Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Chevron Richmond Refinery Long Wharf Maintenance and Efficiency Project in San Francisco Bay, California, 17777-17783 [2021-07022]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 64 (Tuesday, April 6, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17777-17783]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-07022]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XA966]


Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities; 
Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Chevron Richmond Refinery Long 
Wharf Maintenance and Efficiency Project in San Francisco Bay, 
California

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.

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SUMMARY: NMFS has received a request from Chevron Products Company 
(Chevron) for an incidental harassment authorization (IHA), that would 
cover a subset of the take authorized in IHAs previously issued to 
Chevron, to incidentally take marine mammals, by Level B harassment 
only, during construction activities associated with the Chevron 
Richmond Refinery Long Wharf Maintenance and Efficiency Project (LWMEP) 
in San Francisco Bay, California. However, some changes have occurred 
during this year's evaluation of the project. Hydroacoustic monitoring 
data has led to changes in source levels and other noise generating 
criteria that affect Level A and Level B harassment and shutdown zones. 
The local abundance for one population has increased. Pursuant to the 
Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is requesting comments on its 
proposal to issue an IHA to incidentally take marine mammals during the 
specified activities. NMFS is also requesting comments on a possible 1 
year renewal IHA 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 May 6, 
2021.

ADDRESSES: Comments 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,

[[Page 17778]]

to any other address or individual, or received after the end of the 
comment period. Comments, including all attachments, must not exceed a 
25-megabyte file size. Attachments to 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-under-marine-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: Dwayne Meadows, Ph.D., Office of 
Protected Resources, NMFS, (301) 427-8401. Electronic copies of the 
application, 2019 and 2020 IHAs, and supporting documents (including 
NMFS Federal Register notices of the earlier proposed and final 
authorizations, and the previous IHAs), as well as a list of the 
references cited in this document, may be obtained online at: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/permit/incidental-take-authorizations-under-marine-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 is 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 here as ``mitigation 
measures''). Monitoring and reporting of such takings are also 
required. The meaning of key terms such as ``take,'' ``harassment,'' 
and ``negligible impact'' can be found in section 3 of the MMPA (16 
U.S.C. 1362) and the agency's regulations at 50 CFR 216.103.

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 IHA) 
with respect to potential impacts on the human environment.
    This action is consistent with categories of activities identified 
in Categorical Exclusion B4 IHAs 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 February 1, 2018, NMFS received a request from Chevron for an 
IHA to take marine mammals incidental to pile driving and pile removal 
associated with the LWMEP in San Francisco Bay, California. An IHA was 
issued on May 31, 2018 (83 FR 27548, June 13, 2018). Chevron was unable 
to complete all of the planned work and was issued a second IHA on June 
1, 2019 (84 FR 28474, June 19, 2019) and when the work was again not 
completed a Renewal IHA was issued on June 11, 2020 (85 FR 37064; June 
19, 2020). Chevron was again unable to complete the work in 2020 and on 
February 24, 2021 requested a new IHA to authorize take of marine 
mammals for the subset of the initially planned work that could not be 
completed. The application was deemed adequate and complete on March 
22, 2021. Chevron requested the new IHA be effective from June 1, 2021 
through May 31, 2022. Chevron does not qualify for an additional 
renewal IHA, but given the proposed work is a subset of that which has 
been previously analyzed, we will be referencing the prior 
authorization except where activities or analysis have changed as 
described below.

