Taking and Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to the Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind Energy Projects Offshore of New Jersey, 59061-59062 [2022-21104]
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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 188 / Thursday, September 29, 2022 / Notices
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
RIN 0648–XC092
Taking and Importing Marine
Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals
Incidental to the Atlantic Shores
Offshore Wind Energy Projects
Offshore of New Jersey
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; receipt of application for
Letters of Authorization; request for
comments and information.
AGENCY:
NMFS has received a request
from Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind,
LLC (Atlantic Shores) for authorization
to take small numbers of marine
mammals incidental to activities
associated with two offshore wind
energy projects in the Bureau of Ocean
Energy Management’s (BOEM) Lease
Area Outer Continental Shelf (OCS)–A–
0499 off of New Jersey over the course
of 5 years beginning on January 1, 2025.
Pursuant to regulations implementing
the Marine Mammal Protection Act
(MMPA), NMFS is announcing receipt
of Atlantic Shores’ request for the
development and implementation of
regulations governing the incidental
taking of marine mammals and
associated Letters of Authorization
(LOAs). NMFS invites the public to
provide information, suggestions, and
comments on Atlantic Shores’
application and request.
DATES: Comments and information must
be received no later than October 31,
2022.
SUMMARY:
Comments on the
applications 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
ITP.Potlock@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
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
ADDRESSES:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:52 Sep 28, 2022
Jkt 256001
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:
Kelsey Potlock, Office of Protected
Resources, NMFS, (301) 427–8401. An
electronic copy of Atlantic Shores’
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
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 authorization is provided to
the public for review.
An incidental take authorization shall
be granted if NMFS finds that the taking
will have a negligible impact on the
species or stock(s), will not have an
unmitigable adverse impact on the
availability of the species or stock(s) for
subsistence uses (where relevant), and if
the permissible methods of taking and
requirements pertaining to the
mitigation, monitoring and reporting of
such takings are set forth.
NMFS has defined ‘‘negligible
impact’’ in 50 CFR 216.103 as an impact
resulting from the specified activity that
cannot be reasonably expected to, and is
not reasonably likely to, adversely affect
the species or stock through effects on
annual rates of recruitment or survival.
The MMPA states that the term ‘‘take’’
means to harass, hunt, capture, kill or
attempt to harass, hunt, capture, or kill
any marine mammal.
Except with respect to certain
activities not pertinent here, the MMPA
defines ‘‘harassment’’ as: any act of
pursuit, torment, or annoyance, which
(i) has the potential to injure a marine
mammal or marine mammal stock in the
wild (Level A harassment); or (ii) has
the potential to disturb a marine
PO 00000
Frm 00024
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
59061
mammal or marine mammal stock in the
wild by causing disruption of behavioral
patterns, including, but not limited to,
migration, breathing, nursing, breeding,
feeding, or sheltering (Level B
harassment).
Summary of Request
On February 28, 2022, NMFS received
an application from Atlantic Shores
requesting authorization to take marine
mammals incidental to construction
activities associated with two offshore
wind energy projects (referred to as
Project 1 and Project 2 in the
application) in the Lease Area OCS–A–
0499 off of New Jersey. In response to
our comments, and following extensive
information exchanges with NMFS,
Atlantic Shores submitted a revised
application on August 12, 2022, that we
determined was adequate and complete
on August 25, 2022. The requested
regulations would be valid for 5 years,
from January 1, 2025 through December
31, 2029.
Atlantic Shores plans to conduct
construction activities for Projects 1 and
2 that consist of the following: impact
installation of wind turbine generator
(WTG) and offshore substation (OSS)
foundations (consisting of either
monopile or jacket foundations); site
characterization surveys; impact
installation of a permanent
meteorological (met) tower; deployment
of metocean buoys; placement of scour
protection; the installation of eight
export cables via trenching, laying, and
burial; and vibratory pile driving to
temporarily install and remove sheet
pile cofferdams at two cable landfall
sites. Vessels will be used to transport
crew, supplies, and materials to the
project area and to support construction
activities. Atlantic Shores may also
conduct fisheries surveys during the
effective period of the requested
regulations, as required by BOEM.
