Notice2025-14588
Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Sand Island Pile Dike Repairs in the Columbia River
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
August 1, 2025
Effective
August 1, 2025
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
In accordance with regulations implementing the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) as amended, notification is hereby given that NMFS has issued an incidental harassment authorization (IHA) to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) for authorization to take marine mammals incidental to the Sand Island Pile Dike Repairs Project in the Mouth of the Columbia River (MCR).
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 146 (Friday, August 1, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 146 (Friday, August 1, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36145-36146]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-14588]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XF055]
Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities;
Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Sand Island Pile Dike Repairs in
the Columbia River
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: In accordance with regulations implementing the Marine Mammal
Protection Act (MMPA) as amended, notification is hereby given that
NMFS has issued an incidental harassment authorization (IHA) to the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) for authorization to take marine
mammals incidental to the Sand Island Pile Dike Repairs Project in the
Mouth of the Columbia River (MCR).
[[Page 36146]]
DATES: This authorization is effective from August 1, 2025, through
July 31, 2026.
ADDRESSES: Electronic copies of the application and supporting
documents, as well as a list of the references cited in this document,
may be obtained online at: <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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert Pauline, Office of Protected
Resources, NMFS, (301) 427-8401.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
MMPA Background and Determinations
The MMPA prohibits the ``take'' of marine mammals, with certain
exceptions. Among the exceptions is section 101(a)(5)(D) of the MMPA
(16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) which directs the Secretary of Commerce (as
delegated to NMFS) to allow, upon request, the incidental, but not
intentional, taking by harassment 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 the public has an opportunity to comment on the proposed IHA.
Specifically, NMFS will issue an IHA if it finds that the taking
will have a negligible impact on the species or stock(s) and will not
have an unmitigable adverse impact on the availability of the species
or stock(s) for taking for subsistence uses (where relevant). Further,
NMFS must prescribe the permissible methods of taking and other ``means
of effecting the least [practicable] adverse impact'' on the affected
species or stocks and their habitat, paying particular attention to
rookeries, mating grounds, and areas of similar significance, and on
the availability of such species or stocks for taking for certain
subsistence uses (referred to here as ``mitigation''). NMFS must also
prescribe requirements pertaining to the monitoring and reporting of
such takings. The definitions of key terms, such as ``take,''
``harassment,'' and ``negligible impact,'' can be found in the MMPA and
the NMFS' implementing regulations (see 16 U.S.C. 1362; 50 CFR
216.103).
On June 23, 2025, a notice of NMFS' proposal to issue an IHA to the
USACE for take of marine mammals incidental to the Sand Island Pile
Dike Repairs project in the MCR was published in the Federal Register
(90 FR 26541). In that notice, NMFS indicated the estimated numbers,
type, and methods of incidental take proposed for each species or
stock, as well as the mitigation, monitoring, and reporting measures
that would be required should the IHA be issued. The Federal Register
notice also included analysis to support NMFS' preliminary conclusions
and determinations that the IHA, if issued, would satisfy the
requirements of section 101(a)(5)(D) of the MMPA for issuance of the
IHA. The Federal Register notice included web links to a draft IHA for
review, as well as other supporting documents.
No substantive comments were received during the public comment
period. There are no changes to the specified activity, the species
taken, the proposed numbers, type, or methods of take, or the
mitigation, monitoring, or reporting measures in the proposed IHA
notice. No new information that would change any of the preliminary
analyses, conclusions, or determinations in the proposed IHA notice has
become available since that notice was published, and therefore, the
preliminary analyses, conclusions, and determinations included in the
proposed IHA are considered final.
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 proposed action (i.e., the issuance of an IHA)
with respect to potential impacts on the human environment.
This action is consistent with categories of activities identified
in Categorical Exclusion B4 (IHAs with no anticipated serious injury or
mortality) 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. Accordingly, NMFS has determined that the
issuance of the proposed IHA qualifies to be categorically excluded
from further NEPA review.
Endangered Species Act
Section 7(a)(2) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA; 16
U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) requires that each Federal agency ensures 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.
NMFS has authorized take of humpback whale Mainland Mexico and
Central America/Southern Mexico DPS, which are listed under the ESA.
The effects of this Federal action were adequately analyzed in NMFS'
Biological Opinion and Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and
Management Act Essential Fish Habitat Response for the Sand Island Pile
Dike Repair Project, dated June 14, 2022 which concluded that the take
NMFS has authorized through this IHA will not jeopardize the continued
existence of any endangered or threatened species.
Authorization
Accordingly, consistent with the requirements of section
101(a)(5)(D) of the MMPA, NMFS has issued an IHA to the USACE for
authorization to take marine mammals incidental to Sand Island Pile
Dike Repairs Project in the MCR.
Dated: July 29, 2025.
Kimberly Damon-Randall,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2025-14588 Filed 7-31-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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