Notice2024-22605
Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Replacement of Pier 302 at Naval Base Point Loma, San Diego, California
Primary source
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Published
October 2, 2024
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
NMFS received a request from the U.S. Navy for the renewal of their currently active incidental harassment authorization (IHA) to take marine mammals incidental to Replacement of Pier 302 at Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego, California. U.S. Navy's activities will not be completed prior to the IHA's expiration. Pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act, prior to issuing the currently active 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.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 191 (Wednesday, October 2, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 191 (Wednesday, October 2, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 80228-80231]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-22605]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XE281]
Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities;
Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Replacement of Pier 302 at Naval
Base Point Loma, San Diego, California
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 the U.S. Navy for the renewal of
their currently active incidental harassment authorization (IHA) to
take marine mammals incidental to Replacement of Pier 302 at Naval Base
Point Loma in San Diego, California. U.S. Navy's activities will not be
completed prior to the IHA's expiration. Pursuant to the Marine Mammal
Protection Act, prior to issuing the currently active 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 October
17, 2024.
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#d29b8682fc9da5b7bca192bcbdb3b3fcb5bda4"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="4a031e1a64053d2f24390a24252b2b642d253c">[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, 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
[[Page 80229]]
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.
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
below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Summer Owens, Office of Protected
Resources, NMFS, (301) 427-8401.
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 promulgated 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''). NMFS must also prescribe requirements pertaining to
monitoring and reporting of such takings. The definition of key terms
such as ``take,'' ``harassment,'' and ``negligible impact'' can be
found in the MMPA and the NMFS's implementing regulations (see 16
U.S.C. 1362; 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 IHA, 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 of an 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); and
<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; and
3. Upon review of the request for renewal, the status of the
affected 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 216-6A, NMFS must
review our proposed action (i.e., the issuance of an IHA) with respect
to potential impacts on the human environment.
This action is consistent with categories of activities identified
in Categorical Exclusion B4 (incidental take 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 October 1, 2023, NMFS issued an IHA to the U.S. Navy to take
marine mammals incidental to Replacement of Pier 302 at Naval Base
Point Loma in San Diego, California (88 FR 6703, February 1, 2023),
effective from October 1, 2023, through September 30, 2024. On July 31,
2024, 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
[[Page 80230]]
requested are consist of activities that are covered by the initial
authorization but will not be completed prior to its expiration. As
required, the applicant also provided a preliminary monitoring report
which confirms that the applicant has implemented the required
mitigation and monitoring, and which also shows that no impacts of a
scale or nature not previously analyzed or authorized have occurred as
a result of the activities conducted.
Description of the Specified Activities and Anticipated Impacts
The planned activities for this project are a subset of previous
activities that were not completed in the initial IHA. There are still
17, 6-inch steel round piles to install using a vibratory hammer which
will be completed over 2 days. All other aspects (including mitigation,
monitoring, and reporting), authorized take species, and anticipated
impacts on the affected stocks are the same as those analyzed and
authorized through the previously issued IHA.
The purpose of the project is to replace Pier 302 which provides
the U.S. Navy's marine mammal program with adequate facilities to house
its marine mammals and provide a safe working environment for personnel
to support the U.S. Navy's overall mission to maintain, train, and
equip combat ready Naval forces. 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.
Species that are proposed to be taken incidental to pile driving
activity, by Level B harassment only, are California sea lion (Zalophus
californianus), northern elephant seal (Mirounga angustirostris),
harbor seal (Phoca vitulina), bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus),
Pacific white-sided dolphin (Lagenorhynchus obliquidens), and common
dolphin (Delphinus delphis). Take was calculated using the same method
as the initial IHA, but altered to reflect the reduced amount of
activity, i.e., only installing 17, 6-inch round steel piles.
