Notice2026-00819
Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to the Ketchikan Dock Company, LLC's Ketchikan Berth IV Expansion Project in the East Tongass Narrows, 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
January 16, 2026
Effective
February 1, 2026
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 Ketchikan Dock Company, LLC (KDC) for authorization to take marine mammals incidental to construction work for the Ketchikan Berth IV Expansion Project in Ketchikan, Alaska in the East Tongass Narrows.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 11 (Friday, January 16, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 11 (Friday, January 16, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2101-2102]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-00819]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XF081]
Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities;
Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to the Ketchikan Dock Company, LLC's
Ketchikan Berth IV Expansion Project in the East Tongass Narrows,
Alaska
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
Ketchikan Dock Company, LLC (KDC) for authorization to take marine
mammals incidental to construction work for the Ketchikan Berth IV
Expansion Project in Ketchikan, Alaska in the East Tongass Narrows.
DATES: This authorization is effective from February 1, 2026 through
January 31, 2027.
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: Kelsey Potlock, 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 September 30, 2025, a notice of NMFS' proposal to issue an IHA
to the Ketchikan Dock Company, LLC (KDC) for take of marine mammals
incidental to the Ketchikan Berth IV Expansion Project in Ketchikan,
Alaska in the East Tongass Narrows was published in the Federal
Register (90 FR 46834). 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 comments were received during the public comment period. With
the exception of the minor changes described below, there are no
changes to the specified activity, the species taken,
[[Page 2102]]
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.
Changes From the Proposed IHA to the Final IHA
Upon feedback received by the applicant, NMFS made minor changes to
some of the mitigation and monitoring measures that were originally
found in the proposed draft IHA. These include removal of a requirement
to soft-start during down-the-hole drilling and anchoring, as soft-
start is not possible given the continuous nature of the sound source,
a removal of the requirement to use pile caps during impact pile
driving as the contractor is not planning on using them, and minor
adjustments to the locations where Protected Species Observers (PSOs)
would be stationed to monitoring for marine mammals, as well as the
number of PSOs needed depending on each pile driving scenario. These
latter two changes were made to align with the Protected Species
Mitigation and Monitoring Plan. None of these changes affect our
analysis, findings, determinations, or the effectiveness of the
prescribed mitigation and monitoring measures.
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 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, in this case, with NMFS' Alaska
Regional Office.
There is one ESA-listed marine mammal species (humpback whale
(Mexico DPS)) with confirmed occurrence in the project area. NMFS
requested consultation under section 7 of the ESA on September 25,
2025. The NMFS Alaska Regional Office Protected Resources Division
issued a Biological Opinion, under section 7 of the ESA, on the
issuance of an IHA to KDC under section 101(a)(5)(D) of the MMPA by the
NMFS Permits and Conservation Division. The Biological Opinion
concluded that the proposed action is not likely to jeopardize the
continued existence of the Mexico DPS of humpback whales, and is not
likely to destroy or adversely modify critical habitat for this
species.
Authorization
Accordingly, consistent with the requirements of section
101(a)(5)(D) of the MMPA, NMFS has issued an IHA to KDC for
authorization to take marine mammals incidental to the Ketchikan Berth
IV Expansion Project in Ketchikan, Alaska in the East Tongass Narrows.
Dated: January 14, 2026.
Kimberly Damon-Randall,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2026-00819 Filed 1-15-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on January 16, 2026.
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