Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to the Gustavus Ferry Terminal Improvements Project, 2403-2408 [2020-00470]
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Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 10 / Wednesday, January 15, 2020 / Notices
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
[RTID 0648–XR077]
Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to
Specified Activities; Taking Marine
Mammals Incidental to the Gustavus
Ferry Terminal Improvements Project
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; proposed issuance of an
Incidental Harassment Authorization;
request for comments on proposed
authorization and possible renewal.
AGENCY:
NMFS has received a request
from the Alaska Department of
Transportation and Public Facilities
(ADOT&PF) for authorization to take
marine mammals incidental to pile
driving and construction associated
with the Gustavus Ferry Terminal
Improvements Project in Gustavus,
Alaska. Pursuant to the Marine Mammal
Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is
requesting comments on its proposal to
issue an incidental harassment
authorization (IHA) to incidentally take
marine mammals during the specified
activities. NMFS is also requesting
comments on a possible one-year
renewal that could be issued under
certain circumstances and if all
requirements are met, as described in
Request for Public Comments at the end
of this notice. NMFS will consider
public comments prior to making any
final decision on the issuance of the
requested MMPA authorizations, and
agency responses will be summarized in
the final notice of our decision.
DATES: Comments and information must
be received no later than February 14,
2020.
ADDRESSES: Comments 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 EastWest Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910
and electronic comments should be sent
to ITP.pauline@noaa.gov.
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 25megabyte file size. Attachments to
electronic comments will be accepted in
Microsoft Word or Excel or Adobe PDF
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SUMMARY:
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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/
national/marine-mammal-protection/
incidental-take-authorizationsconstruction-activities 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:
Robert Pauline, Office of Protected
Resources, NMFS, (301) 427–8401.
Electronic copies of the application and
supporting documents, as well as a list
of the references cited in this document,
may be obtained online at: https://
www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/
marine-mammal-protection/incidentaltake-authorizations-constructionactivities. In case of problems accessing
these documents, please call the contact
listed above.
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, a notice of a proposed
incidental take authorization may be
provided to the public for review.
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 in shorthand as
‘‘mitigation’’); and requirements
pertaining to the mitigation, monitoring
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and reporting of such takings are set
forth.
The definitions of all applicable
MMPA statutory terms cited above are
included in the relevant sections below.
National Environmental Policy Act
To comply with the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969
(NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and
NOAA Administrative Order (NAO)
216–6A, NMFS must review our
proposed action (i.e., the issuance of an
incidental harassment authorization)
with respect to potential impacts on the
human environment. This action is
consistent with categories of activities
identified in Categorical Exclusion B4
(incidental harassment authorizations
with no anticipated serious injury or
mortality) of the Companion Manual for
NOAA Administrative Order 216–6A,
which do not individually or
cumulatively have the potential for
significant impacts on the quality of the
human environment and for which we
have not identified any extraordinary
circumstances that would preclude this
categorical exclusion. Accordingly,
NMFS has preliminarily determined
that the issuance of the proposed IHA
qualifies to be categorically excluded
from further NEPA review.
We will review all comments
submitted in response to this notice
prior to concluding our NEPA process
or making a final decision on the IHA
request.
History of Request
On November 20, 2019, NMFS
received a request from the ADOT&PF
for an IHA to take marine mammals
incidental to in-water construction in
Gustavus, Alaska. NMFS previously
issued an IHA to ADOT&PF to
incidentally take seven species of
marine mammal, by Level A and Level
B harassment, during construction
activities associated with the Gustavus
Ferry Terminal Improvements project.
The IHA, issued on April 4, 2017 (82 FR
17209; April 10, 2017), had effective
dates of December 15, 2017 through
December 14, 2018. However,
ADOT&PF was unable to conduct any of
the work and, therefore, requested a
new IHA. NMFS issued a second IHA
with effective dates of December 15,
2018 through December 14, 2019 (83 FR
55348; November 11, 2018) to cover the
incidental take analyzed and authorized
in the first IHA. There were minor
modifications to the number of piles
driven but these had no effect on
authorized take numbers, monitoring
requirement, or reporting measures,
which remained the same as stated in
the original 2017–2018 IHA.
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ADOT&PF was unable to meet the fall
pile driving window (September 1
through November 30, 2019) as
originally anticipated. Due to this
setback, construction is planned to
begin in spring 2020. ADOT&PF
submitted an addendum to the original
application requesting that a
supplementary two-week timeframe be
included in the spring window from
February 15 through May 31, 2020.
During this two-week timeframe, the
contractor would begin vibratory
removal of structures in order to get
ahead of schedule while also
accommodating for one last sailing of
the ferry to the community before the
ferry terminal’s closure for the
remainder of construction. The only
difference between this proposed and
previously issued IHAs is a construction
start date of February 15 instead of
March 1. The proposed IHA would be
effective from February 15, 2020
through February 14, 2021. Take
numbers would be the same as
authorized previously, and the
mitigation, monitoring, and reporting
requirements would remain the same as
authorized for the 2018–2019 IHA
referenced above. The specified
activities are expected to result in the
take of seven species of marine
mammals including harbor seal (Phoca
vitulina), Steller sea lion (Eumetopias
jubatus), harbor porpoise (Phocoena
phocoena), Dall’s porpoise
(Phocoenoides dalli), killer whale
(Orcinus orca), humpback whale
(Megaptera novaeangliae), and minke
whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata).
Description of the Proposed Activity and
Anticipated Impacts
The proposed 2020–2021 IHA would
cover the same construction associated
with the modernization of the Gustavus
Ferry Terminal as described in the
2017–2018 and 2018–2019 IHAs. NMFS
refers the reader to the documents
related to the previously issued IHAs for
more detailed description of the project
activities. These previous documents
include the Federal Register notice of
the issuance of the 2018–2019 IHA (83
FR 55348; November 11, 2018) for the
Gustavus Ferry Terminal Improvements
project; the Federal Register notice of
the issuance of the 2017–2018 IHA (82
FR 17209; April 10, 2017); ADOT&PF’s
application; the addendum from
ADOT&PF dated November 20, 2019;
and all associated references and
documents, which may be found at:
https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/
national/marine-mammal-protection/
incidental-take-authorizationsconstruction-activities. A detailed
description of the proposed vibratory
and impact pile driving activities at the
ferry terminal improvements project is
found in these documents. These
descriptions remain accurate with the
exception of moving up the construction
start date by two weeks to February 15,
2020 during the spring work window
instead of starting on March 1, 2020.
