Taking and Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Training Operations at the Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point Range Complex, 63102-63103 [2020-22022]
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Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 194 / Tuesday, October 6, 2020 / Notices
• David Holst: Chief Financial Officer,
Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric
Research, NOAA
• John S. Luce, Jr.: General Counsel,
NOAA
• David Michaud: Director, Office of
Central Processing, National Weather
Service, NOAA
• Donna Whiting: Director, Office of
Protected Resources, National Marine
Fisheries Service, NOAA
• Deidre Jones: Chief Administrative
Officer, Office of the Chief
Administrative Officer, NOAA
• Michelle Mainelli-McInerney:
Director, Office of Dissemination,
National Weather Service, NOAA
• Christopher Oliver: Assistant
Administrator for Marine Fisheries,
National Marine Fisheries Service,
NOAA
• Juliana Blackwell: Director, Office of
National Geodetic Survey, National
Ocean Services, NOAA
• Gary Matlock: Deputy Assistant
Administrator for Services, Oceanic
and Atmospheric Research, NOAA
Dated: September 30, 2020.
Sean Clayton,
Director, Office of Human Capital Services,
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration.
[FR Doc. 2020–22002 Filed 10–5–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–12–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
[RTID 0648–XA448]
Taking and Importing Marine
Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals
Incidental to Training Operations at the
Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point
Range Complex
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; receipt of application for
Letter of Authorization; request for
comments and information.
AGENCY:
NMFS has received a request
from the U.S. Marine Corp (USMC) for
authorization to take bottlenose dolphin
incidental to training operations at the
Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS)
Cherry Point Range Complex over the
course of seven years from the date of
issuance. Pursuant to regulations
implementing the Marine Mammal
Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is
announcing receipt of the USMC’s
request for the development and
implementation of regulations
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
SUMMARY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:52 Oct 05, 2020
Jkt 253001
governing the incidental taking of
marine mammals. NMFS invites the
public to provide information,
suggestions, and comments on USMC’s
application and request.
DATES: Comments and information must
be received no later than November 5,
2020.
ADDRESSES: Comments on the
applications should be addressed to
Jolie Harrison, Chief, Permits and
Conservation Division, Office of
Protected Resources, National Marine
Fisheries Service. Written comments
should be submitted via email to
ITP.guan@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
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/permit/
incidental-take-authorizationsundermarine-mammal-protection-act
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:
Shane Guan, Office of Protected
Resources, NMFS, (301) 427–8401. An
electronic copy of USMC’s application
may be obtained online at: https://
www.fisheries.noaa.gov/permit/
incidental-take-authorizationsundermarine-mammal-protection-act. 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
PO 00000
Frm 00025
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
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 the 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 the takings are set forth.
The NDAA (Pub. L. 108–136)
removed the ‘‘small numbers’’ and
‘‘specified geographical region’’
limitations indicated above and
amended the definition of ‘‘harassment’’
as it applies to a ‘‘military readiness
activity.’’ The activity for which
incidental take of marine mammals is
being requested addressed here qualifies
as a military readiness activity. The
definitions of all applicable MMPA
statutory terms cited above are included
in the relevant sections below.
Summary of Request
On August 3, 2020, NMFS received an
application from USMC requesting
authorization for take of bottlenose
dolphin incidental to training
operations at the MCAS Cherry Point
Range Complex off North Carolina. The
requested regulations would be valid for
seven years, from May 18, 2021 through
May 17, 2028. USMC plans to conduct
training activities conducted at the inwater ranges that involve the use of live
(explosive) and inert (non-explosive)
ordnance, and small boat maneuvers.
The proposed action may incidentally
expose marine mammals occurring in
the vicinity to elevated levels of sound
and potential auditory injury in the
form of permanent threshold shift,
thereby resulting in incidental take, by
Level A and Level B harassment. NMFS
provided questions and comments to
USMC after receiving the initial
application regarding the scope of the
project and impact analysis. After
receiving USMC’s responses, NMFS
considered the Letter of Authorization
application adequate and complete on
September 10, 2020.
E:\FR\FM\06OCN1.SGM
06OCN1
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 194 / Tuesday, October 6, 2020 / Notices
Specified Activities
USMC’s proposed training operations
involve the use of live (explosive) and
inert (non-explosive) ordnance, and
small boat maneuvers. These activities
would occur at the in-water bombing
targets Brant Island (BT–9) and Rattan
Bay (BT–11) located in Pamlico Sound,
North Carolina (NC).
