[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 128 (Thursday, July 6, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43082-43084]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-14236]


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

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XD090]


Endangered Species; File No. 27490

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

ACTION: Notice; receipt of application.

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

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the University of Massachusetts 
Dartmouth School for Marine Science and Technology has applied in due 
form for a permit pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as 
amended (ESA). The permit application is for the incidental take of 
ESA-listed sturgeon and sea turtles associated with the otherwise 
lawful fisheries survey activities within and adjacent to the 
Massachusetts/Rhode Island Wind Energy Area. NMFS is furnishing this 
notice in order to allow other agencies and the public an opportunity 
to review and comment on the application materials. All comments 
received will become part of the public record and will be available 
for review.

DATES: Written comments must be received at the appropriate address 
(see ADDRESSES) on or before August 7, 2023.

ADDRESSES: The application is available for download and review at 
https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/endangered-species-conservation/incidental-take-permits and at https://www.regulations.gov. The application is also available upon request 
(see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
    You may submit comments, identified by NOAA-NMFS-2023-0090, by 
Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public comments via the 
Federal eRulemaking Portal https://www.regulations.gov and enter [NOAA-
NMFS-2023-0090] in the Search box. Click on the ``Comment Now!'' icon, 
complete the required fields, and enter or attach your comments.
    Instructions: Comments sent by any other method, to any other 
address or individual, or received after the end of the comment period, 
may not be considered by NMFS. All comments received are a part of the 
public record and will generally be posted for public viewing on http://www.regulations.gov without change. All Personal Identifying 
Information (e.g., name, address, etc.) voluntarily submitted by the 
commenter may be publicly accessible. Do not submit Confidential 
Business Information or otherwise sensitive or

[[Page 43083]]

protected information. We will accept anonymous comments (enter N/A in 
the required fields, if you wish to remain anonymous).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alison Verkade, (301) 427-8074, 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 9 of the ESA and Federal regulations 
prohibit the ``taking'' of a species listed as endangered or 
threatened. The ESA defines ``take'' to mean harass, harm, pursue, 
hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or to attempt to 
engage in any such conduct. NMFS may issue permits, under limited 
circumstances to take listed species incidental to, and not the purpose 
of, otherwise lawful activities. Section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA 
provides for authorizing incidental take of listed species. NMFS 
regulations governing permits for threatened and endangered species are 
promulgated at 50 CFR 222.307.

Species Covered in This Notice

    The following species are included in the conservation plan and 
permit application: loggerhead (Caretta caretta), green (Chelonia 
mydas), leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), and Kemp's ridley 
(Lepidochelys kempii) sea turtles, and Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser 
oxyrinchus).

Background

    NMFS received a draft permit application from University of 
Massachusetts Dartmouth School for Marine Science and Technology 
(SMAST) on September 29, 2022. Based on our review of the draft 
application, we requested further information and clarification. On 
November 29, 2022, SMAST submitted a revised application. Based on 
review of the application, NMFS and SMAST held further discussions 
regarding what needed to be incorporated in the application and Habitat 
Conservation Plan. On June 13, 2023, SMAST submitted a revised and 
complete application for the take of ESA-listed sturgeon and sea 
turtles during the operation of fisheries survey operations in and 
around the Massachusetts/Rhode Island Wind Energy Area (WEA). The 
proposed fisheries survey is intended to sample non-ESA listed wild 
fish populations to provide baseline fisheries data prior to the 
construction of five offshore wind farms within the WEA in order to 
better understand the effects on wild fish populations from offshore 
wind development. SMAST is requesting a 2-year rolling take interval 
(i.e., take that occurs over any 2 consecutive years) for sturgeon and 
sea turtles. The total 2-year rolling incidental take of Atlantic 
sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus) requested is 10, based on an estimated 
5 takes per year. The total 2-year rolling incidental take of ESA-
listed sea turtles requested is 8, based on an estimated 1 take per 
year of each of the following species: loggerhead (Caretta caretta), 
Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys kempii), green (Chelonia mydas), and 
leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea).