Detailed Description of the Action
Differences between the issued 2017–
2018 IHA and the issued 2018–2019
IHA are shown in Table 1, for historical
reference, but the proposed 2020–2021
IHA would be identical to the 2018–
2019 IHA. Because the fullest detailed
description of the activity was included
in the materials describing the 2017–
2018 IHA, we highlight the difference
between the current 2020–2021 IHA and
that one. Pile driving and removal
would occur over the same number of
days (50) with installation and removal
of 16 additional piles over 21 additional
hours. These changes represent a 3.5
percent increase in the number of piles
installed and a 21.9 percent increase in
the number of piles removed. The
duration of impact driving would
remain the same while the time spent
vibratory driving would increase by 18.4
percent. The additional time required
for vibratory driving is due to the
increase in anticipated number of piles
removed. Note that these proposed
changes would have a nominal impact
on the calculated Level A harassment
isopleths and no effect on Level B
harassment isopleths. Therefore, the
sizes of the Level A harassment and
Level B harassment zones would remain
unchanged.
TABLE 1—GUSTAVUS FERRY PILE INSTALLATION AND REMOVAL SUMMARY
Pile size
(inches)
Number of piles—2017–2018 IHA
30 .......................................................................
24 .......................................................................
18 .......................................................................
16 .......................................................................
12.75 ..................................................................
14 ......................................................................
40 ......................................................................
0 ........................................................................
0 ........................................................................
3 install/16 remove ...........................................
18.
34 install/12 remove.
4 remove.
4 install/4 remove.
3 install/9 remove.
Total installed/total Piles ............................
57/73 .................................................................
59/89.
Driving time duration
2017–2018 IHA
(hours)
Impact Driving ....................................................
Vibratory Driving ................................................
57 ......................................................................
114 ....................................................................
57.
135.
Total ............................................................
171 ....................................................................
192.
these previous documents, which
remains applicable to the proposed
2020–2021 IHA as well. In addition,
NMFS has reviewed recent draft Stock
Assessment Reports, information on
relevant Unusual Mortality Events, and
recent scientific literature, and
determined that no new information
affects our original analysis of impacts
under the 2017–2018 IHA.
Description of Marine Mammals
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Number of piles—2018–2019 and
2020–2021 proposed IHA
Marine mammals expected to occur
near the project area are shown in Table
2. A description of the marine mammals
in the area of the activities is found in
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2018–2019 proposed IHA
(hours)
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TABLE 2—MARINE MAMMALS OCCURRENCE IN THE PROJECT AREA
Common name
Scientific name
ESA/
MMPA
status;
strategic
(Y/N) 1
Stock
Stock abundance
(CV, Nmin, most recent
abundance survey) 2
PBR
Annual
M/SI 3
Order Cetartiodactyla—Cetacea—Superfamily Mysticeti (baleen whales)
Family Balaenopteridae
(rorquals):
Minke Whale ............
Humpback Whale ....
Balaenoptera acutorostrata .....
Megaptera novaeangliae .........
Alaska ......................................
Central N Pacific (Hawaii and
Mexico DPS).
-, -, N
-, -, Y
N/A (see SAR, N/A, see SAR)
10,103 (0.3, 7,891, 2006) (Hawaii DPS 9,487,a Mexico
DPS 606 a).
UND
83
0
* 25
Superfamily Odontoceti (toothed whales, dolphins, and porpoises)
Family Delphinidae:
Killer Whale .............
Orcinus orca ............................
Gulf of Alaska Transient ..........
Northern Resident ....................
West Coast Transient ..............
-, -, N
-, -, N
-, -, N
587 c (N/A, 587, 2012) ............
302 c (N/A, 302, 2018) * ..........
243 c (N/A, 243, 2009) ............
5.9
* 2.2
2.4
1
* 0.2
0
Family Phocoenidae (porpoises):
Dall’s Porpoise ........
Harbor Porpoise ......
Phocoenoides dalli ...................
Phocoena phocoena ................
AK ............................................
Southeast Alaska .....................
-, -, N
-, -, Y
83,400 (0.097, N/A, 1991) .......
see SAR (see SAR, see SAR,
2012).
UND
* See SAR
38
34
Order Carnivora—Superfamily Pinnipedia
Family Otariidae (eared
seals and sea lions):
Steller Sea Lion .......
Family Phocidae (earless
seals):
Harbor Seal .............
Eumetopias jubatus .................
Phoca vitulina ..........................
Western DPS ...........................
E, D, Y
Eastern DPS ............................
T, D, Y
Glacier Bay/Icy Strait ...............
-, -, N
53,624 (see
2018) *.
43,201 (see
2017) *.
SAR,
53,624,
* 322
247
SAR,
43,201,
* 2,592
* 113
7,455 (see SAR, 6,680, 2017) *
* 120
104
1 Endangered
Species Act (ESA) status: Endangered (E), Threatened (T)/MMPA status: Depleted (D). A dash (-) indicates that the species is not listed under the
ESA or designated as depleted under the MMPA. Under the MMPA, a strategic stock is one for which the level of direct human-caused mortality exceeds PBR or
which is determined to be declining and likely to be listed under the ESA within the foreseeable future. Any species or stock listed under the ESA is automatically
designated under the MMPA as depleted and as a strategic stock.
2 NMFS marine mammal stock assessment reports online at: www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/sars/. CV is coefficient of variation; Nmin is the minimum estimate of stock
abundance. In some cases, CV is not applicable [explain if this is the case].
3 These values, found in NMFS’s SARs, represent annual levels of human-caused mortality plus serious injury from all sources combined (e.g., commercial fisheries, ship strike). Annual M/SI often cannot be determined precisely and is in some cases presented as a minimum value or range. A CV associated with estimated
mortality due to commercial fisheries is presented in some cases.
Note: Italicized species are not expected to be taken or proposed for authorization.
a Under the MMPA humpback whales are considered a single stock (Central North Pacific); however, we have divided them here to account for distinct population
segments (DPSs) listed under the ESA. Using the stock assessment from Muto et al. 2019 for the Central North Pacific stock (10,103) and calculations in Wade et al.
2016, 93.9% of the humpback whales in Southeast Alaska are expected to be from the Hawaii DPS and 6.1% are expected to be from the Mexico DPS.
* Updated information from Muto et al. 2019. Draft Alaska Marine Mammal Stock Assessments, 2019. Available at: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marinemammal-protection/draft-marine-mammal-stock-assessment-reports.
Potential Effects on Marine Mammals
A description of the potential effects
of the specified activities on marine
mammals and their habitat may be
found in these previous documents,
which remains applicable to the
issuance of the proposed 2020–2021
IHA. There is no new information on
potential effects.
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Estimated Take
A detailed description of the methods
and inputs used to estimate authorized
take is found in these previous
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documents. The methods of estimating
take for the proposed 2020–2021 IHA
are identical to those used in the 2017–
2018 IHA. The source levels also remain
unchanged from the previously issued
IHAs. Observational data was used to
calculate daily take rates in the absence
of density data. Since the number of
pile-driving days (50) planned for the
2017–2018 IHA, 2018–2019 IHA and
proposed 2020–2021 IHA are the same,
the total estimated take projections will
be identical. Additionally, marine
mammal occurrences are more frequent
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in the late spring near the Gustavus
ferry terminal. Moving the start date
forward by two weeks would reduce the
amount of in-water construction
occurring later in the spring when
animal occurrences are elevated.
