Incidental Taking of Marine Mammals; Taking of Marine Mammals Incidental to the Explosive Removal of Offshore Structures in the Gulf of Mexico, 12070-12072 [2011-4972]
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Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 43 / Friday, March 4, 2011 / Notices
members act as liaisons between the
Sanctuary and their constituent groups.
The council holds a minimum of four
regular meetings per year, and an
annual retreat in the summer.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1431, et seq.
(Federal Domestic Assistance Catalog
Number 11.429 Marine Sanctuary Program)
Dated: February 23, 2011.
Daniel J. Basta,
Director, Office of National Marine
Sanctuaries, National Ocean Service,
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1431, et seq.
(Federal Domestic Assistance Catalog
Number 11.429 Marine Sanctuary Program)
Dated: February 23, 2011.
Daniel J. Basta,
Director, Office of National Marine
Sanctuaries, National Ocean Service,
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration.
[FR Doc. 2011–4709 Filed 3–3–11; 8:45 am]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
[FR Doc. 2011–4706 Filed 3–3–11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–NK–M
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
Availability of Seats for the Gray’s Reef
National Marine Sanctuary Advisory
Council
Office of National Marine
Sanctuaries (ONMS), National Ocean
Service (NOS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Department of Commerce (DOC).
ACTION: Notice and request for
applications.
AGENCY:
The ONMS is seeking
applications for the following vacant
seat on the Gray’s Reef National Marine
Sanctuary Advisory Council: Georgia
conservation. Applicants are chosen
based upon their particular expertise
and experience in relation to the seat for
which they are applying; community
and professional affiliations; philosophy
regarding the protection and
management of marine resources; and
possibly the length of residence in the
area affected by the sanctuary.
Applicants who are chosen as members
should expect to serve 3-year terms,
pursuant to the council’s Charter.
DATES: Applications are due by April 8,
2011.
ADDRESSES: Application kits may be
obtained from Becky Shortland, Council
Coordinator (becky.shortland@noaa.gov,
10 Ocean Science Circle, Savannah, GA
31411; 912–598–2381) Completed
applications should be sent to the same
address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Becky Shortland, Council Coordinator
(becky.shortland@noaa.gov, 10 Ocean
Science Circle, Savannah, GA 31411;
912–598–2381.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
sanctuary advisory council was
established in August 1999 to provide
jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with NOTICES
SUMMARY:
VerDate Mar<15>2010
19:16 Mar 03, 2011
Jkt 223001
advice and recommendations on
management and protection of the
sanctuary. The advisory council,
through its members, also serves as
liaison to the community regarding
sanctuary issues and represents
community interests, concerns, and
management needs to the sanctuary and
NOAA.
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
RIN 0648–XA253
Incidental Taking of Marine Mammals;
Taking of Marine Mammals Incidental
to the Explosive Removal of Offshore
Structures in the Gulf of Mexico
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; issuance of letters of
authorization.
AGENCY:
In accordance with the
Marine Mammal Protection Act
(MMPA) and implementing regulations,
notification is hereby given that NMFS
has issued three one-year Letters of
Authorization (LOA) to take marine
mammals incidental to the explosive
removal of offshore oil and gas
structures (EROS) in the Gulf of Mexico.
DATES: These authorizations are
effective from February 27, 2011,
through February 26, 2012, and May 15,
2011, through May 14, 2012.
ADDRESSES: The application and LOAs
are available for review by writing to P.
Michael Payne, Chief, Permits,
Conservation, and Education Division,
Office of Protected Resources, National
Marine Fisheries Service, 1315 EastWest Highway, Silver Spring, MD
20910–3235 or by telephoning the
contact listed here (see FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT), or online at:
https://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/permits/
incidental.htm. Documents cited in this
notice may be viewed, by appointment,
during regular business hours, at the
aforementioned address.
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
Frm 00058
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Howard Goldstein or Jolie Harrison,
Office of Protected Resources, NMFS,
301–713–2289.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section
101(a)(5)(A) of the MMPA (16 U.S.C.
