[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 87 (Friday, May 3, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36762-36763]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-09657]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XD212]


Draft Updated Guidance for Assessing the Effects of Anthropogenic 
Sound on Marine Mammal Hearing--Underwater and In-Air Criteria for 
Onset of Auditory Injury and Temporary Threshold Shifts (Version 3.0)

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

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), announces the 
availability of our draft Update to: Technical Guidance for Assessing 
the Effects of Anthropogenic Sound on Marine Mammal Hearing (Version 
3.0): Underwater and In-Air Criteria for Onset of Auditory Injury and 
Temporary Threshold Shifts (draft Updated Technical Guidance) for 
public comment. The draft Updated Technical Guidance assesses the 
effects of anthropogenic sound on marine mammal species under NMFS's 
jurisdiction. The draft Updated Technical Guidance provides updated 
received levels and auditory weighting functions, or acoustic criteria, 
above which individual marine mammals, in-air and underwater, are 
predicted to experience changes in their hearing sensitivity (auditory 
injury or temporary threshold shift) for all anthropogenic sound 
sources. Once finalized, the Updated Technical Guidance will replace 
NMFS's current 2018 Revisions to: Technical Guidance for Assessing the 
Effects of Anthropogenic Sound on Marine Mammal Hearing (Version 2.0): 
Underwater Thresholds for Onset of Permanent and Temporary Threshold 
Shifts (2018 Revised Technical Guidance).

DATES: Comments must be received by June 17, 2024.

ADDRESSES: The draft Updated Technical Guidance is available in 
electronic form via the internet https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/marine-mammal-acoustic-technical-guidance. You may submit comments by including NOAA-NMFS-2024-0026, by 
either of the following methods:
    Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: Go to https://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2024-0026, click the ``Comment Now!'' icon, 
complete the required fields, and enter or attach your comments.
    Mail: Send comments to: Chief, Permits and Conservation Division, 
Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service, 1315 
East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910-3226, Attn: Updated Acoustic 
Technical Guidance.
    Instructions: NMFS may not consider comments if they are sent by 
any other method, to any other address or individual, or received after 
the comment period ends. All comments received are a part of the public 
record and NMFS will generally post for public viewing on https://www.regulations.gov without change. All personal identifying 
information (e.g., name, address, etc.), confidential business 
information, or otherwise sensitive information submitted voluntarily 
by the sender will be publicly accessible. NMFS will accept anonymous 
comments (enter ``N/A'' in the required fields if you wish to remain 
anonymous).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Amy R. Scholik-Schlomer, Office of 
Protected Resources, 301-427-8449, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The National Marine Fisheries Service has 
developed a draft Updated Technical Guidance document for assessing the 
effects of anthropogenic sound on the hearing of marine mammal species, 
in-air and underwater, under NMFS's jurisdiction. Specifically, the 
draft Updated Technical Guidance identifies the received levels and 
auditory weighting functions, or acoustic criteria, above which 
individual marine mammals are predicted to experience changes in their 
hearing sensitivity (auditory injury (AUD INJ) or temporary threshold 
shift (TTS)) for all anthropogenic sound sources. This document is 
intended for use by NMFS analysts and managers and other relevant user 
groups and stakeholders, including other Federal agencies, when seeking 
to determine whether and how their activities are expected to result in 
particular types of impacts to marine mammals via acoustic exposure in-
air and underwater. The draft Updated Technical Guidance outlines 
NMFS's updated acoustic criteria and describes in detail how they were 
developed and how they will be updated in the future.
    As with our current 2018 Revised Technical Guidance (https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/s3/2023-05/TECHMEMOGuidance508.pdf), NMFS worked 
with the U.S. Navy, which updated their marine mammal acoustic 
criteria. Upon evaluation, NMFS has determined that the Navy's proposed 
criteria reflects the best available science and incorporated it into 
our draft Updated Technical Guidance.
    NMFS conducted an independent peer review in October/November 2022 
in association with the draft Updated Technical Guidance. Details of 
the peer reviews are available at the following website: https://www.noaa.gov/information-technology/update-to-20162018-technical-guidance-for-assessing-effects-of-anthropogenic-sound-on-marine-mammal. 
Additionally, in May and June of 2023, NMFS solicited input from other 
relevant Federal agencies on the draft Updated Technical Guidance. 
Federal agency comments and NMFS responses to those comments are 
available at the following website: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/marine-mammal-acoustic-technical-guidance. To complete the review process, NMFS is now soliciting 
additional stakeholder feedback via public comment on the draft Updated 
Technical Guidance.

[[Page 36763]]

    As an overview of the draft Updated Technical Guidance, the main 
body of the document contains a summary of the updated acoustic 
threshold levels and marine mammal auditory weighting functions, with 
additional details provided in Appendix A (Navy Technical Report), 
Appendix B (Research Recommendations), Appendix C (Review Process, 
which will be completed before finalization to reflect input received 
during this public comment period), and Appendix D (Glossary).
    There are some notable changes associated with the draft Updated 
Technical Guidance. Namely, the marine mammal hearing group terminology 
from Southall et al. 2019 has been adopted. Furthermore, in-air 
acoustic criteria are also now included. However, the methodology for 
deriving AUD INJ and TTS criteria within the draft Updated Technical 
Guidance is very similar to the methodology for NMFS's current 2018 
Revised Technical Guidance (which also underwent peer review and public 
comment), which we believe represents the best available science. Thus 
NMFS encourages members of the public to focus their comments on the 
incorporation of new data and recommended improvements to the existing 
methodology, if applicable.
    Changes to AUD INJ and TTS criteria as reflected in the draft 
Updated Technical Guidance are primarily a result of new marine mammal 
audiogram and TTS data. Some of the most notable changes to the AUD INJ 
and TTS criteria include predictions of AUD INJ and TTS thresholds 
below 10 kHz for species formerly classified as mid-frequency cetaceans 
(now classified as high-frequency cetaceans) and significantly lower 
AUD INJ and TTS thresholds for underwater otariid pinnipeds.
    Please note that until NMFS finalizes the Updated Technical 
Guidance, the 2018 Revised Technical Guidance remains our current 
guidance.
    NMFS is aware that the National Marine Mammal Foundation 
successfully collected preliminary hearing data on two minke whales 
during their third field season in Norway (summer 2023). These data 
have implications for not only the generalized hearing range for low-
frequency cetaceans but also on their weighting function. However, no 
official results have been published. Furthermore, a fourth field 
season (2024) is proposed, where more data will likely be collected. 
Thus, NMFS has not proposed any changes to our draft Updated Technical 
Guidance based on these limited and unpublished data, though we 
recognize that mysticete hearing will likely merit re-evaluation in the 
future. Therefore, we anticipate that once the data from both field 
seasons are published, it will likely warrant additional updates to our 
Technical Guidance.

    Dated: April 30, 2024.
Catherine G. Marzin,
Acting Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-09657 Filed 5-2-24; 8:45 am]
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