Notice2025-03978
Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Unalaska (Dutch Harbor) Channel Deepening Project
Primary source
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Published
March 13, 2025
Effective
March 15, 2025
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
NMFS has received a request from the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) 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 four species of marine mammals, by Level A and Level B harassment, incidental to construction associated with the Unalaska Channels Deepening Project in Iliuliuk Bay, 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 90 Issue 48 (Thursday, March 13, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 48 (Thursday, March 13, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11962-11964]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-03978]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XE597]
Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities;
Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Unalaska (Dutch Harbor) Channel Deepening Project
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 United States Army Corps
of Engineers (USACE) 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 four species of
marine mammals, by Level A and Level B harassment, incidental to
construction associated with the Unalaska Channels Deepening Project in
Iliuliuk Bay, 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.
DATES: This IHA is effective from March 15, 2025 through March 14,
2026.
ADDRESSES: An electronic copy of the final 2024 IHA previously issued
to USACE, USACE's application, and the
[[Page 11963]]
Federal Register notices proposing and issuing the initial IHA may be
obtained by visiting <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/incidental-take-authorization-us-army-corps-engineers-unalaska-dutch-harbor-channel">https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/incidental-take-authorization-us-army-corps-engineers-unalaska-dutch-harbor-channel</a>. In case of problems accessing these documents, please call the
contact listed below (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cara Hotchkin, 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 November 24, 2023, NMFS published final notification of our
issuance of an IHA authorizing take of marine mammals incidental to the
USACE Unalaska (Dutch Harbor) Channel Deepening Project (88 FR 82326).
The effective dates of that IHA were January 1, 2024 through December
31, 2024. On December 20, 2024, USACE submitted a request that we
reissue an identical IHA that would be effective from January 1, 2025
through December 31, 2025, 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., dredging and confined
underwater blasting) 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 USACE plans to deepen the entrance channel of Iliuliuk Bay by
means of dredging and (if necessary) confined blasting of a 42-foot
(ft) (12.8 meter (m)) deep ``bar'' which currently restricts access to
the port of Dutch Harbor, Alaska. Dutch Harbor is the only deep draft,
year-round ice-free port along the 1,200-mile (1,931 km) Aleutian
Island chain, providing vital services to vessels operating in both the
North Pacific and the Bering Sea, and the depth of the bar currently
restricts access for large vessels that may need to enter the port,
particularly during extreme weather. The purpose of the project is to
increase navigational safety and improve economic efficiencies into and
out of Dutch Harbor via Iliuliuk Bay. 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 humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae), harbor porpoise
(Phocoena phocoena), Steller sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus), and 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 our original analysis of impacts and
take estimate under the initial IHA remain valid.
We refer to the documents related to the previously issued IHA,
which include the Federal Register notice of the issuance of the
initial 2024 IHA for USACE's construction work (88 FR 82326), USACE's
application, the Federal Register notice of the proposed IHA (88 FR
21630), and all associated references and documents.
Determinations
USACE will conduct activities as analyzed in the initial 2024 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) USACE'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
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
[[Page 11964]]
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
National Environmental Policy Act review. NMFS has determined that the
application of this categorical exclusion remains appropriate for this
reissued IHA.
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 Western DPS of Steller sea lion, 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 USACE 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 USACE for in-water construction
activities associated with the specified activity from March 15, 2025
through March 14, 2026. All previously described mitigation,
monitoring, and reporting requirements from the initial 2024 IHA are
incorporated.
Dated: March 7, 2025.
Kimberly Damon-Randall,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2025-03978 Filed 3-12-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on March 13, 2025.
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