Notice2022-26723
Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to the Berth III New Mooring Dolphins Project in Ketchikan, Alaska
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
December 8, 2022
Effective
October 1, 2023
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
NMFS has received a request from the City of Ketchikan, Alaska (COK) for the reissuance of a previously issued incidental harassment authorization (IHA) with the only change being effective dates. The initial IHA authorized take of nine species of marine mammals, by Level A and Level B harassment, incidental to construction.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 235 (Thursday, December 8, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 235 (Thursday, December 8, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75233-75234]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-26723]
[[Page 75233]]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XC566]
Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities;
Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to the Berth III New Mooring Dolphins
Project in Ketchikan, Alaska
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; issuance of incidental harassment authorization.
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SUMMARY: NMFS has received a request from the City of Ketchikan, Alaska
(COK) for the reissuance of a previously issued incidental harassment
authorization (IHA) with the only change being effective dates. The
initial IHA authorized take of nine species of marine mammals, by Level
A and Level B harassment, incidental to construction.
DATES: This authorization is effective from October 1, 2023, through
September 30, 2024.
ADDRESSES: An electronic copy of the final 2021 IHA previously issued
to the COK, the Navy's application, and the Federal Register notices
proposing and issuing the initial IHA may be obtained by visiting
<a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/incidental-take-authorization-berth-iii-new-mooring-dolphins-project-ketchikan-alaska">https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/incidental-take-authorization-berth-iii-new-mooring-dolphins-project-ketchikan-alaska</a>. In case of
problems accessing these documents, please call the contact listed
below (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rob Pauline, Office of Protected
Resources, NMFS, (301) 427-8401.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The construction is associated with the
Berth III New Mooring Dolphins Project in Ketchikan, AK (March 3, 2021;
86 FR12411). The project has already been delayed by one year and NMFS
had reissued the IHA to the COK (September 10, 2021; 86 FR 50704). None
of the work covered in the initial IHA has been conducted. The initial
IHA was effective from October 1, 2021, through September 30, 2022. The
first reissued IHA was effective from October 1, 2022, through
September 30, 2023. The COK has requested a subsequent reissuance of
the IHA with new effective dates of October 1, 2023, through September
30, 2024. The scope of the activities and anticipated effects remain
the same, authorized take numbers are not changed, and the required
mitigation, monitoring, and reporting remains the same as included in
the initial IHA. NMFS is, therefore, issuing an identical IHA to cover
the incidental take analyzed and authorized in the initial IHA.
Background
Sections 101(a)(5)(A) and (D) of the Marine Mammal Protection Act
(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 authorization for incidental takings shall be granted if NMFS
finds that the taking will have a negligible impact on the species or
stock(s), will not have an unmitigable adverse impact on the
availability of the species or stock(s) for subsistence uses (where
relevant), and if the permissible methods of taking and requirements
pertaining to the mitigation, monitoring and reporting of such takings
are set forth.
NMFS has defined ``negligible impact'' in 50 CFR 216.103 as an
impact resulting from the specified activity that cannot be reasonably
expected to, and is not reasonably likely to, adversely affect the
species or stock through effects on annual rates of recruitment or
survival.
The MMPA states that the term ``take'' means to harass, hunt,
capture, kill or attempt to harass, hunt, capture, or kill any marine
mammal.
Except with respect to certain activities not pertinent here, the
MMPA defines ``harassment'' as any act of pursuit, torment, or
annoyance, which (i) has the potential to injure a marine mammal or
marine mammal stock in the wild (Level A harassment); or (ii) has the
potential to disturb a marine mammal or marine mammal stock in the wild
by causing disruption of behavioral patterns, including, but not
limited to, migration, breathing, nursing, breeding, feeding, or
sheltering (Level B harassment).
Summary of Request
On March 3, 2021, NMFS published final notice of our issuance of an
IHA authorizing take of marine mammals incidental to the Berth III New
Mooring Dolphins Project (86 FR 12411). The effective dates of that IHA
were October 1, 2021, through September 30, 2022. On July 21, 2021, the
COK informed NMFS that the project would be delayed by one year and
requested a reissuance of the initial IHA. NMFS sent the reissued IHA
to the COK on September 2, 2021 with effective dates of October 1,
2022, through September 30, 2023 (September 10, 2021; 86 FR 50704).
