[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 120 (Thursday, June 21, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28824-28826]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-13313]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XC969
2018 Revision to Technical Guidance for Assessing the Effects of
Anthropogenic Sound on Marine Mammal Hearing--Underwater Acoustic
Thresholds for Onset of Permanent and Temporary Threshold Shifts
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: Per approval of the Secretary of Commerce, The National Marine
Fisheries Service (NMFS) announces the availability of the 2018
Revision (NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-OPR-59) to its 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 or Guidance) based
on comments received during the review of the Guidance pursuant to
section 10 of Presidential Executive Order, Implementing an America-
First Offshore Energy Strategy (April 28, 2017).
ADDRESSES: The 2018 Revision to the Technical Guidance (NOAA Technical
Memorandum NMFS-OPR-59) is available in electronic form via the
internet at https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/marine-mammal-acoustic-technical-guidance.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Amy R. Scholik-Schlomer, Office of
Protected Resources, 301-427-8449, [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Presidential Executive Order (E.O.) 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
[[Page 28825]]
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 E.O. 13795 is section 10, which called
for a review of NMFS' Technical Guidance 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 E.O. 13795 is a
technical document that compiles, interprets, and synthesizes
scientific literature to produce 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 helps evaluate a proposed
activity within a comprehensive effects analysis. It can inform
decisions related to mitigation and monitoring requirements, but it
does not mandate any specific mitigation. The Technical Guidance does
not address or change NMFS' application of standards in the regulatory
context, under applicable statutes, and does not create or confer any
rights for or on any person, or operate to bind the public (i.e., the
use of the Technical Guidance is not mandatory).
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 in 2016.
Details of each peer review are included within the Technical Guidance
(Appendix C), and specific peer reviewer comments and NMFS' responses
are at https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/marine-mammal-acoustic-technical-guidance. In addition to
three independent peer reviews, there were three public comment
periods. The Federal Register Notice of Availability for the 2016
Guidance (81 FR 51694; August 4, 2016) summarizes substantive public
comments and NMFS' responses.
Review Under E.O. 13795
To assist the Secretary of Commerce in the review of the Technical
Guidance for consistency with the policy in section 2 of E.O. 13795,
NMFS solicited public comment via a 45-day public comment period (82 FR
24950; May 31, 2017). Additionally, on September 25, 2017, NMFS hosted
an Interagency Consultation meeting with representatives from the
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), Department of State, Federal
Highway Administration, Marine Mammal Commission, National Park
Service, National Science Foundation, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers, U.S. Geological Survey, and U.S. Navy.
During the public comment period, NMFS received 62 comments from
Federal agencies (Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, U.S. Navy, and
Marine Mammal Commission), oil and gas industry representatives,
Members of Congress, subject matter experts, non-governmental
organizations, and members of the public. Most of the comments (85%)
recommended no changes to the Technical Guidance. No public commenter
suggested rescinding the Technical Guidance. The U.S. Navy, Marine
Mammal Commission, Members of Congress, and subject matter experts
expressed support for the Technical Guidance's auditory injury
thresholds as reflecting the best available science. The remaining
comments (15%) focused on additional scientific publications for
consideration or recommended revisions to improve implementation of the
Technical Guidance.
At the Federal Interagency Consultation meeting, none of the
Federal agencies recommended rescinding the Technical Guidance. They
expressed support for the Technical Guidance's auditory injury
thresholds and the science behind their derivation. Comments received
at the meeting focused on improvements to implementation of the
Technical Guidance.
During both the public comment period and the Interagency meeting,
three key topic areas were raised: (1) The limited scientific data on
the impacts of sound on baleen whale hearing; (2) the need to determine
accurate sound exposure durations for all species of marine mammals;
and (3) the need to improve the Technical Guidance's optional User
Spreadsheet tool. Commenters also encouraged the agency to establish
working groups to address these data gaps and future needs.
2018 Revisions to Technical Guidance
In response to the feedback received during the public comment
period and the Interagency meeting, NMFS has improved the Technical
Guidance and updated User Spreadsheet tool in several ways. Since none
of the public commenters or Federal agencies offered additional
scientific data to modify the auditory injury thresholds, including
those for baleen whales, no changes are warranted on that topic at this
time. Nevertheless, NMFS plans to convene a working group later in 2018
to continue to examine and refine the auditory injury thresholds for
baleen whales as more scientific data become available. Also, since
none of the public commenters or Federal agencies offered additional
scientific data to modify the sound exposure durations for all species
of marine mammals, no specific changes are warranted on that topic at
this time either. Nevertheless, NMFS plans to convene a working group
later in 2018 to evaluate sound exposure durations to determine whether
revisions are appropriate for future updates of the Technical Guidance
based on any new information.
To help applicants implement the Technical Guidance and optional
User Spreadsheet tool, NMFS has: (a) Drafted a new User Manual for the
optional User Spreadsheet that provides more detailed instructions and
examples on how to use it and plans to submit this User Manual for
public comment later in 2018 to gain input from stakeholders and inform
future versions of this manual; (b) modified the optional User
Spreadsheet to provide additional capabilities to assess auditory
injury thresholds; (c) modified the current optional User Spreadsheet
tool to facilitate assessing auditory injury thresholds for commonly
used sound source; (d) modified the Technical Guidance to be more
reflective of an updated international standard specifically developed
for underwater acoustics that became available after the documents
finalization in 2016; (e) included a summary and preliminary analysis
of relevant scientific literature published since the 2016 Technical
Guidance's finalization; and (f) updated the Technical Guidance to
include the Navy's finalized version of their 2016 Technical Report
that was used to derive the Technical Guidance's auditory injury
thresholds.
The 2018 Revision to the Technical Guidance (NOAA Technical
[[Page 28826]]
Memorandum NMFS-OPR-59) with the updated User Spreadsheet tool and the
new companion User Manual is available in electronic form via the
internet at https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/marine-mammal-acoustic-technical-guidance.
Dated: June 18, 2018.
Elaine T. Saiz,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2018-13313 Filed 6-20-18; 8:45 am]
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