Detailed Description of the Activity
A detailed description of the demolition and construction
activities for which take is proposed here may be found in the notices
of the proposed (87 FR 68442, November 15, 2022) and final (88 FR 6703,
February 1, 2023) IHAs for the initial authorization. During the
initial IHA, the U.S. Navy removed 22, 18-inch octagonal concrete pile
and 3, 18-inch round steel piles and installed 30, 24-inch octagonal
concrete and 2, 14-inch square concrete piles. As noted above,
remaining work includes installation of 17, 6-inch steel round piles
using a vibratory hammer, which will be completed over 2 days. The
location, timing, and nature of the activities, including the types of
equipment planned for use, are identical to those described in the
previous notices. 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 initial authorization.
NMFS has reviewed the monitoring data from the initial IHA, recent
draft 2023 Stock Assessment Reports, information on relevant Unusual
Mortality Events, and other scientific literature, and determined there
is no new information that 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 supporting documents for the initial IHA.
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 an
authorization of incidental take is proposed here may be found in the
notices of the proposed and final IHAs for the initial authorization.
NMFS has reviewed the monitoring data from the initial IHA, recent
draft Stock Assessment Reports, information on relevant Unusual
Mortality Events, and other scientific literature, and determined that
there is no new information that 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 initial authorization. Specifically,
the source levels, days of operation, and marine mammal 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 noted above,
the amount of estimated take proposed for authorization here is lower
than that authorized through the initial IHA, corresponding with the
subset of activity remaining for completion.
To calculate take, the U.S. Navy estimated average occurrence of
each species based on previous nearby completed Navy projects and
multiplied it by the number of total piles driving days to get their
estimated take abundance. Under the initial IHA, 32 days of pile
driving were planned, but only 30 days' worth of pile work were
completed. There are now 2 days of pile work remaining, with the same
estimated abundance numbers used and multiplied by 2 days of pile
driving work to produce take estimates for the renewal (table 1).
Table 1--Authorized Amount of Taking by Level A/B Harassment, by Species
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Expected
average Initial Proposed
Species individuals authorized authorized
per day take take
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California sea lion \1\......................................... 15 480 30
Harbor seal \1\................................................. 1 32 2
Bottlenose dolphin \1\.......................................... 1 32 2
Common dolphin (Long- and Short-beaked) \2\..................... 9 288 18
Pacific white-sided dolphin \2\................................. 1 32 2
Northern elephant seal.......................................... (\3\) 7 1
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[[Page 80231]]
Total....................................................... .............. 871 55
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\1\ Average daily counts based on observations during Year 4 Fuel Pier Replacement Project Monitoring (NAVFAC SW
2017b).
\2\ Average daily counts based on observations during Year 2 Fuel Pier Replacement Project Monitoring (NAVFAC SW
2015).
\3\ Expected potential of two northern elephant seals over the duration of project activity with a +5 buffer.
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
initial IHA, and the discussion of the least practicable adverse impact
included in that document and the notice of the proposed IHA remains
accurate.
Comments and Responses
As noted previously, NMFS published a notice of a proposed IHA (87
FR 68442, November 15, 2022) and solicited public comments on both our
proposal to issue the initial IHA for Replacement of Pier 302 at Naval
Base Point Loma 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 (88 FR 6703, February 1, 2023) and none of
the comments specifically pertained to the renewal of the IHA.
Preliminary Determinations
The U.S. Navy's action will require completing a subset of pile
driving activities that were not able to be finished under the initial
IHA. They need to install 17, 6-inch round steel piles using a
vibratory hammer, but all other project aspects and anticipated impacts
remain the same. Marine mammal abundance, potential effects,
mitigation, and monitoring all remain the same. Only estimated take
numbers are changing to reflect 2 days of pile driving compared to 32
in 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 initial IHA. Based on the information and analysis
contained here and in the referenced documents, NMFS has determined the
following: (1) the required mitigation measures will affect 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) the U.S. 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
Section 7(a)(2) of the Endangered Species Act (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531
et seq.) requires that each Federal agency ensure 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 proposed for
authorization 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 the U.S. Navy for conducting Replacement of Pier
302 at Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego, California through September
30, 2025, 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: September 26, 2024.
Kimberly Damon-Randall,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-22605 Filed 10-1-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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