Notice2024-22723
Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Construction Activities Associated With the Murray St. Bridge Seismic Retrofit Project in Santa Cruz, California
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
October 2, 2024
Effective
July 1, 2025
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
NMFS has received a request from the City of Santa Cruz for the re-issuance of previously issued incidental harassment authorizations (IHAs). The initial IHAs authorized take incidental to construction associated with Murray St. Bridge seismic retrofit project in Santa Cruz, California. The project has been delayed and none of the planned work has been conducted. 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 IHAs. NMFS therefor is reissuing identical IHAs, with the only change being to the effective dates.
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 80212-80213]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-22723]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XE326]
Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities;
Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Construction Activities Associated
With the Murray St. Bridge Seismic Retrofit Project in Santa Cruz,
California
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; issuance of incidental harassment authorizations.
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SUMMARY: NMFS has received a request from the City of Santa Cruz for
the re-issuance of previously issued incidental harassment
authorizations (IHAs). The initial IHAs authorized take incidental to
construction associated with Murray St. Bridge seismic retrofit project
in Santa Cruz, California. The project has been delayed and none of the
planned work has been conducted. 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 IHAs. NMFS therefor is reissuing
identical IHAs, with the only change being to the effective dates.
DATES: These authorizations are effective from July 1, 2025 through
June 30, 2026 and July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, respectively.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jenna Harlacher, Office of Protected
Resources, NMFS, (301) 427-8401.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The 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 IHA 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 the species or stocks for
taking for certain subsistence uses (referred to in shorthand as
``mitigation''); and requirements pertaining to the mitigation,
monitoring and reporting of the takings are set forth. The definitions
of all applicable MMPA statutory terms used above are included in the
relevant sections below and can be found in section 3 of the MMPA (16
U.S.C. 1362) and NMFS regulations at 50 CFR 216.103.
Summary of Request
On May 2, 2023, NMFS published a final notice of issuance for two
consecutive IHAs authorizing take of marine mammals incidental to the
Murray St. Bridge seismic retrofit project (88 FR 27452). The effective
dates of the IHAs were July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024 and July 1,
2024 through June 30, 2025. On September 5,
[[Page 80213]]
2024, the City of Santa Cruz informed NMFS that the project was
delayed. None of the planned work (e.g., pile driving and removal) has
occurred. The City of Santa Cruz submitted a request that we reissue
identical IHAs to be effective from July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026
and July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, in order to conduct the
construction work that was analyzed in association with the previously
issued IHAs. There is no new information that would affect the
authorized take numbers or required mitigation, monitoring, and
reporting requirements and, therefore, the only change is to the
effective dates.
Summary of Specified Activity and Anticipated Impacts
The planned activities, mitigation, monitoring, and reporting
requirements, authorized incidental take, and anticipated impacts on
the affected stocks are the same as those analyzed for the previously
issued IHAs.
The City plans to conduct a seismic retrofit on the Murray St.
Bridge, which spans the Santa Cruz Small Craft Harbor. As part of the
project, the City will use vibratory pile extraction to temporarily
remove docks and associated piles to accommodate construction access to
the bridge. Impact pile driving will be used to install additional
bridge support piles. In order to facilitate installation of bridge
piles, vibratory extraction may be used to construct a temporary
trestle. As an alternative to the trestle, a temporary barge may be
constructed instead. The purpose of the project is to provide the
bridge with additional vertical support and resistance to lateral
seismic forces by installing additional pilings and structural support
elements. The City's activity includes impact and vibratory pile
driving and vibratory pile removal, which may result in the incidental
take of marine mammals by Level A and Level B harassment. The Murray
St. Bridge project area includes waters within the Santa Cruz Small
Craft Harbor and adjacent lands managed by the Santa Cruz Port
District. The location, timing, and nature of the activities, including
the types of equipment planned for use, are identical to those
described in the initial IHAs. The mitigation and monitoring are also
as prescribed in the initial IHA.
Species that are expected to be taken incidental to the planned
activity include California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) and
harbor seals (Phoca vitulina richardii). 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 for the initial IHAs. NMFS has reviewed recent
Stock Assessment Reports and information on relevant Unusual Mortality
Events, and determined that no new information affects our original
analysis of impacts or take estimate for the initial IHAs.
We refer to the documents related to the previously issued IHAs,
which include the Federal Register notice of the issuance of the
initial IHAs for the City of Santa Cruz's construction work (88 FR
27452, May 2, 2023), the application, the Federal Register notice of
the proposed IHA (88 FR 12316, February 27, 2023), and all associated
references and documents.
Determinations
The City of Santa Cruz will conduct activities as analyzed for the
initial IHAs. 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 IHAs and no new information
has emerged that would change those findings. The re-issued IHAs
include identical required mitigation, monitoring, and reporting
measures as the initial IHAs, 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 City of
Santa Cruz'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 (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 (IHAs 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 at
the time of issuance that the IHAs qualify to be categorically excluded
from further NEPA review, and there is no new information that would
affect this determination.
Endangered Species Act
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 whenever we propose to authorize take for
endangered or threatened species.
However, 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.
Authorization
NMFS has issued two consecutive IHAs to the City for the potential
harassment of small numbers of harbor seals and California sea lions
incidental to the seismic retrofit of the Murray St. Bridge project in
Santa Cruz, California. All previously described mitigation,
monitoring, and reporting requirements from the initial IHAs are
incorporated.
Dated: September 27, 2024.
Kimberly Damon-Randall,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-22723 Filed 10-1-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on October 2, 2024.
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