Therefore, the total recorded take
amounts may be reduced. Note that
since abundance estimates of some
stocks have been updated in the Draft
2019 SAR (Muto et al. 2019) the
percentage of stock taken has also
changed. These changes are shown in
Table 3.
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TABLE 3—ESTIMATED NUMBER OF INSTANCES OF EXPOSURES THAT MAY BE SUBJECT TO LEVEL A AND LEVEL B
HARASSMENT AND PERCENTAGE OF STOCKS
Level A
authorized
takes
Species
Level B
authorized
takes
Total proposed
authorized
takes
Steller Sea Lion .....
0
709
709
Humpback whale ...
0
600/(36 1)
600/(36 1)
Harbor Seal ...........
Harbor Porpoise ....
Killer whale ............
38
26
0
616
127
126
654
153
126
Minke whale ...........
Dall’s Porpoise .......
0
7
42
35
42
42
Instances of
take as a
percentage of
total stock
Stock(s) abundance estimate
53,624 (western distinct population segment in
Alaska)/43,201 (eastern stock).
10,103 (Central North Pacific Stock)/3,264 (Mexico DPS).
7,455 (Glacier Bay/Icy Strait) ...............................
11,146 (Southeast Alaska) ...................................
302 (Northern resident)/587 (Gulf of Alaska transient)/243 (West Coast transient).
Unknown ..............................................................
83,400 ..................................................................
1.3 */1.6*.
5.9/1.1.
8.7*.
1.37.
41.7 */21.4/51.8.
Unknown.
<0.01.
1 6.1 percent of humpbacks whales in southeast Alaska (36) are from Mexico DPS (Wade et al. 2016).
* Updated information from Muto et al. 2019. Draft Alaska Marine Mammal Stock Assessments, 2019. Available at: https://
www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/draft-marine-mammal-stock-assessment-reports.
Description of Proposed Mitigation,
Monitoring and Reporting Measures
A description of proposed mitigation,
monitoring, and reporting measures is
found in the previous documents,
which are identical to those contained
in this proposed 2020–2021 IHA. The
following measures would apply to
ADOT&PF’s mitigation requirements:
• Implementation of Shutdown
Zone—For all pile driving activities,
ADOT&PF will implement a shutdown
zone. The purpose of a shutdown zone
is generally to define an area within
which shutdown of activity would
occur upon sighting of a marine
mammal (or in anticipation of an animal
entering the defined area). In this case,
shutdown zones (Table 4) are intended
to contain areas in which sound
pressure levels (SPLs) equal or exceed
acoustic injury criteria for some
authorized species, based on NMFS’
acoustic technical guidance (NMFS
2018).
• Implementation of Monitoring
Zones—ADOT&PF must monitor Level
A harassment zones as shown in Table
4. These zones are areas beyond the
shutdown zones where animals may be
exposed to sound levels that could
result in permanent threshold shift
(PTS). ADOT&PF must also monitor the
Level B harassment disturbance zones
as shown in Table 4 which are areas
where SPLs equal or exceed 160 dB rms
for impact driving and 120 dB rms
during vibratory driving. Observation of
monitoring zones enables observers to
be aware of and communicate the
presence of marine mammals in the
project area and outside the shutdown
zone and thus prepare for potential
shutdowns of activity, and also allows
for the collection of marine mammal
and effects data. NMFS has established
monitoring protocols described in the
Federal Register notice of the issuance
(82 FR 17209; April 10, 2017) which are
based on the distance and size of the
monitoring and shutdown zones. These
same protocols are contained in this
proposed 2020–2021 IHA.
TABLE 4—SHUTDOWN, INJURY AND BEHAVIORAL HARASSMENT ISOPLETHS FROM IMPACT AND VIBRATORY PILE DRIVING
Shutdown
zone—impact/
vibratory
(m)
Species
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Steller Sea Lion ...........................................................................................................................
Humpback whale .........................................................................................................................
Harbor Seal ..................................................................................................................................
Harbor Porpoise ...........................................................................................................................
Killer whale ..................................................................................................................................
Minke whale .................................................................................................................................
Dall’s Porpoise .............................................................................................................................
• Temporal and Seasonal
Restrictions—Work may only occur
during daylight hours, when visual
monitoring of marine mammals can be
conducted and all in-water construction
will be limited to the periods February
15 through May 31, 2020, and
September 1 through November 30,
2020.
• Soft Start—The use of a soft-start
procedure is believed to provide
additional protection to marine
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mammals by providing warning and/or
giving marine mammals a chance to
leave the area prior to the hammer
operating at full capacity. For impact
pile driving, contractors will be required
to implement soft start procedures. Soft
Start is not required during vibratory
pile driving and removal activities.
• Visual Marine Mammal
Observation—Monitoring must be
conducted by qualified marine mammal
observers (MMOs), who are trained
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25/10
550/20
100/10
100/20
25/10
550/20
100/20
Level A
harassment
zone—impact
(m)
n/a
n/a
285
630
n/a
n/a
630
Level B
harassment
zone—impact/
vibratory
(m)
2,090/3,265
2,090/3,265
2,090/3,265
2,090/3,265
2,090/3,265
2,090/3,265
2,090/3,265
biologists, with minimum qualifications
described in the Federal Register notice
of the issuance of the 2017–2018 IHA
(82 FR 17209; April 4, 2017). In order
to effectively monitor the pile driving
monitoring zones, two MMOs must be
positioned at the best practical vantage
point(s). If waters exceed a sea-state
which restricts the observers’ ability to
make observations within the shutdown
zone (e.g., excessive wind or fog), pile
installation and removal will cease. Pile
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driving will not be initiated until the
entire shutdown zone is visible. MMOs
shall record specific information on the
sighting forms as described in the
Federal Register notice of the issuance
of the 2017–2018 IHA (82 FR 17209;
April 10, 2017). At the conclusion of the
in-water construction work, ADOT&PF
will provide NMFS with a monitoring
report, which includes summaries of
recorded takes and estimates of the
number of marine mammals that may
have been harassed.
• ADOT&PF must conduct sound
source verification (SSV) testing of
impact and vibratory pile driving for
this project within seven days after
underwater pile driving work is
initiated. An acoustic monitoring plan
must be submitted to NMFS for review
and approval. The SSV testing must be
conducted by an acoustical firm with
prior experience conducting SSV tests
in Alaska. Results must be sent to NMFS
no later than 14 days after field testing
has been completed. If necessary, the
shutdown, Level A, and Level B
harassment zones will be adjusted to
meet MMPA requirements within 7 days
of NMFS receiving results.
