[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 101 (Thursday, May 27, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28578-28582]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-11243]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XB087]


Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities; 
Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Chevron Richmond Refinery Long 
Wharf Maintenance and Efficiency Project in San Francisco Bay, 
California

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

ACTION: Notice; issuance of an incidental harassment authorization.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In accordance with the regulations implementing the Marine 
Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) as amended, notification is hereby given 
that NMFS has issued an IHA to Chevron Products Company (Chevron) to 
incidentally harass, by Level B harassment only, marine mammals during 
construction activities associated with the Chevron Richmond Refinery 
Long Wharf Maintenance and Efficiency Project (LWMEP) in San Francisco 
Bay, California.

DATES: This authorization is effective from June 1, 2021 through May 
31, 2022.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dwayne Meadows, Ph.D., Office of 
Protected Resources, NMFS, (301) 427-8401. Electronic copies of the 
application, 2019 and 2020 IHAs, and supporting documents (including 
NMFS Federal Register notices of the earlier proposed and final 
authorizations, and the previous IHAs), as well as a list of the 
references cited in this document, may be obtained 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 above.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The MMPA prohibits the ``take'' of marine mammals, with certain 
exceptions. 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 incidental take authorization is provided to the public for 
review.
    Authorization for incidental takings shall be granted if NMFS finds 
that the taking will have a negligible impact on the species or 
stock(s) and will not have an unmitigable adverse impact on the 
availability of the species or stock(s) for taking for subsistence uses 
(where relevant). Further, NMFS must prescribe the permissible methods 
of taking and other ``means of effecting the least practicable adverse 
impact'' on the affected species or stocks and their habitat, paying 
particular attention to rookeries, mating grounds, and areas of similar 
significance, and on the availability of such species or stocks for 
taking for certain subsistence uses (referred to here as ``mitigation 
measures''). Monitoring and reporting of such takings are also 
required. The meaning of key terms such as ``take,'' ``harassment,'' 
and ``negligible impact'' can be found in section 3 of the MMPA (16 
U.S.C. 1362) and the agency's regulations at 50 CFR 216.103.

History of Request

    On February 1, 2018, NMFS received a request from Chevron for an 
IHA to take marine mammals incidental to pile driving and pile removal 
associated with the LWMEP in San Francisco Bay, California. An IHA was 
issued on May 31, 2018 (83 FR 27548, June 13, 2018). Chevron was unable 
to complete all of the planned work and was issued a second IHA on June 
1, 2019 (84 FR 28474, June 19, 2019) and when the work was again not 
completed a Renewal IHA was issued on June 11, 2020 (85 FR 37064; June 
19, 2020). Chevron was again unable to complete the work in 2020 and on 
February 24, 2021 requested a new IHA to authorize take of marine 
mammals for the subset of the initially planned work that could not be 
completed. The application was deemed adequate and complete on March 
22, 2021. Chevron requested the new IHA be effective from June 1, 2021 
through May 31, 2022. Chevron does not qualify for an additional 
renewal IHA, but given the proposed work is a subset of that which has 
been previously analyzed, we will be referencing the prior 
authorization except where activities or analysis have changed as 
described below.

Comments and Responses

    A notice of NMFS's proposal to issue an IHA to Chevron was 
published in the Federal Register on April 6, 2021 (86 FR 17777). That 
notice described, in detail, Chevron's activity, the marine mammal 
species that may be affected by the activity, and the anticipated 
effects on marine mammals. During the 30-day public comment period, 
NMFS received comments from the U.S. Geological Survey that they have 
``no comment at this time''. No changes have been made from the 
proposed IHA to the final IHA.

