Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to the Replacement of Pier 3 at Naval Station Norfolk in Norfolk, Virginia, 2880-2887 [2023-00801]
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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 11 / Wednesday, January 18, 2023 / Notices
Dated: January 11, 2023.
David Mussatt,
Supervisory Chief, Regional Programs Unit.
[FR Doc. 2023–00797 Filed 1–17–23; 8:45 am]
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Dated: January 11, 2023.
Lisa W. Wang,
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Compliance, Alternate Chairman, ForeignTrade Zones Board.
[FR Doc. 2023–00815 Filed 1–17–23; 8:45 am]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
[Order No. 2138]
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
Approval for Production Authority;
Foreign-Trade Zone 26, OFS Fitel, LLC
(Optical Fiber Products), Carrollton,
Georgia
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Pursuant to its authority under the ForeignTrade Zones Act of June 18, 1934, as
amended (19 U.S.C. 81a–81u), the ForeignTrade Zones Board (the Board) adopts the
following Order:
Whereas, the Foreign-Trade Zones
(FTZ) Act provides for ‘‘ . . . the
establishment . . . of foreign-trade
zones in ports of entry of the United
States, to expedite and encourage
foreign commerce, and for other
purposes,’’ and authorizes the ForeignTrade Zones Board to grant to qualified
corporations the privilege of
establishing foreign-trade zones in or
adjacent to U.S. Customs and Border
Protection ports of entry;
Whereas, the Georgia Foreign-Trade
Zone, Inc., grantee of Foreign-Trade
Zone 26, has requested production
authority on behalf of OFS Fitel, LLC
(OFS), within FTZ 26 in Carrollton,
Georgia (B–2–2022, docketed January
20, 2022);
Whereas, notice inviting public
comment has been given in the Federal
Register (87 FR 4195–4196, January 27,
2022) and the application has been
processed pursuant to the FTZ Act and
the Board’s regulations; and
Whereas, the Board adopts the
findings and recommendations of the
examiner’s report, and finds that the
requirements of the FTZ Act and the
Board’s regulations would be satisfied,
and that the proposal would be in the
public interest, if subject to the
restriction listed below;
Now, therefore, the Board hereby
orders:
The application for production
authority under zone procedures within
FTZ 26 on behalf of OFS, as described
in the application and Federal Register
notice, is approved, subject to the FTZ
Act and the Board’s regulations,
including Section 400.13, and further
subject to the following restriction: the
authority shall remain in effect for a
period of five years from the date of
approval by the Board, subject to
extension upon review.
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Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to
Specified Activities; Taking Marine
Mammals Incidental to the
Replacement of Pier 3 at Naval Station
Norfolk in Norfolk, Virginia
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; modification of an
incidental harassment authorization.
AGENCY:
In accordance with the
regulations implementing the Marine
Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) as
amended, notification is hereby given
that NMFS has issued a modified
incidental harassment authorization
(IHA) to the U.S. Navy to incidentally
harass, by Level A and Level B
harassment, marine mammals during
construction activities associated with
the replacement of Pier 3 at Naval
Station Norfolk at Norfolk, Virginia.
DATES: This Authorization is effective
from the date of issuance through March
31, 2023.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kim
Corcoran, Office of Protected Resources,
NMFS, (301) 427–8401. Electronic
copies of the original application and
supporting documents (including
Federal Register notices of the original
proposed and final authorizations, and
the previous IHA), 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-undermarine-mammal-protection-act. In case
of problems accessing these documents,
please call the contact listed above.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
SUMMARY:
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
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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.
History of Request
On March 15, 2022, NMFS issued an
incidental harassment authorization
(IHA) to the Navy to incidentally harass,
by Level A and Level B harassment
only, marine mammals during
construction activities associated with
the Pier 3 Replacement Project at Naval
Station (NAVFAC) Norfolk in Norfolk,
Virginia (87 FR 15945; March 21, 2022).
Species authorized for take included
humpback whale (Megaptera
novaeangliae), bottlenose dolphin
(Tursiops truncatus), harbor porpoise
(Phocoena phocoena), harbor seal
(Phoca vitulina), and gray seal
(Halichoerus grypus). The effective
dates of this IHA are April 1, 2022
through March 31, 2023.
On July 29, 2022, NMFS received a
request from the Navy for a modification
to the Pier 3 Replacement project IHA
due to a change in the construction
contractor’s plan to include concurrent
pile driving and drilling activities.
During consultation for the initial IHA,
the Navy did not anticipate the need for
concurrent activities in the first year of
work. This IHA covers 1 year of a larger
project for which the Navy has
submitted a request for a Letter of
Authorization (LOA) (87 FR 60998;
October 7, 2022) for additional work
occurring from April 1, 2023 through
March 31, 2028. However, the
construction contractor has since
determined that in order to meet the
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scope requirements and dates to
complete the pier, concurrent activities
will be necessary within the first year of
construction. Therefore, the Navy is
requesting, and NMFS is modifying the
2022 IHA to include concurrent pile
driving and drilling activities. This
change may increase both Level A and
Level B harassment isopleths and result
in an increased estimate of exposures by
Level B harassment for bottlenose
dolphin and by Level A harassment for
harbor seal. NMFS has determined that
the changes also necessitate revised
shutdown mitigation provisions for
concurrent pile driving scenarios for all
species. The monitoring and reporting
measures remain the same as prescribed
in the initial IHA, and no additional
take is requested nor authorized for
other species.
pile driving, vibratory pile driving and
removal, and drilling) in the same
locations that were described in the
initial IHA. The monitoring and
reporting measures remain the same as
prescribed in the initial IHA, while
revisions to the required mitigation
measures have been made. NMFS refers
the reader to relevant documents related
to issuance of the initial IHA, including
the Navy’s application, the notice of
proposed IHA and request for comments
(87 FR 3976; January 26, 2022), and
notice of issued IHA (87 FR 15945;
March 21, 2022) (available at https://
www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/
incidental-take-authorizationreplacement-pier-3-naval-stationnorfolk-norfolk-virginia) for more
detailed description of the project
activities.
Description of the Activity and
Anticipated Impacts
The modified IHA will include the
same construction activities (i.e., impact
Detailed Description of the Action
A detailed description of the
construction activities is found in the
aforementioned documents associated
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with issuance of the initial IHA. The
location, time of year, and nature of the
activities, including the types of piles
and methods of installation and removal
are identical to those described in the
previous documents. However, as noted
in the History of Request section, the
Navy anticipates that concurrent pile
driving will be necessary to complete
year one activities on time. Potential
concurrent activity scenarios for year
one can be found in Table 1. For
individual pile driving activities, the
Level A and Level B harassment zones
remain unchanged (see initial IHA (87
FR 3976; January 26, 2022)), however
for concurrent pile driving scenarios
harassment zones increased. Therefore,
the larger harassment zone for each
scenario was used to calculate exposure
estimates as well as to determine
appropriate shutdown zones.
TABLE 1—POTENTIAL CONCURRENT ACTIVITY SCENARIOS
Concurrent scenarios
Pier 3T and Pier 4 ............
Vibratory extract 14-inch timber or 18-inch concrete
piles at Pier 3T and vibratory extract 14-inch timber piles at Pier 4.
Vibratory extract 14-inch timber or 18-inch concrete
piles at Pier 3T and impact install 24-inch concrete piles.
Vibratory extract 14-inch timber or 18-inch concrete
piles at Pier 3T and rotary drill 24-inch concrete
piles.
Vibratory extract 14-inch timber or 18-inch concrete
piles at Pier 3T, vibratory or impact install 42-inch
pipe piles at CEP–176 and CEP–102.
Vibratory extract 14-inch timber or 18-inch concrete
piles at Pier 3T, vibratory or impact install 42-inch
pipe piles at CEP–176, and vibratory or impact install 28-inch sheet pile at CEP–176.
Vibratory extract 14-inch timber and or 18-inch concrete piles at Pier 3T and impact hammer 24-inch
concrete.
Vibratory extract 14-inch timber or 18-inch concrete
piles at Pier 3T and rotary drill 24-inch concrete.
Pier 3T and Pier 4 ............
Pier 3T and Pier 4 ............
Pier 3T, CEP–176, and
CEP–102.
Pier 3T and CEP–176 .......
Pier 3T and Pier 3 ............
Pier 3T and Pier 3 ............
Comments and Responses
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Total
equipment
quantity
Scenario
locations
A notice of NMFS’s proposal to
modify the Navy’s IHA was published
in the Federal Register on December 9,
2022 (87 FR 75600). That notice
described, in detail, the Navy’s activity,
the marine mammal species that may be
affected by the activity, and the
anticipated effects on marine mammals.
During the 15-day public comment
period, NMFS received no comments.
There have been no changes from the
proposed to final modified IHA.
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Description of Marine Mammals
A description of the marine mammals
in the area of the activities is found in
these previous documents, which
remains applicable to this modified IHA
as well. In addition, NMFS has
reviewed the 2021 Stock Assessment
Reports (Hayes et al., 2022), information
on relevant Unusual Mortality Events,
and recent scientific literature, and
determined that no new information
affects our original analysis of impacts
under the initial IHA. (Note that the
Potential Biological Removal of the gray
seal Western North Atlantic stock
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Equipment
(quantity)
Number of
days
2
Vibratory Hammer (2) ......