Determinations
ADOT&PF proposes to conduct
activities similar to those covered in the
previous 2017–2018 and 2018–2019
IHAs. As described above, the number
of estimated takes of the same stocks of
marine mammals are the same as those
authorized in the 2017–2018 and 2018–
2019 IHAs that were found to meet the
negligible impact and small numbers
standards. Our analysis showed that less
than 9 percent of the populations of
affected stocks, with the exception of
minke and killer whales, could be taken
by harassment. For Northern resident
and West Coast transient killer whales,
the percentages, when instances of take
are compared to abundance, are 41.7
percent and 51.8 percent, respectively.
However, the takes estimated for these
stocks (up to 126 instances assuming all
takes are accrued to a single stock) are
not likely to represent unique
individuals. Instead, we anticipate that
there will be multiple takes of a smaller
number of individuals.
The Northern resident killer whale
stock are most commonly seen in the
waters around the northern end of
Vancouver Island, and in sheltered
inlets along British Columbia’s Central
and North Coasts. They also range
northward into Southeast Alaska in the
winter months. Pile driving operations
are not permitted from December
through February. It is unlikely that
such a large portion of Northern
resident killer whales with ranges of
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this magnitude would be concentrated
in and around Icy Passage.
NMFS believes that small numbers of
the West coast transient killer whale
stock would be taken based on the
limited region and duration of exposure
in comparison with the known
distribution of the transient stock. The
West coast transient stock ranges from
Southeast Alaska to California, while
the proposed project activity would be
stationary. A notable percentage of West
coast transient whales have never been
observed in Southeast Alaska. Only 155
West coast transient killer whales have
been identified as occurring in
Southeast Alaska according to Dahlheim
and White (2010). The same study
identified three pods of transients,
equivalent to 19 animals that remained
almost exclusively in the southern part
of Southeast Alaska (i.e. Clarence Strait
and Sumner Strait). This information
indicates that only a small subset of the
entire West coast Transient stock would
be at risk for take in the Icy Passage area
because a sizable portion of the stock
has either not been observed in
Southeast Alaska or consistently
remains far south of Icy Passage.
There is no current abundance
estimate for minke whale since
population data on this species is dated.
However, the proposed take of 42 minke
whales may be considered small. A
visual survey for cetaceans was
conducted in the central-eastern Bering
Sea in July–August 1999, and in the
southeastern Bering Sea in 2000. Results
of the surveys in 1999 and 2000 provide
provisional abundance estimates of 810
and 1,003 minke whales in the centraleastern and southeastern Bering Sea,
respectively (Moore et al., 2002).
Additionally, line-transect surveys were
conducted in shelf and nearshore waters
in 2001–2003 from the Kenai Fjords in
the Gulf of Alaska to the central
Aleutian Islands. Minke whale
abundance was estimated to be 1,233 for
this area (Zerbini et al., 2006). However,
these estimates cannot be used as an
estimate of the entire Alaska stock of
minke whales because only a portion of
the stock’s range was surveyed. (Allen
and Anglis 2012). Clearly, 42 authorized
takes should be considered a small
number, as it constitutes only 5.2
percent of the smallest abundance
estimate generated during the surveys
just described and each of these surveys
represented only a portion of the minke
whale range.
Note that the numbers of animals
authorized to be taken for all species,
with the exception of Northern resident
and West coast transient killer whales,
would be considered small relative to
the relevant stocks or populations even
PO 00000
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
2407
if each estimated taking occurred to a
new individual—an extremely unlikely
scenario.
The proposed 2020–2021 IHA
includes mitigation, monitoring, and
reporting requirements that are identical
to those depicted in the 2017–2018 and
2018–2019 IHAs, and there is no new
information suggesting that our analysis
or findings should change.
Based on the information 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; and (4) ADOT&PF’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.
Endangered Species Act (ESA)
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 order to comply with the ESA,
NMFS Alaska Regional Office (AKR)
Protected Resources Division issued a
Biological Opinion on March 21, 2017
under section 7 of the ESA, on the
issuance of an IHA to ADOT&PF under
section 101(a)(5)(D) of the MMPA. This
consultation concluded that the project
was likely to adversely affect but
unlikely to jeopardize the continued
existence of the threatened Mexico DPS
of humpback whale (Megaptera
novaeangliae) or the endangered
western DPS of Steller sea lion
(Eumatopias jubatus), or adversely
modify designated critical habitat for
Steller sea lions. In a memo dated June
13, 2018, NMFS AKR concluded that reinitiation of section 7 consultation was
not necessary for the issuance of the
2018–2019 IHA. NMFS PR1 has been in
contact with AKR Protected Resources
Division and expects a similar outcome
for the proposed 2020–2021 IHA. The
only modification to the project is a
E:\FR\FM\15JAN1.SGM
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2408
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 10 / Wednesday, January 15, 2020 / Notices
time shift of approximately one year and
moving the spring start date forward by
approximately two weeks. No additional
take has been requested by ADOT&PF or
is proposed for authorization by NMFS.
All mitigation measures described in the
Biological Opinion would be
implemented to reduce harassment of
marine mammals and document take of
marine mammals. For these reasons, we
anticipate no new or changed effects of
the action beyond what was considered
in the 2017 Biological Opinion. NMFS
will conclude the ESA consultation
prior to reaching a determination
regarding the proposed issuance of the
authorization.
jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES
Proposed Authorization and Request
for Public Comments
As a result of these preliminary
determinations, NMFS proposes to issue
an IHA to ADOT&PF for conducting pile
driving and removal activities as part of
the Gustavus Ferry Terminal
Improvements Project for a period of
one year from February 15, 2020
through February 14, 2021, provided the
previously mentioned mitigation,
monitoring, and reporting requirements
from the 2018–2019 IHA are
incorporated. We request comment on
our analyses and the proposed issuance
of the IHA which would be identical to
the previous IHA with the exception of
a construction start date of February 15
instead of March 1. A draft of the
proposed IHA can be found at https://
www.fisheries.noaa.gov/permit/
incidental-take-authorizations-undermarine-mammal-protection-act.
Request for Public Comments
We request comment on our analyses,
the proposed authorization, and any
other aspect of this Notice of Proposed
IHA for the proposed ADOT&PF project.
We also request at this time comment on
the potential renewal of this proposed
IHA as described in the paragraph
below. Please include with your
comments any supporting data or
literature citations to help inform
decisions on the request for this IHA or
a subsequent Renewal.
On a case-by-case basis, NMFS may
issue a one-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, or nearly identical,
activities as described in the Specified
Activities section of this notice is
planned or (2) the activities as described
in the Specified Activities section of
this notice would not be completed by
the time the IHA expires and a Renewal
would allow for completion of the
activities beyond that described in the
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:18 Jan 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
Dates and Duration section of this
notice, provided all of the following
conditions are met:
• 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 one year from
expiration of the initial IHA).
• The request for renewal must
include the following:
(1) 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); and
(2) 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.
• 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.
Dated: January 9, 2020.