Description of the Specified Activities and Anticipated Impacts

    As described in the 2018, 2019 and 2020 IHAs, Chevron is upgrading 
Long Wharf to comply with current Marine Oil Terminal Engineering and 
Maintenance Standards and in order to accept more modern, fuel 
efficient vessels. The remaining work includes installing four new 
standoff fenders and removing obsolete piles at Berth 2 and installing 
four new dolphins and removing temporary piles associated with the 
prior work at Berth 4. Remaining construction at Long Wharf includes 
vibratory pile installation of 52 14-inch composite piles, vibratory 
removal of 150 piles (eight 36-inch steel piles, 36 14-inch steel H 
piles, and 106 16-inch timber piles) and impact installation of nine 
24-inch concrete piles (Table 1). Note some pile sizes were described 
with various diameters in prior notifications (e.g., the composite 
piles are tapered and their diameter ranges from 12 to 14 inches and 
they are now described by their widest diameter) but there is no change 
to actual planned piles. The activities consist of 36 days of in-water 
work. Pile driving and removal activities will continue to occur within 
the standard NMFS work windows for Endangered Species Act (ESA)-listed 
fish species (June 1 through November 30).
    Vibratory pile removal and installation and impact pile 
installation will introduce underwater sounds that may result in take, 
by Level B harassment, of seven species of marine mammals in San 
Francisco Bay. This IHA proposes to authorize the remaining take 
associated with the work not completed under the prior IHAs. The H 
piles and 36-inch piles were not part of the 2020 renewal IHA but were 
part of earlier IHAs for this project. The H-piles were noted as 
temporary piles in the 2018 IHA application although Chevron was in the 
process of determining the permitting requirements to leave these 
fender piles in place. In the 2019 IHA application Chevron had included 
the 36-inch piles as temporary and listed the activities as 
installation and removal. The piles were installed in 2019. Chevron had 
been considering leaving the 36-inch piles in place as well. Chevron 
has since

[[Page 17779]]

reconsidered leaving any of the temporary piles in place and has 
decided to remove the H-piles at Berth 2 and the 36-inch piles at Berth 
4. Therefore, removal of these piles is included in the 2021 
application.
    The prior IHAs included Level A harassment take associated with 
installation of larger piles that has since been completed, therefore 
no Level A harassment take is requested or proposed for this IHA. The 
earlier proposed and final IHA documents, monitoring report, and public 
comments can be found on our project web page at: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/incidental-take-authorization-old-sitka-dock-north-dolphins-expansion-project-sitka-alaska.

Detailed Description of the Activity

    A detailed description of the demolition and construction 
activities for which take is proposed here may be found in the notices 
of the proposed and final IHAs for the 2018, 2019 and 2020 IHAs. The 
location, and nature of the activities, including the types of 
equipment planned for use, are identical to those described in the 
previous notices.
    As part of the prior authorizations Chevron was required to conduct 
hydroacoustic monitoring of their pile driving. Based on this 
monitoring Chevron has applied updated estimates of strikes per pile to 
drive 24-inch concrete piles and source levels and transmission loss 
coefficients for multiple pile sizes. Below we update our analysis and 
the Level A and Level B harassment isopleths and shutdown zones based 
on these new data.

                        Table 1--Pile Driving Details for Work Remaining To Be Completed
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                                                     Number of       Number of                       Time/pile
 Pile type and number per day   Pile driver type       piles       driving days    Strikes/pile        (min)
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36-inch steel pipe pile (4/     Vibratory                      8               2             N/A               5
 day).                           removal.
14-inch H pile removal (6/day)  Vibratory                     36               6             N/A               5
                                 removal.
24-inch concrete (1-2/day)....  Impact install..               9               8             440              20
14-inch composite (5/day).....  Vibratory                     52              11             N/A              10
                                 install.
16-inch timber pile (12/day)..  Vibratory                    106               9             N/A            6.67
                                 removal.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Description of Marine Mammals

    A description of the marine mammals in the area of the activities 
for which authorization of take is proposed here, including information 
on abundance, status, distribution, and hearing, may be found in the 
notices of the proposed and final IHAs for the 2019 and 2020 
authorization. NMFS has reviewed the monitoring data from the 2020 IHA, 
recent draft Stock Assessment Reports, information on relevant Unusual 
Mortality Events, and other scientific literature, and determined that 
neither this nor any other new information affects which species or 
stocks have the potential to be affected or the pertinent information 
in the Description of the Marine Mammals in the Area of Specified 
Activities contained in the supporting documents for the 2019 and 2020 
IHAs.

Potential Effects on Marine Mammals and Their Habitat

    A description of the potential effects of the specified activity on 
marine mammals and their habitat for the activities for which take is 
proposed here may be found in the notices of the proposed and final 
IHAs for the 2018 authorization. NMFS has reviewed the monitoring data 
from the 2019 and 2020 IHAs, recent draft Stock Assessment Reports, 
information on relevant Unusual Mortality Events, and other scientific 
literature, and determined that, besides the revised source information 
harbor seal occurrence mentioned above and analyzed below, neither this 
nor any other new information affects our initial analysis of impacts 
on marine mammals and their habitat.

