Notice2022-28382
Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Pile Driving for the Long Beach Cruise Terminal Improvement Project
Primary source
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Published
December 29, 2022
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
NMFS received a request from Carnival Corporation & GHD (Carnival) for the renewal of their currently active incidental harassment authorization (IHA) to take marine mammals incidental to pile driving for the Long Beach Cruise Terminal improvement project at the Port of Long Beach, California. These activities are nearly identical to those covered through the current authorization. Pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act, prior to issuing the original IHA, NMFS requested comments on both the proposed IHA and the potential for renewing the initial authorization if certain requirements were satisfied. The renewal requirements have been satisfied, and NMFS is now providing an additional 15-day comment period to allow for any additional comments on the proposed renewal not previously provided during the initial 30-day comment period.
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 249 (Thursday, December 29, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 249 (Thursday, December 29, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 80173-80176]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-28382]
[[Page 80173]]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XC633]
Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities;
Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Pile Driving for the Long Beach
Cruise Terminal Improvement Project
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; request for comments on proposed renewal incidental
harassment authorization.
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SUMMARY: NMFS received a request from Carnival Corporation & GHD
(Carnival) for the renewal of their currently active incidental
harassment authorization (IHA) to take marine mammals incidental to
pile driving for the Long Beach Cruise Terminal improvement project at
the Port of Long Beach, California. These activities are nearly
identical to those covered through the current authorization. Pursuant
to the Marine Mammal Protection Act, prior to issuing the original IHA,
NMFS requested comments on both the proposed IHA and the potential for
renewing the initial authorization if certain requirements were
satisfied. The renewal requirements have been satisfied, and NMFS is
now providing an additional 15-day comment period to allow for any
additional comments on the proposed renewal not previously provided
during the initial 30-day comment period.
DATES: Comments and information must be received no later than January
13, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Comments should be addressed to Jolie Harrison, Chief,
Permits and Conservation Division, Office of Protected Resources,
National Marine Fisheries Service, and should be submitted via email to
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#0f465b5f216c606c647d6a63634f61606e6e21686079"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="5c15080c723f333f372e3930301c32333d3d723b332a">[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, including all attachments, must
not exceed a 25-megabyte file size. Attachments to comments will be
accepted in Microsoft Word or Excel or Adobe PDF file formats only. All
comments received are a part of the public record and will generally be
posted online at <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/permit/incidental-take-authorizations-under-marine-mammal-protection-act">https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/permit/incidental-take-authorizations-under-marine-mammal-protection-act</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: Craig Cockrell, Office of Protected
Resources, NMFS, (301) 427-8401. Electronic copies of the original
application, renewal request, and supporting documents (including NMFS
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: <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/permit/incidental-take-authorizations-under-marine-mammal-protection-act">https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/permit/incidental-take-authorizations-under-marine-mammal-protection-act</a>. In case of problems accessing these
documents, please call the contact listed above.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Marine Mammal Protection Act (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, an incidental harassment authorization is issued.
Authorization for incidental takings shall be granted if NMFS finds
that the taking will have a negligible impact on the species or
stock(s) and will not have an unmitigable adverse impact on the
availability of the species or stock(s) for taking for subsistence uses
(where relevant). Further, NMFS must prescribe the permissible methods
of taking and other ``means of effecting the least practicable adverse
impact'' on the affected species or stocks and their habitat, paying
particular attention to rookeries, mating grounds, and areas of similar
significance, and on the availability of such species or stocks for
taking for certain subsistence uses (referred to here as ``mitigation
measures''). Monitoring and reporting of such takings are also
required. The meaning of key terms such as ``take,'' ``harassment,''
and ``negligible impact'' can be found in section 3 of the MMPA (16
U.S.C. 1362) and the agency's regulations at 50 CFR 216.103.