16
3
Vibratory Hammer (2), Impact Hammer (1).
41
3
Vibratory Hammer (2),
Rotary Drill (1).
30
3
Vibratory Hammer (2), Impact Hammer (1).
34
3
Vibratory Hammer (2), Impact Hammer (1).
67
2
Vibratory Hammer (1), Impact Hammer (1).
13
2
Vibratory Hammer (1),
Rotary Drill (1).
33
increased from 1,389 to 1,458, and
annual mortality and serious injury of
the harbor porpoise Gulf of Maine/Bay
of Fundy stock decreased from 217 to
164).
Potential Effects on Marine Mammals
and Their Habitat
A description of the potential effects
of the specified activities on marine
mammals and their habitat may be
found in the documents supporting the
initial IHA, which remains applicable to
the issuance of this modified IHA.
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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 11 / Wednesday, January 18, 2023 / Notices
NMFS is not aware of new information
regarding potential effects.
Estimated Take
A detailed description of the methods
and inputs used to estimate authorized
take for the specified activity are found
in the notice of issuance of the initial
Pier 3 Replacement IHA (87 FR 15945;
March 21, 2022). The types and sizes of
piles, installation methods, and marine
mammal stocks taken remain
unchanged from the initial IHA. The
modification includes concurrent pile
driving activities which could result in
increased SPLs and harassment zone
sizes given the proximity of the
component driving sites and the
physical rules of decibel addition. The
Navy anticipates that concurrent use of
up to three hammers producing
continuous noise could occur on 70
days. Given that the use of more than
one hammer for pile installation and
removal on the same day (whether
simultaneous or not) will increase the
number of piles installed per day, this
would be anticipated to result in a
reduction in total number of days of pile
installation. Table 1 shows potential
scenarios for concurrent pile driving.
However, as described further below,
the Navy has conservatively calculated
take for both individual and concurrent
pile driving scenarios and requested
authorization of take for the most
conservative scenario.
NMFS (2018b) analyzes overlapping
sound fields created by the use of more
than one hammer differently for
impulsive (impact hammer and Level A
harassment zones for drilling with a
Down-the-Hole (DTH) hammer) and
continuous sound sources (vibratory
hammer and Level B harassment zones
for drilling with a DTH hammer; Table
7) and differently for impulsive sources
with rapid impulse rates of multiple
strikes per second (DTH) and slow
impulse rates (impact hammering)
(NMFS 2021). It is unlikely that the two
impact hammers would strike at the
same instant, and therefore, the SPLs
would not be adjusted regardless of the
distance between impact hammers. In
this case, each impact hammer would be
considered to have its own independent
harassment zones.
When two continuous noise sources,
such as vibratory hammers and drills,
have overlapping sound fields, there is
potential for higher sound levels than
for non-overlapping sources. When two
or more vibratory hammers are used
simultaneously, and the isopleth of one
sound source encompasses the isopleth
of another sound source, the sources are
considered additive and source levels
are combined using the rules in Table 2.
TABLE 2—RULES FOR COMBINING SOUND SOURCE LEVELS GENERATED DURING PILE INSTALLATION
Hammer types
Difference in SSL
Level A zones
Vibratory, Impact ........................................
Impact, Impact ............................................
Any ......................
Any ......................
Vibratory, Vibratory or Vibratory, Drilling ....
0 or 1 dB .............
2 or 3 dB .............
4 to 9 dB .............
10 dB or more ....
Use impact zones ................................
Use zones for each pile size and
number of strikes.
Add 3 dB to the higher source level ...
Add 2 dB to the higher source level ...
Add 1 dB to the higher source level ...
Add 0 dB to the higher source level ...
During pile driving, it is common for
pile installation to start and stop
multiple times as each pile is adjusted
and its progress is measured and
documented, though as stated above, for
short durations, it is anticipated that
multiple hammers could be in use
simultaneously. Following the rules for
combining sound source levels, decibel
addition calculations were carried out
for each possible concurrent pile driving
scenario. The source levels included in
Level B zones
Use largest zones.
Use zone for each pile size.
Add
Add
Add
Add
3
2
1
0
dB
dB
dB
dB
to
to
to
to
the
the
the
the
higher
higher
higher
higher
source
source
source
source
level.
level.
level.
level.
Table 3 are used to estimate the Level
A harassment zones and Level B
harassment zones. No addition is
warranted for impact pile driving in
combination with vibratory.
TABLE 3—REVISED PROXY VALUES FOR SIMULTANEOUS USE OF NON-IMPULSIVE SOURCES
Scenario location
Activity and proxy
Revised proxy
Pier 3T and Pier 4 .....................
Vibratory Extract 14-inch timber at Pier 3T—162 dB RMS .........................................................
Vibratory extract 14-inch timber Pier 4—162 dB RMS ................................................................
Vibratory Extract 18-inch concrete piles at Pier 3T—162 dB RMS .............................................
Vibratory Extract 14-inch timber piles at Pier 4—162 dB RMS ...................................................
Vibratory extract 14-inch timber piles at Pier 3T—162 dB RMS .................................................
Vibratory extract 18-inch concrete Piles at Pier 3T—162 dB RMS .............................................
Rotary drill 24-inch concrete piles at Pier 4—154 dB RMS ........................................................
Vibratory extract 14-inch timber at Pier 3T—162 dB RMS .........................................................
Vibratory install 42-inch pipe at CEP–176 or CEP–102—168 dB RMS ......................................
Vibratory extract 18-inch concrete at Pier 3T—162 dB RMS ......................................................
Vibratory install 42-inch pipe at CEP–176 or CEP–102—168 dB RMS ......................................
Vibratory extract 14-inch timber at Pier 3T—162 dB RMS .........................................................
Rotary drill 24-inch concrete piles at Pier 4—154 dB RMS ........................................................
Vibratory extract 18-inch concrete at Pier 3T—162 dB RMS ......................................................
Rotary drill 24-inch concrete piles at Pier 4—154 dB RMS ........................................................
165 dB RMS.
Pier 3T, CEP–176, and CEP–
102.
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Pier 3T and Pier 3 .....................
The size of the Level A harassment
zones and Level B harassment zones
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using the source levels in Table 3 result
in larger isopleths (see Table 4 for
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165 dB RMS.
166 dB RMS.
169 dB RMS.
169 dB RMS.
163 dB RMS.
163 dB RMS.
isopleth distances) compared to
individual activities.
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TABLE 4—LEVEL A AND LEVEL B HARASSMENT ISOPLETHS FOR CONCURRENT PILE DRIVING SCENARIOS
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Activity
Pile location
Vibratory Pile Extraction
Vibratory Pile Extraction
Pier 3T and pier 4 ..........
Pier 3T and pier 4 ..........
Vibratory Pile Extraction
and Drilling.
Pier 3T and pier 4 ..........
Vibratory Pile Extraction
and Drilling.
Pier 3T, CEP–176, and
CEP–102.
Vibratory Pile Extraction
and Drilling.
Pier 3T, CEP–176, and
CEP–102.
Vibratory Pile Extraction
and Drilling.
Pier 3T and Pier 3 ..........
Vibratory Pile Extraction
and Drilling.
Pier 3T and Pier 3 ..........
With the exception of bottlenose
dolphins, which is the only species
where densities and harassment
isopleths are used to determine take
estimates as opposed to local occurrence
data, the total taking by Level B
harassment of all species is predicted to
be the same or lower with concurrent
activity scenarios due to a decrease in
number of construction days (see Table
5 for calculated take estimate
comparison), therefore the authorized
take for these species remains
unchanged from the initial IHA to
account for the most conservative
scenario. As stated in the initial Pier 3
IHA (87 FR 15945; March 21, 2022), the
total take number for all species, except
bottlenose dolphin, were estimated
using local occurrence data, therefore
take estimates were determined by
multiplying the number of pile driving
days by assumed daily occurrence for
each species. As the number of pile
driving days under concurrent scenarios
is lower than the number of days
anticipated for individual activities, the
calculated takes were lower than what
was originally authorized through the
initial IHA. Please see the notice of
issuance for the initial Pier 3 IHA (87 FR
15945; March 21, 2022) for a detailed
explanation of how take estimates were
calculated for individual pile driving
activities for these species.
The total take number for bottlenose
dolphin was estimated using inshore
seasonal densities provided in
Engelhaupt et al. (2016) from vessel
line-transect surveys near NAVSTA
Norfolk and adjacent areas near Virginia
Beach, Virginia from August 2012
through August 2015. This density
includes sightings inshore of the
Chesapeake Bay from NAVSTA Norfolk
west to the Thimble Shoals Bridge, and
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Source
level
Scenario
Remove two 14-inch timber piles ...
Remove 18-inch concrete and 14inch timber piles.
Remove 14-inch timber and 18-inch
concrete piles at Pier 3T and rotary drill for 24-inch concrete
piles at Pier 4.
Remove 14-inch timber at Pier 3T
and install 42-inch pipe at either
CEP–176 or CEP–102.
Remove 18-inch concrete at Pier
3T and install 42-inch pipe at either CEP–176 or CEP–102.
Remove 14-inch timber piles at
Pier 3T and rotary drill for 24inch concrete piles at new Pier 3.
Remove 18-inch concrete piles at
Pier 3T and rotary drill for 24inch concrete piles at new Pier 3.