Estimated Take

    A detailed description of the methods and inputs used to estimate 
take for the specified activity are found in the notice of the final 
2018 and 2019 IHAs. As noted above, hydroacoustic monitoring from prior 
years has changed the source levels, transmission loss coefficients, 
time and strikes to drive piles for various of the pile sizes. Instead 
of referencing prior discussions of these topics we provide complete 
details of the pile driving parameters used to compute the Level A and 
Level B harassment isopleths for this proposed IHA in Tables 1 and 2. 
Based on these revised inputs the Level A and Level B harassment 
isopleth radii from the NMFS User Spreadsheet are shown for all pile 
sizes in Tables 2 and 3.

                              Table 2--Pile Driving Source Levels and Calculated Distances to Level A Harassment Isopleths
                                                           [Sound source reference in italics]
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                                                 Source levels at 10 meters                      Distance to Level A threshold (meters)
   Pile type and sound source    Transmission         (dB) unless noted       --------------------------------------------------------------------------
           reference                 loss     --------------------------------  Low-frequency    Mid-frequency    High-frequency    Phocid      Otariid
                                  coefficient      Peak          RMS/SEL          cetaceans        cetaceans        cetaceans      pinnipeds   pinnipeds
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Attenuated Impact Driving (with
 bubble curtain):
    24-inch square concrete                15          191  161 SEL..........               31                1               37          17           1
     (2018 acoustic monitoring).
Vibratory Driving/Extraction:
    14-inch Composite Barrier              15          178  168 RMS..........               18                2               26          11           1
     Pile (Laughlin 2012).
    36-inch steel pipe pile                20          196  167 RMS @15 m....               13                2               17           9           1
     (2019 acoustic monitoring).
    14-inch H pile (2018                   20          165  150 RMS..........                2                1                2           1           1
     acoustic monitoring).
    16-inch timber pile (WSDOT             15          N/A  152 RMS..........                2                1                3           1           1
     2011).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Notes: SEL = sound exposure level, RMS = Root Mean Square.


[[Page 17780]]


    Table 3--Distances to Level B Thresholds and Size of the Level B
                   Harassment Zone for Each Pile Type
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                      Area of  Level B
          Pile type            Level B  harassment      zone  (square
                               isopleth  (meters)        kilometers)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Attenuated Impact Driving
 (with bubble curtain):
    24-inch square concrete.                    74                  0.01
Vibratory Driving/
 Extraction:
    14-inch Composite.......                15,849                  26.5
    36-inch steel pipe......               * 3,358                  4.04
    14-inch H...............                 * 316                  0.05
    16-inch timber..........                 1,359                   0.9
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Using transmission loss coefficient and source levels from
  hydroacoustic monitoring.

