[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 167 (Wednesday, August 30, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59872-59876]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-18683]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XD290]


Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities; 
Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to the Office of Naval Research's 
Arctic Research Activities in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas (Year 6)

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

ACTION: Notice; request for comments on proposed renewal incidental 
harassment authorization.

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SUMMARY: NMFS received a request from the Office of Naval Research 
(ONR) for the renewal of their currently active incidental harassment 
authorization (IHA) to take marine mammals incidental to Arctic 
Research Activities (ARA) in the Beaufort Sea and eastern Chukchi Sea. 
These activities identical to those covered in the current 
authorization. Pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), 
prior to issuing the currently active IHA, NMFS requested comments on 
both the proposed IHA and the potential for renewing the initial 
authorization if certain requirements were satisfied. The renewal 
requirements have been satisfied, and NMFS is now providing an 
additional 15-day comment period to allow for any additional comments 
on the proposed renewal not previously provided during the initial 30-
day comment period.

DATES: Comments and information must be received no later than 
September 14, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be addressed to Jolie Harrison, Chief, 
Permits and Conservation Division, Office of Protected Resources, 
National Marine Fisheries Service, and should be submitted via email 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 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/permit/incidental-take-
authorizations-under-

[[Page 59873]]

marine-mammal-protection-act 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.
    Electronic copies of the original application, renewal request, and 
supporting documents (including NMFS Federal Register notices of the 
original proposed and final authorizations, and the previous IHA), 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 
below.

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

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, an IHA is 
issued.
    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.
    NMFS' regulations implementing the MMPA at 50 CFR 216.107(e) 
indicate that IHAs may be renewed for additional periods of time not to 
exceed 1 year for each reauthorization. In the notice of proposed IHA 
for the initial authorization, NMFS described the circumstances under 
which we would consider issuing a renewal for this activity, and 
requested public comment on a potential renewal under those 
circumstances. Specifically, on a case-by-case basis, NMFS may issue a 
one-time 1-year Renewal IHA following notice to the public providing an 
additional 15 days for public comments when (1) up to another year of 
identical, or nearly identical, activities as described in the Detailed 
Description of Specified Activities section of the initial IHA issuance 
notice is planned, or (2) the activities as described in the 
Description of the Specified Activities and Anticipated Impacts section 
of the initial IHA issuance notice would not be completed by the time 
the initial IHA expires and a renewal would allow for completion of the 
activities beyond that described in the DATES section of the notice of 
issuance of the initial IHA, provided all of the following conditions 
are met:
    1. A request for renewal is received no later than 60 days prior to 
the needed Renewal IHA effective date (recognizing that the Renewal IHA 
expiration date cannot extend beyond 1 year from expiration of the 
initial IHA).
    2. The request for renewal must include the following:
     An explanation that the activities to be conducted under 
the requested Renewal IHA are identical to the activities analyzed 
under the initial IHA, are a subset of the activities, or include 
changes so minor (e.g., reduction in pile size) that the changes do not 
affect the previous analyses, mitigation and monitoring requirements, 
or take estimates (with the exception of reducing the type or amount of 
take).
     A preliminary monitoring report showing the results of the 
required monitoring to date and an explanation showing that the 
monitoring results do not indicate impacts of a scale or nature not 
previously analyzed or authorized.
    3. Upon review of the request for renewal, the status of the 
affected species or stocks, and any other pertinent information, NMFS 
determines that there are no more than minor changes in the activities, 
the mitigation and monitoring measures will remain the same and 
appropriate, and the findings in the initial IHA remain valid.
    An additional public comment period of 15 days (for a total of 45 
days), with direct notice by email, phone, or postal service to 
commenters on the initial IHA, is provided to allow for any additional 
comments on the proposed renewal. A description of the renewal process 
may be found on our website at: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/incidental-harassment-authorization-renewals. Any comments received on the potential renewal, along with 
relevant comments on the initial IHA, have been considered in the 
development of this proposed IHA renewal, and a summary of agency 
responses to applicable comments is included in this notice. NMFS will 
consider any additional public comments prior to making any final 
decision on the issuance of the requested renewal, and agency responses 
will be summarized in the final notice of our decision.
    The NDAA (Pub. L. 108-136) removed the ``small numbers'' and 
``specified geographical region'' limitations indicated above and 
amended the definition of ``harassment'' as it applies to a ``military 
readiness activity.'' The activity for which incidental take of marine 
mammals is being requested addressed here qualifies as a military 
readiness activity.

