Notice2024-23483
Taking and Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Geophysical Surveys Related to Oil and Gas Activities in the Gulf of Mexico
Primary source
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Published
October 10, 2024
Effective
October 3, 2024
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
In accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), as amended, its implementing regulations, and NMFS' MMPA Regulations for Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Geophysical Surveys Related to Oil and Gas Activities in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), notification is hereby given that NMFS has issued a Letter of Authorization (LOA) to WesternGeco for the take of marine mammals incidental to geophysical survey activity in the GOM.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 197 (Thursday, October 10, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 197 (Thursday, October 10, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 82230-82232]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-23483]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XE367]
Taking and Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals
Incidental to Geophysical Surveys Related to Oil and Gas Activities in
the Gulf of Mexico
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; issuance of letter of authorization.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), as
amended, its implementing regulations, and NMFS' MMPA Regulations for
Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Geophysical Surveys Related to Oil
and Gas Activities in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), notification is hereby
given that NMFS has issued a Letter of Authorization (LOA) to
WesternGeco for the take of marine mammals incidental to geophysical
survey activity in the GOM.
DATES: This LOA is effective from October 3, 2024 through November 15,
2024.
ADDRESSES: The LOA, LOA request, and supporting documentation are
available online at: <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/marine-mammal-protection/issued-letters-authorization-oil-and-gas-industry-geophysical-survey">https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/marine-mammal-protection/issued-letters-authorization-oil-and-gas-industry-geophysical-survey</a>. In case of problems accessing these documents,
please call the contact listed below (FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rachel Wachtendonk, Office of
Protected Resources, NMFS, (301) 427-8401.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Sections 101(a)(5)(A) and (D) of the MMPA (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.)
direct the Secretary of Commerce 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.
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).
On January 19, 2021, we issued a final rule with regulations to
govern the unintentional taking of marine mammals incidental to
geophysical survey activities conducted by oil and gas industry
operators, and those persons authorized to conduct activities on their
behalf (collectively ``industry operators''), in U.S. waters of the GOM
over the course of 5 years (86 FR 5322). The rule was based on our
findings that the total taking from the specified activities over the
5-year period will have a negligible impact on the affected species or
stock(s) of marine mammals and will not have an unmitigable adverse
impact on the availability of those species or stocks for subsistence
uses, and became effective on April 19, 2021.
The regulations at 50 CFR 217.180 et seq. allow for the issuance of
LOAs to industry operators for the incidental take of marine mammals
during geophysical survey activities and prescribe the permissible
methods of taking and other means of effecting the least practicable
adverse impact on marine mammal species or stocks and their habitat
(often referred to as mitigation), as well as requirements pertaining
to the monitoring and reporting of such taking. Under Sec. 217.186
(e), issuance of an LOA shall be based on a determination that the
level of taking will be consistent with the findings made for the total
taking allowable under these regulations and a determination that the
amount of take authorized under the LOA is of no more than small
numbers.
NMFS subsequently discovered that the 2021 rule was based on
erroneous take estimates. We conducted another rulemaking using correct
take estimates and other newly available and pertinent information
relevant to the analyses supporting some of the findings in the 2021
final rule and the taking allowable under the regulations. We issued a
final rule in April 2024, effective May 24, 2024 (89 FR 31488).
The 2024 final rule made no changes to the specified activities or
the specified geographical region in which those activities would be
conducted, nor to the original 5-year period of effectiveness. In
consideration of the new information, the 2024 rule presented new
analyses supporting affirmance of the negligible impact determinations
for all species, and affirmed that the existing regulations, which
contain mitigation, monitoring, and reporting requirements, are
consistent with the ``least practicable adverse impact'' standard of
the MMPA.
Summary of Request and Analysis
NMFS issued a LOA to TGS on September 27, 2023, for the take of
marine mammals incidental to a 3-dimensional ocean bottom node survey
in the Green Canyon, Ewing Bank, and Atwater Valley protraction areas,
including approximately 380 lease blocks, effective September 27, 2023,
through September 28, 2024. Please see the Federal Register
notification (88 FR 68106, October 3, 2023) for additional detail
regarding the LOA and the planned survey activity.
On December 20, 2023, TGS requested the transfer of the LOA to
WesternGeco, its partner in the planned survey effort. WesternGeco
confirmed to NMFS that it similarly requested transfer of the LOA. No
other changes were requested. The revised LOA remained effective
through
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September 28, 2024. Please see the Federal Register notice of issuance
of a revised LOA (89 FR 5864, January 30, 2024) for additional detail
regarding the transfer.
WesternGeco notified NMFS that due to survey delays it had not
completed the survey plan described in the initial LOA request
submitted by TGS and, because the original LOA has expired, has
requested that an additional LOA be issued effective through November
15, 2024, to cover completion of the planned survey effort.
Although this is technically a new LOA, NMFS considers this to be
functionally an extension of the original LOA, as the survey activity
considered herein represents the conclusion of the originally planned
survey. Of the originally planned 65 days of sound source operations,
approximately 16 days of surveying remains, all in Zone 5. There are no
other changes to WesternGeco's planned activity, as described in the
original notice of issuance (88 FR 68106, October 3, 2023). On this
basis, NMFS has updated take estimates based on information provided in
the 2024 final rule (89 FR 31488, April 24, 2024), and corresponding
with the estimated 16 days of remaining survey activity. As
WesternGeco's is using conventional airgun sources consisting of 28
elements, with a total volume of 5,240 cubic inches (or the less-
impactful Gemini source), we have used the 5,110 cu in airgun array
proxy to estimate the take numbers.