1361 et seq.) directs the Secretary of
Commerce (who has delegated the
authority to NMFS) to allow, upon
request, the incidental, but not
intentional, taking of small numbers of
marine mammals by United States
citizens who engage in a specified
activity (other than commercial fishing)
within a specified geographical region,
if certain findings are made and
regulations are issued. Under the
MMPA, the term ‘‘take’’ means to harass,
hunt, capture, or kill or to attempt to
harass, hunt, capture, or kill any marine
mammal.
Authorization for incidental taking, in
the form of annual LOAs, may be
granted by NMFS for periods up to five
years if NMFS finds, after notice and
opportunity for public comment, that
the taking will have a negligible impact
on the species or stock(s) of marine
mammals, and will not have an
unmitigable adverse impact on the
availability of the species or stock(s) for
subsistence uses (where relevant). In
addition, NMFS must prescribe
regulations that include permissible
methods of taking and other means of
effecting the least practicable adverse
impact on the species and its habitat
(i.e., mitigation), and on the availability
of the species for subsistence uses,
paying particular attention to rookeries,
mating rounds, and areas of similar
significance. The regulations also must
include requirements pertaining to the
monitoring and reporting of such taking.
Regulations governing the taking of
marine mammals incidental to EROS
were published on June 19, 2008 (73 FR
34875), and remain in effect through
July 19, 2013. For detailed information
on this action, please refer to that
Federal Register notice. The species
that applicants may take in small
numbers under LOAs during EROS
activities are bottlenose dolphins
(Tursiops truncatus), Atlantic spotted
dolphins (Stenella frontalis),
pantropical spotted dolphins (Stenella
attenuata), Clymene dolphins (Stenella
clymene), striped dolphins (Stenella
coeruleoalba), spinner dolphins
(Stenella longirostris), rough-toothed
dolphins (Steno bredanensis), Risso’s
dolphins (Grampus griseus), melonheaded whales (Peponocephala electra),
short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala
macrorhynchus), and sperm whales
(Physeter macrocephalus). NMFS
received requests for LOA renewals
E:\FR\FM\04MRN1.SGM
04MRN1
Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 43 / Friday, March 4, 2011 / Notices
from Energy Resource Technology
GOM, Inc. (ERT), Demex International,
Inc. (Demex), and Noble Energy, Inc.
(Noble Energy), for activities covered by
the EROS regulations.
Reporting
NMFS regulations require timely
receipt of reports for activities
conducted under the previously issued
LOA, and a determination that the
required mitigation, monitoring, and
reporting were undertaken. NMFS
Galveston Laboratory’s Platform
Removal Observer Program (PROP) has
provided reports for ERT and Noble
Energy’s removal of offshore structures
Company
Structure
Dates
Marine mammals
sighted (individuals)
ERT ............................
Vermillion Area, Block
199, Platform JA.
May 13 to 17, 2010 ...
ERT ............................
South Marsh Island
Area, Block 24,
Platform A.
West Cameron Area,
Block 331, Platform
A.
West Cameron Area,
Block 458, Platform
D.
South Marsh Island
Area, Block 113,
Platform B.
West Cameron Area,
Block 328, Platform
A.
Eugene Island Area,
Block 128A, Platform JC.
East Cameron Area,
Block 282, Platform
C.
May 11 to 16, 2010 ...
Bottlenose dolphins
(22), Spotted dolphins (15).
None ..........................
ERT ............................
ERT ............................
ERT ............................
ERT ............................
ERT ............................
ERT ............................
ERT ............................
ERT ............................
ERT ............................
ERT ............................
ERT ............................
Noble Energy .............
Noble Energy .............
jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with NOTICES
Noble Energy .............
West Cameron Area,
Block 405, Platform
A.
East Cameron Area,
Block 298, Platform
E.
High Island Area,
Block A544, Platform A.
East Cameron Area,
Block 364, Platform
A.
East Cameron Area,
Block 346, Subsea
Well #6.
Brazos Area, Block
A51, Platform F.
Eugene Island Area,
Block 308, Platform
A.
