[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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