NMFS' regulations implementing the MMPA at 50 CFR 216.107(e)
indicate that IHAs may be renewed for additional periods of time not to
exceed 1-year for each reauthorization. In the notice of proposed IHA
for the initial authorization, NMFS described the circumstances under
which we would consider issuing a renewal for this activity, and
requested public comment on a potential renewal under those
circumstances. Specifically, on a case-by-case basis, NMFS may issue a
one-time 1-year renewal IHA following notice to the public providing an
additional 15 days for public comments when (1) up to another year of
identical, or nearly identical, activities as described in the Detailed
Description of Specified Activities section of the initial IHA issuance
notice is planned or (2) the activities as described in the Description
of the Specified Activities and Anticipated Impacts section of the
initial IHA issuance notice would not be completed by the time the
initial IHA expires and a renewal would allow for completion of the
activities beyond that described in the DATES section of the notice of
issuance of the initial IHA, provided all of the following conditions
are met:
1. A request for renewal is received no later than 60 days prior to
the needed renewal IHA effective date (recognizing that the renewal IHA
expiration date cannot extend beyond 1 year from expiration of the
initial IHA).
2. The request for renewal must include the following:
<bullet> An explanation that the activities to be conducted under
the requested renewal IHA are identical to the activities analyzed
under the initial IHA, are a subset of the activities, or include
changes so minor (e.g., reduction in pile size) that the changes do not
affect the previous analyses, mitigation and monitoring requirements,
or take estimates (with the exception of reducing the type or amount of
take).
<bullet> A preliminary monitoring report showing the results of the
required monitoring to date and an explanation showing that the
monitoring results do not indicate impacts of a scale or nature not
previously analyzed or authorized.
3. Upon review of the request for renewal, the status of the
affected
[[Page 80174]]
species or stocks, and any other pertinent information, NMFS determines
that there are no more than minor changes in the activities, the
mitigation and monitoring measures will remain the same and
appropriate, and the findings in the initial IHA remain valid.
An additional public comment period of 15 days (for a total of 45
days), with direct notice by email, phone, or postal service to
commenters on the initial IHA, is provided to allow for any additional
comments on the proposed renewal. A description of the renewal process
may be found on our website at: <a href="http://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/incidental-harassment-authorization-renewals">www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/incidental-harassment-authorization-renewals</a>. Any
comments received on the potential renewal, along with relevant
comments on the initial IHA, have been considered in the development of
this proposed IHA renewal, and a summary of agency responses to
applicable comments is included in this notice. NMFS will consider any
additional public comments prior to making any final decision on the
issuance of the requested renewal, and agency responses will be
summarized in the final notice of our decision.
National Environmental Policy Act
To comply with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA;
42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and NOAA Administrative Order (NAO) 216-6A,
NMFS must review our proposed action (i.e., issuance of an IHA renewal)
with respect to potential impacts on the human environment. This action
is consistent with categories of activities identified in Categorical
Exclusion B4 (incidental harassment authorizations with no anticipated
serious injury or mortality) of the Companion Manual for NOAA
Administrative Order 216-6A, which do not individually or cumulatively
have the potential for significant impacts on the quality of the human
environment and for which we have not identified any extraordinary
circumstances that would preclude this categorical exclusion.
Accordingly, NMFS determined that the issuance of the initial IHA
qualified to be categorically excluded from further NEPA review. NMFS
has preliminarily determined that the application of this categorical
exclusion remains appropriate for this renewal IHA.
History of Request
On November 19, 2019, NMFS issued an IHA to Carnival to take marine
mammals incidental to pile driving for the Long Beach Cruise Terminal
improvement project in Long Beach, California (84 FR 64833), effective
from November 19, 2019 through November 18, 2020. The original IHA was
reissued in 2020 (85 FR 81452) and again in 2021 (86 FR 54943), with
the latter of these referred to herein as the ``initial IHA'' for
purposes of this proposed renewal IHA. On November 30, 2022, NMFS
received an application for the renewal of that initial IHA. As
described in the application for renewal IHA, the activities for which
incidental take is requested are nearly identical to those covered
through the initial authorization. No activity has yet been conducted
under any of the issued IHAs and, therefore, there are no monitoring
results to report.