Catherine Marzin,
Deputy Director, Office of Protected
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2020–00470 Filed 1–14–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
Proposed Information Collection;
Comment Request; Southeast Region
Permit Family of Forms
National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
The Department of
Commerce, as part of its continuing
effort to reduce paperwork and
respondent burden, invites the general
public and other Federal agencies to
take this opportunity to comment on
proposed and/or continuing information
collections, as required by the
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
Frm 00026
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of
1995.
To ensure consideration, written
or on-line comments must be submitted
on or before March 16, 2020.
ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments
to Adrienne Thomas, PRA Officer,
NOAA, 151 Patton Avenue, Room 159,
Asheville, NC 28801 (or via the internet
at PRAcomments@doc.gov). All
comments received are part of the
public record. Comments will generally
be posted without change. All
Personally Identifiable Information (for
example, name and address) voluntarily
submitted by the commenter may be
publicly accessible. Do not submit
Confidential Business Information or
otherwise sensitive or protected
information.
DATES:
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Requests for additional information or
copies of the information collection
instrument and instructions should be
directed to Adam Bailey, National
Marine Fisheries Service, Southeast
Regional Office, 263 13th Avenue
South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701, phone:
727–824–5305, or email: adam.bailey@
noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Abstract
This request is for an extension with
revisions to the existing reporting
requirements approved under the Office
of Management and Budget’s (OMB)
Control Number 0648–0205, Southeast
Region Permit Family of Forms. The
NMFS Southeast Regional Office (SERO)
Permits Office administers Federal
fishing permits in the U.S. exclusive
economic zone (EEZ) of the Caribbean
Sea, Gulf of Mexico (Gulf), and South
Atlantic under the authority of the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act
(Magnuson-Stevens Act), 16 U.S.C.
1801. The SERO Permits Office also
proposes to revise parts of the current
collection-of-information approved
under OMB Control Number 0648–0205.
The NMFS Southeast Region manages
the U.S. Federal fisheries in the
Caribbean, Gulf, and South Atlantic
under the fishery management plans
(FMPs) for each region. The regional
fishery management councils prepared
the FMPs pursuant to the MagnusonStevens Act. The regulations
implementing the FMPs, including
those that have recordkeeping and
reporting requirements, are located at 50
CFR part 622.
The recordkeeping and reporting
requirements at 50 CFR part 622 form
the basis for this collection of
E:\FR\FM\15JAN1.SGM
15JAN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 10 (Wednesday, January 15, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2403-2408]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-00470]
[[Page 2403]]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XR077]
Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities;
Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to the Gustavus Ferry Terminal
Improvements Project
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; proposed issuance of an Incidental Harassment
Authorization; request for comments on proposed authorization and
possible renewal.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: NMFS has received a request from the Alaska Department of
Transportation and Public Facilities (ADOT&PF) for authorization to
take marine mammals incidental to pile driving and construction
associated with the Gustavus Ferry Terminal Improvements Project in
Gustavus, Alaska. Pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA),
NMFS is requesting comments on its proposal to issue an incidental
harassment authorization (IHA) to incidentally take marine mammals
during the specified activities. NMFS is also requesting comments on a
possible one-year renewal that could be issued under certain
circumstances and if all requirements are met, as described in Request
for Public Comments at the end of this notice. NMFS will consider
public comments prior to making any final decision on the issuance of
the requested MMPA authorizations, and agency responses will be
summarized in the final notice of our decision.
DATES: Comments and information must be received no later than February
14, 2020.
ADDRESSES: Comments 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/national/marine-mammal-protection/incidental-take-authorizations-construction-activities 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: Robert Pauline, Office of Protected
Resources, NMFS, (301) 427-8401. Electronic copies of the application
and supporting documents, as well as a list of the references cited in
this document, 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
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, a notice of a
proposed incidental take authorization may be provided to the public
for review.
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 in shorthand as
``mitigation''); and requirements pertaining to the mitigation,
monitoring and reporting of such takings are set forth.
The definitions of all applicable MMPA statutory terms cited above
are included in the relevant sections below.
National Environmental Policy Act
To comply with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA;
42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and NOAA Administrative Order (NAO) 216-6A,
NMFS must review our proposed action (i.e., the issuance of an
incidental harassment authorization) with respect to potential impacts
on the human environment. This action is consistent with categories of
activities identified in Categorical Exclusion B4 (incidental
harassment authorizations with no anticipated serious injury or
mortality) of the Companion Manual for NOAA Administrative Order 216-
6A, which do not individually or cumulatively have the potential for
significant impacts on the quality of the human environment and for
which we have not identified any extraordinary circumstances that would
preclude this categorical exclusion. Accordingly, NMFS has
preliminarily determined that the issuance of the proposed IHA
qualifies to be categorically excluded from further NEPA review.
We will review all comments submitted in response to this notice
prior to concluding our NEPA process or making a final decision on the
IHA request.
History of Request
On November 20, 2019, NMFS received a request from the ADOT&PF for
an IHA to take marine mammals incidental to in-water construction in
Gustavus, Alaska. NMFS previously issued an IHA to ADOT&PF to
incidentally take seven species of marine mammal, by Level A and Level
B harassment, during construction activities associated with the
Gustavus Ferry Terminal Improvements project. The IHA, issued on April
4, 2017 (82 FR 17209; April 10, 2017), had effective dates of December
15, 2017 through December 14, 2018. However, ADOT&PF was unable to
conduct any of the work and, therefore, requested a new IHA. NMFS
issued a second IHA with effective dates of December 15, 2018 through
December 14, 2019 (83 FR 55348; November 11, 2018) to cover the
incidental take analyzed and authorized in the first IHA. There were
minor modifications to the number of piles driven but these had no
effect on authorized take numbers, monitoring requirement, or reporting
measures, which remained the same as stated in the original 2017-2018
IHA.
[[Page 2404]]
ADOT&PF was unable to meet the fall pile driving window (September
1 through November 30, 2019) as originally anticipated. Due to this
setback, construction is planned to begin in spring 2020. ADOT&PF
submitted an addendum to the original application requesting that a
supplementary two-week timeframe be included in the spring window from
February 15 through May 31, 2020. During this two-week timeframe, the
contractor would begin vibratory removal of structures in order to get
ahead of schedule while also accommodating for one last sailing of the
ferry to the community before the ferry terminal's closure for the
remainder of construction. The only difference between this proposed
and previously issued IHAs is a construction start date of February 15
instead of March 1. The proposed IHA would be effective from February
15, 2020 through February 14, 2021. Take numbers would be the same as
authorized previously, and the mitigation, monitoring, and reporting
requirements would remain the same as authorized for the 2018-2019 IHA
referenced above. The specified activities are expected to result in
the take of seven species of marine mammals including harbor seal
(Phoca vitulina), Steller sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus), harbor
porpoise (Phocoena phocoena), Dall's porpoise (Phocoenoides dalli),
killer whale (Orcinus orca), humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae),
and minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata).