    The stocks taken, methods of take, and types of take remain 
unchanged from the previously issued IHAs. The only change to the 
marine mammal density/occurrence data used to calculate take is an 
increase in harbor seal abundance at the Castro Rocks haulout. Castro 
Rocks are part of the survey area for long-term National Park Service 
(NPS) monitoring studies of harbor seal colonies within the Golden Gate 
National Recreation Area that have been conducted since 1976. The take 
estimates for this stock for this project have been based on the 
highest mean plus the standard error of harbor seals observed at Castro 
Rocks during recent annual surveys conducted by the NPS during the 
molting season. Based on the most recent surveys (Codde 2020, Codde and 
Allen 2020) and using the methods from the prior IHAs, the current 
daily abundance for use in calculating take of this stock would 
increase to 376 seals. However, given the prior monitoring results, the 
smaller pile sizes left to be driven or removed, and their location and 
distance from Castro Rocks, we are reverting to our more common 
practice of using the mean abundance estimate to estimate take. The 
mean using the most recent data is 237 animals per day (an increase 
from 176). Therefore, Level B harassment take for this stock is the 
estimated daily abundance in the project area (237) times the number of 
days of in-water work (36), resulting in a proposed authorization for 
Level B harassment of 8,532 harbor seals. Because the Level A 
harassment zones are small and we believe the Protected Species 
Observers (PSOs) will be able to effectively monitor the Level A 
harassment zones and implement shutdowns, we do not propose to 
authorize take by Level A harassment for this or any other stock.
    For the remaining species take is estimated as follows (using the 
same criteria as prior IHAs). It is possible that a lone northern 
elephant seal may enter the Level B Harassment area once every 3 days 
during pile driving, resulting in a proposed authorization for Level B 
harassment of 12 northern elephant seals. While no northern fur seals 
have been observed in the 2018-2020 monitoring for this project, the 
incidence of northern fur seal in San Francisco Bay depends largely on 
oceanic conditions, with animals more likely to occur during El 
Ni[ntilde]o events. As in prior IHAs, we propose authorization for 
Level B harassment of 10 northern fur seals. While no bottlenose 
dolphins have been observed in the 2018-2020 monitoring for this 
project, this species occurs intermittently in San Francisco Bay. As in 
prior IHAs, we propose authorization for Level B harassment of 30 
bottlenose dolphins. Gray whales occasionally enter San Francisco Bay, 
and as in prior IHAs, we propose authorization for Level B harassment 
of 2 gray whales. Estimated Level B harassment take for California sea 
lions and harbor porpoises for this project has been based on densities 
of those stocks in the vicinity of the project. The estimated densities 
for these species have not changed from prior IHAs (0.16 and 0.17 
animals per square kilometer, respectively). The only factors that have 
changed are the days of work for each pile type and the areas of the 
Level B harassment zones (see Tables 1 and 3 above, respectively).
    Based on the above discussion, the only changes to the number of 
proposed takes, which are indicated below in Table 4, is to account for 
the increased occurrence of harbor seals and the area and days of work 
remaining to be completed.

                       Table 4--Estimated Take by Level B Harassment, by Species and Stock
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                                                                                      Level B       Percent of
            Common name                Scientific name             Stock            harassment         stock
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harbor seal.......................  Phoca vitulina.......  California...........           8,532             1.6
Harbor porpoise...................  Phocoena phocoena....  San Francisco--                   327             4.4
                                                            Russian River.
California sea lion...............  Zalophus               U.S..................             308            <0.1
                                     californianus.
Northern elephant seal............  Mirounga               California Breeding..              12            <0.1
                                     angustirostris.
Gray whale........................  Eschrichtius robustus  Eastern North Pacific               2            <0.1
Northern fur seal.................  Callorhinus ursinus..  California...........              10            <0.1
Bottlenose Dolphin................  Tursiops truncatus...  California Coastal...              30             6.6
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Description of Proposed Mitigation, Monitoring and Reporting Measures
    The proposed mitigation, monitoring, and reporting measures 
included as requirements in this authorization are identical to those 
included in the Federal Register notice announcing the issuance of the 
2020 IHA, except for the changes to the shutdown zones discussed above 
and shown in Table 5 and updated language we have developed for our 
typical measures. The location of the PSOs has changed eliminating some 
of the prior concerns about visibility towards Castro Rocks as the work 
locations for the remaining work at berth 4 are off to the north side 
of the wharf. Because the mitigation measures have not increased, the 
discussion of the least practicable adverse impact included in in the

[[Page 17781]]

