Notice2026-09794
Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities Angoon Ferry Terminal Modification Project in Angoon, 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
May 15, 2026
Effective
June 1, 2027
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
NMFS has received a request from the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (ADOT&PF) for the re-issuance of a previously issued incidental harassment authorization (IHA) with the only change being effective dates. The initial IHA authorized take of 8 species (12 stocks) of marine mammals, by harassment only, associated with the Angoon Ferry Terminal Modifications Project in Angoon, Alaska. The project has been delayed and none of the work covered in the initial IHA has been conducted. The scope of the activities and anticipated effects remain the same, authorized take numbers are not changed, and the required mitigation, monitoring, and reporting remains the same as included in the initial IHA. NMFS is, therefore, issuing a second identical IHA to cover the incidental take analyzed and authorized in the initial IHA.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 94 (Friday, May 15, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 94 (Friday, May 15, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27923-27925]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-09794]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XF718]
Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities;
Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to the Alaska Department of
Transportation and Public Facilities Angoon Ferry Terminal Modification
Project in Angoon, 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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[[Page 27924]]
SUMMARY: NMFS has received a request from the Alaska Department of
Transportation and Public Facilities (ADOT&PF) for the re-issuance of a
previously issued incidental harassment authorization (IHA) with the
only change being effective dates. The initial IHA authorized take of 8
species (12 stocks) of marine mammals, by harassment only, associated
with the Angoon Ferry Terminal Modifications Project in Angoon, Alaska.
The project has been delayed and none of the work covered in the
initial IHA has been conducted. The scope of the activities and
anticipated effects remain the same, authorized take numbers are not
changed, and the required mitigation, monitoring, and reporting remains
the same as included in the initial IHA. NMFS is, therefore, issuing a
second identical IHA to cover the incidental take analyzed and
authorized in the initial IHA.
DATES: This authorization is effective from June 1, 2027, through May
31, 2028.
ADDRESSES: An electronic copy of the final 2025 IHA previously issued
to the ADOT&PF, the ADOT&PF's application, and the Federal Register
notices proposing and issuing the initial IHA may be obtained by
visiting <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/incidental-take-authorization-alaska-department-transportation-and-public-facilities-angoon">https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/incidental-take-authorization-alaska-department-transportation-and-public-facilities-angoon</a>. In case of problems accessing these documents, please call the
contact listed below (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Austin Demarest, Office of Protected
Resources, NMFS, (301) 427-8401.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Sections 101(a)(5)(A) and (D) of the Marine Mammal Protection Act
(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 authorization for incidental takings 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 June 5, 2025, NMFS issued an IHA authorizing take of marine
mammals incidental to the Angoon Ferry Terminal Modifications Project
in Angoon, Alaska (90 FR 24385, June 10, 2025). The initial IHA would
have been effective for 1 year, with an expiration date not later than
June 4, 2027. On March 24, 2026, the ADOT&PF informed NMFS that the
project was delayed. None of the work identified in the initial IHA
(e.g., down-the-hole drilling (DTH), impact and vibratory pile driving,
and vibratory pile removal) has occurred. On April 29, 2026, the
ADOT&PF submitted a request that we reissue an identical IHA that would
be effective from June 1, 2027 through May 31, 2028, in order to
conduct the construction work that was analyzed and authorized through
the previously issued IHA. Therefore, re-issuance of the IHA is
appropriate.
Summary of Specified Activity and Anticipated Impacts
The planned activities (including mitigation, monitoring, and
reporting), authorized incidental take, and anticipated impacts on the
affected stocks are the same as those analyzed and authorized through
the previously issued IHA.
The purpose of the ADOT&PF's construction project is to make
improvements to the existing Angoon Ferry Terminal to accommodate the
new larger Alaska Class Vessel berthing. The need for the proposed
action is to modify the existing Angoon Ferry Terminal because the
original ferry terminal was designed for the Alaska Marine Highway
System fast ferries and motor vessels, but ADOT&PF is in the process of
replacing these aging vessels with longer and wider Alaska Class
Ferries. The location, timing, and nature of the activities, including
the types of equipment planned for use, are identical to those
described in the initial IHA. The mitigation and monitoring are also as
prescribed in the initial IHA.
Species that are expected to be taken by the planned activity
include humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae), minke whale
(Balaenoptera acutorostrata), killer whale (Orcinus orca), Pacific
white-sided dolphin (Lagenorhynchus obliquidens), Dall's porpoise
(Phocoenoides dalli), harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena), Steller sea
lion (Eumetopias jubatus), and harbor seal (Phoca vitulina). A
description of the methods and inputs used to estimate take anticipated
to occur and, ultimately, the take that was authorized is found in the
previous documents referenced above. The data inputs and methods of
estimating take are identical to those used in the initial IHA. NMFS
has reviewed recent Stock Assessment Reports, information on relevant
Unusual Mortality Events, and recent scientific literature, and
determined that no new information affects our original analysis of
impacts or take estimate under the initial IHA.
We refer to the documents related to the previously issued IHA,
which include the Federal Register notice of the issuance of the
initial 2025 IHA for the ADOT&PF's construction work (90 FR 24385, June
10, 2025), the ADOT&PF's application, the Federal Register notice of
the proposed IHA (90 FR 13463, March 24, 2025), and all associated
references and documents.
Determinations
The ADOT&PF will conduct activities as analyzed in the initial 2025
IHA. As described above, the number of authorized takes of the same
species and stocks of marine mammals are identical to the numbers that
were found to meet the negligible impact and small numbers standards
and authorized under the initial IHA, and no new information has
emerged that would change those findings. The re-issued IHA includes
identical required mitigation, monitoring, and reporting measures as
the initial IHA, and there is no new information suggesting that our
analysis or findings should change.
[[Page 27925]]
Based on the information contained here and in the referenced
documents, NMFS has determined the following: (1) the required
mitigation measures will effect the least practicable impact on marine
mammal species or stocks and their habitat; (2) the authorized takes
will have a negligible impact on the affected marine mammal species or
stocks; (3) the authorized takes represent small numbers of marine
mammals relative to the affected stock abundances; and (4) the
ADOT&PF's activities will not have an unmitigable adverse impact on
taking for subsistence purposes as no subsistence uses of marine
mammals are affected by this action.
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 the IHA)
with respect to potential impacts on the human environment.
This action is consistent with categories of activities identified
in CE B4 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 determined that the issuance
of the initial IHA qualified to be categorically excluded from further
NEPA review. NMFS has determined that the application of this
categorical exclusion remains appropriate for this reissued IHA.
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 insure 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, in this case with the Alaska Regional Office,
whenever we propose to authorize take of endangered or threatened
species.
The effects of this proposed Federal action were adequately
analyzed in NMFS' Biological Opinion for the Angoon Ferry Terminal
Project, dated June 3, 2025, which concluded that the take NMFS
proposed to authorize through this IHA would not jeopardize the
continued existence of any endangered or threatened species or destroy
or adversely modify any designated critical habitat.
Authorization
NMFS has issued an IHA to the ADOT&PF for in-water construction
activities associated with the specified activity from June 1, 2027
through May 31, 2028. All previously described mitigation, monitoring,
and reporting requirements from the initial 2025 IHA are incorporated.
Dated: May 13, 2026.
Kimberly Damon-Randall,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2026-09794 Filed 5-14-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on May 15, 2026.
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