Description of the Proposed Activity and Anticipated Impacts
The proposed 2020-2021 IHA would cover the same construction
associated with the modernization of the Gustavus Ferry Terminal as
described in the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 IHAs. NMFS refers the reader
to the documents related to the previously issued IHAs for more
detailed description of the project activities. These previous
documents include the Federal Register notice of the issuance of the
2018-2019 IHA (83 FR 55348; November 11, 2018) for the Gustavus Ferry
Terminal Improvements project; the Federal Register notice of the
issuance of the 2017-2018 IHA (82 FR 17209; April 10, 2017); ADOT&PF's
application; the addendum from ADOT&PF dated November 20, 2019; and all
associated references and documents, which may be found at: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/incidental-take-authorizations-construction-activities. A detailed description of
the proposed vibratory and impact pile driving activities at the ferry
terminal improvements project is found in these documents. These
descriptions remain accurate with the exception of moving up the
construction start date by two weeks to February 15, 2020 during the
spring work window instead of starting on March 1, 2020.
Detailed Description of the Action
Differences between the issued 2017-2018 IHA and the issued 2018-
2019 IHA are shown in Table 1, for historical reference, but the
proposed 2020-2021 IHA would be identical to the 2018-2019 IHA. Because
the fullest detailed description of the activity was included in the
materials describing the 2017-2018 IHA, we highlight the difference
between the current 2020-2021 IHA and that one. Pile driving and
removal would occur over the same number of days (50) with installation
and removal of 16 additional piles over 21 additional hours. These
changes represent a 3.5 percent increase in the number of piles
installed and a 21.9 percent increase in the number of piles removed.
The duration of impact driving would remain the same while the time
spent vibratory driving would increase by 18.4 percent. The additional
time required for vibratory driving is due to the increase in
anticipated number of piles removed. Note that these proposed changes
would have a nominal impact on the calculated Level A harassment
isopleths and no effect on Level B harassment isopleths. Therefore, the
sizes of the Level A harassment and Level B harassment zones would
remain unchanged.
Table 1--Gustavus Ferry Pile Installation and Removal Summary
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of piles--
Number of piles-- 2018-2019 and 2020-
Pile size (inches) 2017-2018 IHA 2021 proposed IHA
------------------------------------------------------------------------
30.............................. 14................ 18.
24.............................. 40................ 34 install/12
remove.
18.............................. 0................. 4 remove.
16.............................. 0................. 4 install/4
remove.
12.75........................... 3 install/16 3 install/9
remove. remove.
---------------------------------------
Total installed/total Piles. 57/73............. 59/89.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Driving time duration 2017-2018 IHA..... 2018-2019 proposed
(hours)........... IHA
(hours)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Impact Driving.................. 57................ 57.
Vibratory Driving............... 114............... 135.
---------------------------------------
Total....................... 171............... 192.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Description of Marine Mammals
Marine mammals expected to occur near the project area are shown in
Table 2. A description of the marine mammals in the area of the
activities is found in these previous documents, which remains
applicable to the proposed 2020-2021 IHA as well. In addition, NMFS has
reviewed recent draft Stock Assessment Reports, information on relevant
Unusual Mortality Events, and recent scientific literature, and
determined that no new information affects our original analysis of
impacts under the 2017-2018 IHA.
[[Page 2405]]
Table 2--Marine Mammals Occurrence in the Project Area
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ESA/ MMPA status; Stock abundance (CV,
Common name Scientific name Stock strategic (Y/N) Nmin, most recent PBR Annual M/
\1\ abundance survey) \2\ SI \3\
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Order Cetartiodactyla--Cetacea--Superfamily Mysticeti (baleen whales)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Family Balaenopteridae (rorquals):
Minke Whale..................... Balaenoptera Alaska................ -, -, N N/A (see SAR, N/A, see UND 0
acutorostrata. SAR).
Humpback Whale.................. Megaptera novaeangliae. Central N Pacific -, -, Y 10,103 (0.3, 7,891, 83 * 25
(Hawaii and Mexico 2006) (Hawaii DPS
DPS). 9,487,\a\ Mexico DPS
606 \a\).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Superfamily Odontoceti (toothed whales, dolphins, and porpoises)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Family Delphinidae:
Killer Whale.................... Orcinus orca........... Gulf of Alaska -, -, N 587 c (N/A, 587, 2012) 5.9 1
Transient.
Northern Resident..... -, -, N 302 c (N/A, 302, 2018) * 2.2 * 0.2
*.
West Coast Transient.. -, -, N 243 c (N/A, 243, 2009) 2.4 0
Family Phocoenidae (porpoises):
Dall's Porpoise................. Phocoenoides dalli..... AK.................... -, -, N 83,400 (0.097, N/A, UND 38
1991).
Harbor Porpoise................. Phocoena phocoena...... Southeast Alaska...... -, -, Y see SAR (see SAR, see * See SAR 34
SAR, 2012).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Order Carnivora--Superfamily Pinnipedia
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Family Otariidae (eared seals and
sea lions):
Steller Sea Lion................ Eumetopias jubatus..... Western DPS........... E, D, Y 53,624 (see SAR, * 322 247
53,624, 2018) *.
Eastern DPS........... T, D, Y 43,201 (see SAR, * 2,592 * 113
43,201, 2017) *.
Family Phocidae (earless seals):
Harbor Seal..................... Phoca vitulina......... Glacier Bay/Icy Strait -, -, N 7,455 (see SAR, 6,680, * 120 104
2017) *.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Endangered Species Act (ESA) status: Endangered (E), Threatened (T)/MMPA status: Depleted (D). A dash (-) indicates that the species is not listed
under the ESA or designated as depleted under the MMPA. Under the MMPA, a strategic stock is one for which the level of direct human-caused mortality
exceeds PBR or which is determined to be declining and likely to be listed under the ESA within the foreseeable future. Any species or stock listed
under the ESA is automatically designated under the MMPA as depleted and as a strategic stock.
\2\ NMFS marine mammal stock assessment reports online at: www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/sars/. CV is coefficient of variation; Nmin is the minimum estimate of
stock abundance. In some cases, CV is not applicable [explain if this is the case].
\3\ These values, found in NMFS's SARs, represent annual levels of human-caused mortality plus serious injury from all sources combined (e.g.,
commercial fisheries, ship strike). Annual M/SI often cannot be determined precisely and is in some cases presented as a minimum value or range. A CV
associated with estimated mortality due to commercial fisheries is presented in some cases.
Note: Italicized species are not expected to be taken or proposed for authorization.
\a\ Under the MMPA humpback whales are considered a single stock (Central North Pacific); however, we have divided them here to account for distinct
population segments (DPSs) listed under the ESA. Using the stock assessment from Muto et al. 2019 for the Central North Pacific stock (10,103) and
calculations in Wade et al. 2016, 93.9% of the humpback whales in Southeast Alaska are expected to be from the Hawaii DPS and 6.1% are expected to be
from the Mexico DPS.