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MF
HF
Phocids
Level B
(m/km2)
165
165
51
51
5
5
75
75
31
31
10,000
10,000
166
59
5
87
36
11,659
169
194
17
287
118
18,479
169
194
17
287
118
18,479
163
43
4
64
26
7,356
163
43
4
64
26
7,356
is the most representative density for
the project area. NMFS multiplied the
density of 1.38 dolphins per square
kilometer by the Level B harassment
zone area for each activity for the
project, and then by the number of days
associated with that activity (see Table
1). The Level B harassment zones
increased as a result of concurrent pile
driving activities; therefore, calculated
Level B harassment exposure estimates
also increased as a result. As described
in the notice of the initial proposed and
issued IHA, there is insufficient
information on relative abundance to
apportion the takes precisely to each of
the three stocks in the area. Therefore,
the same approach as used in previous
projects (e.g., Hampton Roads Bridge
Tunnel project (86 FR 17458; April 2,
2021), and the U.S. Navy Norfolk
Maintenance Rule (86 FR 24340; May 6,
2021)) was used to estimate the
appointment of takes to each of the
three bottlenose dolphin stocks that may
be present in the area. Given that most
of the Northern North Carolina
Estuarine Stock (NNCES) are found in
the Pamlico Sound Estuary, over 160
kilometers from Norfolk, we
conservatively estimated that no more
than 200 of the requested takes will be
from this stock. Since members of the
northern migratory coastal and southern
migratory coastal stocks are thought to
occur in or near the Bay in greater
numbers, we conservatively assume that
no more than half of the remaining takes
will accrue to either of these stocks.
Additionally, a subset of these takes will
likely be comprised of the Chesapeake
Bay resident dolphins, although the size
of that population is unknown.
With the exception of harbor seals,
the total taking by Level A harassment
of all species is predicted to be the same
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Level A (m)
LF
or lower with the concurrent activity
scenario given the decreased number of
pile driving days anticipated and
therefore the authorized take by Level A
harassment remains unchanged from the
initial IHA to be conservative. To
remain consistent with the calculations
used to determine take by Level A
harassment for harbor seals in the
proposed rulemaking for years two
through five of the Navy’s Pier 3
Replacement project (87 FR 60998;
October 7, 2022), the Navy has
requested to increase the number of
takes by Level A harassment for harbor
seals to reflect the potential of one seal
per day (of 13.6 seals per day
occurrence), or 20 percent of the total
taking, to remain within the Level A
harassment area and within the
shutdown zone for sufficient prior to
detection that Level A harassment will
actually occur. Similar methodologies
were applied for gray seal which
resulted in no estimated change in the
number of takes by Level A harassment.
The total numbers of incidental takes
by Level A harassment and Level B
harassment, including updated Level A
harassment numbers for harbor seal and
Level B harassment numbers for
bottlenose dolphin, are shown in Table
5. The total number of takes (Level A
harassment and Level B harassment
combined) has not changed for harbor
seal because the additional takes by
Level A harassment are assumed to
occur to animals that would have
previously been counted as taken by
Level B harassment. Therefore, NMFS is
proposing to reduce the authorized
Level B harassment take of harbor seal
by the same amount that the Level A
harassment estimate is increased.
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TABLE 5—TOTAL NUMBERS OF AUTHORIZED TAKES BY LEVEL A AND LEVEL B HARASSMENT AND AS A PERCENTAGE OF
THE STOCK
Level A
harassment
Species
Stock
Humpback whale ...................
Bottlenose dolphin b c d ..........
Gulf of Maine a .............................................
WNA Coastal, Northern Migratory ...............
WNA Coastal, Southern Migratory ...............
Northern NC Estuarine .................................
Gulf of Maine/Bay of Fundy .........................
WNA e ...........................................................
WNA .............................................................
Harbor porpoise ....................
Harbor seal ............................
Gray seal ...............................
Level B
harassment
0
0
0
0
10
152
1
12
14,841
14,841
200
12
1,092
2
Total taking
12
14,841
14,841
200
22
1,244
3
Percent of
stock
0.9
223.5
395.7
24.3
0.0
2.0
0.0
a West Indies DPS. Please see the Description of Marine Mammals in the Area of Specified Activities section in the initial IHA for further discussion.
b Takes estimates are weighted based on calculated percentages of population for each distinct stock, assuming animals present will follow the
same probability of presence in the project area. Please see the Small Numbers section for additional information.
c Assumes multiple repeated takes of the same individuals from a small portion of each stock as well as repeated takes of Chesapeake Bay
resident population (size unknown). Please see the Small Numbers section for additional information.
d Total authorized takes by Level B harassment increased from 14,989 in the initial IHA to 29,882.
e Total authorized takes by Level A harassment increased from 16 in the initial IHA to 152, however the total take (1244) has not increased.
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Description of Mitigation, Monitoring
and Reporting Measures
With the exception of the revised
shutdown provisions for concurrent pile
driving scenarios discussed below, the
monitoring and reporting measures
described here are identical to those
included in the initial Pier 3 IHA (87 FR
15945; March 21, 2022).
In addition to the measures described
later in this section, the Navy will
employ the following mitigation
measures:
• Avoid direct physical interactions
with marine mammals during
construction activity. If a marine
mammal comes within 10 meters of
such activity, operations must cease and
vessels must reduce speed to the
minimum level required to maintain
steerage and safe working conditions, as
necessary to avoid direct physical
interaction;
• The Navy will conduct trainings
between construction supervisors and
crews and the marine mammal
monitoring team prior to the start of all
activities subject to this IHA and when
new personnel join the work, to explain
responsibilities, communication
procedures, marine mammal monitoring
protocol, and operational procedures;
and
• 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.
The following monitoring measures
apply to the Navy’s in water
construction activities:
• Protected Species Observers
(PSOs)—The placement of PSOs during
all pile driving, removal, and drilling
activities will ensure that the entire
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shutdown zone is visible. Should
environmental conditions deteriorate
such that the entire shutdown zone will
not be visible (e.g., fog, heavy rain), pile
driving, removal, and drilling must be
delayed until the PSO is confident
marine mammals within the shutdown
zone could be detected;
• Monitoring for Level A and Level B
Harassment—The Navy will monitor
the Level B harassment zones to the
extent practicable, and all of the Level
A harassment zones. The Navy will
monitor at least a portion of the Level
B harassment zone on all pile driving,
removal, or drilling days. Monitoring
zones provide utility for observing by
establishing monitoring protocols for
areas adjacent to the shutdown zones.
Monitoring zones enable observers to be
aware of and communicate the presence
of marine mammals in the project area
outside the shutdown zone and thus
prepare for a potential cessation of
activity should the animal enter the
shutdown zone;
• Pre-activity Monitoring—Prior to
the start of daily in water construction
activity, or whenever a break in pile
driving/removal of 30 minutes or longer
occurs, PSOs will observe the shutdown
and monitoring zones for a period of 30
minutes. The shutdown zone will be
considered cleared when a marine
mammal has not been observed within
the zone for that 30 minute period. If a
marine mammal is observe within the
shutdown zones listed in Table 6, pile
driving, removal, and drilling activities
must be delayed or halted. If pile
driving, removal, and/or drilling 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 zones or 15 minutes have
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passed without re-detection of the
animal. When a marine mammal for
which Level A harassment take is
authorized is present in the Level B
harassment zone, activities may begin
and Level B harassment take will be
recorded. If work ceases for more than
30 minutes, the pre-activity monitoring
of the shutdown zones will commence.
A determination that the shutdown zone
is clear must be made during a period
of good visibility (i.e., the entire
shutdown zone and surrounding waters
must be visible to the naked eye);
• Soft Start—Soft start procedures are
used to provide additional protection to
marine mammals by providing 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 provide an initial set of three strikes
from the hammer at reduced energy,
followed by a 30-second waiting period,
then two subsequent reduced energy
strike sets. Soft start will 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;
• Reporting—PSOs must record
specific information as described in the
Federal Register notice of the issuance
of the initial IHA (87 FR 15945; March
21, 2022). Within 90 days after
completion of pile driving and removal
activities, the Navy must 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.
If no comments are received by NMFS
within 30 days, the draft final report
will constitute the final report. If
comments are received, a final report
addressing NMFS comments must be
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submitted within 30 days after receipt of
comments; and
• Establishment of Shutdown
Zones—The Navy will establish
shutdown zones for all pile driving,
removing, and drilling activities. The
purpose of a shutdown zone is generally
to define an area within which
shutdown of the activity will occur
upon sighting of a marine mammal (or
in anticipation of an animal entering the
defined area). Shutdown zones will vary
based on the activity type and marine
mammal hearing group (Table 6). For
every pile driving activity, shutdown is
mandatory whenever an animal is
within 10 m of a pile driving location.
In such instances, in-water pile driving
operations may only continue after 15
minutes have passed or the animal is
seen heading away from the 10 m
shutdown zone.
TABLE 6—SHUTDOWN ZONES (m) DURING CONCURRENT PILE DRIVING SCENARIOS
[Shutdown zones for individual pile driving activities remain unchanged from the initial IHA]
Shutdown zones
Activity
Humpback
whale *
Vibratory Remove two 14-inch timber piles ................................................................................
Vibratory Remove 18-inch concrete and 14-inch timber piles ....................................................
