[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 14 (Wednesday, January 22, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3646-3647]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-00937]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XR087]


Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities; 
Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Construction at the City Dock and 
Ferry Terminal, Tenakee Springs, Alaska

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

ACTION: Notice; issuance of incidental harassment authorization.

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SUMMARY: NMFS has received a request from the Alaska Department of 
Transportation and Public Facilities (ADOT) for the re-issuance of a 
previously issued incidental harassment authorization (IHA) with the 
only change being effective dates. The initial IHA authorized take of 
seven species of marine mammals, by Level B harassment, incidental to 
construction associated with the city dock and ferry terminal 
improvement project in Tenakee Springs, Alaska. The project has been 
delayed and none of the work covered in the initial IHA has been 
conducted. The initial IHA was effective from June 1, 2019, through May 
31, 2020. ADOT has requested re-issuance with new effective dates of 
June 1, 2020, through May 31, 2021. The scope of the activities and 
anticipated effects remain the same, authorized take numbers are not 
changed, and the required mitigation, monitoring, and reporting remains 
the same as included in the initial IHA. NMFS is, therefore, issuing a 
second IHA to cover the incidental take analyzed and authorized in the 
initial IHA.

DATES: This authorization is effective from June 1, 2020, through May 
31, 2021.

ADDRESSES: An electronic copy of the final 2019 IHA previously issued 
to ADOT, ADOT's application, and the Federal Register notices proposing 
and issuing the initial IHA may be obtained by visiting https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/incidental-take-authorization-city-dock-and-ferry-terminal-construction-tenakee-springs. In case of problems 
accessing these documents, please call the contact listed below (see 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ben Laws, Office of Protected 
Resources, NMFS, (301) 427-8401.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    Sections 101(a)(5)(A) and (D) of the Marine Mammal Protection Act 
(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 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.
    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

[[Page 3647]]

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 June 20, 2018, NMFS published final notice of our issuance of an 
IHA authorizing take of marine mammals incidental to the Tenakee 
Springs dock project (83 FR 29749). The effective dates of that IHA 
were June 1, 2019, through May 31, 2020. On October 14, 2019, ADOT 
informed NMFS that the project was delayed. None of the work identified 
in the initial IHA (e.g., pile driving and removal) has occurred. ADOT 
submitted a request for a new identical IHA that would be effective 
from June 1, 2020 through May 31, 2021, in order to conduct the 
construction work that was analyzed and authorized through the 
previously issued IHA. Therefore, re-issuance of the IHA is 
appropriate.

Summary of Specified Activity and Anticipated Impacts

    The planned activities (including mitigation, monitoring, and 
reporting), authorized incidental take, and anticipated impacts on the 
affected stocks are the same as those analyzed and authorized through 
the previously issued IHA.
    The purpose of ADOT's construction project is to replace the 
existing, aging mooring and transfer structures nearing the end of 
their operational life due to corrosion and wear with modern facilities 
that provide improved operations for Alaska Marine Highway System 
(AMHS) ferry vessels, as well as freight and fueling operators, 
servicing the community of Tenakee Springs. Planned improvements 
include the installation of new shoreside facilities and marine 
structures and the renovation of existing structures. The location, 
timing, and nature of the activities, including the types of equipment 
planned for use, are the same as those described in the initial IHA. 
The mitigation and monitoring are also as prescribed in the initial 
IHA.
    Species that are expected to be taken by the planned activity 
include harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena), Dall's porpoise 
(Phocoenoides dalli), killer whale (Orcinus orca), humpback whale 
(Megaptera novaeangliae), minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata), 
harbor seal (Phoca vitulina), and Steller sea lion (Eumetopias 
jubatus). A description of the methods and inputs used to estimate take 
anticipated to occur and, ultimately, the take that was authorized is 
found in the previous documents referenced above. The data inputs and 
methods of estimating take are identical to those used in the initial 
IHA. NMFS has reviewed recent Stock Assessment Reports, information on 
relevant Unusual Mortality Events, and recent scientific literature, 
and determined that no new information affects our original analysis of 
impacts or take estimate under the initial IHA.
    We refer to the documents related to the previously issued IHA, 
which include the Federal Register notice of the issuance of the 
initial 2019 IHA for ADOT's construction work (83 FR 29749), ADOT's 
application, the Federal Register notice of the proposed IHA (83 FR 
12152), and all associated references and documents.

Determinations

    ADOT will conduct activities as analyzed in the initial 2019 IHA. 
As described above, the number of authorized takes of the same species 
and stocks of marine mammals are identical to the numbers that were 
found to meet the negligible impact and small numbers standards and 
authorized under the initial IHA and no new information has emerged 
that would change those findings. The re-issued 2020 IHA includes 
identical required mitigation, monitoring, and reporting measures as 
the initial IHA, and there is no new information suggesting that our 
analysis or findings should change.
    Based on the information contained here and in the referenced 
documents, NMFS has determined the following: (1) The required 
mitigation measures will effect the least practicable impact on marine 
mammal species or stocks and their habitat; (2) the authorized takes 
will have a negligible impact on the affected marine mammal species or 
stocks; (3) the authorized takes represent small numbers of marine 
mammals relative to the affected stock abundances; and (4) ADOT's 
activities will not have an unmitigable adverse impact on taking for 
subsistence purposes.

National Environmental Policy Act

    To comply with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA; 
42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and NOAA Administrative Order (NAO) 216-6A, 
NMFS must review our proposed action with respect to environmental 
consequences on the human environment.
    Accordingly, NMFS has determined that the issuance of the IHA 
qualifies to be categorically excluded from further NEPA review. This 
action is consistent with categories of activities identified in CE B4 
of the Companion Manual for NOAA Administrative Order 216-6A, which do 
not individually or cumulatively have the potential for significant 
impacts on the quality of the human environment and for which we have 
not identified any extraordinary circumstances that would preclude this 
categorical exclusion.

Endangered Species Act (ESA)

    Section 7(a)(2) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA: 16 
U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) requires that each Federal agency insure that any 
action it authorizes, funds, or carries out is not likely to jeopardize 
the continued existence of any endangered or threatened species or 
result in the destruction or adverse modification of designated 
critical habitat. To ensure ESA compliance for the issuance of IHAs, 
NMFS consults internally whenever we propose to authorize take for 
endangered or threatened species.
    NMFS' Alaska Regional Office issued a Biological Opinion to NMFS' 
Office of Protected Resources which concluded the city dock and 
improvement project is not likely to jeopardize the continued existence 
of Steller sea lions (western Distinct Population Segment) or humpback 
whales (Mexico DPS) or adversely modify critical habitat.

Authorization

    NMFS has issued an IHA to ADOT for in-water construction activities 
associated with the specified activity from June 1, 2020, through May 
31, 2021. All previously described mitigation, monitoring, and 
reporting requirements from the initial 2019 IHA are incorporated.

    Dated: January 14, 2020.
Donna S. Wieting,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2020-00937 Filed 1-21-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P