Main Pass Area,
Block 305, Platform
B.
On May 20, 2010, NMFS received a
phone call from a PROP observer
regarding a single bottlenose dolphin
that was injured and most likely killed
by entanglement in a diver’s guide line
during platform removal operations.
ERT was conducting these EROS
operations in the GOM accompanied by
a LOA, issued under the MMPA. No
VerDate Mar<15>2010
19:16 Mar 03, 2011
Jkt 223001
May 14 to 20, 2010 ...
May 16 to 21 and August 22 to 24, 2010.
Bottlenose dolphins
(8), Unidentified dolphins (13).
Bottlenose dolphins
(23).
12071
during 2010. Demex has not used their
LOA for any operations to date. NMFS
PROP observers and non-NMFS
observers reported the following during
ERT and Noble Energy’s EROS
operations in 2010:
Biological impacts observed to marine
mammals
None.
None.
None.
A bottlenose dolphin was killed at this location via entanglement in a diver’s guide
line.
None.
May 17 to 23, 2010 ...
Bottlenose dolphins
(14).
May 21 to 24, 2010 ...
Bottlenose dolphins
(1).
None.
May 24 to June 4,
2010.
Bottlenose dolphins
(77).
None.
May 22 to 23, May 25
to 29, June 12 to
17, and August 25,
2010.
May 25 to June 3,
2010.
Spotted dolphins (20)
None.
None ..........................
None.
May 29 to June 1, and None ..........................
June 18 to 20, 2010.
None.
June 15 to 17, and
August 26 to 27,
2010.
August 2 to 6, and
August 30 to September 2, 2010.
August 28 to 29, 2010
None.
June 20 to 24, 2010 ..
June 21 to 23, July 5
to 6, and July 10 to
11, 2010.
August 16 to 21, 2010
Bottlenose dolphins
(14), Spotted dolphins (8).
None ..........................
None.
None ..........................
None.
Bottlenose dolphins
(30), Spotted dolphins (11).
None ..........................
None.
Unidentified dolphins
(1).
serious injury or mortality was
anticipated or authorized in the EROS
regulations. The PROP observer
reported the incident as required in
EROS regulations. The mortality of the
individual bottlenose dolphin was
unrelated to the use of explosives, and
determined as unforeseen by NMFS.
During the many years in which NMFS
PO 00000
Frm 00059
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
None.
None.
PROP observers have monitored EROS
operations, this is the first reported
observed lethal ‘‘take’’ by entanglement
of a dolphin in a diver guide line or any
other kind of line.
There are two primary methodologies
used in the GOM for severing
decommissioned targets; non-explosive
and explosive severance. The EROS
E:\FR\FM\04MRN1.SGM
04MRN1
12072
Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 43 / Friday, March 4, 2011 / Notices
jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with NOTICES
regulations analyzed both
methodologies and determined that
non-explosive severance activities have
little or no impact on the marine
environment and would not result in an
incidental take of marine mammals,
though they are relatively timeconsuming and potentially harmful to
human health and safety (primarily for
divers). Due to the unlikelihood of take
of marine mammals incidental to
entanglement during EROS activities,
the then Minerals Management Service
(now the Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management, Regulation, and
Enforcement) did not request (nor did
NMFS contemplate) MMPA
authorization for take of marine
mammals from entanglement in the
EROS regulations.
Due to the low predictability of an
incident resulting in the mortality of a
marine mammal from entanglement in a
diver’s guide line, NMFS’s regulations
for EROS do not address this aspect of
the activity; nor is NMFS currently
aware of any specific additional
monitoring and mitigation measures to
further reduce the likelihood of such an
event, other than the recommendation
to remove any unattended lines from the
water column and/or keep guide lines
taut (i.e., no slack) during EROS
operations. NMFS may further explore
monitoring and mitigation measures in
the next rulemaking for EROS activities.
In the meantime, NMFS will continue to
monitor EROS activities and may
recommend additional monitoring and
mitigation measures to future LOA
holders.