Vibratory Remove 14-inch timber and 18-inch concrete piles at Pier 3T and rotary drill for 24inch concrete piles at Pier 4 ....................................................................................................
Vibratory Remove 14-inch timber at Pier 3T and Vibratory install 42-inch pipe at either CEP–
176 or CEP–102 ......................................................................................................................
Vibratory Remove 18-inch concrete at Pier 3T and Vibratory install 42-inch pipe at either
CEP–176 or CEP–102 .............................................................................................................
Vibratory Remove 14-inch timber piles at Pier 3T and rotary drill for 24-inch concrete piles at
new Pier 3 ................................................................................................................................
Vibratory Remove 18-inch concrete piles at Pier 3T and rotary drill for 24-inch concrete piles
at new Pier 3 ............................................................................................................................
Harbor
porpoise
Dolphins and
seals
55
55
55
55
35
35
60
60
35
200
200
50
200
200
50
45
45
30
45
45
30
* Shutting down to the maximum distance to the Level A harassment threshold. No takes by Level A harassment are expected to occur or are
authorized.
Based on our evaluation of the
applicant’s measures in consideration of
the increased estimated take for
bottlenose dolphin, as well as the
modified shutdown provisions for
concurrent pile driving scenarios,
NMFS has re-affirmed the determination
that the required mitigation measures,
as modified here, provide the means of
effecting the least practicable impact on
the affected species and their habitat.
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Determinations
With the exception of the revised take
numbers and shutdown procedures, the
Navy’s in water construction activities
as well as monitoring and reporting
requirements are unchanged from those
in the initial IHA. The effects of the
activity on the affected species and
stocks, taking into consideration the
modified mitigation and related
monitoring measures, remain
unchanged, notwithstanding the
increase to the authorized amount of
harbor seal take by Level A harassment,
and to the authorized amount of
bottlenose dolphin take by Level B
harassment.
The takes from Level A and Level B
harassment will be due to potential
behavioral disturbance, temporary
threshold shift (TTS), and potentially
but unlikely, permanent threshold shift
(PTS). No serious injury or mortality is
anticipated given the nature of the
activity and measures designed to
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minimize the possibility of injury to
marine mammals. The potential for
harassment is minimized through the
construction method and the
implementation of the planned
mitigation measures (see Description of
Mitigation, Monitoring and Reporting
Measures section).
The Level A harassment zones
identified in Table 4 are based upon an
animal exposed to pile driving or
drilling multiple concurrent piles per
day. Considering the short duration to
drive each pile and breaks between pile
installations (to reset equipment and
move pile into place), means an animal
will have to remain within the area
estimated to be ensonified above the
Level A harassment threshold for
multiple hours. With the addition of
concurrent pile driving, the Navy
anticipates fewer construction days than
with individual pile driving which will
ultimately reduce exposure time for all
species. Additionally, no Level A
harassment is anticipated for humpback
whales due to the required mitigation
measures to shutdown to the full extent
of the Level A harassment zone, which
we expect the Navy will be able to
effectively implement given the
reasonable Level A harassment zone
sizes and high visibility of humpback
whales. If an animal was exposed to
accumulated sound energy, the resulting
PTS will likely be small (e.g., PTS onset)
at lower frequencies where pile driving
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Fmt 4703
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energy is concentrated, and unlikely to
result in impacts to individual fitness,
reproduction, or survival.
The Navy’s pile driving project
precludes the likelihood of serious
injury or mortality. For all species and
stocks, take will occur within a limited,
confined area (immediately surrounding
NAVSTA Norfolk in the Chesapeake
Bay area) of the stock’s range. Level A
and Level B harassment will be reduced
to the level of least practicable adverse
impact through use of mitigation
measures described herein.
Furthermore, the amount of take
authorized is extremely small when
compared to stock abundance.
There are three bottlenose dolphin
stocks that could occur in the project
area. Therefore, the estimated 29,882
incidents of dolphin take by Level B
harassment will likely be split among
the western North Atlantic northern
migratory coastal stock, the western
North Atlantic southern migratory
coastal stock, and the northern North
Carolina Estuarine stock (NNCES), and
is expected to involve repeated takes of
a limited subset of individuals of these
stocks. Based on the stocks’ respective
occurrence in the area, NMFS estimates
that there will be no more than 200
takes from the NNCES stock,
representing 24 percent of that
population, with the remaining takes
split evenly between the northern and
southern migratory coastal stocks. Based
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on the consideration of various factors
as described below, we have determined
the number of individuals taken will
comprise less than one-third of the best
available population abundance
estimate of either coastal migratory
stocks. Detailed descriptions of the
stocks’ ranges have been provided in the
Description of Marine Mammals in the
Area of Specified Activities section of
the initial IHA.
Both the northern migratory coastal
and southern migratory coastal stocks
have expansive ranges and they are the
only dolphin stocks thought to make
broad-scale, seasonal migrations in
coastal waters of the western North
Atlantic. Given the large ranges
associated with these two stocks it is
unlikely that large segments of either
stock will approach the project area and
enter into the Chesapeake Bay. The
majority of both stocks are likely to be
found widely dispersed across their
respective habitat ranges and unlikely to
be concentrated in or near the
Chesapeake Bay
Furthermore, the Chesapeake Bay and
nearby offshore waters represent the
boundaries of the ranges of each of the
two coastal stocks during migration. The
northern migratory coastal stock is
found during warm water months from
coastal Virginia, including the
Chesapeake Bay and Long Island, New
York. The stock migrates south in late
summer and fall. During cold water
months, dolphins may be found in
coastal waters from Cape Lookout,
North Carolina, to the North Carolina/
Virginia border. During January–March,
the southern Migratory coastal stock
appears to move as far south as northern
Florida. From April–June, the stock
moves back north to North Carolina.
During the warm water months of July–
August, the stock is presumed to occupy
the coastal waters north of Cape
Lookout, North Carolina, to Assateague,
Virginia, including the Chesapeake Bay.
There is likely some overlap between
the northern and southern migratory
stocks during spring and fall migrations,
but the extent of overlap is unknown.
The Chesapeake Bay and waters
offshore of the mouth are located on the
periphery of the migratory ranges of
both coastal stocks (although during
different seasons). Additionally, each of
the migratory coastal stocks are likely to
be located in the vicinity of the Bay for
relatively short timeframes. Given the
limited number of animals from each
migratory coastal stock likely to be
found at the seasonal migratory
boundaries of their respective ranges, in
combination with the short time periods
(∼2 months) animals might remain at
these boundaries, it is reasonable to
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assume that takes are likely to occur
only within some small portion of either
of the migratory coastal stocks.
Many of the dolphin observations in
the Bay are likely repeated sightings of
the same individuals. The PotomacChesapeake Dolphin Project has
observed over 1,200 unique animals
since observations began in 2015. Resightings of the same individual can be
highly variable. Some dolphins are
observed once per year, while others are
highly regular with greater than 10
sightings per year (Mann, Personal
Communication). Similarly, using
available photo-identification data,
Engelhaupt et al. (2016) determined that
specified individuals were often
observed in close proximity to their
original sighting locations and were
observed multiple times in the same
season or same year. Ninety-one percent
of re-sighted individuals (100 of 110) in
the study area were recorded less than
30 kilometers from the initial sighting
location. Multiple sightings of the same
individual will considerably reduce the
number of individual animals that are
taken by harassment. Furthermore, the
existence of a resident dolphin
population in the Bay will increase the
percentage of dolphin takes that are
actually re-sightings of the same
individuals.
The increase in Level A harassment
for harbor seal take corresponds to a
commensurate decrease in the predicted
number of Level B harassment, and the
total number of takes remains
unchanged. Therefore, in consideration
of this, the harbor seal stock abundance
information discussed in the initial IHA
and in the Estimated Take section
above, we re-affirm that small numbers
of harbor seals will be taken relative to
the population size of the stock. Even in
consideration of the increased numbers
of take by Level A harassment, the
impacts of these exposures may result in
moderate injury to a limited number of
harbor seals.
In conclusion, 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) The Navy’s
activities will not have an unmitigable
adverse impact on taking for subsistence
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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 (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.
No incidental take of ESA-listed
species is authorized 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.
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 action
(i.e., the issuance of an IHA) with
respect to potential impacts on the
human environment.
This action remains 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
will preclude this categorical exclusion.
Accordingly, NMFS has determined that
the issuance of the modified IHA
continues to qualify to be categorically
excluded from further NEPA review.
Authorization
NMFS has issued a modified IHA to
the Navy for the potential harassment of
small numbers of five marine mammals
species incidental to the Pier 3
Replacement project at Naval Station
Norfolk at Norfolk, Virginia, that
includes the previously explained
mitigation, monitoring, and reporting
requirements.
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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 11 / Wednesday, January 18, 2023 / Notices
Dated: January 11, 2023.
Kimberly Damon-Randall,
Director, Office of Protected Resources,
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2023–00801 Filed 1–17–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
Agency Information Collection
Activities; Submission to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for
Review and Approval; Comment
Request; NOAA Space-Based Data
Collection System (DCS) Agreements
National Oceanic &
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of information collection,
request for comment.
AGENCY:
The Department of
Commerce, in accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
(PRA), invites the general public and
other Federal agencies to comment on
proposed, and continuing information
collections, which helps us assess the
impact of our information collection
requirements and minimize the public’s
reporting burden. The purpose of this
notice is to allow for 60 days of public
comment preceding submission of the
collection to OMB.
