Notice2024-26013
Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Ferry Berth Construction in Tongass Narrows in Ketchikan, Alaska
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
November 8, 2024
Effective
September 11, 2023
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
NMFS has received a request from the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (ADOT&PF) for the re-issuance of a previously issued incidental harassment authorization (IHA) with the only change being effective dates. The initial IHA authorized take of 11 species of marine mammals, by Level A and Level B harassment, incidental to construction associated with the Ferry Berth construction Ketchikan, Alaska. The project has been delayed and none of the work covered in the initial IHA 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 IHA. NMFS is, therefore, issuing a second identical IHA to cover the incidental take analyzed and authorized in the initial IHA.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 217 (Friday, November 8, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 217 (Friday, November 8, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 88731-88733]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-26013]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XE403]
Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities;
Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Ferry Berth Construction in Tongass
Narrows in Ketchikan, Alaska
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; issuance of incidental harassment authorization.
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SUMMARY: NMFS has received a request from the Alaska Department of
Transportation and Public Facilities (ADOT&PF) for the re-issuance of a
previously issued incidental harassment authorization (IHA) with the
only change being effective dates. The initial IHA authorized take of
11 species of marine mammals, by Level A and Level B harassment,
incidental to construction associated with the Ferry Berth construction
Ketchikan, Alaska. The project has been delayed and none of the work
covered in the initial IHA 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 IHA. NMFS is,
therefore, issuing a second identical IHA to cover the
[[Page 88732]]
incidental take analyzed and authorized in the initial IHA.
DATES: The initial IHA was effective from September 11, 2023, through
September 10, 2024. ADOT&PF has requested re-issuance with new
effective dates of September 1, 2025 through August 31, 2026.
ADDRESSES: An electronic copy of the final 2023 IHA previously issued
to ADOT&PF, ADOT&PF's application, and the Federal Register notices
proposing and issuing the initial IHA may be obtained by visiting
<a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/incidental-take-authorizations-construction-activities">https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/incidental-take-authorizations-construction-activities</a>. In case of
problems accessing these documents, please call the contact listed
below (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kate Fleming, Office of Protected
Resources, NMFS, (301) 427-8401.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Sections 101(a)(5)(A) and (D) of the Marine Mammal Protection Act
(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, 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.
The MMPA states that the term ``take'' means to harass, hunt,
capture, kill or attempt to harass, hunt, capture, or kill any marine
mammal.
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).
Summary of Request
On September 14, 2023, NMFS published final notification of our
issuance of an IHA authorizing take of marine mammals incidental to the
Tongass Narrows Ferry Berth Construction Project (88 FR 63067). The
effective dates of that IHA were September 11, 2023 through September
10, 2024. On August 16, 2024, ADOT&PF submitted a request that we
reissue an identical IHA that would be effective from September 1, 2025
through August 31, 2026, in order to conduct the construction work that
was analyzed and authorized through the previously issued IHA. In the
request they described that the project had been delayed. None of the
work identified in the initial IHA (e.g., pile driving and removal and
down-the-hole drilling) has occurred. Therefore, re-issuance of the IHA
is appropriate.
Summary of Specified Activity and Anticipated Impacts
The planned activities (including mitigation, monitoring, and
reporting), authorized incidental take, and anticipated impacts on the
affected stocks are the same as those analyzed and authorized through
the previously issued IHA.
The existing ferry facilities improve access to developable land on
Gravina Island, improve access to the Ketchikan International Airport,
and facilitate economic development in the Ketchikan Gateway Borough.
The new ferry berths provide redundancy to the existing ferry berths.
The location, timing, and nature of the activities, including the types
of equipment planned for use, are within scope of those described in
the initial IHA. The mitigation and monitoring are also as prescribed
in the initial IHA.
Species that are expected to be taken by the planned activity
include minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata), fin whale
(Balaenoptera physalus), humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae), Gray
whale (Eschrichtius robustus), Pacific white-sided dolphin
(Lagenorhynchus obliquidens), killer whale (Oricnus orca), harbor
porpoise (Phocoena phocoena), Dall's porpoise (Phocoenoides dalli),
Steller sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus), northern elephant seal (Mirounga
angustirostris), harbor seal (Phoca vitulina). 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 in the initial IHA. NMFS has reviewed
recent stock assessment reports, information on relevant unusual
mortality events, and recent scientific literature, and determined that
no new information affects our original analysis of impacts or take
estimate under the initial IHA.
We refer to the documents related to the previously issued IHA,
which include the Federal Register notice of the issuance of the
initial 2023 IHA for ADOT&PF's construction work (88 FR 63067),
ADOT&PF's application, the Federal Register notice of the proposed IHA
(88 FR 46746), and all associated references and documents.
Determinations
ADOT&PF will conduct activities as analyzed in the initial 2023
IHA. 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 IHA and no new information has emerged
that would change those findings. The re-issued 2025 IHA includes
identical required mitigation, monitoring, and reporting measures as
the initial IHA, 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) ADOT&PF'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
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proposed action with respect to environmental consequences on the human
environment.
Accordingly, NMFS has determined that the issuance of the IHA
qualifies to be categorically excluded from further NEPA review. This
action is consistent with categories of activities identified in CE B4
of the Companion Manual for NAO 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.
Endangered Species Act (ESA)
Section 7(a)(2) of the ESA of 1973 (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, in this case with the NMFS' Alaska Regional Office
(AKRO).
NMFS is authorizing take of the Mexico-North Pacific stock of
humpback whale, and fin whale, which are listed as threatened or
endangered under the ESA. The NMFS AKRO issued a Biological Opinion
under section 7 of the ESA on the issuance of an IHA to ADOT&PF under
section 101(a)(5)(D) of the MMPA by NMFS OPR. The biological opinion
concluded that the action is not likely to jeopardize the continued
existence of the listed species.
Authorization
NMFS has issued an IHA to ADOT&PF for in-water construction
activities associated with the specified activity from September 1,
2025 through August 31, 2026. All previously described mitigation,
monitoring, and reporting requirements from the initial 2023 IHA are
incorporated.
Dated: November 5, 2024.
Kimberly Damon-Randall,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-26013 Filed 11-7-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on November 8, 2024.
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