Munitions firing training conducted
on the water ranges includes air-tosurface (firing from aircraft to surface
water targets) and surface-to-surface
(firing from ship or boat to surface
targets). The number of sorties that
conduct these missions may vary from
year to year. The deployment of live
ordnance would only occur at BT–9; all
munitions fired at BT–11 would be inert
with the exception of a signal charge in
practice bombs.
Surface-to-Surface Firing
Gunnery exercise is the only category
of surface-to-surface activity currently
conducted at BT–9 and BT–11. During
this exercise, a small boat, typically
operated by Special Boat Team
personnel, uses a machine gun to attack
a surface target that simulates another
ship, boat, swimmer, floating mine or
near-shore land targets. Boats
conducting surface-to-surface firing
activities will typically use 7.62
millimeter (mm) or .50 caliber (cal)
machine guns; 40 mm grenade machine
guns; or G911 concussion hand
grenades. This exercise is usually a livefire exercise, but blanks may be used so
that the boat crews can practice their
ship handing skills. BT–9 is the most
common target used for gunnery
exercises. A target is not used for the
gunnery exercises employing the G911
Concussion grenade, as the goal of this
specific training is to learn how to
throw the grenade into the water.
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
Air-to-Surface Firing
There are four categories of air-tosurface activities conducted at the
MCAS Cherry Point bombing targets:
Mine laying, bombing, gunnery, and
rocket exercises.
• Mine Laying: These activities
involve a fixed-wing aircraft deploying
inert mine shapes in an offensive or
defensive pattern. Mine laying
operations are conducted in the waters
around BT–9. Mine laying exercises
could include the use of Mark (MK)–62/
63, MK–76, BDU–45, or Bomb Dummy
Unit (BDU)–48 inert training shapes.
Each training shape weighs 500/1000,
25, 500, and 10 (lbs.) (227/454, 11, 227,
and 4.5 kg), respectively.
• Bombing Exercise: During these
exercises, fixed-wing aircraft (two-four
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:52 Oct 05, 2020
Jkt 253001
craft) deliver bombs against surface
maritime targets with the goal of
destroying or disabling enemy ships or
boats. These exercises occur during day
and night. Air-to-surface bombing
exercises employ either unguided or
precision-guided munitions. Unguided
munitions include MK–76 and BDU–45
inert training bombs, as well as the MK–
80 series of inert bombs (no cluster
munitions are authorized). Precisionguided munitions consist of laserguided bombs (inert) and laser-guided
training rounds (inert).
• Gunnery Exercise: Rotary-wing (and
tilt-wing) gunnery exercises involve
CH–53, UH–1, CH–46, MV–22, or H–60
rotary-wing aircraft with mounted 7.62
mm or .50 cal machine guns. Each
gunner expends approximately 800
rounds of 7.62 mm or 200 rounds of .50
cal ammunition per exercise. Fixedwing gunnery exercises involve two
aircraft that begin descent to the target
from an altitude of approximately 914
meters (m) (3,000 feet [ft]) while still
several miles away. Within a distance of
1,219 m (4,000 ft) from the target, each
aircraft fires a burst of approximately 30
rounds before descending to a minimum
altitude of 305 m (1,000 ft) and then
breaks off and repositions for another
strafing run. This continues until each
aircraft expends its exercise ordnance
allowance of approximately 250 rounds.
Typically fixed-wing gunnery exercises
involve F/A–18 with Vulcan M61A1/
A2, 20 mm cannon, and AV–8 with
GAU–12, 25 mm cannon.
• Rocket Exercise: Fixed- and rotarywing aircraft crews launch rockets at
surface maritime targets during rocket
exercises with the goal of destroying or
disabling enemy ships or boats. Rocket
exercises may occur day or night. These
operations employ 2.75-inch (in) and 5in rockets.
A suite of proposed mitigation and
monitoring measures for marine
mammals that would be applied during
specific training activities includes: (1)
Establishing and monitoring exclusion
zones for marine mammals, (2)
conducting range sweeps during the
morning of each exercise day prior to
range operations, and (3) conducting a
cold pass by an aircraft immediately
prior to ordnance delivery at the
bombing targets.
Information Solicited
Interested persons may submit
information, suggestions, and comments
concerning USMC’s request (see
ADDRESSES). NMFS will consider all
information, suggestions, and comments
related to the request during the
development of proposed regulations
governing the incidental taking of
PO 00000
Frm 00026
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
63103
marine mammals by the USMC, if
appropriate.
