[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 197 (Friday, October 9, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64124-64125]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-22407]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XA472]
Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities;
Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Gastineau Channel Historical
Society Sentinel Island Moorage Float Project, Juneau, 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 Gastineau Channel
Historical Society (GCHS) 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 A and Level B harassment, incidental to
construction associated with the Sentinel Island moorage float near
Juneau, Alaska. The project has been delayed and none of the work
covered in the initial IHA has been conducted. GCHS has requested re-
issuance with new effective dates over the same period in 2021 (i.e.,
July 15, 2021 through September 20, 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 identical IHA to cover the incidental take analyzed
and authorized in the initial IHA.
DATES: This authorization is effective from July 15, 2021 through
September 20, 2021.
ADDRESSES: An electronic copy of the final 2020 IHA previously issued
to GCHS, the re-issued IHA, the original 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-sentinel-island-moorage-float-project-juneau-alaska. In
case of problems accessing these documents, please call the contact
listed below (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dwayne Meadows, Ph.D., Office of
Protected Resources, NMFS, (301) 7-8401.
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 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 July 15, 2020, NMFS published final notice of our issuance of an
IHA authorizing take of marine mammals incidental to the Sentinel
Island moorage float project (85 FR 42837). The effective dates of that
IHA were July 15, 2020, through September 20, 2020. On September 14,
2020, GCHS informed NMFS that the project was delayed. None of the work
identified in the initial IHA (e.g., pile driving) has occurred. GCHS
submitted a request for a new identical IHA that would be effective
from July 15, 2021 through September 20, 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 GCHS' construction project is to construct an access
float to more easily access Sentinel Island. The location, timing, and
nature of the activities, including the types of equipment planned for
use, are identical those described in the initial IHA. The
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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), Minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata),
humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae), harbor seals (Phoca
vitulina), Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus), and killer whale
(Orcinus orca). 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 2020 IHA for GCHS' construction work (85 FR 42837), GCHS'
application, the Federal Register notice of the proposed IHA (85 FR
18196; April 1, 2020), and all associated references and documents.
Determinations
GCHS will conduct activities as analyzed in the initial 2020 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 2021 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) GCHS'
activities will not have an unmitigable adverse impact on taking for
subsistence purposes as subsistence harvest of harbor seals and other
marine mammals is rare in the area and local subsistence users have not
expressed concern about this project.
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 is proposing to authorize take of Western DPS Steller sea lion
(Eumetopias jubatus) and Mexico DPS of humpback whales (Megaptera
novaeangliae), which are listed under the ESA. The NMFS Alaska Regional
Office Protected Resources Division issued a Biological Opinion on June
25, 2020 under section 7 of the ESA, on the issuance of an IHA to GCHS
under section 101(a)(5)(D) of the MMPA by the NMFS Permits and
Conservation Division. The Biological Opinion concluded that the
proposed action is not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of
the above species, and is also not likely to destroy or adversely
modify critical habitat of the above species.
Authorization
NMFS has issued an IHA to GCHS for in-water construction activities
associated with the specified activity from July 15, 2021 through
September 20, 2021. All previously described mitigation, monitoring,
and reporting requirements from the initial 2020 IHA are incorporated.
Dated: October 5, 2020.
Donna S. Wieting,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2020-22407 Filed 10-8-20; 8:45 am]
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