Based on the results of our analysis, NMFS has determined that the
level of taking expected for this survey and authorized through the LOA
is consistent with the findings made for the total taking allowable
under the regulations. See table 1 in this notice and table 6 of the
rule (89 FR 31488, April 24, 2024).
Small Numbers Determination
Under the GOM rule, NMFS may not authorize incidental take of
marine mammals in an LOA if it will exceed ``small numbers.'' In short,
when an acceptable estimate of the individual marine mammals taken is
available, if the estimated number of individual animals taken is up
to, but not greater than, one-third of the best available abundance
estimate, NMFS will determine that the numbers of marine mammals taken
of a species or stock are small (89 FR 31535, May 24, 2024). For more
information please see NMFS' discussion of small numbers in the 2021
final rule (86 FR 5438, January 19, 2021).
The take numbers for authorization are determined as described
above in the Summary of Request and Analysis section. Subsequently, the
total incidents of harassment for each species are multiplied by scalar
ratios to produce a derived product that better reflects the number of
individuals likely to be taken within a survey (as compared to the
total number of instances of take), accounting for the likelihood that
some individual marine mammals may be taken on more than 1 day (86 FR
5404, January 19, 2021; 89 FR 31535, May 24, 2024). The output of this
scaling, where appropriate, is incorporated into adjusted total take
estimates that are the basis for NMFS' small numbers determinations, as
depicted in table 1. Normally, a survey with a duration of 16 days
would not apply scalar ratios for the small numbers determination.
However, scalar ratios were used in this instance since we consider
this survey a continuation of the original 65 day survey.
This product is used by NMFS in making the necessary small numbers
determinations through comparison with the best available abundance
estimates (see discussion at 86 FR 5391, January 19, 2021). For this
comparison, NMFS' approach is to use the maximum theoretical
population, determined through review of current stock assessment
reports (SAR; <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>) and model-predicted
abundance information (<a href="https://seamap.env.duke.edu/models/Duke/GOM">https://seamap.env.duke.edu/models/Duke/GOM</a>/).
Information supporting the small numbers determinations is provided in
table 1.
Table 1--Take Analysis \1\
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Authorized Abundance Percent
Species take Scaled take \2\ abundance
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Rice's whale.............................................. 0 n/a 51 n/a
Sperm whale............................................... 112 47.4 3,007 1.6
Kogia spp................................................. \3\ 48 14.7 980 1.7
Beaked whales............................................. 489 49.4 803 6.1
Rough-toothed dolphin..................................... 372 106.9 4,853 2.2
Bottlenose dolphin........................................ 296 85.0 165,125 0.1
Clymene dolphin........................................... 208 59.6 4,619 1.3
Atlantic spotted dolphin.................................. 108 31.0 21,506 0.1
Pantropical spotted dolphin............................... 2,834 813.4 67,225 1.2
Spinner dolphin........................................... \4\ 152 14.4 5,548 0.3
Striped dolphin........................................... 525 150.6 5,634 2.7
Fraser's dolphin.......................................... 137 39.2 1,665 2.4
Risso's dolphin........................................... 87 25.6 1,974 1.3
Blackfish \5\............................................. 804 237.3 6,113 3.9
Short-finned pilot whale.................................. 113 33.3 2,741 1.2
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\1\ Scalar ratios were applied to ``Authorized Take'' values as described at 86 FR 5322, 5404 (January 19, 2021)
to derive scaled take numbers shown here.
\2\ Best abundance estimate. For most taxa, the best abundance estimate for purposes of comparison with take
estimates is considered here to be the model-predicted abundance (Garrison et al., 2023). For Rice's whale,
Atlantic spotted dolphin, and Risso's dolphin, the larger estimated SAR abundance estimate is used.
\3\ Includes 2 takes by Level A harassment and 46 takes by Level B harassment. Small numbers determination made
on basis of scaled Level B harassment take plus authorized Level A harassment take.
\4\ Modeled take of 50 increased to account for potential encounter with a group of average size (Maze-Foley and
Mullin, 2006).
\5\ The ``blackfish'' guild includes melon-headed whales, false killer whales, pygmy killer whales, and killer
whales.
Based on the analysis contained herein of WesternGeco's modified
survey activity described in its LOA modification requesr and the
anticipated take of marine mammals, NMFS finds that small numbers of
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marine mammals will be taken relative to the affected species or stock
sizes (i.e., less than one-third of the best available abundance
estimate) and therefore the taking is of no more than small numbers.
Authorization
NMFS has determined that the level of taking for this modified LOA
request is consistent with the findings made for the total taking
allowable under the incidental take regulations and that the amount of
take authorized under the LOA is of no more than small numbers.
Accordingly, we have issued an LOA to WesternGeco authorizing the take
of marine mammals incidental to its geophysical survey activity, as
described above.
Dated: October 7, 2024.
Kimberly Damon-Randall,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-23483 Filed 10-9-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on October 10, 2024.
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