Description of the Specified Activities and Anticipated Impacts

    As described in the 2018, 2019 and 2020 IHAs, Chevron is upgrading 
Long Wharf to comply with current Marine Oil Terminal Engineering and 
Maintenance Standards and in order to accept more modern, fuel 
efficient vessels. The remaining work includes installing four new 
standoff fenders and removing obsolete piles at Berth 2 and installing 
four new dolphins and removing temporary piles associated with the 
prior work at Berth 4. Remaining construction at Long Wharf includes 
vibratory pile installation of 52 14-inch composite piles, vibratory 
removal of 150 piles (eight 36-inch steel piles, 36 14-inch steel H 
piles, and 106 16-inch timber piles) and impact installation of nine 
24-inch concrete piles (Table 1). A detailed description of the planned 
project is provided in the Federal Register notice for the proposed IHA 
(86 FR 17777; April 6, 2021). Since that time, no changes have been 
made to the planned activities. Therefore, a detailed description is 
not provided here. Please refer to that Federal Register notice for the 
description of the specific activity. The activities consist of 36 days 
of in-water work. Pile driving and removal activities will continue to 
occur within the standard NMFS work windows for Endangered Species Act 
(ESA)-listed fish species (June 1 through November 30). The prior IHAs 
included Level A harassment take associated with installation of larger 
piles that has since been completed, therefore no Level A harassment 
take is requested or proposed for this IHA.

[[Page 28579]]



                        Table 1--Pile Driving Details for Work Remaining To Be Completed
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                     Number of       Number of                       Time/pile
 Pile type and number per day   Pile driver type       piles       driving days    Strikes/pile        (min)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
36-inch steel pipe pile (4/     Vibratory                      8               2             N/A               5
 day).                           removal.
14-inch H pile removal (6/day)  Vibratory                     36               6             N/A               5
                                 removal.
24-inch concrete (1-2/day)....  Impact install..               9               8             440              20
14-inch composite (5/day).....  Vibratory                     52              11             N/A              10
                                 install.
16-inch timber pile (12/day)..  Vibratory                    106               9             N/A            6.67
                                 removal.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Description of Marine Mammals

    A description of the marine mammals in the area of the activities 
for which take is authorized here, including information on abundance, 
status, distribution, and hearing, may be found in the notices of the 
proposed and final IHAs for the 2019 and 2020 authorization. NMFS has 
reviewed the monitoring data from the 2020 IHA, recent draft Stock 
Assessment Reports, information on relevant Unusual Mortality Events, 
and other scientific literature, and determined that neither this nor 
any other new information affects which species or stocks have the 
potential to be affected or the pertinent information in the 
Description of the Marine Mammals in the Area of Specified Activities 
contained in the supporting documents for the 2019 and 2020 IHAs.

Potential Effects on Marine Mammals and Their Habitat

    A description of the potential effects of the specified activity on 
marine mammals and their habitat for the activities for which take is 
authorized here may be found in the notices of the proposed and final 
IHAs for the 2018 authorization. NMFS has reviewed the monitoring data 
from the 2019 and 2020 IHAs, recent draft Stock Assessment Reports, 
information on relevant Unusual Mortality Events, and other scientific 
literature, and determined that, besides the revised source information 
harbor seal occurrence mentioned above and analyzed below, neither this 
nor any other new information affects our initial analysis of impacts 
on marine mammals and their habitat.

Estimated Take

    A detailed description of the methods and inputs used to estimate 
take for the specified activity are found in the notice of the final 
2018 and 2019 IHAs. As noted above, hydroacoustic monitoring from prior 
years has changed the source levels, transmission loss coefficients, 
time and strikes to drive piles for various of the pile sizes. Instead 
of referencing prior discussions of these topics we provide complete 
details of the pile driving parameters used to compute the Level A and 
Level B harassment isopleths for this proposed IHA in Tables 1 and 2. 
Based on these revised inputs the Level A and Level B harassment 
isopleth radii from the NMFS User Spreadsheet are shown for all pile 
sizes in Tables 2 and 3.

