Notice2025-06028
Taking and Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Construction of the Alaska LNG Project in Cook Inlet, 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
April 8, 2025
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
NMFS has received a request from 8 Star Alaska, LLC (8 Star Alaska), a subsidiary of the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation (AGDC), for authorization to take small numbers of marine mammals incidental to construction of the Alaska LNG Project in Cook Inlet, Alaska over the course of 5 years beginning on January 1, 2026. Pursuant to regulations implementing the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is announcing receipt of 8 Star Alaska's request for the development and implementation of regulations governing the incidental taking of marine mammals and associated Letter of Authorization (LOA). NMFS invites the public to provide information, suggestions, and comments on 8 Star Alaska's application and request.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 66 (Tuesday, April 8, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 66 (Tuesday, April 8, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15137-15138]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-06028]
[[Page 15137]]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XE766]
Taking and Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals
Incidental to Construction of the Alaska LNG Project in Cook Inlet,
Alaska
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; receipt of application for regulations and a Letter of
Authorization; request for comments and information.
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SUMMARY: NMFS has received a request from 8 Star Alaska, LLC (8 Star
Alaska), a subsidiary of the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation
(AGDC), for authorization to take small numbers of marine mammals
incidental to construction of the Alaska LNG Project in Cook Inlet,
Alaska over the course of 5 years beginning on January 1, 2026.
Pursuant to regulations implementing the Marine Mammal Protection Act
(MMPA), NMFS is announcing receipt of 8 Star Alaska's request for the
development and implementation of regulations governing the incidental
taking of marine mammals and associated Letter of Authorization (LOA).
NMFS invites the public to provide information, suggestions, and
comments on 8 Star Alaska's application and request.
DATES: Comments and information must be received no later than May 8,
2025.
ADDRESSES: Comments on the applications 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#88e1fcf8a6e2e9ebe7eafdfbc8e6e7e9e9a6efe7fe"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="127b66623c7873717d706761527c7d73733c757d64">[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 received electronically, including
all attachments, must not exceed a 25-megabyte file size. Attachments
to electronic comments will be accepted in Microsoft Word or 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/national/marine-mammal-protection/incidental-take-authorizations-other-energy-activities-renewable">https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/incidental-take-authorizations-other-energy-activities-renewable</a> without change.
All personal identifying 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.
An electronic copy of 8 Star Alaska's application may be obtained
online at: <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/incidental-take-authorizations-other-energy-activities-renewable">https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/incidental-take-authorizations-other-energy-activities-renewable</a>. In case of problems accessing these documents, please call
the contact listed below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kristy Jacobus, 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 (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 incidental take authorization 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 December 5, 2024, NMFS received an application from 8 Star
Alaska requesting authorization for take of marine mammals incidental
to pile driving and anchor handling activities related to construction
of the Alaska LNG Project in Cook Inlet, Alaska. Following NMFS' review
of the application, 8 Star Alaska submitted a revised application on
April 3, 2025. The application was deemed adequate and complete on
April 3, 2025. The requested regulations would be valid for 5 years,
from January 1, 2026 through December 31, 2030. 8 Star Alaska plans to
conduct necessary work, including impact and vibratory pile driving and
anchor handling, to construct facilities and lay pipes for the Alaska
LNG Project. AGDC has determined that these activities may result in
the take, by Level A and Level B harassment, of marine mammals.
Therefore, 8 Star Alaska requests authorization to incidentally take
marine mammals.
Specified Activities
8 Star Alaska proposes to construct facilities to transport and
offload liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Cook Inlet, Alaska for export.
The project would include construction of a marine terminal, consisting
of a product loading facility and a temporary material offloading
facility, on the east side of Cook Inlet near Nikiski, a mainline
material offloading facility on the west side of Cook Inlet, and a
mainline, a 42-inch (1.1 meter (m)) diameter natural gas pipeline,
across Cook Inlet. The marine terminal and mainline material offloading
facility would consist of 158 48-inch (1.2 m) steel pipe piles, 73 24-
inch (0.6 m) steel pipe piles, 200 60-inch (1.5 m) steel pipe piles,
and 6,646 feet (2,025.7 m) of sheet pile installed using impact and
vibratory pile driving. This work is expected to occur on 324 days over
the 5-year period. The mainline would be laid on the seafloor across
Cook Inlet using conventional pipelay vessel methods described in the
application. The pipelay vessel would employ anchors to keep it
positioned during pipelay and anchor handling attendant tugs would be
used to repeatedly reposition the anchors. Anchor handling is expected
to occur over approximately 76 days during Years 3 and 4 of the LOA
effective period.
[[Page 15138]]
Information Solicited
Interested persons may submit information, suggestions, and
comments concerning 8 Star Alaska's request (see ADDRESSES). NMFS will
consider all information, suggestions, and comments related to the
request during the development of proposed regulations governing the
incidental taking of marine mammals by 8 Star Alaska, if appropriate.
Dated: April 3, 2025.
Kimberly Damon-Randall,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2025-06028 Filed 4-7-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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