Description of the Specified Activities and Anticipated Impacts
Carnival was issued an initial authorization for take of marine
mammals incidental to in-water construction activities associated with
the Port of Long Beach Cruise Terminal Improvement Project in Long
Beach, California. The purpose of the project is to make improvements
to its existing berthing facilities at the Long Beach Cruise Terminal
at the Queen Mary located at Pier H in the Port of Long Beach, in order
to accommodate a new, larger class of cruise ships. As described in
detail in the notice of proposed IHA for the original IHA (84 FR
54867), in-water construction would include installation of a maximum
of 49 permanent, 36-inch (91.4 centimeters (cm)) steel pipe piles using
impact and vibratory pile driving. A minor change to the in-water
construction activities was described in the renewal request by
Carnival. In addition to the 49 permanent piles, 30 24-inch temporary
steel pipe piles would be placed to provide a template for placement of
the permanent piles. Vibratory driving and removal will be used for the
temporary piles. Pile driving activities were initially expected to
occur over a period of approximately 26 days. Including the
aforementioned minor change to the proposed construction activities,
pile driving activities are likely to occur over a longer total
duration. Sounds produced by these activities may result in take, by
Level A harassment and Level B harassment, of marine mammals located in
Long Beach, California. In addition, related dredging activities would
occur for approximately 30 days. No take of marine mammals is
anticipated to occur incidental to the planned dredging. No work has
been completed under the original IHA or subsequent reissuances.
Incidental takes to the in-water pile driving and removal and
dredging in this renewal would be at the same level as authorized in
the initial IHA. Five marine mammal species are expected to experience
Level B harassment and one species has the potential for Level A
harassment (see Estimated Take).
All documents related to the original and initial IHAs are
available on our website: <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/incidental-take-authorization-cruise-terminal-improvement-project-port-long-beach-ca">https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/incidental-take-authorization-cruise-terminal-improvement-project-port-long-beach-ca</a>.
Detailed Description of the Activity
A detailed description of the construction activities for which
take is proposed here may be found in the Notices of the Proposed and
Final IHAs for the original authorization. The location of the
activities and the types of equipment planned for use are identical to
those described in the previous notices. The only minor change is the
addition of vibratory installation and removal of temporary 24-inch
steel piles. Sound source levels using vibratory hammers on 24-inch
steel piles will create smaller harassment zones than those analyzed in
the initial IHA and, therefore, no modifications to the Level A and
Level B harassment zones are needed. The addition of pile driving
activity associated with the temporary piles is expected to extend the
total project duration. However, NMFS has preliminarily determined that
the amount of take authorized through the initial IHA remains
sufficient to cover the likely effects of the planned activity, and no
changes to authorized take numbers are proposed.
The proposed renewal would be effective for a period not exceeding
1-year from the date of expiration of the initial IHA.
Description of Marine Mammals
A description of the marine mammals in the area of the activities
for which authorization of take is proposed here, including information
on abundance, status, distribution, and hearing, may be found in the
Notices of the Proposed and Final IHAs for the original authorization.
NMFS has reviewed the recent draft Stock Assessment Reports,
information on relevant Unusual Mortality Events, and other scientific
literature, and determined that neither this nor any other new
information affects which species or stocks have the potential to be
affected or the pertinent information in the Description of the Marine
Mammals in the Area of Specified Activities contained in the
[[Page 80175]]
supporting documents for the original IHA.
It should be noted that the Final 2021 NMFS' Marine Mammal Stock
Assessment Reports (SARs) updated stock abundances for short-beaked
common dolphins and long-beaked common dolphins (Carretta et al.,
2022). For short-beaked common dolphins the abundance increased
slightly from the original IHA stock abundance estimate of 969,861
individuals to 1,056,308 individuals. For long-beaked common dolphins
the abundance decreased from the initial IHA stock abundance estimate
of 101,305 individuals to 83,379 individuals. None of these population
trends impact the findings made in support of the original IHA.
