Notice2025-08762
Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Ice Road and Ice Trail Construction, Operation, and Maintenance Activities on Alaska's North Slope
Primary source
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Published
May 16, 2025
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
NMFS has received a request from Hilcorp Alaska, LLC (Hilcorp) for authorization to take marine mammals incidental to ice road and trail construction, operation, and maintenance activities along the Beaufort Sea coast, Alaska, for a period of 5 years (2025-2030). Pursuant to regulations implementing the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is announcing receipt of Hilcorp's request for the development and implementation of regulations governing the incidental taking of marine mammals. NMFS invites the public to provide information, suggestions, and comments on Hilcorp's application and request.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 94 (Friday, May 16, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 94 (Friday, May 16, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21011-21012]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-08762]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XE849]
Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Ice Road and Ice Trail
Construction, Operation, and Maintenance Activities on Alaska's North
Slope
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; receipt of application for letter of authorization;
request for comments and information.
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SUMMARY: NMFS has received a request from Hilcorp Alaska, LLC (Hilcorp)
for authorization to take marine mammals incidental to ice road and
trail construction, operation, and maintenance activities along the
Beaufort Sea coast, Alaska, for a period of 5 years (2025-2030).
Pursuant to regulations implementing the Marine Mammal Protection Act
(MMPA), NMFS is announcing receipt of Hilcorp's request for the
development and implementation of regulations governing the incidental
taking of marine mammals. NMFS invites the public to provide
information, suggestions, and comments on Hilcorp's application and
request.
DATES: Comments and information must be received no later than June 16,
2025.
ADDRESSES: Comments on the application should be addressed to the
Permits and Conservation Division, Office of Protected Resources,
National Marine Fisheries Service. Physical comments should be sent to
1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910 and electronic comments
should be sent to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#87ced3d7a9d7e6f2ebeee9e2c7e9e8e6e6a9e0e8f1"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="9fd6cbcfb1cffeeaf3f6f1fadff1f0fefeb1f8f0e9">[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-oil-and-gas">https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/incidental-take-authorizations-oil-and-gas</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 Hilcorp's application may be obtained online
at: <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/incidental-take-authorizations-oil-and-gas">https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/incidental-take-authorizations-oil-and-gas</a>. In case of problems
accessing these documents, please call the contact listed below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert Pauline, 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 immitigable 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.
[[Page 21012]]
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 12, 2024, NMFS received an application from Hilcorp
requesting authorization for take of marine mammals incidental to
construction activities associated with sea ice road and trail
activities at Northstar Production Facility (Northstar), Spy Island
Drillsite (SID), and Oooguruk Drillsite (ODS) located in coastal
Beaufort Sea waters off of the north slope of Alaska. We provided
comments on the application and Hilcorp submitted a revised version on
April 3, 2025. The application was deemed adequate and complete on May
5, 2025. The requested regulations under which we would issue the
requested Letter of Authorization (LOA) would be valid for 5 years,
December 2025 through November 2030. During the ice-covered season,
Hilcorp annually constructs sea ice roads and trails to connect and
allow access between West Dock and Northstar. Similarly, Hilcorp builds
and utilizes an ice road or trail connecting the Oliktok Production Pad
(OPP) and SID and also builds an annual ice road from shore to the ODS.
Construction activities and subsequent use and maintenance of ice roads
and trails are expected to disturb nearby pinnipeds, potentially
resulting in incidental take by Level B harassment or mortality.
Therefore, Hilcorp requests authorization to incidentally take marine
mammals. This would be the second rule covering the activities
described below. The current regulations and associated LOA are
effective from December 22, 2020 through November 30, 2025.
Specified Activities
The purpose of Hilcorp's activities is to transport personnel,
equipment and provisions to the off-shore Northstar, SID and ODS
production facilities during the winter months when the ocean surface
is frozen. The proposed activities would include the building and
maintenance of ice roads, ice trails and adjacent ice pads. Sea ice
road construction activities occur 24 hours a day, 7 days a week during
the construction phase (approximately 6 weeks), and are halted during
unsafe conditions such as high winds or extremely low temperatures.
After the roads are completed, Hilcorp would need to conduct
maintenance activities anytime, day or night, in order to maintain a
safe route of travel. Ice road and trail activities would occur between
December 1 and May 31 each year between 2025 and 2030, depending on
weather and ice conditions. Take by Level B harassment along with the
limited potential for mortality (four instances over 5 years) has been
requested for ringed seal (Phoca hispida). The Hilcorp application
contains mitigation and monitoring measures designed to reduce impacts
to marine mammals. The application also contains proposed marine mammal
monitoring and reporting plans.
Information Solicited
Interested persons may submit information, suggestions, and
comments concerning Hilcorp'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 Hilcorp, if appropriate.
Dated: May 13, 2025.
Kimberly Damon-Randall,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2025-08762 Filed 5-15-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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