Notice2023-14236
Endangered Species; File No. 27490
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
July 6, 2023
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
Notice is hereby given that the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth School for Marine Science and Technology has applied in due form for a permit pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA). The permit application is for the incidental take of ESA-listed sturgeon and sea turtles associated with the otherwise lawful fisheries survey activities within and adjacent to the Massachusetts/Rhode Island Wind Energy Area. NMFS is furnishing this notice in order to allow other agencies and the public an opportunity to review and comment on the application materials. All comments received will become part of the public record and will be available for review.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 128 (Thursday, July 6, 2023)</title>
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<body><pre>[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 128 (Thursday, July 6, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43082-43084]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-14236]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XD090]
Endangered Species; File No. 27490
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; receipt of application.
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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the University of Massachusetts
Dartmouth School for Marine Science and Technology has applied in due
form for a permit pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as
amended (ESA). The permit application is for the incidental take of
ESA-listed sturgeon and sea turtles associated with the otherwise
lawful fisheries survey activities within and adjacent to the
Massachusetts/Rhode Island Wind Energy Area. NMFS is furnishing this
notice in order to allow other agencies and the public an opportunity
to review and comment on the application materials. All comments
received will become part of the public record and will be available
for review.
DATES: Written comments must be received at the appropriate address
(see ADDRESSES) on or before August 7, 2023.
ADDRESSES: The application is available for download and review at
<a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/endangered-species-conservation/incidental-take-permits">https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/endangered-species-conservation/incidental-take-permits</a> and at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>. The application is also available upon request
(see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
You may submit comments, identified by NOAA-NMFS-2023-0090, by
Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public comments via the
Federal eRulemaking Portal <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> and enter [NOAA-
NMFS-2023-0090] in the Search box. Click on the ``Comment Now!'' icon,
complete the required fields, and enter or attach your comments.
Instructions: Comments sent by any other method, to any other
address or individual, or received after the end of the comment period,
may not be considered by NMFS. All comments received are a part of the
public record and will generally be posted for public viewing on <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a> without change. All Personal Identifying
Information (e.g., name, address, etc.) voluntarily submitted by the
commenter may be publicly accessible. Do not submit Confidential
Business Information or otherwise sensitive or
[[Page 43083]]
protected information. We will accept anonymous comments (enter N/A in
the required fields, if you wish to remain anonymous).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alison Verkade, (301) 427-8074,
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#7e1f12170d111050081b0c151f1a1b3e10111f1f50191108"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="83e2efeaf0ecedadf5e6f1e8e2e7e6c3edece2e2ade4ecf5">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 9 of the ESA and Federal regulations
prohibit the ``taking'' of a species listed as endangered or
threatened. The ESA defines ``take'' to mean harass, harm, pursue,
hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or to attempt to
engage in any such conduct. NMFS may issue permits, under limited
circumstances to take listed species incidental to, and not the purpose
of, otherwise lawful activities. Section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA
provides for authorizing incidental take of listed species. NMFS
regulations governing permits for threatened and endangered species are
promulgated at 50 CFR 222.307.
Species Covered in This Notice
The following species are included in the conservation plan and
permit application: loggerhead (Caretta caretta), green (Chelonia
mydas), leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), and Kemp's ridley
(Lepidochelys kempii) sea turtles, and Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser
oxyrinchus).
Background
NMFS received a draft permit application from University of
Massachusetts Dartmouth School for Marine Science and Technology
(SMAST) on September 29, 2022. Based on our review of the draft
application, we requested further information and clarification. On
November 29, 2022, SMAST submitted a revised application. Based on
review of the application, NMFS and SMAST held further discussions
regarding what needed to be incorporated in the application and Habitat
Conservation Plan. On June 13, 2023, SMAST submitted a revised and
complete application for the take of ESA-listed sturgeon and sea
turtles during the operation of fisheries survey operations in and
around the Massachusetts/Rhode Island Wind Energy Area (WEA). The
proposed fisheries survey is intended to sample non-ESA listed wild
fish populations to provide baseline fisheries data prior to the
construction of five offshore wind farms within the WEA in order to
better understand the effects on wild fish populations from offshore
wind development. SMAST is requesting a 2-year rolling take interval
(i.e., take that occurs over any 2 consecutive years) for sturgeon and
sea turtles. The total 2-year rolling incidental take of Atlantic
sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus) requested is 10, based on an estimated
5 takes per year. The total 2-year rolling incidental take of ESA-
listed sea turtles requested is 8, based on an estimated 1 take per
year of each of the following species: loggerhead (Caretta caretta),
Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys kempii), green (Chelonia mydas), and
leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea).