Additional information on all stocks affected by this action is
available in the NMFS' U.S. Pacific SARs (available online at: <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/marine-mammal-stock-assessments">https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/marine-mammal-stock-assessments</a>).
Potential Effects on Marine Mammals and Their Habitat
A description of the potential effects of the specified activity on
marine mammals and their habitat for the activities for which the
authorization of take is proposed here may be found in the Notices of
the Proposed and Final IHAs for the initial authorization. NMFS has
reviewed recent draft Stock Assessment Reports, information on relevant
Unusual Mortality Events, and other scientific literature, and
determined that neither this nor any other new information affects our
initial analysis of impacts on marine mammals and their habitat.
Estimated Take
A detailed description of the methods and inputs used to estimate
take for the specified activity are found in the Notices of the
Proposed and Final IHAs for the original authorization. Specifically,
the source levels and marine mammal density/occurrence data applicable
to this authorization remain unchanged from the previously issued IHA.
Similarly, the stocks taken, methods of take, and types of take remain
unchanged from the previously issued IHA, as do the number of takes,
which are indicated below in Table 1.
Table 1--Estimated Take by Level A and Level B Harassment, by Species and Stock, Resulting From Proposed
Carnival Project Activities
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Proposed take as
Common name Stock Level A take Total proposed Percentage of
take stock
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Short-beaked common dolphin......... CA/OR/WA............... 0 942 0.10
Long-beaked common dolphin.......... California............. 0 942 0.92
Common bottlenose dolphin........... Coastal California..... 0 122 26.93
California sea lion................. U.S.................... 0 2,232 0.87
Harbor seal......................... California............. 5 984 3.18
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Description of Proposed Mitigation, Monitoring and Reporting Measures
The proposed mitigation, monitoring, and reporting measures
included as requirements in this authorization are identical to those
included in the Federal Register notice announcing the issuance of the
original IHA, and the discussion of the least practicable adverse
impact included in that document and the notice of the proposed IHA
remains accurate. The following standard mitigation measures are
proposed for this renewal.
<bullet> Conduct briefings between construction supervisors and
crews and the marine mammal monitoring team prior to the start of all
pile driving activity, and when new personnel join the work, to explain
responsibilities, communication procedures, marine mammal monitoring
protocol, and operational procedures;
<bullet> For in-water heavy machinery work other than pile driving
(e.g., standard barges, etc.), if a marine mammal comes within 10 m,
operations shall cease and vessels shall reduce speed to the minimum
level required to maintain steerage and safe working conditions. This
type of work could include the following activities: (1) movement of
the barge to the pile location; or (2) positioning of the pile on the
substrate via a crane (i.e., stabbing the pile);
<bullet> Work may only occur during daylight hours, when visual
monitoring of marine mammals can be conducted;
<bullet> For those marine mammals for which Level B harassment take
has not been requested, in-water pile driving would shut down
immediately if such species are observed within or entering the
monitoring zone (i.e., Level B harassment zone); and,
<bullet> If take reaches the authorized limit for an authorized
species, pile installation would be stopped as these species approach
the Level B harassment zone to avoid additional take.
Additional mitigation measures proposed for this renewal are as
follows.
<bullet> Shutdown zones as specified in the proposed IHA vibratory
pile driving would be implemented.
<bullet> The use of seven protected species observers (PSO) that
would be placed on vessels at entrances to the Port of Long Beach
outside the breakwaters to observe marine mammals traveling into the
shutdown zones.
<bullet> Soft start procedures for impact pile driving consisting
of an initial set of strikes from the hammer at reduced energy, with
each strike followed by a 30-second waiting period.
<bullet> The use of a marine pile-driving energy attenuator (i.e.,
air bubble curtain system) would be implemented by Carnival during
impact and vibratory pile driving of all steel pipe piles.
<bullet> Prior to the start of daily in-water construction
activity, or whenever a break in pile driving of 30 minutes or longer
occurs, PSOs would observe the shutdown and monitoring zones for a
period of 30 minutes.