* Updated information from Muto et al. 2019. Draft Alaska Marine Mammal Stock Assessments, 2019. Available at: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/draft-marine-mammal-stock-assessment-reports.
Potential Effects on Marine Mammals
A description of the potential effects of the specified activities
on marine mammals and their habitat may be found in these previous
documents, which remains applicable to the issuance of the proposed
2020-2021 IHA. There is no new information on potential effects.
Estimated Take
A detailed description of the methods and inputs used to estimate
authorized take is found in these previous documents. The methods of
estimating take for the proposed 2020-2021 IHA are identical to those
used in the 2017-2018 IHA. The source levels also remain unchanged from
the previously issued IHAs. Observational data was used to calculate
daily take rates in the absence of density data. Since the number of
pile-driving days (50) planned for the 2017-2018 IHA, 2018-2019 IHA and
proposed 2020-2021 IHA are the same, the total estimated take
projections will be identical. Additionally, marine mammal occurrences
are more frequent in the late spring near the Gustavus ferry terminal.
Moving the start date forward by two weeks would reduce the amount of
in-water construction occurring later in the spring when animal
occurrences are elevated. Therefore, the total recorded take amounts
may be reduced. Note that since abundance estimates of some stocks have
been updated in the Draft 2019 SAR (Muto et al. 2019) the percentage of
stock taken has also changed. These changes are shown in Table 3.
[[Page 2406]]
Table 3--Estimated Number of Instances of Exposures That May Be Subject to Level A and Level B Harassment and Percentage of Stocks
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Level A Level B Total proposed
Species authorized authorized authorized Stock(s) abundance Instances of take as a percentage
takes takes takes estimate of total stock
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Steller Sea Lion........................ 0 709 709 53,624 (western distinct 1.3 */1.6*.
population segment in
Alaska)/43,201 (eastern
stock).
Humpback whale.......................... 0 600/(36 \1\) 600/(36 \1\) 10,103 (Central North 5.9/1.1.
Pacific Stock)/3,264
(Mexico DPS).
Harbor Seal............................. 38 616 654 7,455 (Glacier Bay/Icy 8.7*.
Strait).
Harbor Porpoise......................... 26 127 153 11,146 (Southeast Alaska). 1.37.
Killer whale............................ 0 126 126 302 (Northern resident)/ 41.7 */21.4/51.8.
587 (Gulf of Alaska
transient)/243 (West
Coast transient).
Minke whale............................. 0 42 42 Unknown................... Unknown.
Dall's Porpoise......................... 7 35 42 83,400.................... <0.01.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ 6.1 percent of humpbacks whales in southeast Alaska (36) are from Mexico DPS (Wade et al. 2016).
* Updated information from Muto et al. 2019. Draft Alaska Marine Mammal Stock Assessments, 2019. Available at: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/draft-marine-mammal-stock-assessment-reports.
Description of Proposed Mitigation, Monitoring and Reporting Measures
A description of proposed mitigation, monitoring, and reporting
measures is found in the previous documents, which are identical to
those contained in this proposed 2020-2021 IHA. The following measures
would apply to ADOT&PF's mitigation requirements:
Implementation of Shutdown Zone--For all pile driving
activities, ADOT&PF will implement a shutdown zone. The purpose of a
shutdown zone is generally to define an area within which shutdown of
activity would occur upon sighting of a marine mammal (or in
anticipation of an animal entering the defined area). In this case,
shutdown zones (Table 4) are intended to contain areas in which sound
pressure levels (SPLs) equal or exceed acoustic injury criteria for
some authorized species, based on NMFS' acoustic technical guidance
(NMFS 2018).
Implementation of Monitoring Zones--ADOT&PF must monitor
Level A harassment zones as shown in Table 4. These zones are areas
beyond the shutdown zones where animals may be exposed to sound levels
that could result in permanent threshold shift (PTS). ADOT&PF must also
monitor the Level B harassment disturbance zones as shown in Table 4
which are areas where SPLs equal or exceed 160 dB rms for impact
driving and 120 dB rms during vibratory driving. Observation of
monitoring zones enables observers to be aware of and communicate the
presence of marine mammals in the project area and outside the shutdown
zone and thus prepare for potential shutdowns of activity, and also
allows for the collection of marine mammal and effects data. NMFS has
established monitoring protocols described in the Federal Register
notice of the issuance (82 FR 17209; April 10, 2017) which are based on
the distance and size of the monitoring and shutdown zones. These same
protocols are contained in this proposed 2020-2021 IHA.
Table 4--Shutdown, Injury and Behavioral Harassment Isopleths From Impact and Vibratory Pile Driving
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Level A Level B
Shutdown zone-- harassment harassment
Species impact/ zone--impact zone--impact/
vibratory (m) (m) vibratory (m)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Steller Sea Lion................................................ 25/10 n/a 2,090/3,265
Humpback whale.................................................. 550/20 n/a 2,090/3,265
Harbor Seal..................................................... 100/10 285 2,090/3,265
Harbor Porpoise................................................. 100/20 630 2,090/3,265
Killer whale.................................................... 25/10 n/a 2,090/3,265
Minke whale..................................................... 550/20 n/a 2,090/3,265
Dall's Porpoise................................................. 100/20 630 2,090/3,265
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Temporal and Seasonal Restrictions--Work may only occur
during daylight hours, when visual monitoring of marine mammals can be
conducted and all in-water construction will be limited to the periods
February 15 through May 31, 2020, and September 1 through November 30,
2020.
Soft Start--The use of a soft-start procedure is believed
to provide additional protection to marine mammals by providing warning
and/or giving marine mammals a chance to leave the area prior to the
hammer operating at full capacity. For impact pile driving, contractors
will be required to implement soft start procedures. Soft Start is not
required during vibratory pile driving and removal activities.
Visual Marine Mammal Observation--Monitoring must be
conducted by qualified marine mammal observers (MMOs), who are trained
biologists, with minimum qualifications described in the Federal
Register notice of the issuance of the 2017-2018 IHA (82 FR 17209;
April 4, 2017). In order to effectively monitor the pile driving
monitoring zones, two MMOs must be positioned at the best practical
vantage point(s). If waters exceed a sea-state which restricts the
observers' ability to make observations within the shutdown zone (e.g.,
excessive wind or fog), pile installation and removal will cease. Pile
[[Page 2407]]
driving will not be initiated until the entire shutdown zone is
visible. MMOs shall record specific information on the sighting forms
as described in the Federal Register notice of the issuance of the
2017-2018 IHA (82 FR 17209; April 10, 2017). At the conclusion of the
in-water construction work, ADOT&PF will provide NMFS with a monitoring
report, which includes summaries of recorded takes and estimates of the
number of marine mammals that may have been harassed.