Of note, ERT was in compliance with
the mitigation and monitoring measures
required by the regulations and LOA
and provided the specific information
outlined in the reporting section of the
rule, as well as additional information.
The unexpected dolphin mortality does
not change the negligible impact and
small numbers determinations in the
regulations.
Authorization
Pursuant to these regulations, NMFS
has issued an LOA to Energy Resource
Technology GOM, Inc., Demex
International, Inc., and Noble Energy,
Inc. Issuance of the LOAs is based on a
finding made in the preamble to the
final rule that the total taking by these
activities (with monitoring, mitigation,
and reporting measures) will result in
no more than a negligible impact on the
affected species or stock(s) of marine
mammals and will not have an
unmitigable adverse impact on
subsistence uses. NMFS also finds that
the applicant will meet the
requirements contained in the
VerDate Mar<15>2010
19:16 Mar 03, 2011
Jkt 223001
implementing regulations and LOA,
including monitoring, mitigation, and
reporting requirements.
Dated: February 23, 2011.
James H. Lecky,
Director, Office of Protected Resources,
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2011–4972 Filed 3–3–11; 8:45 am]
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Public Availability of Commodity
Futures Trading Commission FY 2010
Service Contract Inventory
Commodity Futures Trading
Commission.
AGENCY:
Notice of Public Availability of
FY 2010 Service Contract Inventories.
ACTION:
In accordance with Section
743 of Division C of the Consolidated
Appropriations Act of 2010 (Pub. L.
111–117), Commodity Futures Trading
Commission is publishing this notice to
advise the public of the availability of
the FY 2010 Service Contract inventory.
This inventory provides information on
service contract actions over $25,000
that were made in FY 2010. The
information is organized by function to
show how contracted resources are
distributed throughout the agency. The
inventory has been developed in
accordance with guidance issued on
November 5, 2010 by the Office of
Management and Budget’s Office of
Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP).
OFPP’s guidance is available at: https://
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omb/procurement/memo/servicecontract-inventories-guidance11052010.pdf. Commodity Futures
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ucm/groups/public/@aboutcftc/
documents/file/
cftcserviceinventory_2010.pdf.
SUMMARY:
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Questions regarding the service contract
inventory should be directed to Sonda
R. Owens in the Office of Financial
Management, Procurement at 202–418–
5182 or sowens@cftc.gov.
David A. Stawick,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2011–4850 Filed 3–3–11; 8:45 am]
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Frm 00060
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Collection Activities: Proposed
Collection; Comment Request; Generic
Clearance for the Collection of
Qualitative Feedback on Agency
Service Delivery
Corporation for National and
Community Service.
ACTION: Guidance for Corporation
Notices, with request for comments.
AGENCY:
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COMMISSION
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The Corporation for National
and Community Service (hereinafter the
‘‘Corporation’’), is submitting the below
information for future Corporation
Federal Register Notices in accordance
with the Paperwork Reduction Act of
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Chapter 35). As part of a Federal
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Desk Officer for the Corporation for
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 43 (Friday, March 4, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12070-12072]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-4972]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XA253
Incidental Taking of Marine Mammals; Taking of Marine Mammals
Incidental to the Explosive Removal of Offshore Structures in the Gulf
of Mexico
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; issuance of letters of authorization.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: In accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and
implementing regulations, notification is hereby given that NMFS has
issued three one-year Letters of Authorization (LOA) to take marine
mammals incidental to the explosive removal of offshore oil and gas
structures (EROS) in the Gulf of Mexico.
DATES: These authorizations are effective from February 27, 2011,
through February 26, 2012, and May 15, 2011, through May 14, 2012.
ADDRESSES: The application and LOAs are available for review by writing
to P. Michael Payne, Chief, Permits, Conservation, and Education
Division, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries
Service, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910-3235 or by
telephoning the contact listed here (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT), or online at: https://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/permits/incidental.htm. Documents cited in this notice may be viewed, by
appointment, during regular business hours, at the aforementioned
address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Howard Goldstein or Jolie Harrison,
Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, 301-713-2289.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 101(a)(5)(A) of the MMPA (16 U.S.C.
