[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 224 (Wednesday, November 24, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67023-67024]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-25648]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XB048]


Taking and Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals 
Incidental to the U.S. Coast Guard's Alaska Facility Maintenance and 
Repair Activities

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 U.S. Coast Guard for 
authorization to take small numbers of marine mammals incidental to 
conducting construction activities related to maintenance and repair of 
eight of their facilities in Alaska 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 U.S. 
Coast Guard'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 application and request.

[[Page 67024]]


DATES: Comments and information must be received no later than December 
27, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Comments on the applications should be addressed to Jolie 
Harrison, Chief, Permits and Conservation Division, Office of Protected 
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service. 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, 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-cooonstruction-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 
U.S. Coast Guard's application may be obtained online at: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/incidental-take-authorizations-construction-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 March 15, 2021, NMFS received an application from the U.S. Coast 
Guard (Coast Guard) requesting authorization for take of marine mammals 
incidental to maintenance and repair of eight of their facilities in 
Alaska. After the applicant responded to our questions, we determined 
the application was adequate and complete on November 17, 2021. The 
requested regulations would be valid for 5 years, from April 1, 2022 
through March 31, 2027. The Coast Guard plans to conduct necessary 
work, including impact and vibratory pile driving and removal, making 
holes using down-the-hole equipment, pile cutting and power washing to 
maintain and repair their dock and other facilities. The proposed 
action may incidentally expose marine mammals occurring in the vicinity 
to elevated levels of underwater sound, thereby resulting in incidental 
take, by Level A and/or Level B harassment only. Therefore, the Coast 
Guard requests authorization to incidentally take marine mammals.

Specified Activities

    The Coast Guard proposes to conduct construction necessary for 
maintenance and repair of existing in-water structures at the following 
eight Coast Guard station facilities in Alaska: Kodiak, Sitka, 
Ketchikan, Valdez, Cordova, Juneau, Petersburg, and Seward. Up to 246 
piles will be removed and replaced on a 1 to 1 basis over the 5-year 
regulations. The Coast Guard anticipates a maximum of 395 work days 
over the course of the 5-year period and they expect to take 23 stocks 
from 12 species of marine mammals.

Information Solicited

    Interested persons may submit information, suggestions, and 
comments concerning the Coast Guard'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 the Coast Guard, if appropriate.

    Dated: November 18, 2021.
Kimberly Damon-Randall,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2021-25648 Filed 11-23-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P