DATES: To ensure consideration,
comments regarding this proposed
information collection must be received
on or before March 20, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are
invited to submit written comments to
Adrienne Thomas, NOAA PRA Officer,
at NOAA.PRA@noaa.gov. Please
reference OMB Control Number 0648–
0157 in the subject line of your
comments. Do not submit Confidential
Business Information or otherwise
sensitive or protected information.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Requests for additional information or
specific questions related to collection
activities should be directed to Letecia
Reeves, GOES DCS Customer Service
Manager, Office of Satellite and Product
Operations, 1315 East-West Hwy., Silver
Spring, MD 20746, 240–528–8891,
Letecia.Reeves@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
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SUMMARY:
I. Abstract
This request is for extension of an
existing information collection.
The National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
operates two space-based data collection
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systems (DCS) per 15 CFR part 911: the
Geostationary Operational
Environmental Satellite (GOES) DCS
and the Polar-Orbiting Operational
Environmental Satellite (POES) DCS,
also known as the Argos system. Both
the GOES DCS and the Argos DCS are
operated to support environmental
applications, e.g., meteorology,
oceanography, hydrology, ecology, and
remote sensing of Earth resources. In
addition, the Argos DCS currently
supports applications related to
protection of the environment, e.g.,
hazardous material tracking, fishing
vessel tracking for treaty enforcement,
and animal tracking. Presently, the
majority of users of these systems are
government agencies and researchers
and much of the data collected by both
the GOES DCS and the Argos DCS are
provided to the World Meteorological
Organization via the Global
Telecommunication System for
inclusion in the World Weather Watch
Program.
Current loading on both of the
systems does not use the entire capacity
of that system, so NOAA is able to make
its excess capacity available to other
users who meet certain criteria.
Applications are made in response to
the requirements in 15 CFR 911 (under
the authority of 15 U.S.C. 313, Duties of
the Secretary of Commerce and others),
using system use agreement (SUA)
forms. The application information
received is used to determine if the
applicant meets the criteria for use of
the system. The system use agreements
contain the following information: (1)
the period of time the agreement is valid
and procedures for its termination, (2)
the authorized use(s) of the DCS, and its
priorities for use, (3) the extent of the
availability of commercial services
which met the user’s requirements and
the reasons for choosing the government
system, (4) any applicable government
interest in the data, (5) required
equipment standards, (6) standards of
operation, (7) conformance with
applicable International
Telecommunication Union (ITU) and
Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) agreements and regulations, (8)
reporting time and frequencies, (9) data
formats, (10) data delivery systems and
schedules and (11) user-borne costs.
Accepted applicants use the NOAA
DCS to collect environmental data and
in limited cases, non-environmental
data via the Argos DCS, to support other
governmental and non-governmental
research or operational requirements,
such as for law enforcement purposes.
The applicants must submit information
to ensure that they meet these criteria.
NOAA does not approve agreements
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2887
where there is a commercial service
available to fulfill the user requirements
(per 15 CFR part 911).
II. Method of Collection
Method of submittal is electronically
(via internet).
III. Data
OMB Control Number: 0648–0157.
Form Number: None.
Type of Review: Regular submission
(extension of a current information
collection).
Affected Public: Not-for-profit
institutions; Federal government; state,
local, or tribal government; business or
other for-profit organizations.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
225.
Estimated Time per Response: Thirty
minutes per response.
Estimated Total Annual Burden
Hours: 113.
Estimated Total Annual Cost to
Public: $0 in recordkeeping/reporting
costs.
Respondent’s Obligation: Required to
Obtain or Retain Benefits.
Legal Authority: 15 CFR 911, Policies
and Procedures Concerning Use of the
NOAA Space-Based Data Collection
Systems.
IV. Request for Comments
We are soliciting public comments to
permit the Department/Bureau to: (a)
Evaluate whether the proposed
information collection is necessary for
the proper functions of the Department,
including whether the information will
have practical utility; (b) Evaluate the
accuracy of our estimate of the time and
cost burden for this proposed collection,
including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used; (c)
Evaluate ways to enhance the quality,
utility, and clarity of the information to
be collected; and (d) Minimize the
reporting burden on those who are to
respond, including the use of automated
collection techniques or other forms of
information technology.
Comments that you submit in
response to this notice are a matter of
public record. We will include or
summarize each comment in our request
to OMB to approve this ICR. Before
including your address, phone number,
email address, or other personal
identifying information in your
comment, you should be aware that
your entire comment—including your
personal identifying information—may
be made publicly available at any time.
While you may ask us in your comment
to withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we
E:\FR\FM\18JAN1.SGM
18JAN1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 11 (Wednesday, January 18, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2880-2887]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-00801]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XC655]
Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities;
Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to the Replacement of Pier 3 at Naval
Station Norfolk in Norfolk, Virginia
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; modification of an incidental harassment authorization.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: In accordance with the regulations implementing the Marine
Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) as amended, notification is hereby given
that NMFS has issued a modified incidental harassment authorization
(IHA) to the U.S. Navy to incidentally harass, by Level A and Level B
harassment, marine mammals during construction activities associated
with the replacement of Pier 3 at Naval Station Norfolk at Norfolk,
Virginia.
DATES: This Authorization is effective from the date of issuance
through March 31, 2023.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kim Corcoran, Office of Protected
Resources, NMFS, (301) 427-8401. Electronic copies of the original
application and supporting documents (including Federal Register
notices of the original proposed and final authorizations, and the
previous IHA), 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 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.
History of Request
On March 15, 2022, NMFS issued an incidental harassment
authorization (IHA) to the Navy to incidentally harass, by Level A and
Level B harassment only, marine mammals during construction activities
associated with the Pier 3 Replacement Project at Naval Station
(NAVFAC) Norfolk in Norfolk, Virginia (87 FR 15945; March 21, 2022).
Species authorized for take included humpback whale (Megaptera
novaeangliae), bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus), harbor porpoise
(Phocoena phocoena), harbor seal (Phoca vitulina), and gray seal
(Halichoerus grypus). The effective dates of this IHA are April 1, 2022
through March 31, 2023.
On July 29, 2022, NMFS received a request from the Navy for a
modification to the Pier 3 Replacement project IHA due to a change in
the construction contractor's plan to include concurrent pile driving
and drilling activities. During consultation for the initial IHA, the
Navy did not anticipate the need for concurrent activities in the first
year of work. This IHA covers 1 year of a larger project for which the
Navy has submitted a request for a Letter of Authorization (LOA) (87 FR
60998; October 7, 2022) for additional work occurring from April 1,
2023 through March 31, 2028. However, the construction contractor has
since determined that in order to meet the
[[Page 2881]]
scope requirements and dates to complete the pier, concurrent
activities will be necessary within the first year of construction.
Therefore, the Navy is requesting, and NMFS is modifying the 2022 IHA
to include concurrent pile driving and drilling activities. This change
may increase both Level A and Level B harassment isopleths and result
in an increased estimate of exposures by Level B harassment for
bottlenose dolphin and by Level A harassment for harbor seal. NMFS has
determined that the changes also necessitate revised shutdown
mitigation provisions for concurrent pile driving scenarios for all
species. The monitoring and reporting measures remain the same as
prescribed in the initial IHA, and no additional take is requested nor
authorized for other species.
Description of the Activity and Anticipated Impacts
The modified IHA will include the same construction activities
(i.e., impact pile driving, vibratory pile driving and removal, and
drilling) in the same locations that were described in the initial IHA.
The monitoring and reporting measures remain the same as prescribed in
the initial IHA, while revisions to the required mitigation measures
have been made. NMFS refers the reader to relevant documents related to
issuance of the initial IHA, including the Navy's application, the
notice of proposed IHA and request for comments (87 FR 3976; January
26, 2022), and notice of issued IHA (87 FR 15945; March 21, 2022)
(available at https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/incidental-take-authorization-replacement-pier-3-naval-station-norfolk-norfolk-virginia) for more detailed description of the project activities.
Detailed Description of the Action
A detailed description of the construction activities is found in
the aforementioned documents associated with issuance of the initial
IHA. The location, time of year, and nature of the activities,
including the types of piles and methods of installation and removal
are identical to those described in the previous documents. However, as
noted in the History of Request section, the Navy anticipates that
concurrent pile driving will be necessary to complete year one
activities on time. Potential concurrent activity scenarios for year
one can be found in Table 1. For individual pile driving activities,
the Level A and Level B harassment zones remain unchanged (see initial
IHA (87 FR 3976; January 26, 2022)), however for concurrent pile
driving scenarios harassment zones increased. Therefore, the larger
harassment zone for each scenario was used to calculate exposure
estimates as well as to determine appropriate shutdown zones.
Table 1--Potential Concurrent Activity Scenarios
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total
Scenario locations Concurrent scenarios equipment Equipment Number of days
quantity (quantity)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pier 3T and Pier 4............... Vibratory extract 14- 2 Vibratory Hammer 16
inch timber or 18-inch (2).
concrete piles at Pier
3T and vibratory
extract 14-inch timber
piles at Pier 4.
Pier 3T and Pier 4............... Vibratory extract 14- 3 Vibratory Hammer 41
inch timber or 18-inch (2), Impact Hammer
concrete piles at Pier (1).