1361 et seq.) directs the Secretary of Commerce (who has delegated the
authority to NMFS) to allow, upon request, the incidental, but not
intentional, taking of small numbers of marine mammals by United States
citizens who engage in a specified activity (other than commercial
fishing) within a specified geographical region, if certain findings
are made and regulations are issued. Under the MMPA, the term ``take''
means to harass, hunt, capture, or kill or to attempt to harass, hunt,
capture, or kill any marine mammal.
Authorization for incidental taking, in the form of annual LOAs,
may be granted by NMFS for periods up to five years if NMFS finds,
after notice and opportunity for public comment, that the taking will
have a negligible impact on the species or stock(s) of marine mammals,
and will not have an unmitigable adverse impact on the availability of
the species or stock(s) for subsistence uses (where relevant). In
addition, NMFS must prescribe regulations that include permissible
methods of taking and other means of effecting the least practicable
adverse impact on the species and its habitat (i.e., mitigation), and
on the availability of the species for subsistence uses, paying
particular attention to rookeries, mating rounds, and areas of similar
significance. The regulations also must include requirements pertaining
to the monitoring and reporting of such taking.
Regulations governing the taking of marine mammals incidental to
EROS were published on June 19, 2008 (73 FR 34875), and remain in
effect through July 19, 2013. For detailed information on this action,
please refer to that Federal Register notice. The species that
applicants may take in small numbers under LOAs during EROS activities
are bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), Atlantic spotted dolphins
(Stenella frontalis), pantropical spotted dolphins (Stenella
attenuata), Clymene dolphins (Stenella clymene), striped dolphins
(Stenella coeruleoalba), spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris),
rough-toothed dolphins (Steno bredanensis), Risso's dolphins (Grampus
griseus), melon-headed whales (Peponocephala electra), short-finned
pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus), and sperm whales (Physeter
macrocephalus). NMFS received requests for LOA renewals
[[Page 12071]]
from Energy Resource Technology GOM, Inc. (ERT), Demex International,
Inc. (Demex), and Noble Energy, Inc. (Noble Energy), for activities
covered by the EROS regulations.
Reporting
NMFS regulations require timely receipt of reports for activities
conducted under the previously issued LOA, and a determination that the
required mitigation, monitoring, and reporting were undertaken. NMFS
Galveston Laboratory's Platform Removal Observer Program (PROP) has
provided reports for ERT and Noble Energy's removal of offshore
structures during 2010. Demex has not used their LOA for any operations
to date. NMFS PROP observers and non-NMFS observers reported the
following during ERT and Noble Energy's EROS operations in 2010:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Marine mammals Biological impacts
Company Structure Dates sighted observed to marine
(individuals) mammals
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ERT............................ Vermillion Area, May 13 to 17, Bottlenose None.
Block 199, 2010. dolphins (22),
Platform JA. Spotted dolphins
(15).
ERT............................ South Marsh May 11 to 16, None............. None.
Island Area, 2010.
Block 24,
Platform A.
ERT............................ West Cameron May 14 to 20, Bottlenose None.
Area, Block 331, 2010. dolphins (8),
Platform A. Unidentified
dolphins (13).
ERT............................ West Cameron May 16 to 21 and Bottlenose A bottlenose dolphin
Area, Block 458, August 22 to 24, dolphins (23). was killed at this
Platform D. 2010. location via
entanglement in a
diver's guide line.
ERT............................ South Marsh May 17 to 23, Bottlenose None.
Island Area, 2010. dolphins (14).
Block 113,
Platform B.
ERT............................ West Cameron May 21 to 24, Bottlenose None.
Area, Block 328, 2010. dolphins (1).
Platform A.
ERT............................ Eugene Island May 24 to June 4, Bottlenose None.
Area, Block 2010. dolphins (77).
128A, Platform
JC.
ERT............................ East Cameron May 22 to 23, May Spotted dolphins None.
Area, Block 282, 25 to 29, June (20).
Platform C. 12 to 17, and
August 25, 2010.