Conservation Plan
Section 10 of the ESA specifies that no permit may be issued unless
an applicant submits an adequate conservation plan. The conservation
plan prepared by SMAST describes measures designed to minimize and
mitigate the impacts of any incidental take of ESA-listed sturgeon and
sea turtles. To avoid and minimize take of sturgeon, SMAST will only
operate the trawl survey with at least one survey staff onboard trained
within the last 5 years in accordance with the Northeast Fisheries
Observer Program in protected species identification and safe handling
(inclusive of taking genetic samples from Atlantic sturgeon).
Additionally, reference materials for identification, disentanglement,
safe handling, and genetic sampling procedures will be available on
board each survey vessel. To avoid and minimize take of sea turtles,
between June 1 and November 30, SMAST will have a trained lookout
posted on all vessel transits during all phases of the project to
observe for protected species and communicate with the captain to take
avoidance measures as soon as possible if one is sighted. Further,
SMAST will implement the following avoidance measures between June 1
and November 30: (1) The trained lookout will monitor <a href="https://seaturtlesightings.org">https://seaturtlesightings.org</a> prior to each trip and report any observations
of sea turtles in the vicinity of the planned transit to all vessel
operators/captains and lookouts on duty that day; (2) If a sea turtle
is sighted within 100 m of the operating vessel's forward path, the
vessel operator must slow down to 4 knots (unless unsafe to do so) and
may resume normal vessel operations once the vessel has passed the sea
turtle. If a sea turtle is sighted within 50 m of the forward path of
the operating vessel, the vessel operator must shift to neutral when
safe to do so and then proceed away from the turtle at a speed of 4
knots or less until there is a separation distance of at least 100 m at
which time normal vessel operations may be resumed; (3) The vessel will
spend 15 minutes prior to each tow at the sampling station looking out
for sea turtles. If a sea turtle is sighted during transit to a
sampling station, during scouting, or while the gear is being prepared
and deployed, the vessel will immediately proceed to an alternative tow
station away from where the animal was observed; (4) Between June 1 and
November 30, vessels will avoid transiting through areas of visible
jellyfish aggregations or floating sargassum lines or mats. In the
event that operational safety prevents avoidance of such areas, vessels
will slow to 4 knots while transiting through such areas; and (5) All
vessel crew members will be briefed in the identification of sea
turtles and in regulations and best practices for avoiding vessel
collisions. Reference materials will be available aboard all project
vessels for identification of sea turtles. The expectation and process
for reporting of sea turtles (including live, entangled, and dead
individuals) will be clearly communicated and posted in highly visible
locations aboard all project vessels, so that there is an expectation
for reporting to the designated vessel contact (such as the lookout or
the vessel captain), as well as a communication channel and process for
crew members to do so.
These measures will avoid and minimize the incidental take of
sturgeon and sea turtles due to incidental capture or vessel
interactions. The alternatives considered were determined by SMAST to
either: (1) substantially reduce the ability of the survey to detect
changes; (2) result in significant impact delays to the initiation of
the surveys, thus jeopardizing the ability to collect pre-construction
baseline data that is necessary to understand the response of wild fish
populations to offshore wind development; or (3) rely upon unproven
methods. Funding for the proposed conservation measures will be
provided by the five offshore wind developers directly to SMAST.
National Environmental Policy Act
Issuing an ESA section 10(a)(1)(B) permit constitutes a Federal
action requiring NMFS to comply with the National Environmental Policy
Act (NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) as implemented by 40 CFR parts 1500-
1508 and NOAA Administrative Order 216-6, Environmental Review
Procedures for Implementing the National Policy Act (1999). NMFS
intends to prepare an Environmental Assessment to consider a range of
reasonable alternatives and fully evaluate the direct, indirect, and
cumulative impacts likely to result from issuing a permit.
[[Page 43084]]
Next Steps
This notice is provided pursuant to section 10(c) of the ESA. NMFS
will evaluate the application, associated documents, and comments
received during the comment period to determine whether the application
meets the requirements of section 10(a) of the ESA. If NMFS determines
that the requirements are met, a permit will be issued for incidental
takes of ESA-listed sturgeon. The final NEPA and permit determinations
will not be made until after the end of the comment period. NMFS will
publish a record of its final action in the Federal Register.
Dated: June 29, 2023.
Angela Somma,
Chief, Endangered Species Conservation Division, Office of Protected
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-14236 Filed 7-5-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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