Notice2026-15987
Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to U.S. Coast Guard Fast Response Cutter Homeporting in Sitka, 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
August 6, 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 a modified incidental harassment authorization (IHA) to the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) for authorization to take marine mammals incidental to construction activities associated with fast response cutter (FRC) homeporting in Sitka, Alaska.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 150 (Thursday, August 6, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 150 (Thursday, August 6, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50808-50810]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-15987]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XF679]
Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities;
Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to U.S. Coast Guard Fast Response
Cutter Homeporting in Sitka, Alaska
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; issuance of a modified 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 a modified incidental harassment authorization (IHA) to
the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) for authorization to take marine mammals
incidental to construction activities associated with fast response
cutter (FRC) homeporting in Sitka, Alaska.
DATES: This authorization is effective for 1 year from the date of
notification by the IHA-holder, not to exceed 1 year from the date of
issuance (August 3, 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: Alyssa Clevenstine, 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 shall 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 July 25, 2024, a notice of NMFS' proposal to issue two IHAs to
the USCG for take of marine mammals incidental to pile driving
(installation and removal) associated with construction of two FRC
homeporting docks in Seward and Sitka, Alaska, was published in the
Federal Register (89 FR 60359). On December 20, 2024, NMFS published a
Federal Register notice announcing the issuance of the IHAs to the
USCG, one for Moorings Sitka effective from September 1, 2026, through
August 31, 2027, and one for Moorings Seward effective from March 1,
2027, through February 29, 2028 (89 FR 104090).
On April 2, 2026, a notice of NMFS' proposal to modify the IHA for
Moorings Sitka was published in the Federal Register (91 FR 16672). 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 modified IHA be issued. The Federal Register notice also
included analysis to support NMFS' preliminary conclusions and
determinations that the modified 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 modified
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, 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 modification notice has become
available since that notice was published, and therefore, the
preliminary analyses, conclusions, and determinations included in the
proposed IHA modification are considered final.
Changes From the Proposed IHA to the Final IHA
Since publication of the proposed IHA modification, the applicant
has changed the fender piles planned for use from 16-inch (40.64-
centimeter (cm)) steel piles to 14- to 16-inch (35.6- to 40.64-cm)
plastic piles. The quantity of fender piles to be installed (60) and
installation method (vibratory) remain the same, as does the maximum
numbers of fender piles that will be installed per day (8). The time
required to install the fender piles will decrease from 30 minutes to
15 minutes per pile, and the installation rate will increase from 5
piles per day to 6 piles per day. The sound source level for 14- to 16-
inch plastic piles is 162 decibels referenced to 1 microPascal at 10
meters (dB re 1 [micro]Pa at 10 m) root-mean-square sound pressure
level (RMS SPL), which is a decrease of 1 dB from the 16-inch steel
piles proposed for use as fender piles. Therefore, the calculated
distances to the Level A and Level B harassment zones sizes will be
smaller than what was included in the notice of proposed IHA
modification (91 FR 16672, April 2, 2026). The ensonified areas were
not directly used in the calculation of estimated take because take was
estimated with species occurrence data instead of density. Thus, there
is no change to estimated take as a result of the slightly smaller
Level A and Level B harassment zones. The USCG will use the same
mitigation, monitoring, and reporting measures, including the shutdown
and harassment zones, shown in the notice of proposed IHA modification
and as described in the Marine Mammal Monitoring Plan. The take
estimates included in the notice of proposed IHA modification remain
the same. The change of pile type has been reflected in table 2 of the
IHA.
NMFS has also revised the distribution of take across killer whale
(Orcinus orca) stocks expected in the project area. In the notice of
proposed IHA modification, the percent of each stock impacted for
killer whales was estimated assuming each stock was taken in proportion
to its population size from the total take. We found that methodology
was flawed because stock size and regional occurrence are not directly
proportionate. Given the lack of data available on site-specific stock
occurrence, we assume that all takes (106 takes by Level B harassment
only) could occur to each stock of killer whale. As described in the
Small Numbers section of the notice of proposed IHA modification (91 FR
16672, April 2, 2026) and herein, NMFS determined the amount of take
authorized is below one-third of the estimated stock abundance of all
killer whale stocks (table 1). For all stocks
[[Page 50810]]
other than the Eastern North Pacific Northern Resident stock of killer
whale, the number of takes proposed for authorization would be
considered small relative to the relevant stocks' abundances, even in
the unlikely scenario that each estimated taking occurred to a new
individual.
Table 1--Estimated Take of Killer Whales From the Specified Activities
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Instances of take
Stock Level B SAR abundance as a percentage
harassment of population
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Eastern North Pacific Alaska Resident........................ 106 1,920 5.5
Eastern North Pacific Gulf of Alaska, Aleutian Islands and 587 18.1
Bering Sea Transient........................................
Eastern North Pacific Northern Resident...................... 302 35.1
West Coast Transient......................................... 349 30.1
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The Eastern North Pacific Northern Resident stock of killer whale
occurs from Washington State through part of Southeast Alaska.
Movements of killer whales, for both transient and resident stocks,
between widely separated geographical areas have been documented;
however, given the relatively sheltered location of the project site in
Southeast Alaska, it is unlikely that numerous discrete groups of
individuals sufficient to exceed one-third of the stock abundance would
occur within the immediate vicinity of the project. It is more likely
that individual groups that occur in the area would remain for periods
of time and potentially be resighted on multiple days. As such, and
given that the authorized takes would be allocated among four distinct
killer whale stocks, the numbers of individuals taken would likely
comprise less than one-third of the best available population abundance
estimate of the Eastern North Pacific Northern Resident stock of killer
whale.
Finally, a rounding error in the calculation of estimated take by
Level B harassment of humpback whales was corrected to 60 takes by
Level B harassment, which is a reduction of 1 take from the estimated
take of marine mammals in the proposed authorization. This correction
led to a reduction in the number of estimated takes of the Hawai'i
stock of humpback whales by 1, thus, the authorized take of the Hawai'i
stock of humpback whales is 59 takes by Level B harassment.
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 modification of the IHA continues to qualify 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 the NMFS Alaska
Regional Office.
There are two marine mammal species (Western DPS Steller sea lion
and Mexico-North Pacific stock of humpback whale) with confirmed
occurrence in the project area that are listed under the ESA. The NMFS
Alaska Regional Office Protected Resources Division issued a Biological
Opinion on July 28, 2026, under section 7 of the ESA, on the issuance
of an IHA modification to the USCG 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 Western DPS Steller sea lion or Mexico North
Pacific stock of humpback whale, and is not likely to destroy or
adversely modify critical habitat for Western DPS Steller sea lion or
Mexico North Pacific stock of humpback whale.
Authorization
Accordingly, consistent with the requirements of section
101(a)(5)(D) of the MMPA, NMFS has issued a modified IHA to the USCG
for authorization to take marine mammals incidental to construction of
a FRC homeporting dock in Sitka.
Dated: August 3, 2026.
Kimberly Damon-Randall,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2026-15987 Filed 8-5-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on August 6, 2026.
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