<bullet> Carnival would only conduct pile driving activities during
daylight hours.
Monitoring and reporting requirements associated with this renewal
are as follows.
<bullet> A total of seven PSOs will be based on land and vessels
would monitor pile driving 30 minutes before, during, and 30 minutes
after pile driving activities.
<bullet> Observers would be required to use approved data forms.
<bullet> A draft report would be submitted to NMFS within 90 days
of the completion of marine mammal monitoring. The report would include
marine mammal observations pre-activity, during-activity, and post-
activity during pile driving days (and associated PSO data sheets).
Comments and Responses
As noted previously, NMFS published a notice of a proposed IHA (84
FR 54867, October 11, 2019) and solicited
[[Page 80176]]
public comments on both our proposal to issue the initial IHA for pile
driving for the Long Beach Cruise Terminal Improvement Project and on
the potential for a renewal IHA, should certain requirements be met.
All public comments were addressed in the notice announcing the
issuance of the initial IHA (84 FR 64833, November 25, 2019). Below, we
describe how we have addressed, with updated information where
appropriate, any comments received that specifically pertain to the
renewal of the 2019 IHA.
Comment: The Marine Mammal Commission (Commission) recommended that
NMFS refrain from using the proposed renewal process for Carnival's
authorization. If NMFS elects to use the renewal process frequently or
for authorizations that require a more complex review or for which much
new information has been generated, the Commission recommended that
NMFS provide the Commission and other reviewers the full 30-day comment
period as set forth in section 101(a)(5)(D)(iii) of the MMPA.
Response: We appreciate the Commission's input and direct the
reader to a response to a similar comment, which can be found at 84 FR
52464 (October 2, 2019).
This renewal request does not present any new information not
considered by NMFS during our review. The installation and removal of
30 temporary 24-inch steel piles does not change the analysis in the
initial IHA. Therefore, abbreviated additional comment period is
sufficient for consideration of this renewal request.
Preliminary Determinations
The construction activities are nearly identical to those analyzed
for the original IHA, as are the method of taking and the effects of
the action. The addition of the 30 temporary 24-inch steel piles does
not increase the size of the Level A and Level B harassment zones. In
analyzing the effects of the activities for the original IHA, NMFS
determined that the Carnival's activities would have a negligible
impact on the affected species or stocks and that the authorized take
numbers of each species or stock were small relative to the relevant
stocks (e.g., less than one-third of the abundance of all stocks).
Although some marine mammal abundances have changed since the original
IHA, none of this new information affects NMFS' determinations
supporting issuance of the original and initial IHAs. The mitigation
measures and monitoring and reporting requirements as described above
are identical to the initial IHA.
NMFS has preliminarily concluded that there is no new information
suggesting that our analysis or findings should change from those
reached for the original IHA. This includes consideration of the
estimated abundance of short-beaked common dolphins and long-beaked
common dolphins decreasing/increasing slightly. Based on the
information and analysis contained here and in the referenced
documents, NMFS has determined the following: (1) the required
mitigation measures will effect the least practicable impact on marine
mammal species or stocks and their habitat; (2) the 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; (4) Carnival'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
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.
Proposed Renewal IHA and Request for Public Comment
As a result of these preliminary determinations, NMFS proposes to
issue a renewal IHA to Carnival for conducting pile driving for the
Long Beach Cruise Terminal improvement project, Long Beach, California,
effective through December 9, 2023, provided the previously described
mitigation, monitoring, and reporting requirements are incorporated. A
draft of the proposed and final initial IHA can be found at <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/permit/incidental-take-authorizations-under-marine-mammal-protection-act">https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/permit/incidental-take-authorizations-under-marine-mammal-protection-act</a>. We request comment on our analyses, the
proposed renewal IHA, and any other aspect of this notice. Please
include with your comments any supporting data or literature citations
to help inform our final decision on the request for MMPA
authorization.
Dated: December 23, 2022.
Catherine G. Marzin,
Deputy Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-28382 Filed 12-28-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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