Federal Register notice announcing the issuance of the 2019 IHA remains 
accurate. The following measures are proposed for this authorization:
     Conduct training between construction supervisors and 
crews and the marine mammal monitoring team and relevant Chevron staff 
prior to the start of all pile driving activity and when new personnel 
join the work, so that responsibilities, communication procedures, 
monitoring protocols, and operational procedures are clearly 
understood;
     Avoid direct physical interaction with marine mammals 
during construction activity. If a marine mammal comes within 10 m of 
such activity, operations must cease and vessels must reduce speed to 
the minimum level required to maintain steerage and safe working 
conditions;
     Pile driving activity must be halted upon observation of 
either a species for which incidental take is not authorized or a 
species for which incidental take has been authorized but the 
authorized number of takes has been met, entering or within the 
harassment zone;
     Implement the shutdown zones indicated in Table 5;
     Employ PSOs and establish monitoring locations as 
described in the Marine Mammal Monitoring Plan and Section 5 of the 
IHA. For all pile driving locations two PSOs must be used, with a 
minimum of one PSO assigned to each active pile driving location to 
monitor the shutdown zones. During work at Berth 2, PSOs will be 
stationed on the east and west edges of the Long Wharf. The PSO on the 
east has 180 degree views from the Long Wharf, north, south and east 
toward the shore and would have views of Castro Rocks. The PSO on the 
west would have 180 degree views, north to south, with views of San 
Francisco Bay to the west. During work at Berth 4, one PSO would be 
stationed on the east side of the wharf, just south of Berth 4 on an 
elevated viewpoint. This position allows clear views of the work area 
and shutdown zones, and views of the waters to the east and west of 
Long Wharf. A second PSO would be stationed on the mooring dolphin at 
the north end of the Long Wharf. This location provides a view of the 
work area and shutdown zones from the north as well as a clear view of 
Castro Rocks and areas to the east and west;
     The placement of PSOs during all pile driving and removal 
and drilling activities will ensure that the entire shutdown zone is 
visible during pile installation. Should environmental conditions 
deteriorate such that marine mammals within the entire shutdown zone 
will not be visible (e.g., fog, heavy rain), pile driving and removal 
must be delayed until the PSO is confident marine mammals within the 
shutdown zone could be detected;
     Monitoring must take place from 30 minutes prior to 
initiation of pile driving activity through 30 minutes post-completion 
of pile driving activity. Pre-start clearance monitoring must be 
conducted during periods of visibility sufficient for the lead PSO to 
determine the shutdown zones clear of marine mammals. Pile driving may 
commence following 30 minutes of observation when the determination is 
made;
     If pile driving is delayed or halted due to the presence 
of a marine mammal, the activity may not commence or resume until 
either the animal has voluntarily exited and been visually confirmed 
beyond the shutdown zone or 15 minutes have passed without re-detection 
of the animal;
     Chevron must use soft start techniques when impact pile 
driving. Soft start requires contractors to provide an initial set of 
three strikes at reduced energy, followed by a 30-second waiting 
period, then two subsequent reduced-energy strike sets. A soft start 
must be implemented at the start of each day's impact pile driving and 
at any time following cessation of impact pile driving for a period of 
30 minutes or longer;
     Use a bubble curtain during impact pile driving of 24-inch 
concrete piles and must ensure that it is operated as necessary to 
achieve optimal performance, and that no reduction in performance may 
be attributable to faulty deployment. At a minimum, the Holder must 
adhere to the following performance standards: The bubble curtain must 
distribute air bubbles around 100 percent of the piling circumference 
for the full depth of the water column. The lowest bubble ring must be 
in contact with the substrate for the full circumference of the ring, 
and the weights attached to the bottom ring shall ensure 100 percent 
substrate contact. No parts of the ring or other objects shall prevent 
full substrate contact. Air flow to the bubblers must be balanced 
around the circumference of the pile;
     Conduct sound source level measurements during driving of 
a minimum of two 14-inch composite piles;
     Monitoring must be conducted by qualified, NMFS-approved 
PSOs, in accordance with the following: PSOs must be independent (i.e., 
not construction personnel) and have no other assigned tasks during 
monitoring periods. At least one PSO must have prior experience 
performing the duties of a PSO during construction activity pursuant to 
a NMFS-issued incidental take authorization. Other PSOs may substitute 
other relevant experience, education (degree in biological science or 
related field), or training. Where a team of three or more PSOs are 
required, a lead observer or monitoring coordinator must be designated. 
The lead observer must have prior experience performing the duties of a 
PSO during construction activity pursuant to a NMFS-issued incidental 
take authorization. PSOs must be approved by NMFS prior to beginning 
any activity subject to this IHA.
     PSOs must record all observations of marine mammals as 
described in the Monitoring Plan, regardless of distance from the pile 
being driven. PSOs shall document any behavioral reactions in concert 
with distance from piles being driven or removed;
     The marine mammal and acoustic monitoring reports must 
contain the informational elements described in the Monitoring Plan;
     A draft marine mammal monitoring report, and PSO 
datasheets and/or raw sighting data, must be submitted to NMFS within 
90 calendar days after the completion of pile driving activities. If no 
comments are received from NMFS within 30 calendar days, the draft 
report will constitute the final report. If comments are received, a 
final report addressing NMFS comments must be submitted within 30 
calendar days after receipt of comments; and
     In the event that personnel involved in the construction 
activities discover an injured or dead marine mammal, the IHA-holder 
must immediately cease the specified activities and report the incident 
to the Office of Protected Resources (OPR) 
([email protected]), NMFS and to West Coast Regional 
Stranding Coordinator as soon as feasible.