Atlantic Shores has indicated no
unexploded ordinance/munitions and
explosives of concern (UXO/MEC)
detonations would occur during the
effective period of the regulations and
has not included this activity as part of
the specified activities. A subset of the
specified activities included in the
application (i.e., installing piles using
impact and vibratory pile driving and
site characterization surveys) may result
in the incidental take, by Level A
harassment and/or Level B harassment,
of marine mammals. Therefore, Atlantic
Shores requests authorization to
incidentally take marine mammals.
Specified Activities
In Executive Order 14008, President
Biden stated that it is the policy of the
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59062
Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 188 / Thursday, September 29, 2022 / Notices
United States to organize and deploy the
full capacity of its agencies to combat
the climate crisis to implement a
Government-wide approach that
reduces climate pollution in every
sector of the economy; increases
resilience to the impacts of climate
change; protects public health;
conserves our lands, waters, and
biodiversity; delivers environmental
justice; and spurs well-paying union
jobs and economic growth, especially
through innovation, commercialization,
and deployment of clean energy
technologies and infrastructure.
Through a competitive leasing process
under 30 CFR 585.211, Atlantic Shores
was award Commercial Lease OCS–A
0499, located offshore of New Jersey in
the New Jersey Wind Energy Area and
has the exclusive rights to submit a
construction and operations plan (COP)
for activities within the lease area.
Atlantic Shores has submitted a COP to
BOEM proposing the construction,
operation, maintenance, and conceptual
decommissioning of Project 1 and
Project 2, collectively generating 1,510
megawatts (MW) of clean energy.
Combined, these projects will have a
maximum of 200 WTGs, 10 OSSs, 1
meteorological tower, and 8
transmission cables making landfall at 2
locations in Atlantic and Monmouth
Counties.
Atlantic Shores anticipates that
activities potentially resulting in the
take of marine mammals could occur
during the life of the requested
regulations and associated 5-year Letters
of Authorization (LOAs). Specifically,
these activities are:
• The installation, via impact pile
driving, of up to 200 WTGs utilizing
either monopile (up to 15-meter (m) in
diameter) or jacket foundations (up to 5m in diameter pin piles). Project 1
would be comprised of 105–111
foundations and Project 2 would be
comprised of 89–95 foundations;
• The installation, via impact driving,
of up to 10 OSSs using up to jacket
foundations comprised of 5-m pin piles
(with 5 OSSs allocated to each project);
• Construction-related highresolution site assessment geophysical
surveys utilizing acoustic sources with
frequencies of <180 kilohertz (kHz) for
up to 300 days (estimate of 60 days
annually) during all 5 years;
• The installation, via impact driving,
of one permanent met tower in Project
1 using either a monopile up to 15-m in
diameter or a jacket foundation using up
to 5-m pin piles; and
• The installation and removal, via
vibratory driving, of up to eight
temporary steel sheet pile cofferdams at
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:52 Sep 28, 2022
Jkt 256001
the Atlantic cable landfall site (Project
1) and the Monmouth cable landfall site
(Project 2).
Information Solicited
Interested persons may submit
information, suggestions, and comments
concerning Atlantic Shores’ 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 Atlantic Shores, if
appropriate.
Dated: September 23, 2022.
Kimberly Damon-Randall,
Director, Office of Protected Resources,
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2022–21104 Filed 9–28–22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
Evaluation of State Coastal
Management Program; Notice of Public
Meeting; Request for Comments
Office for Coastal Management,
National Ocean Service, National
Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, Department of
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of public meeting and
opportunity to comment.
AGENCY:
The National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Office for Coastal Management, will
hold a public meeting to solicit
comments on the performance
evaluation of the Ohio Coastal
Management Program.
DATES: NOAA will consider all written
comments received by Friday, October
28, 2022. A public meeting will be held
on Wednesday, October 19, 2022, at 4
p.m. eastern daylight time (EDT).
ADDRESSES: Comments may be
submitted by one of the following
methods:
Email: Ralph Cantral, Evaluator,
NOAA Office for Coastal Management,
at Ralph.Cantral@noaa.gov.
Written comments received are
considered part of the public record,
and the entirety of the comment,
including the name of the commenter,
email address, attachments, and other
supporting materials, will be publicly
accessible. Sensitive personal
information, such as account numbers
or Social Security numbers, should not
be included with the comment.
