Notice2022-09934
Taking and Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to the Port Everglades Harbor Deepening and Widening Project, Florida
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
May 10, 2022
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
NMFS has received a request from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Jacksonville District, for authorization to take, by Level B harassment only, small numbers of marine mammals incidental to the Port Everglades Harbor Deepening and Widening Project (Project), in Broward County, Florida, for a period of five years from August 2024 through August 2029. Pursuant to regulations implementing the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is announcing receipt of USACE's request for the development and implementation of regulations governing the incidental taking of marine mammals. NMFS invites the public to provide information, suggestions, and comments on USACE's application and request.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 90 (Tuesday, May 10, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 90 (Tuesday, May 10, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27990-27991]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-09934]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XB134]
Taking and Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals
Incidental to the Port Everglades Harbor Deepening and Widening
Project, Florida
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; receipt of application for letter of authorization;
request for comments and information.
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SUMMARY: NMFS has received a request from the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers (USACE), Jacksonville District, for authorization to take, by
Level B harassment only, small numbers of marine mammals incidental to
the Port Everglades Harbor Deepening and Widening Project (Project), in
Broward County, Florida, for a period of five years from August 2024
through August 2029. Pursuant to regulations implementing the Marine
Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is announcing receipt of USACE's
request for the development and implementation of regulations governing
the incidental taking of marine mammals. NMFS invites the public to
provide information, suggestions, and comments on USACE's application
and request.
DATES: Comments and information must be received no later than June 9,
2022.
ADDRESSES: Comments on the application should be addressed to Jolie
Harrison, Chief, Permits and Conservation Division, Office of Protected
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service. Physical comments should
be sent to 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910 and
electronic comments should be sent to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#400914106e0821322c2123282532002e2f21216e272f36"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="541d00047a1c35263835373c3126143a3b35357a333b22">[email protected]</span></a>.
Instructions: NMFS is not responsible for comments sent by any
other method, to any other address or individual, or received after the
end of the comment period. Comments received electronically, including
all attachments, must not exceed a 25-megabyte file size. Attachments
to electronic comments will be accepted in Microsoft Word or Excel or
Adobe PDF file formats only. All comments received are a part of the
public record and will generally be posted online at <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/incidental-take-authorizations-construction-activities">https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/incidental-take-authorizations-construction-activities</a> without change. All
personal identifying information (e.g., name, address) voluntarily
submitted by the commenter may be publicly accessible. Do not submit
confidential business information or otherwise sensitive or protected
information.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jenna Harlacher, Office of Protected
Resources, NMFS, (301) 427-8401. An electronic copy of USACE's
application may be obtained online at: <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/incidental-take-authorizations-construction-activities">https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/incidental-take-authorizations-construction-activities</a>. In case of problems accessing these documents,
please call the contact listed above.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Sections 101(a)(5)(A) and (D) of the MMPA (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.)
direct the Secretary of Commerce (as delegated to NMFS) to allow, upon
request, the incidental, but not intentional, taking of small numbers
of marine mammals by U.S. citizens who engage in a specified activity
(other than commercial fishing) within a specified geographical region
if certain findings are made and either regulations are issued or, if
the taking is limited to harassment, a notice of a proposed
authorization is provided to the public for review.
An incidental take authorization shall be granted if NMFS finds
that the taking will have a negligible impact on the species or
stock(s), will not have an
[[Page 27991]]
immitigable adverse impact on the availability of the species or
stock(s) for subsistence uses (where relevant), and if the permissible
methods of taking and requirements pertaining to the mitigation,
monitoring and reporting of such takings are set forth.
NMFS has defined ``negligible impact'' in 50 CFR 216.103 as an
impact resulting from the specified activity that cannot be reasonably
expected to, and is not reasonably likely to, adversely affect the
species or stock through effects on annual rates of recruitment or
survival.
The MMPA states that the term ``take'' means to harass, hunt,
capture, kill or attempt to harass, hunt, capture, or kill any marine
mammal.
Except with respect to certain activities not pertinent here, the
MMPA defines ``harassment'' as: Any act of pursuit, torment, or
annoyance, which (i) has the potential to injure a marine mammal or
marine mammal stock in the wild (Level A harassment); or (ii) has the
potential to disturb a marine mammal or marine mammal stock in the wild
by causing disruption of behavioral patterns, including, but not
limited to, migration, breathing, nursing, breeding, feeding, or
sheltering (Level B harassment).
Summary of Request
On September 3, 2020, NMFS received an application from the USACE
requesting authorization for take of marine mammals incidental to
confined blasting associated with the Port Everglades Harbor Deepening
and Widening Project, Broward County, Florida. We provided comments on
the application and the USACE submitted a revised version on April 3,
2021. We deemed the application adequate and complete on April 29,
2021. The requested regulations under which we would issue the
requested LOA would be valid for five years, August 2024 and August
2029. The USACE plans to conduct confined underwater blasting to deepen
and widen the Port Everglades harbor and entrance channel. Blasting may
incidentally expose marine mammals to elevated levels of noise, thereby
resulting in incidental take, by Level B harassment only. Therefore,
the USACE requests authorization to incidentally take marine mammals.
Specified Activities
The purpose of the proposed project is to provide for increased
navigational safety, efficiency, and improved economic conditions for
ships calling at Port Everglades. The existing federal channel project
depth of 42 feet at Port Everglades does not provide an adequate, safe
depth for large tankers and container ships currently visiting the
harbor. Furthermore, the next generation of container ships and oil
tankers requires significantly more channel depth to operate
efficiently and a wider and deeper entrance channel will greatly
improve the safety of navigation. To achieve the proposed deepening and
widening of Port Everglades, pretreatment of rock areas may be required
using confined underwater blasting where dredging or other rock removal
methods are unsuccessful due to the hardness and massiveness of the
rock. The USACE anticipates a maximum of 280 confined, stemmed blasts
would occur over the life of the LOA, if issued, at a rate of one blast
per day. Blasting operations may take place six days a week with a
maximum of one blast occurring per day. Confined underwater blasting
operations will be prohibited between November 15 and March 15 in order
to avoid take of the West Indian Manatee (Trichecus manatus). Blasting
would occur in six designated areas: The outer entrance channel, inner
entrance channel, main turning basin, widener, south access channel,
and turning notch. The USACE's application contains mitigation and
monitoring measures designed to reduce impacts to marine mammals. The
application also contains proposed marine mammal and acoustic
monitoring and reporting plans.
Information Solicited
Interested persons may submit information, suggestions, and
comments concerning USACE's request (see ADDRESSES). NMFS will consider
all information, suggestions, and comments related to the request
during the development of proposed regulations governing the incidental
taking of marine mammals by USACE, if appropriate.
Dated: May 4, 2022.
Kim Damon-Randall,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-09934 Filed 5-9-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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