National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)

    In August 2022, the U.S. Navy prepared an Overseas Environmental 
Assessment (OEA) analyzing the project. Prior to issuing the IHA for 
the project, we reviewed the 2022 OEA and the public comments received, 
determined that a separate NEPA analysis was not necessary, and 
subsequently adopted the document and issued our own Finding of No 
Significant Impact in support of the issuance of an IHA (87 FR 57458; 
September 20, 2022).
    We have reviewed ONR's application for a renewed IHA for ongoing 
Arctic Research Activities from September 2023 to September 2024 and 
the 2022 IHA monitoring report. Based on that review, we have 
determined that the proposed action is identical to that considered in 
the previous IHA. In addition, no significant new circumstances or 
information relevant to environmental concerns have been identified. 
Thus, we have preliminarily determined that the preparation of a new or 
supplemental NEPA document is not necessary.

History of Request

    On September 14, 2022, NMFS issued an IHA to ONR to take marine 
mammals incidental to Arctic Research Activities in the Beaufort and 
Chukchi Seas (87 FR 57458; September 20, 2022), effective

[[Page 59874]]

from September 14, 2022 through September 13, 2023. On July 17, 2023, 
NMFS received an application for the renewal of that initial IHA. As 
described in the application for Renewal IHA, the activities for which 
incidental take is requested are identical to those covered in the 
initial 2022 authorization. As required, the applicant also provided a 
preliminary monitoring report (available at: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/incidental-take-authorization-office-naval-research-arctic-research-activities-beaufort-2) which confirms 
that the applicant has implemented the required mitigation and 
monitoring, and which also shows that no impacts of a scale or nature 
not previously analyzed or authorized have occurred as a result of the 
activities conducted.
    This proposed Renewal IHA would cover the sixth year of a larger 
project for which ONR obtained prior IHAs (83 FR 48799, September 27, 
2018; 84 FR 50007, September 24, 2019; 85 FR 53333, August 28, 2020; 86 
FR 54931, October 5, 2021; 87 FR 57458, September 20, 2022). The larger 
project supports the development of an under-ice navigation system 
under the ONR Arctic Mobile Observing System (AMOS) project.

Description of the Specified Activities and Anticipated Impacts

    ONR's ARA includes the AMOS experiments in the Beaufort and Chukchi 
Seas. Project activities involve acoustic testing and a multi-frequency 
navigation system concept test using left-behind active acoustic 
sources. More specifically, these experiments involve the deployment of 
moored, drifting, and ice-tethered active acoustic sources from the 
Research Vessel Sikuliaq. Another vessel will be used to retrieve the 
acoustic sources. The activities proposed under the Renewal IHA are 
identical to those in the initial 2022 IHA.
    Anticipated impacts, which would consist of Level B harassment of 
marine mammals, would also be identical to those analyzed and 
authorized in the initial 2022 IHA (87 FR 57458, September 20, 2022). 
ONR's request is for take of a small number of ringed seals (Pusa 
hispida hispida), and two stocks of beluga whales (Delphinapterus 
leucas) by Level B harassment only. The proposed authorized take 
numbers are identical to those in the initial 2022 IHA. Neither ONR nor 
NMFS expects serious injury or mortality to result from ONR's Arctic 
Research Activities. Additional information on the proposed activities 
may be found in the notice of proposed IHA (87 FR 44339, July 26, 2022) 
for the initial 2022 authorization and notice of Final IHA (87 FR 
57458, September 20, 2022).

Detailed Description of the Activity

    A detailed description of ARA activities for which take is proposed 
here may be found in the Notices of the Proposed and Final IHA for the 
initial 2022 authorization (87 FR 44339, July 26, 2022; 87 FR 57458, 
September 20, 2022). The location, timing, and nature of the 
activities, including the types of equipment planned for use, are 
identical to those described in the previous notices. The proposed 
renewal would be effective for a period not exceeding 1 year from the 
date of expiration of the initial IHA.