                              Table 2--Pile Driving Source Levels and Calculated Distances to Level A Harassment Isopleths
                                                           [Sound source reference in italics]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                 Source levels at 10 meters                      Distance to Level A threshold (meters)
   Pile type and sound source    Transmission         (dB) unless noted       --------------------------------------------------------------------------
           reference                 loss     --------------------------------  Low-frequency    Mid-frequency    High-frequency    Phocid      Otariid
                                  coefficient      Peak          RMS/SEL          cetaceans        cetaceans        cetaceans      pinnipeds   pinnipeds
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Attenuated Impact Driving (with
 bubble curtain):
    24-inch square concrete                15          191  161 SEL..........               31                1               37          17           1
     (2018 acoustic monitoring).
Vibratory Driving/Extraction:
    14-inch Composite Barrier              15          178  168 RMS..........               18                2               26          11           1
     Pile (Laughlin 2012).
    36-inch steel pipe pile                20          196  167 RMS @15 m....               13                2               17           9           1
     (2019 acoustic monitoring).
    14-inch H pile (2018                   20          165  150 RMS..........                2                1                2           1           1
     acoustic monitoring).
    16-inch timber pile (WSDOT             15          N/A  152 RMS..........                2                1                3           1           1
     2011).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Notes: SEL = sound exposure level, RMS = Root Mean Square.


    Table 3--Distances to Level B Thresholds and Size of the Level B
                   Harassment Zone for Each Pile Type
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                      Area of  Level B
          Pile type            Level B harassment       zone (square
                                isopleth (meters)        kilometers)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Attenuated Impact Driving
 (with bubble curtain):
    24-inch square concrete.                    74                  0.01
Vibratory Driving/
 Extraction:
    14-inch Composite.......                15,849                  26.5
    36-inch steel pipe......               * 3,358                  4.04
    14-inch H...............                 * 316                  0.05
    16-inch timber..........                 1,359                   0.9
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Using transmission loss coefficient and source levels from
  hydroacoustic monitoring.


[[Page 28580]]

    The stocks taken, methods of take, and types of take remain 
unchanged from the previously issued IHAs. The only change to the 
marine mammal density/occurrence data used to calculate take is an 
increase in harbor seal abundance at the Castro Rocks haulout. Castro 
Rocks are part of the survey area for long-term National Park Service 
(NPS) monitoring studies of harbor seal colonies within the Golden Gate 
National Recreation Area that have been conducted since 1976. The take 
estimates for this stock for this project have been based on the 
highest mean plus the standard error of harbor seals observed at Castro 
Rocks during recent annual surveys conducted by the NPS during the 
molting season. Based on the most recent surveys (Codde 2020, Codde and 
Allen 2020) and using the methods from the prior IHAs, the current 
daily abundance for use in calculating take of this stock would 
increase to 376 seals. However, given the prior monitoring results, the 
smaller pile sizes left to be driven or removed, and their location and 
distance from Castro Rocks, we are reverting to our more common 
practice of using the mean abundance estimate to estimate take. The 
mean using the most recent data is 237 animals per day (an increase 
from 176). Therefore, Level B harassment take for this stock is the 
estimated daily abundance in the project area (237) times the number of 
days of in-water work (36), resulting in a proposed authorization for 
Level B harassment of 8,532 harbor seals. Because the Level A 
harassment zones are small and we believe the Protected Species 
Observers (PSOs) will be able to effectively monitor the Level A 
harassment zones and implement shutdowns, we do not authorize take by 
Level A harassment for this or any other stock.
    For the remaining species take is estimated as follows (using the 
same criteria as prior IHAs). It is possible that a lone northern 
elephant seal may enter the Level B Harassment area once every 3 days 
during pile driving, resulting in a proposed authorization for Level B 
harassment of 12 northern elephant seals. While no northern fur seals 
have been observed in the 2018-2020 monitoring for this project, the 
incidence of northern fur seal in San Francisco Bay depends largely on 
oceanic conditions, with animals more likely to occur during El 
Ni[ntilde]o events. As in prior IHAs, we propose authorization for 
Level B harassment of 10 northern fur seals. While no bottlenose 
dolphins have been observed in the 2018-2020 monitoring for this 
project, this species occurs intermittently in San Francisco Bay. As in 
prior IHAs, we propose authorization for Level B harassment of 30 
bottlenose dolphins. Gray whales occasionally enter San Francisco Bay, 
and as in prior IHAs, we propose authorization for Level B harassment 
of 2 gray whales. Estimated Level B harassment take for California sea 
lions and harbor porpoises for this project has been based on densities 
of those stocks in the vicinity of the project. The estimated densities 
for these species have not changed from prior IHAs (0.16 and 0.17 
animals per square kilometer, respectively). The only factors that have 
changed are the days of work for each pile type and the areas of the 
Level B harassment zones (see Tables 1 and 3 above, respectively).
    Based on the above discussion, the only changes to the number of 
authorized takes, which are indicated below in Table 4, is to account 
for the increased occurrence of harbor seals and the area and days of 
work remaining to be completed.