3T and impact install
24-inch concrete piles.
Pier 3T and Pier 4............... Vibratory extract 14- 3 Vibratory Hammer 30
inch timber or 18-inch (2), Rotary Drill
concrete piles at Pier (1).
3T and rotary drill 24-
inch concrete piles.
Pier 3T, CEP-176, and CEP-102.... Vibratory extract 14- 3 Vibratory Hammer 34
inch timber or 18-inch (2), Impact Hammer
concrete piles at Pier (1).
3T, vibratory or impact
install 42-inch pipe
piles at CEP-176 and
CEP-102.
Pier 3T and CEP-176.............. Vibratory extract 14- 3 Vibratory Hammer 67
inch timber or 18-inch (2), Impact Hammer
concrete piles at Pier (1).
3T, vibratory or impact
install 42-inch pipe
piles at CEP-176, and
vibratory or impact
install 28-inch sheet
pile at CEP-176.
Pier 3T and Pier 3............... Vibratory extract 14- 2 Vibratory Hammer 13
inch timber and or 18- (1), Impact Hammer
inch concrete piles at (1).
Pier 3T and impact
hammer 24-inch concrete.
Pier 3T and Pier 3............... Vibratory extract 14- 2 Vibratory Hammer 33
inch timber or 18-inch (1), Rotary Drill
concrete piles at Pier (1).
3T and rotary drill 24-
inch concrete.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Comments and Responses
A notice of NMFS's proposal to modify the Navy's IHA was published
in the Federal Register on December 9, 2022 (87 FR 75600). That notice
described, in detail, the Navy's activity, the marine mammal species
that may be affected by the activity, and the anticipated effects on
marine mammals. During the 15-day public comment period, NMFS received
no comments. There have been no changes from the proposed to final
modified IHA.
Description of Marine Mammals
A description of the marine mammals in the area of the activities
is found in these previous documents, which remains applicable to this
modified IHA as well. In addition, NMFS has reviewed the 2021 Stock
Assessment Reports (Hayes et al., 2022), information on relevant
Unusual Mortality Events, and recent scientific literature, and
determined that no new information affects our original analysis of
impacts under the initial IHA. (Note that the Potential Biological
Removal of the gray seal Western North Atlantic stock increased from
1,389 to 1,458, and annual mortality and serious injury of the harbor
porpoise Gulf of Maine/Bay of Fundy stock decreased from 217 to 164).
Potential Effects on Marine Mammals and Their Habitat
A description of the potential effects of the specified activities
on marine mammals and their habitat may be found in the documents
supporting the initial IHA, which remains applicable to the issuance of
this modified IHA.
[[Page 2882]]
NMFS is not aware of new information regarding potential effects.
Estimated Take
A detailed description of the methods and inputs used to estimate
authorized take for the specified activity are found in the notice of
issuance of the initial Pier 3 Replacement IHA (87 FR 15945; March 21,
2022). The types and sizes of piles, installation methods, and marine
mammal stocks taken remain unchanged from the initial IHA. The
modification includes concurrent pile driving activities which could
result in increased SPLs and harassment zone sizes given the proximity
of the component driving sites and the physical rules of decibel
addition. The Navy anticipates that concurrent use of up to three
hammers producing continuous noise could occur on 70 days. Given that
the use of more than one hammer for pile installation and removal on
the same day (whether simultaneous or not) will increase the number of
piles installed per day, this would be anticipated to result in a
reduction in total number of days of pile installation. Table 1 shows
potential scenarios for concurrent pile driving. However, as described
further below, the Navy has conservatively calculated take for both
individual and concurrent pile driving scenarios and requested
authorization of take for the most conservative scenario.
NMFS (2018b) analyzes overlapping sound fields created by the use
of more than one hammer differently for impulsive (impact hammer and
Level A harassment zones for drilling with a Down-the-Hole (DTH)
hammer) and continuous sound sources (vibratory hammer and Level B
harassment zones for drilling with a DTH hammer; Table 7) and
differently for impulsive sources with rapid impulse rates of multiple
strikes per second (DTH) and slow impulse rates (impact hammering)
(NMFS 2021). It is unlikely that the two impact hammers would strike at
the same instant, and therefore, the SPLs would not be adjusted
regardless of the distance between impact hammers. In this case, each
impact hammer would be considered to have its own independent
harassment zones.
When two continuous noise sources, such as vibratory hammers and
drills, have overlapping sound fields, there is potential for higher
sound levels than for non-overlapping sources. When two or more
vibratory hammers are used simultaneously, and the isopleth of one
sound source encompasses the isopleth of another sound source, the
sources are considered additive and source levels are combined using
the rules in Table 2.
Table 2--Rules for Combining Sound Source Levels Generated During Pile Installation
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hammer types Difference in SSL Level A zones Level B zones
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vibratory, Impact.................. Any......................... Use impact zones...... Use largest zones.
Impact, Impact..................... Any......................... Use zones for each Use zone for each
pile size and number pile size.
of strikes.
Vibratory, Vibratory or Vibratory, 0 or 1 dB................... Add 3 dB to the higher Add 3 dB to the
Drilling. source level. higher source level.
2 or 3 dB................... Add 2 dB to the higher Add 2 dB to the
source level. higher source level.
4 to 9 dB................... Add 1 dB to the higher Add 1 dB to the
source level. higher source level.
10 dB or more............... Add 0 dB to the higher Add 0 dB to the
source level. higher source level.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
During pile driving, it is common for pile installation to start
and stop multiple times as each pile is adjusted and its progress is
measured and documented, though as stated above, for short durations,
it is anticipated that multiple hammers could be in use simultaneously.
Following the rules for combining sound source levels, decibel addition
calculations were carried out for each possible concurrent pile driving
scenario. The source levels included in Table 3 are used to estimate
the Level A harassment zones and Level B harassment zones. No addition
is warranted for impact pile driving in combination with vibratory.
Table 3--Revised Proxy Values for Simultaneous Use of Non-Impulsive Sources
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scenario location Activity and proxy Revised proxy
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pier 3T and Pier 4..................... Vibratory Extract 14-inch timber at Pier 165 dB RMS.
3T--162 dB RMS.
Vibratory extract 14-inch timber Pier 4--
162 dB RMS.
Vibratory Extract 18-inch concrete piles 165 dB RMS.
at Pier 3T--162 dB RMS.
Vibratory Extract 14-inch timber piles at
Pier 4--162 dB RMS.
Vibratory extract 14-inch timber piles at 166 dB RMS.
Pier 3T--162 dB RMS.
Vibratory extract 18-inch concrete Piles
at Pier 3T--162 dB RMS.
Rotary drill 24-inch concrete piles at
Pier 4--154 dB RMS.
Pier 3T, CEP-176, and CEP-102.......... Vibratory extract 14-inch timber at Pier 169 dB RMS.
3T--162 dB RMS.
Vibratory install 42-inch pipe at CEP-176
or CEP-102--168 dB RMS.
Vibratory extract 18-inch concrete at 169 dB RMS.
Pier 3T--162 dB RMS.
Vibratory install 42-inch pipe at CEP-176
or CEP-102--168 dB RMS.
Pier 3T and Pier 3..................... Vibratory extract 14-inch timber at Pier 163 dB RMS.
3T--162 dB RMS.
Rotary drill 24-inch concrete piles at
Pier 4--154 dB RMS.
Vibratory extract 18-inch concrete at 163 dB RMS.
Pier 3T--162 dB RMS.
Rotary drill 24-inch concrete piles at
Pier 4--154 dB RMS.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The size of the Level A harassment zones and Level B harassment
zones using the source levels in Table 3 result in larger isopleths
(see Table 4 for isopleth distances) compared to individual activities.
[[Page 2883]]
Table 4--Level A and Level B Harassment Isopleths for Concurrent Pile Driving Scenarios
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Level A (m)
Activity Pile location Scenario Source -------------------------------------------- Level B
level LF MF HF Phocids (m/km2)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vibratory Pile Extraction........... Pier 3T and pier 4..... Remove two 14-inch 165 51 5 75 31 10,000
timber piles.
Vibratory Pile Extraction........... Pier 3T and pier 4..... Remove 18-inch concrete 165 51 5 75 31 10,000
and 14-inch timber
piles.
Vibratory Pile Extraction and Pier 3T and pier 4..... Remove 14-inch timber 166 59 5 87 36 11,659
Drilling. and 18-inch concrete
piles at Pier 3T and
rotary drill for 24-
inch concrete piles at
Pier 4.
Vibratory Pile Extraction and Pier 3T, CEP-176, and Remove 14-inch timber 169 194 17 287 118 18,479
Drilling. CEP-102. at Pier 3T and install
42-inch pipe at either
CEP-176 or CEP-102.
Vibratory Pile Extraction and Pier 3T, CEP-176, and Remove 18-inch concrete 169 194 17 287 118 18,479
Drilling. CEP-102. at Pier 3T and install
42-inch pipe at either
CEP-176 or CEP-102.
Vibratory Pile Extraction and Pier 3T and Pier 3..... Remove 14-inch timber 163 43 4 64 26 7,356
Drilling. piles at Pier 3T and
rotary drill for 24-
inch concrete piles at
new Pier 3.