Description of Marine Mammals

    A description of the marine mammals in the area of the activities 
for which authorization of take is proposed here, including information 
on abundance, status, distribution, and hearing, may be found in the 
Notices of the Proposed IHA (87 FR 44339, July 26, 2022) for the 
initial 2022 authorization. NMFS has reviewed the monitoring data from 
the initial IHA, Stock Assessment Reports, information on relevant 
Unusual Mortality Events (UMEs), unusual 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 initial 2022 IHA.

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 the 
authorization of take is proposed here may be found in the Notices of 
the Proposed and Final IHAs for the initial 2022 authorization (87 FR 
44339, July 26, 2022; 87 FR 57458, September 20, 2022). NMFS has 
reviewed the monitoring data from the initial IHA, recent draft Stock 
Assessment Reports, information on relevant UMEs, and other scientific 
literature, and determined that 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 Notices of the 
Proposed and Final IHAs for the initial 2022 authorization (87 FR 
44339, July 26, 2022; 87 FR 57458, September 20, 2022). The activities 
applicable to this authorization remain unchanged from the previously 
issued IHA. Similarly, the stocks taken, methods of take, and types of 
take remain unchanged from the previously issued IHA, as do the number 
of takes, which are indicated below in table 1.

                                  Table 1--Proposed Take by Level B Harassment
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                                                                                  Total proposed
                                   Non-impulsive                                    authorized     Percentage of
             Species                  active        Icebreaking     Icebreaking        take            stock
                                     acoustics     (behavioral)        (TTS)     ----------------  requested for
                                   (behavioral)                                   Behavioral/TTS     take \1\
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Beluga whale--Beaufort Sea Stock             134              11               0           145/0           0.369
Beluga whale--Eastern Chukchi                134              11               0           145/0            1.09
 Sea Stock......................
Ringed seal.....................           2,839             538               1         3,377/1            1.97
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\1\ Percentage of stock taken calculated based on proportion of number of Level B takes per the stock population
  estimate provided in Table 3-1 in the application.


[[Page 59875]]

Description of Proposed Mitigation, Monitoring and Reporting Measures

    The proposed 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 
initial IHA (87 FR 57458, September 20, 2022) and the discussion of the 
least practicable adverse impact included in that document and the 
Notice of the proposed IHA (87 FR 44339, July 26, 2022) remain 
accurate. The following measures are proposed for this renewal:
     All ships operated by or for the Navy must have personnel 
assigned to stand watch at all times while underway.
     During moored and drifting acoustic source deployment, ONR 
must implement a mitigation zone of 180 feet (55 meters) around the 
deployed source. Deployment must cease if a marine mammal is visually 
detected within the mitigation zone.
     Ships must avoid approaching marine mammals head-on and 
must maneuver to maintain a mitigation zone of 500 yards (457 meters) 
around all observed cetaceans and 200 yards (183 meters) around all 
other observed marine mammals, provided it is safe to do so.
     Ship captains and subsistence whalers will maintain at-sea 
communication to avoid conflict of ship transit with hunting activity.
     Activities must cease if a marine mammal species for which 
take was not authorized, or a species for which authorization was 
granted but the authorized number of takes have been met, is observed 
approaching or within the Level A or Level B harassment zones. 
Activities must not resume until the animal is confirmed to have left 
the area.
     While underway, all ships must have at least one person 
trained through the U.S. Navy Marine Species Awareness Training Program 
on watch during all activities.
     Watch personnel must use standardized data collection 
forms, whether hard copy or electronic. Watch personnel must 
distinguish between sightings that occur on transit or during 
deployment of acoustic sources. Data will be recorded on all days of 
activities even if marine mammals are not sighted.
     During deployment of acoustic sources or unmanned 
underwater vehicles (UUVs), visual observation must begin 30 minutes 
prior to deployment and continue through 30 minutes following the 
source deployment.
     The ONR will submit a draft report to NMFS Office of 
Protected Resources (OPR) and Alaska Regional (AKR) on all monitoring 
conducted under the IHA within 90 calendar days of the completion of 
each research cruise, or 60 days prior to the issuance of any 
subsequent IHA for this project, whichever comes first. The report must 
include data regarding acoustic source use, the number of shutdowns 
during monitoring, any marine mammal sightings (including the marine 
mammal's location (latitude and longitude)), and the number of 
individuals of each species observed during source deployment and 
operation, and their behavior and distance from the project activities. 
A final report must be prepared and submitted to NMFS OPR and AKR 
within 30 days following resolution of comments on the draft report 
from NMFS.
     If no comments are received from NMFS within 30 days of 
submission of the draft final report, the draft final report will 
constitute the final report. If comments are received, a final report 
must be submitted within 30 days after receipt of comments.
     In the event that personnel involved in the survey 
activities discover an injured or dead marine mammal, the ONR must 
report the incident to the OPR NMFS and to the AKR Stranding 
Coordinator as soon as feasible. The report must include time, date, 
and location of discover, species identification, animal condition, 
observed behaviors, photographs and/or video footage, if available, and 
circumstances under which the animal was discovered.
     In the event of a ship strike of a marine mammal by any 
vessel involved in the activities covered by the authorization, the ONR 
must report the incident to OPR, NMFS and to the AKR Stranding 
Coordinator as soon as feasible. The report must include time, date, 
and location of the incident, species identification, vessel speed, 
vessel course/heading and operations, sound source status, avoidance 
measures taken, environmental conditions, animal's estimated size, 
length, and behavior, presence and behavior of other marine mammals in 
the area, estimated fate of the animal, and photos/video footage of the 
animal, if available.

