[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 43 (Monday, March 4, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15548-15549]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-04487]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID: 0648-XD697]


Taking and Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals 
Incidental to the Port of Alaska Modernization Program Phase 2: Cargo 
Docks Replacement Project in Anchorage, Alaska

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 Port of Alaska (POA) for 
authorization to take small numbers of marine mammals incidental to 
construction activities related to the Port of Alaska Modernization 
Program (PAMP) Phase 2B: Cargo Docks Replacement Project, including 
impact and vibratory pile driving at the POA in Anchorage, Alaska, over 
the course of 5 years from the date of issuance. Pursuant to 
regulations implementing the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS 
is announcing receipt of the POA'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 POA's application and request.

DATES: Comments and information must be received no later than April 3, 
2024.

ADDRESSES: Comments on the applications should be addressed to Jolie 
Harrison, Chief, Permits and Conservation Division, Office of Protected 
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service. Physical comments should 
be sent to 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910 and 
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 received electronically, 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/node/23111 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: Cara Hotchkin, Office of Protected 
Resources, NMFS, (301) 427-8401. An electronic copy of the POA'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,

[[Page 15549]]

migration, breathing, nursing, breeding, feeding, or sheltering (Level 
B harassment).

Summary of Request

    On January 3, 2023, NMFS received an application from the POA 
requesting authorization for take of marine mammals incidental to 
construction activities related to the PAMP Phase 2B: Cargo Terminals 
Reconstruction at the POA in Anchorage, Alaska. NMFS provided comments 
on the application on March 3, 2023, April 20, 2023, and May 18, 2023. 
After the applicant submitted a revised application on October 13, 
2023, and responded to additional questions sent on December 20, 2023, 
we determined the application was adequate and complete on February 12, 
2024. The requested regulations would be valid for 5 years, from April 
1, 2026 through March 31, 2031. The POA plans to conduct necessary 
work, including impact and vibratory pile driving, to demolish the 
existing cargo terminals 1 and 2 and partially demolish terminal 3, and 
to construct new terminals 1 and 2. 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 Level B harassment. Therefore, the POA requests 
authorization to incidentally take marine mammals.

Specified Activities

    The POA was constructed primarily in the 1960s, and is currently in 
poor condition and substantially past its initial design life. The 
existing cargo terminals T1, T2, and T3 are deteriorating and in poor 
structural condition, and present safety and security concerns for 
human health and the economic stability of the state of Alaska. The 
PAMP is designed to replace the existing facilities with new 
infrastructure incorporating modern seismic codes over a 75-year design 
life. PAMP Phase 2B includes the demolition and replacement of 
terminals T1 and T2, and the partial demolition of T3. This phase is 
expected to take approximately 6 years to complete; this request is for 
the first 5 years of construction. Activities proposed for year 6 will 
be covered in an additional IHA request submitted prior to the end of 
the 5-year period of effectiveness for the requested incidental take 
regulations. Pile installation will include both temporary (36-inch 
(in)) and permanent (72-in) steel pipe piles by impact and vibratory 
hammers. Removal of temporary piles and existing structures (16-in to 
42-in steel pipe piles) will be primarily by cutting; dead-pull and 
vibratory extraction methods may also be used. Existing piles may also 
be left standing in their current positions. Approximately 261 
permanent piles and 470 temporary piles will be installed and 
approximately 48 temporary piles will be extracted with a vibratory 
hammer over the 5-year period. The work is expected to require 
approximately 337 days between the months of April and November over 
the 5 year period. The POA requests take of marine mammals by Level B 
harassment for seven species (including Cook Inlet beluga whales 
(Delphinapterus leucas)), and take by Level A harassment of five 
species.

Information Solicited

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

    Dated: February 28, 2024.
Kimberly Damon-Randall,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-04487 Filed 3-1-24; 8:45 am]
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