[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 244 (Tuesday, December 20, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 92788-92789]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-30492]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XF065


Taking and Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals 
Incidental to Geophysical Surveys in the Gulf of Mexico

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

ACTION: Notice; receipt of revised application for marine mammal 
incidental take regulations (ITRs); request for comments and 
information; extension of public comment period.

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SUMMARY: NMFS has received a revised application for ITRs from the 
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), on behalf of oil and gas 
industry operators. The specified activity considered in the 
application is geophysical survey activity conducted in the Gulf of 
Mexico (GOM), over the course of five years from the date of issuance. 
Pursuant to regulations implementing the Marine Mammal Protection Act 
(MMPA), NMFS is announcing receipt of BOEM's request for the 
development of regulations governing the incidental taking of marine 
mammals. NMFS invites the public to provide information, suggestions, 
and comments on BOEM's application.
    The original notice announcing receipt of the revised application 
(81 FR 88664; December 8, 2016) indicated that comments and information 
must be received no later than January 9, 2017, which allowed 30 days 
for public input. We subsequently received a request to extend the 
comment period by a period of 14 days and have granted that request.

DATES: Comments and information must be received no later than January 
23, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Comments on the application should be addressed to Jolie 
Harrison, Chief, Permits and Conservation Division, Office of Protected 
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service. Physical comments should 
be sent to 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910 and 
electronic comments should be sent to [email protected].
    Instructions: NMFS is not responsible for comments sent by any 
other method, to any other address or individual, or received after the 
end of the comment period. Comments received electronically, including 
all attachments, must not exceed a 25-megabyte file size. Attachments 
to electronic comments will be accepted in Microsoft Word or Excel or 
Adobe PDF file formats only. All comments received are a part of the 
public record and will generally be posted online at www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/permits/incidental/oilgas.htm without change. All personal 
identifying information (e.g., name, address) 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: Ben Laws, Office of Protected 
Resources, NMFS, (301) 427-8401.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Availability

    Electronic copies of the application and supporting documents may 
be obtained online at: www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/permits/incidental/oilgas.htm. BOEM has separately released a draft Programmatic 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for public review (September 30, 
2016; 81 FR 67380). This draft EIS was prepared in order to evaluate 
the potential significant effects of multiple geological and 
geophysical activities on the GOM Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) 
pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act. The document is 
available online at: www.boem.gov/GOM-G-G-PEIS/.

Background

    Section 101(a)(5)(A) of the MMPA (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) directs 
the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) 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) if certain findings are made and regulations are 
issued.
    Incidental taking shall be allowed if NMFS finds that the taking 
will have a negligible impact on the species or stock(s) affected and 
will not have an unmitigable adverse impact on the availability of the 
species or stock(s) for taking for subsistence uses, 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.''
    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 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).''
    The use of sound sources such as those described in the application 
(e.g., airgun arrays) may result in the disturbance of marine mammals 
through disruption of behavioral patterns or may cause auditory injury 
of marine mammals. Therefore, incidental take authorization under the 
MMPA is warranted.

Summary

    BOEM was formerly known as the Minerals Management Service (MMS) 
and, later, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and 
Enforcement (BOEMRE). On December 20, 2002, MMS petitioned NMFS for 
rulemaking under Section 101(a)(5)(A) of the MMPA to authorize take of 
sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) incidental to conducting 
geophysical surveys during oil and gas exploration activities in the 
GOM. On March 3, 2003, NMFS published a notice of receipt of MMS's 
application and requested comments and information from the public (68 
FR 9991). This comment period was later extended to April 16, 2003 (68 
FR 16263). MMS subsequently submitted a revised petition on September 
30, 2004, to include a request for incidental take authorization of 
additional species of marine mammals. On April 18, 2011, BOEMRE 
submitted a revision to the petition, which incorporated updated 
information and analyses. NMFS published a notice of receipt of this 
revised petition on June 14, 2011 (76 FR 34656). In order to 
incorporate the best available information, BOEM submitted another 
revision to the petition on March 28, 2016, which was followed on

[[Page 92789]]

October 17, 2016, by a revised version that we have deemed adequate and 
complete based on our implementing regulations at 50 CFR 216.104.
    The requested regulations would establish a framework for 
authorization of incidental take by Level A and Level B harassment 
through Letters of Authorization (LOAs). Following development of the 
ITRs, implementation could occur via issuance of LOAs upon request from 
individual industry applicants planning specific geophysical survey 
activities.

Specified Activities

    The application describes geophysical survey activity, conducted by 
industry operators in OCS waters of the GOM within BOEM's GOM planning 
areas (i.e., the Western, Central, and Eastern Planning Areas). 
Geophysical surveys are conducted by industry operators to characterize 
the shallow and deep structure of the OCS, including the shelf, slope, 
and deepwater ocean environment, in order to obtain data for 
hydrocarbon exploration and production, aid in siting oil and gas 
structures and facilities, identify possible seafloor or shallow-depth 
geologic hazards, and locate potential archaeological resources and 
benthic habitats that should be avoided.
    Deep penetration seismic surveys, used largely for oil and gas 
exploration and development and involving a vessel or vessels towing an 
airgun or array of airguns that emit acoustic energy pulses through the 
overlying water and into the seafloor, are one of the most extensive 
survey types and are expected to carry the greatest potential for 
effects to marine mammals. Non-airgun high resolution geophysical 
surveys are used to detect and monitor geohazards, archaeological 
resources, and certain types of benthic communities.

Information Solicited

    Interested persons may submit information, suggestions, and 
comments concerning BOEM's request (see ADDRESSES). NMFS will consider 
all relevant information, suggestions, and comments related to the 
request during the development of proposed regulations governing the 
incidental taking of marine mammals, as appropriate.

    Dated: December 14, 2016.
Donna S. Wieting,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2016-30492 Filed 12-19-16; 8:45 am]
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