                       Table 4--Estimated Take by Level B Harassment, by Species and Stock
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                      Level B       Percent of
            Common name                Scientific name             Stock            harassment         stock
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harbor seal.......................  Phoca vitulina.......  California...........           8,532             1.6
Harbor porpoise...................  Phocoena phocoena....  San Francisco--                   327             4.4
                                                            Russian River.
California sea lion...............  Zalophus               U.S..................             308            <0.1
                                     californianus.
Northern elephant seal............  Mirounga               California Breeding..              12            <0.1
                                     angustirostris.
Gray whale........................  Eschrichtius robustus  Eastern North Pacific               2            <0.1
Northern fur seal.................  Callorhinus ursinus..  California...........              10            <0.1
Bottlenose Dolphin................  Tursiops truncatus...  California Coastal...              30             6.6
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Description of Mitigation, Monitoring and Reporting Measures

    The mitigation, monitoring, and reporting measures included as 
requirements in this authorization are identical to those included in 
the Federal Register notice announcing the issuance of the 2020 IHA, 
except for the changes to the shutdown zones discussed above and shown 
in Table 5 and updated language we have developed for our typical 
measures. The location of the PSOs has changed, eliminating some of the 
prior concerns about visibility towards Castro Rocks as the work 
locations for the remaining work at berth 4 are off to the north side 
of the wharf. Because the mitigation measures have not increased, the 
discussion of the least practicable adverse impact included in in the 
Federal Register notice announcing the issuance of the 2019 IHA remains 
accurate. The following measures are included in this authorization:
     Conduct training between construction supervisors and 
crews and the marine mammal monitoring team and relevant Chevron staff 
prior to the start of all pile driving activity and when new personnel 
join the work, so that responsibilities, communication procedures, 
monitoring protocols, and operational procedures are clearly 
understood;
     Avoid direct physical interaction with marine mammals 
during construction activity. If a marine mammal comes within 10 meters 
(m) of such activity, operations must cease and vessels must reduce 
speed to the minimum level required to maintain steerage and safe 
working conditions;
     Pile driving activity must be halted upon observation of 
either a species for which incidental take is not authorized or a 
species for which incidental take has been authorized but the 
authorized number of takes has been met, entering or within the 
harassment zone;
     Implement the shutdown zones indicated in Table 5;
     Employ PSOs and establish monitoring locations as 
described in the Marine Mammal Monitoring Plan and Section 5 of the 
IHA. For all pile driving locations two PSOs must be used, with a 
minimum of one PSO assigned to each active pile driving location to 
monitor the shutdown zones. During work at Berth 2, PSOs will be 
stationed on the east and west edges of the Long Wharf. The PSO on the 
east has 180-degree views from the Long Wharf, north, south and east 
toward the shore and would have views of Castro Rocks. The PSO on the 
west would have 180-degree views,

