[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 183 (Monday, September 21, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59291-59292]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-20691]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XA476]


Taking and Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals 
Incidental to Alaska Gasline Development Corporation Liquefied Natural 
Gas Facilities Construction Project at Cook Inlet, Alaska

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

ACTION: Notice of issuance of Letter of Authorization.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), as 
amended, and implementing regulations, notification is hereby given 
that a Letter of Authorization (LOA) has been issued to the Alaska 
Gasline Development

[[Page 59292]]

Corporation (AGDC) for the take of marine mammals incidental to 
Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) facilities construction project in Cook 
Inlet, Alaska.

DATES: This Letter of Authorization is effective from January 1, 2021, 
through December 31, 2025.

ADDRESSES: The LOA and supporting documentation is available online at: 
https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/permit/incidental-take-authorizations-under-marine-mammal-protection-act. In case of problems accessing these 
documents, please call the contact listed below.

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

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 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.
    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 June 28, 2019, NMFS published a notice of proposed rulemaking in 
the Federal Register, requesting comments and information related to 
AGDC's request for thirty days (84 FR 30991). The final rule was 
published in the Federal Register on August 17, 2020 (85 FR 50720). For 
detailed information on this action, please refer to those documents. 
The regulations include mitigation, monitoring, and reporting 
requirements for the incidental take of marine mammals during the LNG 
facilities constructions in Cook Inlet, Alaska.
    The purpose of the project is to construct LNG onshore facilities 
between the Beluga Landing shoreline crossing and the Yentna River on 
both shores of the Cook Inlet to load LNG carriers for export. The 
project would require pile installation using impact and vibratory pile 
driving, and pipe laying in the Inlet.

Authorization

    We have issued an LOA to AGDC authorizing the take of marine 
mammals incidental to LNG facilities construction activities as 
described above. Take of marine mammals will be minimized through 
implementation of the following mitigation measures: (1) Implementing 
time/area restriction to minimize potential noise exposure to Cook 
Inlet beluga whales in the Susitna River Delta; (2) Implementing 
exclusion zones for all in-water construction activities to prevent or 
reduce Level A harassment for all marine mammals and to prevent Level B 
harassment for Cook Inlet beluga whales; (3) Employing protected 
species observers (PSOs) to monitor exclusion zones before, during, and 
after the in-water construction activities to ensure that no marine 
mammal is within the exclusion zone during the activities; (4) 
Implementing soft start for impact pile driving; and (5) Deploying air 
bubble curtains to attenuate noise from in-water pile driving.
    Based on these findings and the information discussed in the 
preamble to the final rule, the activities described under the LOA will 
have a negligible impact on marine mammal stocks and will not have an 
unmitigable adverse impact on the availability of the affected marine 
mammal stock for subsistence uses.

    Dated: September 15, 2020.
Donna S. Wieting,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2020-20691 Filed 9-18-20; 8:45 am]
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