Dated: October 1, 2020.
Donna Wieting,
Director, Office of Protected Resources,
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2020–22022 Filed 10–5–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
[RTID 0648–XA532]
Marine Mammals; File No. 23807;
Correction
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; receipt of application for
permit amendment; correction.
AGENCY:
On September 28, 2020,
NMFS published a notice in the Federal
Register announcing that NMFS had
received an application for an
amendment to Permit No. 23807 from
Plimsoll Productions Limited, 51–55
Whiteladies Road, Bristol, BS8 2LY,
United Kingdom (Responsible Party:
Anuschka Schofield). That document
did not reflect that filming may also
occur up to 3 miles offshore from
Colleton County, SC. This document
corrects this error. All other information
is unchanged.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Erin
Markin or Carrie Hubard, (301) 427–
8401.
SUMMARY:
The notice
of receipt for a permit amendment (85
FR 60767; September 28, 2020) did not
reflect that filming activities will occur
up to 3 miles offshore of Colleton
County, SC. In fact, the permit holder
has requested to film up to 3 miles
offshore from Charleston and Colleton
Counties.
All other information contained in the
document is unchanged.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Correction
In the Federal Register of September
28, 2020, in FR Doc. 2020–21334, on
page 60767, in the second column, in
the second paragraph under the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION heading,
the third sentence is corrected to read as
follows:
In addition, the permit holder is
requesting to expand the filming area to
up to 3 miles offshore from Charleston
and Colleton Counties.
E:\FR\FM\06OCN1.SGM
06OCN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 194 (Tuesday, October 6, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63102-63103]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-22022]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XA448]
Taking and Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals
Incidental to Training Operations at the Marine Corps Air Station
Cherry Point Range Complex
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; receipt of application for Letter of Authorization;
request for comments and information.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: NMFS has received a request from the U.S. Marine Corp (USMC)
for authorization to take bottlenose dolphin incidental to training
operations at the Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Cherry Point Range
Complex over the course of seven years from the date of issuance.
Pursuant to regulations implementing the Marine Mammal Protection Act
(MMPA), NMFS is announcing receipt of the USMC's request for the
development and implementation of regulations governing the incidental
taking of marine mammals. NMFS invites the public to provide
information, suggestions, and comments on USMC's application and
request.
DATES: Comments and information must be received no later than November
5, 2020.
ADDRESSES: Comments on the applications should be addressed to Jolie
Harrison, Chief, Permits and Conservation Division, Office of Protected
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service. Written comments should
be submitted via email 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/permit/incidental-take-authorizations-undermarine-mammal-protection-act 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: Shane Guan, Office of Protected
Resources, NMFS, (301) 427-8401. An electronic copy of USMC's
application may be obtained online at: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/permit/incidental-take-authorizations-undermarine-mammal-protection-act. 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 the 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 the takings are set forth.
The NDAA (Pub. L. 108-136) removed the ``small numbers'' and
``specified geographical region'' limitations indicated above and
amended the definition of ``harassment'' as it applies to a ``military
readiness activity.'' The activity for which incidental take of marine
mammals is being requested addressed here qualifies as a military
readiness activity. The definitions of all applicable MMPA statutory
terms cited above are included in the relevant sections below.
Summary of Request
On August 3, 2020, NMFS received an application from USMC
requesting authorization for take of bottlenose dolphin incidental to
training operations at the MCAS Cherry Point Range Complex off North
Carolina. The requested regulations would be valid for seven years,
from May 18, 2021 through May 17, 2028. USMC plans to conduct training
activities conducted at the in-water ranges that involve the use of
live (explosive) and inert (non-explosive) ordnance, and small boat
maneuvers. The proposed action may incidentally expose marine mammals
occurring in the vicinity to elevated levels of sound and potential
auditory injury in the form of permanent threshold shift, thereby
resulting in incidental take, by Level A and Level B harassment. NMFS
provided questions and comments to USMC after receiving the initial
application regarding the scope of the project and impact analysis.
After receiving USMC's responses, NMFS considered the Letter of
Authorization application adequate and complete on September 10, 2020.
[[Page 63103]]
Specified Activities
USMC's proposed training operations involve the use of live
(explosive) and inert (non-explosive) ordnance, and small boat
maneuvers. These activities would occur at the in-water bombing targets
Brant Island (BT-9) and Rattan Bay (BT-11) located in Pamlico Sound,
North Carolina (NC).