[[Page 28581]]

north to south, with views of San Francisco Bay to the west. During 
work at Berth 4, one PSO would be stationed on the east side of the 
wharf, just south of Berth 4 on an elevated viewpoint. This position 
allows clear views of the work area and shutdown zones, and views of 
the waters to the east and west of Long Wharf. A second PSO would be 
stationed on the mooring dolphin at the north end of the Long Wharf. 
This location provides a view of the work area and shutdown zones from 
the north as well as a clear view of Castro Rocks and areas to the east 
and west;
     The placement of PSOs during all pile driving and removal 
and drilling activities will ensure that the entire shutdown zone is 
visible during pile installation. Should environmental conditions 
deteriorate such that marine mammals within the entire shutdown zone 
will not be visible (e.g., fog, heavy rain), pile driving and removal 
must be delayed until the PSO is confident marine mammals within the 
shutdown zone could be detected;
     Monitoring must take place from 30 minutes prior to 
initiation of pile driving activity through 30 minutes post-completion 
of pile driving activity. Pre-start clearance monitoring must be 
conducted during periods of visibility sufficient for the lead PSO to 
determine the shutdown zones clear of marine mammals. Pile driving may 
commence following 30 minutes of observation when the determination is 
made;
     If pile driving is delayed or halted due to the presence 
of a marine mammal, the activity may not commence or resume until 
either the animal has voluntarily exited and been visually confirmed 
beyond the shutdown zone or 15 minutes have passed without re-detection 
of the animal;
     Chevron must use soft start techniques when impact pile 
driving. Soft start requires contractors to provide an initial set of 
three strikes at reduced energy, followed by a 30-second waiting 
period, then two subsequent reduced-energy strike sets. A soft start 
must be implemented at the start of each day's impact pile driving and 
at any time following cessation of impact pile driving for a period of 
30 minutes or longer;
     Use a bubble curtain during impact pile driving of 24-inch 
concrete piles and must ensure that it is operated as necessary to 
achieve optimal performance, and that no reduction in performance may 
be attributable to faulty deployment. At a minimum, the Holder must 
adhere to the following performance standards: The bubble curtain must 
distribute air bubbles around 100 percent of the piling circumference 
for the full depth of the water column. The lowest bubble ring must be 
in contact with the substrate for the full circumference of the ring, 
and the weights attached to the bottom ring shall ensure 100 percent 
substrate contact. No parts of the ring or other objects shall prevent 
full substrate contact. Air flow to the bubblers must be balanced 
around the circumference of the pile;
     Conduct sound source level measurements during driving of 
a minimum of two 14-inch composite piles;
     Monitoring must be conducted by qualified, NMFS-approved 
PSOs, in accordance with the following: PSOs must be independent (i.e., 
not construction personnel) and have no other assigned tasks during 
monitoring periods. At least one PSO must have prior experience 
performing the duties of a PSO during construction activity pursuant to 
a NMFS-issued incidental take authorization. Other PSOs may substitute 
other relevant experience, education (degree in biological science or 
related field), or training. Where a team of three or more PSOs are 
required, a lead observer or monitoring coordinator must be designated. 
The lead observer must have prior experience performing the duties of a 
PSO during construction activity pursuant to a NMFS-issued incidental 
take authorization. PSOs must be approved by NMFS prior to beginning 
any activity subject to this IHA.
     PSOs must record all observations of marine mammals as 
described in the Monitoring Plan, regardless of distance from the pile 
being driven. PSOs shall document any behavioral reactions in concert 
with distance from piles being driven or removed;
     The marine mammal and acoustic monitoring reports must 
contain the informational elements described in the Monitoring Plan;
     A draft marine mammal monitoring report, and PSO 
datasheets and/or raw sighting data, must be submitted to NMFS within 
90 calendar days after the completion of pile driving activities. If no 
comments are received from NMFS within 30 calendar days, the draft 
report will constitute the final report. If comments are received, a 
final report addressing NMFS comments must be submitted within 30 
calendar days after receipt of comments; and
     In the event that personnel involved in the construction 
activities discover an injured or dead marine mammal, the IHA-holder 
must immediately cease the specified activities and report the incident 
to the Office of Protected Resources (OPR) (PR.ITP.Monitoring 
[email protected]), NMFS and to West Coast Regional Stranding 
Coordinator as soon as feasible.