Vibratory Pile Extraction and Pier 3T and Pier 3..... Remove 18-inch concrete 163 43 4 64 26 7,356
Drilling. piles at Pier 3T and
rotary drill for 24-
inch concrete piles at
new Pier 3.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
With the exception of bottlenose dolphins, which is the only
species where densities and harassment isopleths are used to determine
take estimates as opposed to local occurrence data, the total taking by
Level B harassment of all species is predicted to be the same or lower
with concurrent activity scenarios due to a decrease in number of
construction days (see Table 5 for calculated take estimate
comparison), therefore the authorized take for these species remains
unchanged from the initial IHA to account for the most conservative
scenario. As stated in the initial Pier 3 IHA (87 FR 15945; March 21,
2022), the total take number for all species, except bottlenose
dolphin, were estimated using local occurrence data, therefore take
estimates were determined by multiplying the number of pile driving
days by assumed daily occurrence for each species. As the number of
pile driving days under concurrent scenarios is lower than the number
of days anticipated for individual activities, the calculated takes
were lower than what was originally authorized through the initial IHA.
Please see the notice of issuance for the initial Pier 3 IHA (87 FR
15945; March 21, 2022) for a detailed explanation of how take estimates
were calculated for individual pile driving activities for these
species.
The total take number for bottlenose dolphin was estimated using
inshore seasonal densities provided in Engelhaupt et al. (2016) from
vessel line-transect surveys near NAVSTA Norfolk and adjacent areas
near Virginia Beach, Virginia from August 2012 through August 2015.
This density includes sightings inshore of the Chesapeake Bay from
NAVSTA Norfolk west to the Thimble Shoals Bridge, and is the most
representative density for the project area. NMFS multiplied the
density of 1.38 dolphins per square kilometer by the Level B harassment
zone area for each activity for the project, and then by the number of
days associated with that activity (see Table 1). The Level B
harassment zones increased as a result of concurrent pile driving
activities; therefore, calculated Level B harassment exposure estimates
also increased as a result. As described in the notice of the initial
proposed and issued IHA, there is insufficient information on relative
abundance to apportion the takes precisely to each of the three stocks
in the area. Therefore, the same approach as used in previous projects
(e.g., Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel project (86 FR 17458; April 2,
2021), and the U.S. Navy Norfolk Maintenance Rule (86 FR 24340; May 6,
2021)) was used to estimate the appointment of takes to each of the
three bottlenose dolphin stocks that may be present in the area. Given
that most of the Northern North Carolina Estuarine Stock (NNCES) are
found in the Pamlico Sound Estuary, over 160 kilometers from Norfolk,
we conservatively estimated that no more than 200 of the requested
takes will be from this stock. Since members of the northern migratory
coastal and southern migratory coastal stocks are thought to occur in
or near the Bay in greater numbers, we conservatively assume that no
more than half of the remaining takes will accrue to either of these
stocks. Additionally, a subset of these takes will likely be comprised
of the Chesapeake Bay resident dolphins, although the size of that
population is unknown.
With the exception of harbor seals, the total taking by Level A
harassment of all species is predicted to be the same or lower with the
concurrent activity scenario given the decreased number of pile driving
days anticipated and therefore the authorized take by Level A
harassment remains unchanged from the initial IHA to be conservative.
To remain consistent with the calculations used to determine take by
Level A harassment for harbor seals in the proposed rulemaking for
years two through five of the Navy's Pier 3 Replacement project (87 FR
60998; October 7, 2022), the Navy has requested to increase the number
of takes by Level A harassment for harbor seals to reflect the
potential of one seal per day (of 13.6 seals per day occurrence), or 20
percent of the total taking, to remain within the Level A harassment
area and within the shutdown zone for sufficient prior to detection
that Level A harassment will actually occur. Similar methodologies were
applied for gray seal which resulted in no estimated change in the
number of takes by Level A harassment.
The total numbers of incidental takes by Level A harassment and
Level B harassment, including updated Level A harassment numbers for
harbor seal and Level B harassment numbers for bottlenose dolphin, are
shown in Table 5. The total number of takes (Level A harassment and
Level B harassment combined) has not changed for harbor seal because
the additional takes by Level A harassment are assumed to occur to
animals that would have previously been counted as taken by Level B
harassment. Therefore, NMFS is proposing to reduce the authorized Level
B harassment take of harbor seal by the same amount that the Level A
harassment estimate is increased.
[[Page 2884]]
Table 5--Total Numbers of Authorized Takes by Level A and Level B Harassment and as a Percentage of the Stock
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Level A Level B Percent of
Species Stock harassment harassment Total taking stock
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Humpback whale................ Gulf of Maine 0 12 12 0.9
\a\.
Bottlenose dolphin \b\ \c\ \d\ WNA Coastal, 0 14,841 14,841 223.5
Northern
Migratory.
WNA Coastal, 0 14,841 14,841 395.7
Southern
Migratory.
Northern NC 0 200 200 24.3
Estuarine.
Harbor porpoise............... Gulf of Maine/ 10 12 22 0.0
Bay of Fundy.
Harbor seal................... WNA \e\......... 152 1,092 1,244 2.0
Gray seal..................... WNA............. 1 2 3 0.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\a\ West Indies DPS. Please see the Description of Marine Mammals in the Area of Specified Activities section in
the initial IHA for further discussion.
\b\ Takes estimates are weighted based on calculated percentages of population for each distinct stock, assuming
animals present will follow the same probability of presence in the project area. Please see the Small Numbers
section for additional information.
\c\ Assumes multiple repeated takes of the same individuals from a small portion of each stock as well as
repeated takes of Chesapeake Bay resident population (size unknown). Please see the Small Numbers section for
additional information.
\d\ Total authorized takes by Level B harassment increased from 14,989 in the initial IHA to 29,882.
\e\ Total authorized takes by Level A harassment increased from 16 in the initial IHA to 152, however the total
take (1244) has not increased.
Description of Mitigation, Monitoring and Reporting Measures
With the exception of the revised shutdown provisions for
concurrent pile driving scenarios discussed below, the monitoring and
reporting measures described here are identical to those included in
the initial Pier 3 IHA (87 FR 15945; March 21, 2022).
In addition to the measures described later in this section, the
Navy will employ the following mitigation measures:
Avoid direct physical interactions with marine mammals
during construction activity. If a marine mammal comes within 10 meters
of such activity, operations must cease and vessels must reduce speed
to the minimum level required to maintain steerage and safe working
conditions, as necessary to avoid direct physical interaction;
The Navy will conduct trainings between construction
supervisors and crews and the marine mammal monitoring team prior to
the start of all activities subject to this IHA and when new personnel
join the work, to explain responsibilities, communication procedures,
marine mammal monitoring protocol, and operational procedures; and
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.
The following monitoring measures apply to the Navy's in water
construction activities:
Protected Species Observers (PSOs)--The placement of PSOs
during all pile driving, removal, and drilling activities will ensure
that the entire shutdown zone is visible. Should environmental
conditions deteriorate such that the entire shutdown zone will not be
visible (e.g., fog, heavy rain), pile driving, removal, and drilling
must be delayed until the PSO is confident marine mammals within the
shutdown zone could be detected;
Monitoring for Level A and Level B Harassment--The Navy
will monitor the Level B harassment zones to the extent practicable,
and all of the Level A harassment zones. The Navy will monitor at least
a portion of the Level B harassment zone on all pile driving, removal,
or drilling days. Monitoring zones provide utility for observing by
establishing monitoring protocols for areas adjacent to the shutdown
zones. Monitoring zones enable observers to be aware of and communicate
the presence of marine mammals in the project area outside the shutdown
zone and thus prepare for a potential cessation of activity should the
animal enter the shutdown zone;
Pre-activity Monitoring--Prior to the start of daily in
water construction activity, or whenever a break in pile driving/
removal of 30 minutes or longer occurs, PSOs will observe the shutdown
and monitoring zones for a period of 30 minutes. The shutdown zone will
be considered cleared when a marine mammal has not been observed within
the zone for that 30 minute period. If a marine mammal is observe
within the shutdown zones listed in Table 6, pile driving, removal, and
drilling activities must be delayed or halted. If pile driving,
removal, and/or drilling 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 zones or 15 minutes have passed without re-detection of the
animal. When a marine mammal for which Level A harassment take is
authorized is present in the Level B harassment zone, activities may
begin and Level B harassment take will be recorded. If work ceases for
more than 30 minutes, the pre-activity monitoring of the shutdown zones
will commence. A determination that the shutdown zone is clear must be
made during a period of good visibility (i.e., the entire shutdown zone
and surrounding waters must be visible to the naked eye);
Soft Start--Soft start procedures are used to provide
additional protection to marine mammals by providing 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 provide an initial set of three strikes from the hammer at reduced
energy, followed by a 30-second waiting period, then two subsequent
reduced energy strike sets. Soft start will 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;
Reporting--PSOs must record specific information as
described in the Federal Register notice of the issuance of the initial
IHA (87 FR 15945; March 21, 2022). Within 90 days after completion of
pile driving and removal activities, the Navy must 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.
If no comments are received by NMFS within 30 days, the draft final
report will constitute the final report. If comments are received, a
final report addressing NMFS comments must be
[[Page 2885]]
submitted within 30 days after receipt of comments; and
Establishment of Shutdown Zones--The Navy will establish
shutdown zones for all pile driving, removing, and drilling activities.
