Allowed Under Each Alternative
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Site clearance and
2D/3D Seismic shallow hazards On-ice seismic Exploratory
surveys surveys surveys drilling
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Alternative 1 (No Action)....... 0................. 0................. 0................. 0.
Alternative 2--Preferred 4 in Beaufort..... 3 in Beaufort..... 1 in Beaufort..... 1 in Beaufort
Alternative (Level 1). 3 in Chukchi...... 3 in Chukchi...... 0 in Chukchi...... 1 in Chukchi.
Alternative 3 (Level 2)......... 6 in Beaufort..... 5 in Beaufort..... 1 in Beaufort..... 2 in Beaufort
5 in Chukchi...... 5 in Chukchi...... 0 in Chukchi...... 2 in Chukchi.
Alternative 4 (Level 3)......... 6 in Beaufort..... 5 in Beaufort..... 1 in Beaufort..... 4 in Beaufort
5 in Chukchi...... 5 in Chukchi...... 0 in Chukchi...... 4 in Chukchi.
Alternative 5 (Level 3 with 6 in Beaufort..... 5 in Beaufort..... 1 in Beaufort..... 4 in Beaufort
required time/area closures). 5 in Chukchi...... 5 in Chukchi...... 0 in Chukchi...... 4 in Chukchi.
Alternative 6 (any level with 6 in Beaufort..... 5 in Beaufort..... 1 in Beaufort..... Any level up to
required use of alternative 5 in Chukchi...... 5 in Chukchi...... 0 in Chukchi...... the maximum, as
technologies). the technology
only relates to
seismic surveys.
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Alternatives 5 and 6 differ from Alternatives 2, 3, and 4 in the
fact that each one considers required mitigation measures not
contemplated in the other action alternatives. Certain time/area
closures considered for mitigation on a case-by-case basis under the
other action alternatives would be required under Alternative 5. The
time/area closures would be for specific areas important to biological
productivity, life history functions for specific species of concern,
and subsistence activities. Activities would not be permitted to occur
in any of the time/area closures during the specific identified
periods. Additionally, buffer zones around these time/area closures
could potentially be included.
In addition to contemplating the same suite of standard and
additional mitigation measures analyzed in the other action
alternatives, Alternative 6 also includes specific additional
mitigation measures that focus on the use of alternative technologies
that have the potential to augment or replace traditional airgun-based
seismic exploration activities in the future.
Dated: October 17, 2016.
Donna S. Wieting,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2016-25475 Filed 10-20-16; 8:45 am]
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