Munitions firing training conducted on the water ranges includes
air-to-surface (firing from aircraft to surface water targets) and
surface-to-surface (firing from ship or boat to surface targets). The
number of sorties that conduct these missions may vary from year to
year. The deployment of live ordnance would only occur at BT-9; all
munitions fired at BT-11 would be inert with the exception of a signal
charge in practice bombs.
Surface-to-Surface Firing
Gunnery exercise is the only category of surface-to-surface
activity currently conducted at BT-9 and BT-11. During this exercise, a
small boat, typically operated by Special Boat Team personnel, uses a
machine gun to attack a surface target that simulates another ship,
boat, swimmer, floating mine or near-shore land targets. Boats
conducting surface-to-surface firing activities will typically use 7.62
millimeter (mm) or .50 caliber (cal) machine guns; 40 mm grenade
machine guns; or G911 concussion hand grenades. This exercise is
usually a live-fire exercise, but blanks may be used so that the boat
crews can practice their ship handing skills. BT-9 is the most common
target used for gunnery exercises. A target is not used for the gunnery
exercises employing the G911 Concussion grenade, as the goal of this
specific training is to learn how to throw the grenade into the water.
Air-to-Surface Firing
There are four categories of air-to-surface activities conducted at
the MCAS Cherry Point bombing targets: Mine laying, bombing, gunnery,
and rocket exercises.
Mine Laying: These activities involve a fixed-wing
aircraft deploying inert mine shapes in an offensive or defensive
pattern. Mine laying operations are conducted in the waters around BT-
9. Mine laying exercises could include the use of Mark (MK)-62/63, MK-
76, BDU-45, or Bomb Dummy Unit (BDU)-48 inert training shapes. Each
training shape weighs 500/1000, 25, 500, and 10 (lbs.) (227/454, 11,
227, and 4.5 kg), respectively.
Bombing Exercise: During these exercises, fixed-wing
aircraft (two-four craft) deliver bombs against surface maritime
targets with the goal of destroying or disabling enemy ships or boats.
These exercises occur during day and night. Air-to-surface bombing
exercises employ either unguided or precision-guided munitions.
Unguided munitions include MK-76 and BDU-45 inert training bombs, as
well as the MK-80 series of inert bombs (no cluster munitions are
authorized). Precision-guided munitions consist of laser-guided bombs
(inert) and laser-guided training rounds (inert).
Gunnery Exercise: Rotary-wing (and tilt-wing) gunnery
exercises involve CH-53, UH-1, CH-46, MV-22, or H-60 rotary-wing
aircraft with mounted 7.62 mm or .50 cal machine guns. Each gunner
expends approximately 800 rounds of 7.62 mm or 200 rounds of .50 cal
ammunition per exercise. Fixed-wing gunnery exercises involve two
aircraft that begin descent to the target from an altitude of
approximately 914 meters (m) (3,000 feet [ft]) while still several
miles away. Within a distance of 1,219 m (4,000 ft) from the target,
each aircraft fires a burst of approximately 30 rounds before
descending to a minimum altitude of 305 m (1,000 ft) and then breaks
off and repositions for another strafing run. This continues until each
aircraft expends its exercise ordnance allowance of approximately 250
rounds. Typically fixed-wing gunnery exercises involve F/A-18 with
Vulcan M61A1/A2, 20 mm cannon, and AV-8 with GAU-12, 25 mm cannon.
Rocket Exercise: Fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft crews
launch rockets at surface maritime targets during rocket exercises with
the goal of destroying or disabling enemy ships or boats. Rocket
exercises may occur day or night. These operations employ 2.75-inch
(in) and 5-in rockets.
A suite of proposed mitigation and monitoring measures for marine
mammals that would be applied during specific training activities
includes: (1) Establishing and monitoring exclusion zones for marine
mammals, (2) conducting range sweeps during the morning of each
exercise day prior to range operations, and (3) conducting a cold pass
by an aircraft immediately prior to ordnance delivery at the bombing
targets.
Information Solicited
Interested persons may submit information, suggestions, and
comments concerning USMC's request (see ADDRESSES). NMFS will consider
all information, suggestions, and comments related to the request
during the development of proposed regulations governing the incidental
taking of marine mammals by the USMC, if appropriate.
Dated: October 1, 2020.
Donna Wieting,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2020-22022 Filed 10-5-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