Conservation Plan

    Section 10 of the ESA specifies that no permit may be issued unless 
an applicant submits an adequate conservation plan. The conservation 
plan prepared by SMAST describes measures designed to minimize and 
mitigate the impacts of any incidental take of ESA-listed sturgeon and 
sea turtles. To avoid and minimize take of sturgeon, SMAST will only 
operate the trawl survey with at least one survey staff onboard trained 
within the last 5 years in accordance with the Northeast Fisheries 
Observer Program in protected species identification and safe handling 
(inclusive of taking genetic samples from Atlantic sturgeon). 
Additionally, reference materials for identification, disentanglement, 
safe handling, and genetic sampling procedures will be available on 
board each survey vessel. To avoid and minimize take of sea turtles, 
between June 1 and November 30, SMAST will have a trained lookout 
posted on all vessel transits during all phases of the project to 
observe for protected species and communicate with the captain to take 
avoidance measures as soon as possible if one is sighted. Further, 
SMAST will implement the following avoidance measures between June 1 
and November 30: (1) The trained lookout will monitor https://seaturtlesightings.org prior to each trip and report any observations 
of sea turtles in the vicinity of the planned transit to all vessel 
operators/captains and lookouts on duty that day; (2) If a sea turtle 
is sighted within 100 m of the operating vessel's forward path, the 
vessel operator must slow down to 4 knots (unless unsafe to do so) and 
may resume normal vessel operations once the vessel has passed the sea 
turtle. If a sea turtle is sighted within 50 m of the forward path of 
the operating vessel, the vessel operator must shift to neutral when 
safe to do so and then proceed away from the turtle at a speed of 4 
knots or less until there is a separation distance of at least 100 m at 
which time normal vessel operations may be resumed; (3) The vessel will 
spend 15 minutes prior to each tow at the sampling station looking out 
for sea turtles. If a sea turtle is sighted during transit to a 
sampling station, during scouting, or while the gear is being prepared 
and deployed, the vessel will immediately proceed to an alternative tow 
station away from where the animal was observed; (4) Between June 1 and 
November 30, vessels will avoid transiting through areas of visible 
jellyfish aggregations or floating sargassum lines or mats. In the 
event that operational safety prevents avoidance of such areas, vessels 
will slow to 4 knots while transiting through such areas; and (5) All 
vessel crew members will be briefed in the identification of sea 
turtles and in regulations and best practices for avoiding vessel 
collisions. Reference materials will be available aboard all project 
vessels for identification of sea turtles. The expectation and process 
for reporting of sea turtles (including live, entangled, and dead 
individuals) will be clearly communicated and posted in highly visible 
locations aboard all project vessels, so that there is an expectation 
for reporting to the designated vessel contact (such as the lookout or 
the vessel captain), as well as a communication channel and process for 
crew members to do so.
    These measures will avoid and minimize the incidental take of 
sturgeon and sea turtles due to incidental capture or vessel 
interactions. The alternatives considered were determined by SMAST to 
either: (1) substantially reduce the ability of the survey to detect 
changes; (2) result in significant impact delays to the initiation of 
the surveys, thus jeopardizing the ability to collect pre-construction 
baseline data that is necessary to understand the response of wild fish 
populations to offshore wind development; or (3) rely upon unproven 
methods. Funding for the proposed conservation measures will be 
provided by the five offshore wind developers directly to SMAST.

National Environmental Policy Act

    Issuing an ESA section 10(a)(1)(B) permit constitutes a Federal 
action requiring NMFS to comply with the National Environmental Policy 
Act (NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) as implemented by 40 CFR parts 1500-
1508 and NOAA Administrative Order 216-6, Environmental Review 
Procedures for Implementing the National Policy Act (1999). NMFS 
intends to prepare an Environmental Assessment to consider a range of 
reasonable alternatives and fully evaluate the direct, indirect, and 
cumulative impacts likely to result from issuing a permit.

[[Page 43084]]

Next Steps

    This notice is provided pursuant to section 10(c) of the ESA. NMFS 
will evaluate the application, associated documents, and comments 
received during the comment period to determine whether the application 
meets the requirements of section 10(a) of the ESA. If NMFS determines 
that the requirements are met, a permit will be issued for incidental 
takes of ESA-listed sturgeon. The final NEPA and permit determinations 
will not be made until after the end of the comment period. NMFS will 
publish a record of its final action in the Federal Register.

    Dated: June 29, 2023.
Angela Somma,
Chief, Endangered Species Conservation Division, Office of Protected 
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-14236 Filed 7-5-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P