Notice2025-22770
Agency Information Collection Activities; Approval Procedures for Incidental Harassment Authorizations of Marine Mammals
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
December 15, 2025
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentFish and Wildlife Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), we, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are proposing to renew an information collection without change.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 238 (Monday, December 15, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 238 (Monday, December 15, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58047-58048]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-22770]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[Docket No. FWS-HQ-ES-2025-0613; FXES111609M0000-256-FF09420000; OMB
Control Number 1018-0194]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Approval Procedures for
Incidental Harassment Authorizations of Marine Mammals
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of information collection; request for comment.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA),
we, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are proposing to
renew an information collection without change.
DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before
February 13, 2026.
ADDRESSES: Send your comments on the information collection request
(ICR) by one of the following methods (please reference 1018-0194 in
the subject line of your comments):
<bullet> Internet (preferred): <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>. Follow
the instructions for submitting comments on Docket No. FWS-HQ-ES-2025-
0613.
<bullet> Email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#1851767e77475b777474587e6f6b367f776e"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="327b5c545d6d715d5e5e725445411c555d44">[email protected]</span></a>.
<bullet> U.S. mail: Service Information Collection Clearance
Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 5275 Leesburg Pike, MS: PRB
(JAO/3W), Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Madonna L. Baucum, Service Information
Collection Clearance Officer, by email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#9fd6f1f9f0c0dcf0f3f3dff9e8ecb1f8f0e9"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="94ddfaf2fbcbd7fbf8f8d4f2e3e7baf3fbe2">[email protected]</span></a>, or by
telephone at (703) 468-8211. Individuals in the United States who are
deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability may dial
711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay
services. Individuals outside the United States should use the relay
services offered within their country to make international calls to
the point-of-contact in the United States.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction
Act (PRA; 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) and its implementing regulations at 5
CFR 1320.8(d)(1), all information collections require approval under
the PRA. We may not conduct or sponsor and you are not required to
respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently
valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number.
As part of our continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent
burdens, we invite the public and other Federal agencies to comment on
new, proposed, revised, and continuing collections of information. This
helps us assess the impact of our information collection requirements
and minimize the public's reporting burden. It also helps the public
understand our information collection requirements and provide the
requested data in the desired format.
We are especially interested in public comment addressing the
following:
(1) Whether or not the collection of information is necessary for
the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including
whether or not the information will have practical utility;
(2) The accuracy of our estimate of the burden for this collection
of information, including the validity of the methodology and
assumptions used;
(3) Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and
(4) How might the agency minimize the burden of the collection of
information on those who are to respond, including through the use of
appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological
collection techniques or other forms of information technology (e.g.,
permitting electronic submission of response).
Comments that you submit in response to this notice are a matter of
public record. We will include or summarize each comment in our request
to OMB to approve this ICR. Before including your address, phone
number, email address, or other personal identifying information in
your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment--including
your personal identifying information--may be made publicly available
at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your
personal identifying information from public review, we cannot
guarantee that we will be able to do so.
Abstract: Section 101(a)(5)(D) of the Marine Mammal Protection Act
of 1972 (MMPA; 16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) authorizes the Secretary of the
Interior (Secretary) to allow, upon request, the incidental, but not
intentional, taking by harassment of small numbers of marine mammals of
a species or population stock by U.S. citizens who engage in a
specified activity (other than commercial fishing) within a specific
geographic region for periods of not more than 1 year. The Service may
authorize incidental take by harassment if statutory and regulatory
procedures are followed and the Service finds: (i) take is of a small
number of marine mammals of a species or stock, (ii) take will have a
negligible impact on the species or stock, and (iii) take will not have
an unmitigable adverse impact on the availability of the species or
stock for taking for subsistence uses by Alaska Natives.
The term ``take'' means to harass, hunt, capture, or kill, or
attempt to harass, hunt, capture, or kill, any marine mammal.
Harassment means any act of pursuit, torment, or annoyance which (i)
has the potential to injure a marine mammal or marine mammal stock in
the wild (the MMPA defines this as ``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 (the MMPA defines this as ``Level B harassment'').
The terms ``negligible impact,'' ``small numbers,'' and
``unmitigable adverse impact'' are defined in 50 CFR 18.27 (i.e., the
Service's regulations governing small takes of marine mammals
incidental to specified activities). ``Negligible impact'' is 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. ``Unmitigable adverse impact'' means an impact resulting from
the specified activity (1) that is likely to reduce the availability of
the species to a level insufficient for a harvest to meet subsistence
needs by (i) causing the marine mammals to abandon or avoid hunting
areas, (ii) directly displacing subsistence users, or (iii) placing
physical barriers between the marine mammals and the subsistence
hunters; and (2) that cannot be sufficiently mitigated by other
measures to increase
[[Page 58048]]
the availability of marine mammals to allow subsistence needs to be
met.
The term ``small numbers'' is also defined in 50 CFR 18.27.