SUMMARY:
Frm 00025
Fmt 4703
Public Meeting: Provide oral
comments during the virtual public
meeting on Wednesday, October 19,
2022, at 4 p.m. EDT by registering as a
speaker at https://forms.gle/
yCaey6vciCKGMKTo7. Please register by
Tuesday, October 18, 2022, at 5 p.m.
EDT. Upon registration, a confirmation
email will be sent. The lineup of
speakers will be based on the date and
time of registration. One hour prior to
the start of the meeting on October 19,
2022, an email will be sent out with a
link to the public meeting and
information about participating.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
PO 00000
Comments that are not responsive or
that contain profanity, vulgarity, threats,
or other inappropriate language will not
be considered.
Sfmt 4703
Ralph Cantral, Evaluator, NOAA Office
for Coastal Management, by email at
Ralph.Cantral@noaa.gov or by phone at
(843) 474–1357. Copies of the previous
evaluation findings and the 2016–2020
Assessment and Strategies may be
viewed and downloaded on the internet
at https://coast.noaa.gov/czm/
evaluations/. A copy of the evaluation
notification letter and most recent
progress report may be obtained upon
request by contacting Ralph Cantral.
Section
312 of the Coastal Zone Management
Act (CZMA) requires NOAA to conduct
periodic evaluations of federally
approved coastal management programs
and national estuarine research reserves.
The evaluation process includes holding
one or more public meetings,
considering written public comments,
and consulting with interested Federal,
State, and local agencies and members
of the public. During the evaluation,
NOAA will consider the extent to which
the State of Ohio has met the national
objectives, adhered to the management
program approved by the Secretary of
Commerce, and adhered to the terms of
financial assistance under the CZMA.
When the evaluation is complete,
NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management
will place a notice in the Federal
Register announcing the availability of
the final evaluation findings.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Keelin Kuipers,
Deputy Director, Office for Coastal
Management, National Ocean Service,
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration.
[FR Doc. 2022–21136 Filed 9–28–22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–JE–P
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 188 (Thursday, September 29, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59061-59062]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-21104]
[[Page 59061]]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XC092
Taking and Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals
Incidental to the Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind Energy Projects
Offshore of New Jersey
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; receipt of application for Letters of Authorization;
request for comments and information.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: NMFS has received a request from Atlantic Shores Offshore
Wind, LLC (Atlantic Shores) for authorization to take small numbers of
marine mammals incidental to activities associated with two offshore
wind energy projects in the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management's (BOEM)
Lease Area Outer Continental Shelf (OCS)-A-0499 off of New Jersey over
the course of 5 years beginning on January 1, 2025. Pursuant to
regulations implementing the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS
is announcing receipt of Atlantic Shores' request for the development
and implementation of regulations governing the incidental taking of
marine mammals and associated Letters of Authorization (LOAs). NMFS
invites the public to provide information, suggestions, and comments on
Atlantic Shores' application and request.
DATES: Comments and information must be received no later than October
31, 2022.
ADDRESSES: Comments on the applications 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/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: Kelsey Potlock, Office of Protected
Resources, NMFS, (301) 427-8401. An electronic copy of Atlantic Shores'
application 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
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
authorization is provided to the public for review.
An incidental take authorization shall be granted if NMFS finds
that the taking will have a negligible impact on the species or
stock(s), will not have an unmitigable adverse impact on the
availability of the species or stock(s) for subsistence uses (where
relevant), and if the permissible methods of taking and requirements
pertaining to the mitigation, monitoring and reporting of such takings
are set forth.
NMFS has defined ``negligible impact'' in 50 CFR 216.103 as an
impact resulting from the specified activity that cannot be reasonably
expected to, and is not reasonably likely to, adversely affect the
species or stock through effects on annual rates of recruitment or
survival.
The MMPA states that the term ``take'' means to harass, hunt,
capture, kill or attempt to harass, hunt, capture, or kill any marine
mammal.
Except with respect to certain activities not pertinent here, the
MMPA defines ``harassment'' as: any act of pursuit, torment, or
annoyance, which (i) has the potential to injure a marine mammal or
marine mammal stock in the wild (Level A harassment); or (ii) has the
potential to disturb a marine mammal or marine mammal stock in the wild
by causing disruption of behavioral patterns, including, but not
limited to, migration, breathing, nursing, breeding, feeding, or
sheltering (Level B harassment).