[[Page 17782]]



                  Table 5--Shutdown Zones by Marine Mammal Hearing Group, Pile Size, and Method
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                   Radial distance of shutdown zone (meters)
                              ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
          Pile type             Low-frequency    Mid-frequency    High-frequency      Phocid          Otariid
                                  cetaceans        cetaceans        cetaceans        pinnipeds       pinnipeds
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Attenuated Impact Driving
 (with bubble curtain):
    24-inch square concrete..               40               10               40              20              10
Vibratory Driving/Extraction:
    14-inch Composite........               20               10               30              20              10
    36-inch steel pipe pile..               20               10               20              10              10
    14-inch H pile...........               10               10               10              10              10
    16-inch timber...........               10               10               10              10              10
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Preliminary Determinations

    The action in this IHA is identical to the action in the 2020 IHA 
except that sound isopleths have decreased for a number of sources, 
harbor seal daily rate of take has increased, and the mitigation and 
monitoring measures have been updated to our new language. As described 
in the notice of issuance of the 2020 final IHA (85 FR 37064, June 19, 
2020) we found that Chevron's construction activities would have a 
negligible impact and that the taking would be small relative to 
population size. For this analysis of the new IHA we found that marine 
mammal stock abundance was still estimated to be the same as for the 
2020 IHA. Other marine mammal information and the potential effects 
were identical to the 2020 IHA except for the increase in the daily 
abundance of harbor seals. The estimated take was calculated 
identically to the 2020 IHA, except for harbor seals, and zone sizes 
decreased for a number of pile sizes. The increased daily abundance and 
take of harbor seals still involves far less than 10 percent of the 
stock (Table 4). Mitigation and monitoring are identical to the 2020 
IHA except for the decrease in Level A harassment and shutdown zones 
for many pile types and the change in standard language, which has no 
substantive effect on our analysis.
    NMFS has preliminarily concluded that there is no new information 
suggesting that our analysis or findings should change from those 
reached for the 2020 IHA. This includes consideration of the estimated 
abundance of harbor seals increasing, the change in harassment and 
shutdown zones, and the updating of IHA language for mitigation and 
monitoring.
    Based on the information and analysis 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 proposed 
authorized takes will have a negligible impact on the affected marine 
mammal species or stocks; (3) the proposed authorized takes represent 
small numbers of marine mammals relative to the affected stock 
abundances; (4) Chevron'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, and; 
(5) appropriate monitoring and reporting requirements are included.

Endangered Species Act

    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, in this case with the West Coast Region, 
Protected Resources Division Office, whenever we propose to authorize 
take for endangered or threatened species.
    No incidental take of ESA-listed species is proposed for 
authorization or expected to result from this activity. Therefore, NMFS 
has determined that formal consultation under section 7 of the ESA is 
not required for this action.

Proposed Authorization

    As a result of these preliminary determinations, NMFS proposes to 
issue an IHA to Chevron for conducting the LWMEP in San Francisco Bay, 
CA from June 1, 2021 through May 31, 2022, provided the previously 
described mitigation, monitoring, and reporting requirements are 
incorporated. 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 (included in both this document 
and the referenced documents supporting the prior IHAs), the proposed 
authorization, and any other aspect of this notice of proposed IHA for 
the proposed construction activity at Long Wharf. We also request 
comment on the potential for 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 our final 
decision on the request for MMPA authorization.
    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 
Description of the Specified Activities and Anticipated Impacts section 
of this notice is planned or (2) the activities as described in the 
Description of the Specified Activities and Anticipated Impacts s 
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 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).
    (2) A preliminary monitoring report showing the results of the 
required monitoring to date and an explanation showing that the 
monitoring results do

[[Page 17783]]

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: April 1, 2021.
Catherine Marzin,
Acting Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2021-07022 Filed 4-5-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P