None of the work identified in the initial IHA (e.g., pile driving and
removal) had occurred. On July 12, 2022, the COK submitted an
additional request that we reissue an identical IHA that would be
effective from October 1, 2023, through September 30, 2024, in order to
conduct the construction work that was analyzed and authorized through
the previously issued initial IHA. Therefore, reissuance of the IHA is
appropriate.
Summary of Specified Activity and Anticipated Impacts
The planned activities (including mitigation, monitoring, and
reporting), authorized incidental take, and anticipated impacts on the
affected stocks are the same as those analyzed and authorized through
the previously issued initial IHA and the first reissued IHA.
The purpose of the COK's Berth III construction project is to
accommodate a new fleet of large cruise ships (i.e., Bliss class) and
to meet the needs of the growing cruise ship industry and its vessels
in Southeast Alaska. The location, timing, and nature of the
activities, including the types of equipment planned for use, are
identical to those described in the initial IHA. The mitigation and
monitoring are also as prescribed in the initial IHA.
Species that are expected to be taken by the planned activity
include humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae), minke whale
(Balaenoptera acutorostrata), gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus),
killer whale (Orcinus orca), Pacific white-sided dolphin
(Lagenorhynchus obliquidens), Dall's porpoise (Phocoenoides dalli),
harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena), harbor seal (Phoca vitulina), and
Steller sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus). A description of the methods and
inputs used to estimate take anticipated to occur and, ultimately, the
take that was authorized is found in the previous documents referenced
above. The data inputs and methods of estimating take are identical to
those used in the initial IHA. NMFS has reviewed recent Stock
Assessment Reports, information on relevant Unusual Mortality Events,
and recent scientific literature, and determined that no new
information affects our original
[[Page 75234]]
analysis of impacts or take estimate under the initial IHA.
We refer to the documents related to the previously issued IHA,
which include the Federal Register notice of the issuance of the
initial 2021 IHA for the COK's construction work (86 FR 12411; March 3,
2021), the COK's application, the Federal Register notice of the
proposed IHA (85 FR 71612; November 11, 2021), and all associated
references and documents.
Determinations
The COK will conduct activities as analyzed in the initial 2021
IHA. As described above, the number of authorized takes of the same
species and stocks of marine mammals are identical to the numbers that
were found to meet the negligible impact and small numbers standards
and authorized under the initial IHA and no new information has emerged
that would change those findings. The reissued 2023 IHA includes
identical required mitigation, monitoring, and reporting measures as
the initial IHA, and 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.
National Environmental Policy Act
To comply with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA;
42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and NOAA Administrative Order (NAO) 216-6A,
NMFS must review our proposed action with respect to environmental
consequences on the human environment.
Accordingly, NMFS has determined that the issuance of the IHA
qualifies to be categorically excluded from further NEPA review. This
action is consistent with categories of activities identified in CE B4
of the Companion Manual for NOAA Administrative Order 216-6A, which do
not individually or cumulatively have the potential for significant
impacts on the quality of the human environment and for which we have
not identified any extraordinary circumstances that would preclude this
categorical exclusion. Because the only change to the IHA are effective
dates, the CE on record for issuance of the initial IHA applies to this
action.
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, in this case with the Alaska Regional Office,
whenever we propose to authorize take for endangered or threatened
species.
The effects of this proposed Federal action were adequately
analyzed in NMFS' Biological Opinion for the Berth III New Mooring
Dolphins Project, dated February 11, 2021, which concluded that the
take NMFS proposed to authorize through this IHA would not jeopardize
the continued existence of any endangered or threatened species or
destroy or adversely modify any designated critical habitat.
Authorization
NMFS has issued an IHA to the COK for in-water construction
activities associated with the specified activity from October 1, 2023,
through September 30, 2024. All previously described mitigation,
monitoring, and reporting requirements from the initial 2021 IHA are
incorporated.
Dated: December 5, 2022.
Kimberly Damon-Randall,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-26723 Filed 12-7-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on December 8, 2022.
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