However, we do not rely on that definition here as it conflates ``small
numbers'' with ``negligible impacts.'' We recognize ``small numbers''
and ``negligible impact'' as separate and distinct considerations when
reviewing requests for incidental harassment authorizations (IHA) under
the MMPA (see Natural Res. Def. Council, Inc. v. Evans, 232 F. Supp. 2d
1003, 1025 (N.D. Cal. 2003)). Instead, for our small numbers
determination, we estimate the likely number of takes of marine mammals
and evaluate if that take is small relative to the size of the species
or stock.
The term ``least practicable adverse impact'' is not defined in the
MMPA or its enacting regulations. The Service ensures the least
practicable adverse impact through mitigation measures that are
effective in reducing the impact of project activities but are not so
restrictive as to make project activities unduly burdensome or
impossible to undertake and complete.
If the requisite findings are made, the Service issues an IHA,
which may set forth the following: (i) Permissible methods of taking;
(ii) other means of effecting the least practicable impact on the
species or stock and its habitat, paying particular attention to
rookeries, mating grounds, and areas of similar significance, and on
the availability of the species or stock for taking for subsistence
uses by coastal dwelling Alaska Natives (if applicable); and (iii)
requirements for monitoring and reporting such take by harassment.
Applicants seeking to conduct activities may request an IHA for the
specified activity. If the IHA is issued, the applicants must submit
on-site monitoring reports and a final report of the activity to the
Secretary.
This is a non-form collection. Applicants seeking an IHA must
submit the following information to the Service as part of the IHA
application process, which is also described in the regulations at 50
CFR 18.27:
<bullet> Describe the specific activity or class of activities that
can be expected to result in incidental taking of marine mammals, and
<bullet> Provide the dates and duration of such activity and the
specific geographical region where it will occur.
<bullet> Based on the best available scientific information, each
applicant must also:
--Estimate the species and numbers of marine mammals likely to be
taken, by age, sex, and reproductive conditions, and the type of taking
(e.g., disturbance by underwater sound, disturbance by aircraft,
injury, etc.) and the number of times such taking is likely to occur;
--Describe the status, distribution, and seasonal distribution (when
applicable) of the species or stocks likely to be affected by such
activities;
--Describe the anticipated impacts of an activity upon the species or
stocks;
--Discuss the anticipated impact of the activity on the availability of
the species or stocks for subsistence uses;
<bullet> Discuss the anticipated impact of the activity upon the
habitat of the marine mammal populations and the likelihood of
restoration of the affected habitat;
<bullet> Describe the anticipated impact of the loss or
modification of the habitat on the marine mammal population involved;
<bullet> Describe availability and feasibility (economic and
technological) of equipment, methods, and manner of conducting such
activity or other means of effecting the least practicable adverse
impact upon the affected species or stocks, their habitat, and, where
relevant, on their availability for subsistence uses, paying particular
attention to rookeries, mating grounds, and areas of similar
significance;
<bullet> Discuss the suggested means of accomplishing the necessary
monitoring and reporting which will result in increased knowledge of
the species through an analysis of the level of taking or impacts, and
suggested means of minimizing burdens by coordinating such reporting
requirements with other schemes already applicable to persons
conducting such activity; and
<bullet> Suggest means of learning of, encouraging, and
coordinating research opportunities, plans, and activities relating to
reducing such incidental taking from such specified activities, and
evaluating their effects.
The Service uses the information to draft the proposed IHA,
including proposed determinations and mitigation measures to ensure the
least practicable adverse impacts on the species or stock and its
habitat. Upon IHA issuance, applicants must submit monitoring and final
reports indicating the nature and extent of all takes of marine mammals
that occurred incidentally to the specified activity. The purpose of
monitoring requirements is to assess the effects of project activities
on the species or stock, ensure that take is consistent with that
anticipated in the negligible impact and subsistence use analyses, and
detect any unanticipated effects on the species or stock. Because the
length of project activities varies by project (a few weeks to months),
some projects require weekly reports during project activities.
OMB previously approved information collection requirements
associated with incidental take regulations (ITRs) and letters of
authorization (LOAs) contained in 50 CFR 18, subparts J (Beaufort Sea)
and L (Gulf of Alaska) under OMB Control Number 1018-0070. Because the
ITRs and associated LOAs authorize specific entities to incidentally
take marine mammals while engaged in specified activities within a
specific geographic region for periods of not more than 5 years, the
Service maintains a separate OMB control number for information
collection requirements associated with IHAs.
Title of Collection: Approval Procedures for Incidental Harassment
Authorizations of Marine Mammals.
OMB Control Number: 1018-0194.
Form Number: None.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
Respondents/Affected Public: Private sector and State/local/Tribal
government.
Total Estimated Number of Annual Respondents: 15.
Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 70.
Estimated Completion Time per Response: Varies from 1.5 hours to 50
hours, depending on activity.
Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 365.
Respondent's Obligation: Required to obtain or retain a benefit.
Frequency of Collection: On occasion.
Total Estimated Annual Nonhour Burden Cost: None.
An agency may not conduct or sponsor and a person is not required
to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a
currently valid OMB control number.
The authority for this action is the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).
Madonna Baucum,
Information Collection Clearance Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service.
[FR Doc. 2025-22770 Filed 12-12-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on December 15, 2025.
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