[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 103 (Wednesday, May 31, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24950-24951]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-11035]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XC969
Technical Guidance for Assessing the Effects of Anthropogenic
Sound on Marine Mammal Hearing--Acoustic Threshold Levels for Onset of
Permanent and Temporary Threshold Shifts
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) seeks public
comment to assist the Secretary of Commerce's review of NMFS' August
2016 Technical Guidance for Assessing the Effects of Anthropogenic
Sound on Marine Mammal Hearing: Underwater Acoustic Thresholds for
Onset of Permanent and Temporary Threshold Shifts (Technical Guidance),
pursuant to section 10 of Presidential Executive Order (EO) 13795,
Implementing an America-First Offshore Energy Strategy (April 28,
2017).
DATES: Comments must be received by July 17, 2017.
ADDRESSES: The Technical Guidance is available in electronic form via
the Internet at http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/acoustics/. You may submit
comments by including NOAA-NMFS-2013-0177, by either of the following
methods:
Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: Go to www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2013-0177, click the ``Comment Now!'' icon,
complete the required fields, and enter or attach your comments
Mail: Send comments to: Chief, Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle
Conservation Division, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine
Fisheries Service, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910-
3226, Attn: Acoustic Guidance.
Instructions: NMFS may not consider comments if they are sent by
any other method, to any other address or individual, or received after
the comment period ends. All comments received are a part of the public
record and NMFS will generally post for public viewing on
www.regulations.gov without change. All personal identifying
information (e.g., name, address, etc.), confidential business
information, or otherwise sensitive information submitted voluntarily
by the sender is publicly accessible. NMFS will accept anonymous
comments (enter ``N/A'' in the required fields if you wish to remain
anonymous).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Amy Scholik-Schlomer, Office of
Protected Resources, 301-427-8449, [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Presidential Executive Order (EO) 13795,
Implementing an America-First Offshore Energy Strategy (82 FR 20815;
April 28, 2017), states in section 2 that ``It shall be the policy of
the United States to encourage energy exploration and production,
including on the Outer Continental Shelf, in order to maintain the
Nation's position as a global energy leader and foster energy security
and resilience for the benefit of the American people, while ensuring
that any such activity is safe and environmentally responsible.''
Among the requirements of EO 13795 is section 10, which calls for a
review of NMFS' Technical Guidance for Assessing the Effects of
Anthropogenic Sound on Marine Mammal Hearing as follows: ``The
Secretary of Commerce shall review [NMFS' Technical Guidance] for
consistency with the policy set forth in Section 2 of this order and,
after consultation with the appropriate Federal agencies, take all
steps permitted by law to rescind or revise that guidance, if
appropriate.''
The 2016 Technical Guidance referred to in EO 13795 is a technical
document that compiles, interprets, and synthesizes scientific
literature, to produce updated thresholds for assessing the effects of
underwater sound on marine mammal hearing. The document provides
updated received levels, or acoustic thresholds, above which individual
marine mammals under NMFS' jurisdiction are predicted to experience
changes in their hearing sensitivity (either temporary or permanent)
for all underwater human-made sound sources. It is intended for use by
NMFS analysts and managers and other relevant user groups and
stakeholders, including other Federal agencies, when seeking to
determine whether and how their activities are expected to result in
hearing impacts to marine mammals via acoustic exposure. The Technical
Guidance does not represent the entirety of an impact assessment but
rather serves as one tool to help evaluate a proposed action.
Mitigation and monitoring requirements in connection with any permits
or authorizations issued by NMFS are management decisions made in the
context of a proposed activity and a comprehensive effects analysis as
well
[[Page 24951]]
as legal requirements, and are beyond the direct scope of the Technical
Guidance (i.e., the Technical Guidance may inform these decisions, but
the Technical Guidance does not mandate any specific mitigation be
required).
NMFS acknowledges the importance of supporting sustainable ocean
use, such as energy exploration and production on the Outer Continental
Shelf, provided activities are conducted in a safe and environmentally
responsible manner. Our development and implementation of the Technical
Guidance are consistent with allowing activities vital to our nation's
security and economy to proceed, including those mentioned in EO 13795.
As an example, during the development of the Technical Guidance, NMFS
recognized that action proponents may have varying abilities to model
and estimate exposure, and that the Technical Guidance may be more
complex than some action proponents are able to incorporate.
Accordingly, NMFS developed optional user tools in the form of an
alternative methodology and associated user spreadsheet to assist
action proponents with the application the more complex acoustic
thresholds. Additionally, NMFS recognized that for some proposed
actions, analyses may have already substantially progressed using the
prior thresholds or other methods for assessing hearing effects, and it
would be impractical to begin those analyses anew, taking into account
timing constraints, expense, and other considerations. Hence, NMFS has
been using a transitional approach for ``pipeline'' cases that
considers various factors to determine the extent to which the
Technical Guidance would be considered.
The Office of Management and Budget previously classified the
Technical Guidance as a Highly Influential Scientific Assessment
(HISA). As such, the document underwent three independent peer reviews,
at three different stages its development, including a follow-up to one
of the peer reviews, prior to its dissemination by NMFS. Details of
each peer review are included within the Technical Guidance (Appendix
C), and specific peer reviewer comments and NMFS' responses are at
http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/acoustics/. In addition to three
independent peer reviews, there were three public comment periods. A
previously published Federal Register Notice (81 FR 51694; August 4,
2016) provides substantive public comments and NMFS' responses.
NMFS is soliciting public comment and will also consult the
appropriate Federal agencies to assist the Secretary of Commerce in
reviewing the Technical Guidance for consistency with the policy in
section 2 of EO 13795. The Technical Guidance will remain in use during
this review, and this review will not delay the processing of any
permits, applications, or consultations currently underway.
NMFS advises the public to focus comments on those relating to the
purpose of the review of the Technical Guidance under section 10 of EO
13795, which is to ensure consistency with the policy in section 2 of
the EO, cited above. For example, NMFS welcomes comments on two
particular aspects of the Technical Guidance:
(1) Peer-reviewed scientific literature: Information regarding the
availability of published new science relevant to marine mammal hearing
or impacts of noise on hearing since the publication of the Technical
Guidance and suggestions for how to consider new information within the
Technical Guidance, and
(2) Implementation support: Recommendations regarding how NMFS can
further aid in the application and implementation of the Technical
Guidance (based on difficulties encountered and/or ways NMFS can
facilitate and/or improve implementation for action proponents).
Dated: May 24, 2017.
Donna S. Wieting
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2017-11035 Filed 5-30-17; 8:45 am]
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