Comments and Responses

    As noted previously, NMFS published a notice of a proposed IHA (87 
FR 44339, July 26, 2022) and solicited public comments on both our 
proposal to issue the initial IHA and on the potential for a Renewal 
IHA, should certain requirements be met.
    There we no substantive comments received that needed to be 
addressed in the notice announcing the issuance of the initial 2022 IHA 
(87 FR 57458, September 20, 2022).

Preliminary Determinations

    The proposed action of this Renewal IHA, ONR's Arctic Research 
Activities, would be identical to the activities analyzed in the 
initial 2022 IHA. Based on the analysis detailed in the notices of the 
initial authorization of the likely effects of the specified activity 
on marine mammals and their habitat, and taking into consideration the 
implementation of the monitoring and mitigation measures, NMFS found 
that the total marine mammal take from the activity would have a 
negligible impact on all affected marine mammal species and stocks. 
Furthermore, the mitigation measures and monitoring and reporting 
requirements are identical to those in the initial 2022 IHA.
    NMFS has preliminarily concluded that there is no new information 
suggesting that our analysis or findings should change from those 
reached for the initial 2022 IHA. 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) ONR'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.

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 whenever we propose to authorize take for 
endangered or threatened species, in this case with the Alaska Regional 
Office.

[[Page 59876]]

    There is one marine mammal species (Arctic ringed seal) with 
confirmed occurrence in the study area that is listed as threatened 
under the ESA. The NMFS Alaska Regional Office of Protected Resources 
Division issued a Biological Opinion on September 13, 2022 under 
section 7 of the ESA, on the issuance of an IHA to ONR under section 
101(a)(5)(D) of the MMPA by the NMFS Permits and Conservation Division. 
The Biological Opinion concluded that the action is not likely to 
jeopardize the continued existence of Arctic ringed seals, and is not 
likely to destroy or adversely modify Arctic ringed seal critical 
habitat.

Proposed Renewal IHA and Request for Public Comment

    As a result of these preliminary determinations, NMFS proposes to 
issue a Renewal IHA to ONR for conducting Arctic Research Activities in 
the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas from September 14, 2023 to September 13, 
2024, provided the previously described mitigation, monitoring, and 
reporting requirements are incorporated. A draft of the proposed and 
final initial IHA can be found at https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/permit/incidental-take-authorizations-under-marine-mammal-protection-act. We request comment on our analyses, the proposed Renewal IHA, and 
any other aspect of this notice. Please include with your comments any 
supporting data or literature citations to help inform our final 
decision on the request for MMPA authorization.

    Dated: August 24, 2023.
Catherine Marzin,
Deputy Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-18683 Filed 8-29-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P