ADOT&PF must conduct sound source verification (SSV)
testing of impact and vibratory pile driving for this project within
seven days after underwater pile driving work is initiated. An acoustic
monitoring plan must be submitted to NMFS for review and approval. The
SSV testing must be conducted by an acoustical firm with prior
experience conducting SSV tests in Alaska. Results must be sent to NMFS
no later than 14 days after field testing has been completed. If
necessary, the shutdown, Level A, and Level B harassment zones will be
adjusted to meet MMPA requirements within 7 days of NMFS receiving
results.
Determinations
ADOT&PF proposes to conduct activities similar to those covered in
the previous 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 IHAs. As described above, the
number of estimated takes of the same stocks of marine mammals are the
same as those authorized in the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 IHAs that were
found to meet the negligible impact and small numbers standards. Our
analysis showed that less than 9 percent of the populations of affected
stocks, with the exception of minke and killer whales, could be taken
by harassment. For Northern resident and West Coast transient killer
whales, the percentages, when instances of take are compared to
abundance, are 41.7 percent and 51.8 percent, respectively. However,
the takes estimated for these stocks (up to 126 instances assuming all
takes are accrued to a single stock) are not likely to represent unique
individuals. Instead, we anticipate that there will be multiple takes
of a smaller number of individuals.
The Northern resident killer whale stock are most commonly seen in
the waters around the northern end of Vancouver Island, and in
sheltered inlets along British Columbia's Central and North Coasts.
They also range northward into Southeast Alaska in the winter months.
Pile driving operations are not permitted from December through
February. It is unlikely that such a large portion of Northern resident
killer whales with ranges of this magnitude would be concentrated in
and around Icy Passage.
NMFS believes that small numbers of the West coast transient killer
whale stock would be taken based on the limited region and duration of
exposure in comparison with the known distribution of the transient
stock. The West coast transient stock ranges from Southeast Alaska to
California, while the proposed project activity would be stationary. A
notable percentage of West coast transient whales have never been
observed in Southeast Alaska. Only 155 West coast transient killer
whales have been identified as occurring in Southeast Alaska according
to Dahlheim and White (2010). The same study identified three pods of
transients, equivalent to 19 animals that remained almost exclusively
in the southern part of Southeast Alaska (i.e. Clarence Strait and
Sumner Strait). This information indicates that only a small subset of
the entire West coast Transient stock would be at risk for take in the
Icy Passage area because a sizable portion of the stock has either not
been observed in Southeast Alaska or consistently remains far south of
Icy Passage.
There is no current abundance estimate for minke whale since
population data on this species is dated. However, the proposed take of
42 minke whales may be considered small. A visual survey for cetaceans
was conducted in the central-eastern Bering Sea in July-August 1999,
and in the southeastern Bering Sea in 2000. Results of the surveys in
1999 and 2000 provide provisional abundance estimates of 810 and 1,003
minke whales in the central-eastern and southeastern Bering Sea,
respectively (Moore et al., 2002). Additionally, line-transect surveys
were conducted in shelf and nearshore waters in 2001-2003 from the
Kenai Fjords in the Gulf of Alaska to the central Aleutian Islands.
Minke whale abundance was estimated to be 1,233 for this area (Zerbini
et al., 2006). However, these estimates cannot be used as an estimate
of the entire Alaska stock of minke whales because only a portion of
the stock's range was surveyed. (Allen and Anglis 2012). Clearly, 42
authorized takes should be considered a small number, as it constitutes
only 5.2 percent of the smallest abundance estimate generated during
the surveys just described and each of these surveys represented only a
portion of the minke whale range.
Note that the numbers of animals authorized to be taken for all
species, with the exception of Northern resident and West coast
transient killer whales, would be considered small relative to the
relevant stocks or populations even if each estimated taking occurred
to a new individual--an extremely unlikely scenario.
The proposed 2020-2021 IHA includes mitigation, monitoring, and
reporting requirements that are identical to those depicted in the
2017-2018 and 2018-2019 IHAs, and there is no new information
suggesting that our analysis or findings should change.
Based on the information 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; and (4) ADOT&PF'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.
Endangered Species Act (ESA)
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 order to comply with the ESA, NMFS Alaska Regional Office (AKR)
Protected Resources Division issued a Biological Opinion on March 21,
2017 under section 7 of the ESA, on the issuance of an IHA to ADOT&PF
under section 101(a)(5)(D) of the MMPA. This consultation concluded
that the project was likely to adversely affect but unlikely to
jeopardize the continued existence of the threatened Mexico DPS of
humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) or the endangered western DPS
of Steller sea lion (Eumatopias jubatus), or adversely modify
designated critical habitat for Steller sea lions. In a memo dated June
13, 2018, NMFS AKR concluded that re-initiation of section 7
consultation was not necessary for the issuance of the 2018-2019 IHA.
NMFS PR1 has been in contact with AKR Protected Resources Division and
expects a similar outcome for the proposed 2020-2021 IHA. The only
modification to the project is a
[[Page 2408]]
time shift of approximately one year and moving the spring start date
forward by approximately two weeks. No additional take has been
requested by ADOT&PF or is proposed for authorization by NMFS. All
mitigation measures described in the Biological Opinion would be
implemented to reduce harassment of marine mammals and document take of
marine mammals. For these reasons, we anticipate no new or changed
effects of the action beyond what was considered in the 2017 Biological
Opinion. NMFS will conclude the ESA consultation prior to reaching a
determination regarding the proposed issuance of the authorization.
Proposed Authorization and Request for Public Comments
As a result of these preliminary determinations, NMFS proposes to
issue an IHA to ADOT&PF for conducting pile driving and removal
activities as part of the Gustavus Ferry Terminal Improvements Project
for a period of one year from February 15, 2020 through February 14,
2021, provided the previously mentioned mitigation, monitoring, and
reporting requirements from the 2018-2019 IHA are incorporated. We
request comment on our analyses and the proposed issuance of the IHA
which would be identical to the previous IHA with the exception of a
construction start date of February 15 instead of March 1. A draft of
the proposed IHA can be found at https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/permit/incidental-take-authorizations-under-marine-mammal-protection-act.
Request for Public Comments
We request comment on our analyses, the proposed authorization, and
any other aspect of this Notice of Proposed IHA for the proposed
ADOT&PF project. We also request at this time comment on the potential
renewal of this proposed IHA as described in the paragraph below.
Please include with your comments any supporting data or literature
citations to help inform decisions on the request for this IHA or a
subsequent Renewal.
On a case-by-case basis, NMFS may issue a one-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, or nearly identical, activities as described in the
Specified Activities section of this notice is planned or (2) the
activities as described in the Specified Activities section of this
notice would not be completed by the time the IHA expires and a Renewal
would allow for completion of the activities beyond that described in
the Dates and Duration section of this notice, provided all of the
following conditions are met:
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 one year from
expiration of the initial IHA).
The request for renewal must include the following:
(1) 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);
and
(2) 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.
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.
Dated: January 9, 2020.
Catherine Marzin,
Deputy Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2020-00470 Filed 1-14-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
