[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 202 (Friday, October 18, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55940-55941]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-22729]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XR050


Taking and Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals 
Incidental to Rocky Intertidal Monitoring Surveys Along the Oregon and 
California Coasts

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 University of California 
Santa Cruz for authorization to take small numbers of marine mammals 
incidental to rocky intertidal monitoring along the coasts of Oregon 
and California 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 the University of

[[Page 55941]]

California Santa Cruz's request for the development and implementation 
of regulations governing the incidental taking of marine mammals. NMFS 
invites the public to provide information, suggestions, and comments on 
the University of California Santa Cruz's application and request.

DATES: Comments and information must be received no later than November 
18, 2019.

ADDRESSES: Comments on the applications 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 https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/incidental-take-authorizations-research-and-other-activities 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: Dr. Dwayne Meadows, Office of 
Protected Resources, NMFS, (301) 427-8401. An electronic copy of the 
University of California Santa Cruz's application may be obtained 
online at: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/incidental-take-authorizations-research-and-other-activities. In case of problems accessing these documents, please call 
the contact listed above.

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 (as delegated to NMFS) 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 a proposed 
authorization is provided to the public for review.
    An incidental take authorization 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.
    The MMPA states that the term ``take'' means to harass, hunt, 
capture, kill or attempt to harass, hunt, capture, or kill any marine 
mammal.
    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).

Summary of Request

    On August 12, 2019, NMFS received an application from the 
University of California Santa Cruz requesting authorization for take 
of marine mammals incidental to research activities related to rocky 
intertidal monitoring along the coasts of Oregon and California. After 
the applicant responded to our questions, we determined the application 
was adequate and complete on October 8, 2019. The requested regulations 
would be valid for five years, from 2020 through 2025. The University 
of California Santa Cruz plans to conduct necessary work, including 
research surveys, to monitor rocky intertidal communities. The proposed 
action may incidentally expose marine mammals occurring in the vicinity 
to researchers moving through their habitat, and setting up research 
transects and photoquadrats, thereby resulting in incidental take, by 
Level B harassment only. Therefore, the University of California Santa 
Cruz requests authorization to incidentally take marine mammals.

Specified Activities

    The Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans 
(PISCO, www.piscoweb.org), administered by the University of California 
Santa Cruz, conducts monitoring at rocky intertidal sites in California 
and Oregon. They have been conducting similar research since 2013. 
Information from PISCO's research is used to inform marine policy and 
is also made available to the public through outreach and educational 
programs. The University of California Santa Cruz anticipates 
approximately 300 survey days over the course of the 5-year period. 
They expect to take California sea lions, Northern elephant seals, 
Steller sea lions, and California and Oregon/Washington stocks of 
harbor seals.

Information Solicited

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

    Dated: October 11, 2019.
Donna Wieting,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2019-22729 Filed 10-17-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P