Summary of Request
On February 28, 2022, NMFS received an application from Atlantic
Shores requesting authorization to take marine mammals incidental to
construction activities associated with two offshore wind energy
projects (referred to as Project 1 and Project 2 in the application) in
the Lease Area OCS-A-0499 off of New Jersey. In response to our
comments, and following extensive information exchanges with NMFS,
Atlantic Shores submitted a revised application on August 12, 2022,
that we determined was adequate and complete on August 25, 2022. The
requested regulations would be valid for 5 years, from January 1, 2025
through December 31, 2029.
Atlantic Shores plans to conduct construction activities for
Projects 1 and 2 that consist of the following: impact installation of
wind turbine generator (WTG) and offshore substation (OSS) foundations
(consisting of either monopile or jacket foundations); site
characterization surveys; impact installation of a permanent
meteorological (met) tower; deployment of metocean buoys; placement of
scour protection; the installation of eight export cables via
trenching, laying, and burial; and vibratory pile driving to
temporarily install and remove sheet pile cofferdams at two cable
landfall sites. Vessels will be used to transport crew, supplies, and
materials to the project area and to support construction activities.
Atlantic Shores may also conduct fisheries surveys during the effective
period of the requested regulations, as required by BOEM. Atlantic
Shores has indicated no unexploded ordinance/munitions and explosives
of concern (UXO/MEC) detonations would occur during the effective
period of the regulations and has not included this activity as part of
the specified activities. A subset of the specified activities included
in the application (i.e., installing piles using impact and vibratory
pile driving and site characterization surveys) may result in the
incidental take, by Level A harassment and/or Level B harassment, of
marine mammals. Therefore, Atlantic Shores requests authorization to
incidentally take marine mammals.
Specified Activities
In Executive Order 14008, President Biden stated that it is the
policy of the
[[Page 59062]]
United States to organize and deploy the full capacity of its agencies
to combat the climate crisis to implement a Government-wide approach
that reduces climate pollution in every sector of the economy;
increases resilience to the impacts of climate change; protects public
health; conserves our lands, waters, and biodiversity; delivers
environmental justice; and spurs well-paying union jobs and economic
growth, especially through innovation, commercialization, and
deployment of clean energy technologies and infrastructure.
Through a competitive leasing process under 30 CFR 585.211,
Atlantic Shores was award Commercial Lease OCS-A 0499, located offshore
of New Jersey in the New Jersey Wind Energy Area and has the exclusive
rights to submit a construction and operations plan (COP) for
activities within the lease area. Atlantic Shores has submitted a COP
to BOEM proposing the construction, operation, maintenance, and
conceptual decommissioning of Project 1 and Project 2, collectively
generating 1,510 megawatts (MW) of clean energy. Combined, these
projects will have a maximum of 200 WTGs, 10 OSSs, 1 meteorological
tower, and 8 transmission cables making landfall at 2 locations in
Atlantic and Monmouth Counties.
Atlantic Shores anticipates that activities potentially resulting
in the take of marine mammals could occur during the life of the
requested regulations and associated 5-year Letters of Authorization
(LOAs). Specifically, these activities are:
The installation, via impact pile driving, of up to 200
WTGs utilizing either monopile (up to 15-meter (m) in diameter) or
jacket foundations (up to 5-m in diameter pin piles). Project 1 would
be comprised of 105-111 foundations and Project 2 would be comprised of
89-95 foundations;
The installation, via impact driving, of up to 10 OSSs
using up to jacket foundations comprised of 5-m pin piles (with 5 OSSs
allocated to each project);
Construction-related high-resolution site assessment
geophysical surveys utilizing acoustic sources with frequencies of <180
kilohertz (kHz) for up to 300 days (estimate of 60 days annually)
during all 5 years;
The installation, via impact driving, of one permanent met
tower in Project 1 using either a monopile up to 15-m in diameter or a
jacket foundation using up to 5-m pin piles; and
The installation and removal, via vibratory driving, of up
to eight temporary steel sheet pile cofferdams at the Atlantic cable
landfall site (Project 1) and the Monmouth cable landfall site (Project
2).
Information Solicited
Interested persons may submit information, suggestions, and
comments concerning Atlantic Shores' 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 Atlantic Shores, if appropriate.
Dated: September 23, 2022.
Kimberly Damon-Randall,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-21104 Filed 9-28-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