ERT............................ West Cameron May 25 to June 3, None............. None.
Area, Block 405, 2010.
Platform A.
ERT............................ East Cameron May 29 to June 1, None............. None.
Area, Block 298, and June 18 to
Platform E. 20, 2010.
ERT............................ High Island Area, June 15 to 17, Bottlenose None.
Block A544, and August 26 to dolphins (14),
Platform A. 27, 2010. Spotted dolphins
(8).
ERT............................ East Cameron August 2 to 6, None............. None.
Area, Block 364, and August 30 to
Platform A. September 2,
2010.
ERT............................ East Cameron August 28 to 29, None............. None.
Area, Block 346, 2010.
Subsea Well
6.
Noble Energy................... Brazos Area, June 20 to 24, Bottlenose None.
Block A51, 2010. dolphins (30),
Platform F. Spotted dolphins
(11).
Noble Energy................... Eugene Island June 21 to 23, None............. None.
Area, Block 308, July 5 to 6, and
Platform A. July 10 to 11,
2010.
Noble Energy................... Main Pass Area, August 16 to 21, Unidentified None.
Block 305, 2010. dolphins (1).
Platform B.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On May 20, 2010, NMFS received a phone call from a PROP observer
regarding a single bottlenose dolphin that was injured and most likely
killed by entanglement in a diver's guide line during platform removal
operations. ERT was conducting these EROS operations in the GOM
accompanied by a LOA, issued under the MMPA. No serious injury or
mortality was anticipated or authorized in the EROS regulations. The
PROP observer reported the incident as required in EROS regulations.
The mortality of the individual bottlenose dolphin was unrelated to the
use of explosives, and determined as unforeseen by NMFS. During the
many years in which NMFS PROP observers have monitored EROS operations,
this is the first reported observed lethal ``take'' by entanglement of
a dolphin in a diver guide line or any other kind of line.
There are two primary methodologies used in the GOM for severing
decommissioned targets; non-explosive and explosive severance. The EROS
[[Page 12072]]
regulations analyzed both methodologies and determined that non-
explosive severance activities have little or no impact on the marine
environment and would not result in an incidental take of marine
mammals, though they are relatively time-consuming and potentially
harmful to human health and safety (primarily for divers). Due to the
unlikelihood of take of marine mammals incidental to entanglement
during EROS activities, the then Minerals Management Service (now the
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement) did not
request (nor did NMFS contemplate) MMPA authorization for take of
marine mammals from entanglement in the EROS regulations.
Due to the low predictability of an incident resulting in the
mortality of a marine mammal from entanglement in a diver's guide line,
NMFS's regulations for EROS do not address this aspect of the activity;
nor is NMFS currently aware of any specific additional monitoring and
mitigation measures to further reduce the likelihood of such an event,
other than the recommendation to remove any unattended lines from the
water column and/or keep guide lines taut (i.e., no slack) during EROS
operations. NMFS may further explore monitoring and mitigation measures
in the next rulemaking for EROS activities. In the meantime, NMFS will
continue to monitor EROS activities and may recommend additional
monitoring and mitigation measures to future LOA holders.
Of note, ERT was in compliance with the mitigation and monitoring
measures required by the regulations and LOA and provided the specific
information outlined in the reporting section of the rule, as well as
additional information. The unexpected dolphin mortality does not
change the negligible impact and small numbers determinations in the
regulations.
Authorization
Pursuant to these regulations, NMFS has issued an LOA to Energy
Resource Technology GOM, Inc., Demex International, Inc., and Noble
Energy, Inc. Issuance of the LOAs is based on a finding made in the
preamble to the final rule that the total taking by these activities
(with monitoring, mitigation, and reporting measures) will result in no
more than a negligible impact on the affected species or stock(s) of
marine mammals and will not have an unmitigable adverse impact on
subsistence uses. NMFS also finds that the applicant will meet the
requirements contained in the implementing regulations and LOA,
including monitoring, mitigation, and reporting requirements.
Dated: February 23, 2011.
James H. Lecky,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-4972 Filed 3-3-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