                  Table 5--Shutdown Zones by Marine Mammal Hearing Group, Pile Size, and Method
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                   Radial distance of shutdown zone (meters)
                              ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
          Pile type             Low-frequency    Mid-frequency    High-frequency      Phocid          Otariid
                                  cetaceans        cetaceans        cetaceans        pinnipeds       pinnipeds
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Attenuated Impact Driving
 (with bubble curtain):
    24-inch square concrete..               40               10               40              20              10
Vibratory Driving/Extraction:
    14-inch Composite........               20               10               30              20              10
    36-inch steel pipe pile..               20               10               20              10              10
    14-inch H pile...........               10               10               10              10              10
    16-inch timber...........               10               10               10              10              10
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Determinations

    The action in this IHA is identical to the action in the 2020 IHA 
except that sound isopleths have decreased for a number of sources, 
harbor seal daily rate of take has increased, and the mitigation and 
monitoring measures have been updated to our new language. As described 
in the notice of issuance of the 2020 final IHA (85 FR 37064, June 19, 
2020) we found that Chevron's construction activities would have a 
negligible impact and that the taking would be small relative to 
population size. For this analysis of the new IHA

[[Page 28582]]

we found that marine mammal stock abundance was still estimated to be 
the same as for the 2020 IHA. Other marine mammal information and the 
potential effects were identical to the 2020 IHA except for the 
increase in the daily abundance of harbor seals. The estimated take was 
calculated identically to the 2020 IHA, except for harbor seals, and 
zone sizes decreased for a number of pile sizes. The increased daily 
abundance and take of harbor seals still involves far less than 10 
percent of the stock (Table 4). Mitigation and monitoring are identical 
to the 2020 IHA except for the decrease in Level A harassment and 
shutdown zones for many pile types and the change in standard language, 
which has no substantive effect on our analysis.
    NMFS has concluded that there is no new information suggesting that 
our analysis or findings should change from those reached for the 2020 
IHA. This includes consideration of the estimated abundance of harbor 
seals increasing, the change in harassment and shutdown zones, and the 
updating of IHA language for mitigation and monitoring.
    Based on the information and analysis 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; 
(4) Chevron's activities will not have an unmitigable adverse impact on 
taking for subsistence purposes as no relevant subsistence uses of 
marine mammals are implicated by this action, and; (5) appropriate 
monitoring and reporting requirements are included.

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 (i.e., the issuance of an IHA) 
with respect to potential impacts on the human environment. This action 
is consistent with categories of activities identified in Categorical 
Exclusion B4 IHAs with no anticipated serious injury or mortality) 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. Accordingly, NMFS has determined that this 
action qualifies to be categorically excluded from further NEPA review.

Endangered Species Act

    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, in this case with the West Coast Region, 
Protected Resources Division Office, whenever we propose to authorize 
take for endangered or threatened species.
    No incidental take of ESA-listed species is proposed for 
authorization or expected to result from this activity. Therefore, NMFS 
has determined that formal consultation under section 7 of the ESA is 
not required for this action.

Authorization

    NMFS has issued an IHA to Chevron for the potential harassment of 
small numbers of seven species of marine mammal species incidental to 
the LWMEP project in San Francisco Bay, CA, provided the previously 
mentioned mitigation, monitoring and reporting requirements are 
followed.

    Dated: May 24, 2021.
Catherine Marzin,
Acting Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2021-11243 Filed 5-26-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P