The purpose of a shutdown zone is generally to define an area within
which shutdown of the activity will occur upon sighting of a marine
mammal (or in anticipation of an animal entering the defined area).
Shutdown zones will vary based on the activity type and marine mammal
hearing group (Table 6). For every pile driving activity, shutdown is
mandatory whenever an animal is within 10 m of a pile driving location.
In such instances, in-water pile driving operations may only continue
after 15 minutes have passed or the animal is seen heading away from
the 10 m shutdown zone.
Table 6--Shutdown Zones (m) During Concurrent Pile Driving Scenarios
[Shutdown zones for individual pile driving activities remain unchanged from the initial IHA]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shutdown zones
-----------------------------------------------
Activity Humpback whale Harbor Dolphins and
* porpoise seals
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vibratory Remove two 14-inch timber piles....................... 55 55 35
Vibratory Remove 18-inch concrete and 14-inch timber piles...... 55 55 35
Vibratory Remove 14-inch timber and 18-inch concrete piles at 60 60 35
Pier 3T and rotary drill for 24-inch concrete piles at Pier 4..
Vibratory Remove 14-inch timber at Pier 3T and Vibratory install 200 200 50
42-inch pipe at either CEP-176 or CEP-102......................
Vibratory Remove 18-inch concrete at Pier 3T and Vibratory 200 200 50
install 42-inch pipe at either CEP-176 or CEP-102..............
Vibratory Remove 14-inch timber piles at Pier 3T and rotary 45 45 30
drill for 24-inch concrete piles at new Pier 3.................
Vibratory Remove 18-inch concrete piles at Pier 3T and rotary 45 45 30
drill for 24-inch concrete piles at new Pier 3.................
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Shutting down to the maximum distance to the Level A harassment threshold. No takes by Level A harassment are
expected to occur or are authorized.
Based on our evaluation of the applicant's measures in
consideration of the increased estimated take for bottlenose dolphin,
as well as the modified shutdown provisions for concurrent pile driving
scenarios, NMFS has re-affirmed the determination that the required
mitigation measures, as modified here, provide the means of effecting
the least practicable impact on the affected species and their habitat.
Determinations
With the exception of the revised take numbers and shutdown
procedures, the Navy's in water construction activities as well as
monitoring and reporting requirements are unchanged from those in the
initial IHA. The effects of the activity on the affected species and
stocks, taking into consideration the modified mitigation and related
monitoring measures, remain unchanged, notwithstanding the increase to
the authorized amount of harbor seal take by Level A harassment, and to
the authorized amount of bottlenose dolphin take by Level B harassment.
The takes from Level A and Level B harassment will be due to
potential behavioral disturbance, temporary threshold shift (TTS), and
potentially but unlikely, permanent threshold shift (PTS). No serious
injury or mortality is anticipated given the nature of the activity and
measures designed to minimize the possibility of injury to marine
mammals. The potential for harassment is minimized through the
construction method and the implementation of the planned mitigation
measures (see Description of Mitigation, Monitoring and Reporting
Measures section).
The Level A harassment zones identified in Table 4 are based upon
an animal exposed to pile driving or drilling multiple concurrent piles
per day. Considering the short duration to drive each pile and breaks
between pile installations (to reset equipment and move pile into
place), means an animal will have to remain within the area estimated
to be ensonified above the Level A harassment threshold for multiple
hours. With the addition of concurrent pile driving, the Navy
anticipates fewer construction days than with individual pile driving
which will ultimately reduce exposure time for all species.
Additionally, no Level A harassment is anticipated for humpback whales
due to the required mitigation measures to shutdown to the full extent
of the Level A harassment zone, which we expect the Navy will be able
to effectively implement given the reasonable Level A harassment zone
sizes and high visibility of humpback whales. If an animal was exposed
to accumulated sound energy, the resulting PTS will likely be small
(e.g., PTS onset) at lower frequencies where pile driving energy is
concentrated, and unlikely to result in impacts to individual fitness,
reproduction, or survival.
The Navy's pile driving project precludes the likelihood of serious
injury or mortality. For all species and stocks, take will occur within
a limited, confined area (immediately surrounding NAVSTA Norfolk in the
Chesapeake Bay area) of the stock's range. Level A and Level B
harassment will be reduced to the level of least practicable adverse
impact through use of mitigation measures described herein.
Furthermore, the amount of take authorized is extremely small when
compared to stock abundance.
There are three bottlenose dolphin stocks that could occur in the
project area. Therefore, the estimated 29,882 incidents of dolphin take
by Level B harassment will likely be split among the western North
Atlantic northern migratory coastal stock, the western North Atlantic
southern migratory coastal stock, and the northern North Carolina
Estuarine stock (NNCES), and is expected to involve repeated takes of a
limited subset of individuals of these stocks. Based on the stocks'
respective occurrence in the area, NMFS estimates that there will be no
more than 200 takes from the NNCES stock, representing 24 percent of
that population, with the remaining takes split evenly between the
northern and southern migratory coastal stocks. Based
[[Page 2886]]
on the consideration of various factors as described below, we have
determined the number of individuals taken will comprise less than one-
third of the best available population abundance estimate of either
coastal migratory stocks. Detailed descriptions of the stocks' ranges
have been provided in the Description of Marine Mammals in the Area of
Specified Activities section of the initial IHA.
Both the northern migratory coastal and southern migratory coastal
stocks have expansive ranges and they are the only dolphin stocks
thought to make broad-scale, seasonal migrations in coastal waters of
the western North Atlantic. Given the large ranges associated with
these two stocks it is unlikely that large segments of either stock
will approach the project area and enter into the Chesapeake Bay. The
majority of both stocks are likely to be found widely dispersed across
their respective habitat ranges and unlikely to be concentrated in or
near the Chesapeake Bay
Furthermore, the Chesapeake Bay and nearby offshore waters
represent the boundaries of the ranges of each of the two coastal
stocks during migration. The northern migratory coastal stock is found
during warm water months from coastal Virginia, including the
Chesapeake Bay and Long Island, New York. The stock migrates south in
late summer and fall. During cold water months, dolphins may be found
in coastal waters from Cape Lookout, North Carolina, to the North
Carolina/Virginia border. During January-March, the southern Migratory
coastal stock appears to move as far south as northern Florida. From
April-June, the stock moves back north to North Carolina. During the
warm water months of July-August, the stock is presumed to occupy the
coastal waters north of Cape Lookout, North Carolina, to Assateague,
Virginia, including the Chesapeake Bay. There is likely some overlap
between the northern and southern migratory stocks during spring and
fall migrations, but the extent of overlap is unknown.
The Chesapeake Bay and waters offshore of the mouth are located on
the periphery of the migratory ranges of both coastal stocks (although
during different seasons). Additionally, each of the migratory coastal
stocks are likely to be located in the vicinity of the Bay for
relatively short timeframes. Given the limited number of animals from
each migratory coastal stock likely to be found at the seasonal
migratory boundaries of their respective ranges, in combination with
the short time periods (~2 months) animals might remain at these
boundaries, it is reasonable to assume that takes are likely to occur
only within some small portion of either of the migratory coastal
stocks.
Many of the dolphin observations in the Bay are likely repeated
sightings of the same individuals. The Potomac-Chesapeake Dolphin
Project has observed over 1,200 unique animals since observations began
in 2015. Re-sightings of the same individual can be highly variable.
Some dolphins are observed once per year, while others are highly
regular with greater than 10 sightings per year (Mann, Personal
Communication). Similarly, using available photo-identification data,
Engelhaupt et al. (2016) determined that specified individuals were
often observed in close proximity to their original sighting locations
and were observed multiple times in the same season or same year.
Ninety-one percent of re-sighted individuals (100 of 110) in the study
area were recorded less than 30 kilometers from the initial sighting
location. Multiple sightings of the same individual will considerably
reduce the number of individual animals that are taken by harassment.
Furthermore, the existence of a resident dolphin population in the Bay
will increase the percentage of dolphin takes that are actually re-
sightings of the same individuals.
The increase in Level A harassment for harbor seal take corresponds
to a commensurate decrease in the predicted number of Level B
harassment, and the total number of takes remains unchanged. Therefore,
in consideration of this, the harbor seal stock abundance information
discussed in the initial IHA and in the Estimated Take section above,
we re-affirm that small numbers of harbor seals will be taken relative
to the population size of the stock. Even in consideration of the
increased numbers of take by Level A harassment, the impacts of these
exposures may result in moderate injury to a limited number of harbor
seals.
In conclusion, 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) The Navy'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 (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.
No incidental take of ESA-listed species is authorized 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.
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 action (i.e., the issuance of an IHA) with respect
to potential impacts on the human environment.
This action remains 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 will preclude this categorical exclusion.
Accordingly, NMFS has determined that the issuance of the modified IHA
continues to qualify to be categorically excluded from further NEPA
review.
Authorization
NMFS has issued a modified IHA to the Navy for the potential
harassment of small numbers of five marine mammals species incidental
to the Pier 3 Replacement project at Naval Station Norfolk at Norfolk,
Virginia, that includes the previously explained mitigation,
monitoring, and reporting requirements.
[[Page 2887]]
Dated: January 11, 2023.
Kimberly Damon-Randall,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-00801 Filed 1-17-23; 8:45 am]
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