Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to the Oregon Department of Transportation's Yaquina Bay Dolphin Replacement Project in Newport, Oregon

Issuing agencies

Abstract

In accordance with regulations implementing the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) as amended, notification is hereby given that NMFS has issued a renewal incidental harassment authorization (IHA) to the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) for authorization to take marine mammals incidental to construction activities for the Yaquina Bay Dolphin Replacement Project in Newport, Oregon.

Full Text

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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 196 (Tuesday, October 13, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 196 (Tuesday, October 13, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64884-64885]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-20868]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XF625]


Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities; 
Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to the Oregon Department of 
Transportation's Yaquina Bay Dolphin Replacement Project in Newport, 
Oregon

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice; issuance of a renewal 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 renewal incidental harassment authorization (IHA) to 
the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) for authorization to 
take marine mammals incidental to construction activities for the 
Yaquina Bay Dolphin Replacement Project in Newport, Oregon.

DATES: This renewal IHA is valid from November 1, 2026, through October 
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: Cara Hotchkin, 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 (16 U.S.C. 1362; 50 CFR 216.103).
    NMFS' regulations implementing the MMPA at 50 CFR 216.107(e) 
indicate that IHAs may be renewed for additional periods of time not to 
exceed 1 year for each reauthorization. In the notice of proposed IHA 
for the initial IHA (90 FR 34441, July 22, 2025), NMFS described the 
circumstances under which we would consider issuing a renewal for this 
activity and requested public comment on a potential renewal under 
those circumstances. Specifically, on a case-by-case basis, NMFS may 
issue a one-time 1-year renewal IHA following notice to the public 
providing an additional 15 days for public comments when (1) up to 
another year of identical, or nearly identical, activities as described 
in the Detailed Description of Specified Activities section of the 
initial IHA issuance notice is planned, or (2) the activities as 
described in the Description of the Specified Activities and 
Anticipated Impacts section of the initial IHA issuance notice would 
not be completed by the time the initial IHA expires and a renewal 
would allow for completion of the activities beyond that described in 
the DATES section of the notice of issuance of the initial IHA, 
provided all of the following conditions are met:
    1. A request for renewal is received no later than 60 days prior to 
the needed renewal IHA effective date (recognizing that the renewal IHA 
expiration date cannot extend beyond 1 year from expiration of the 
initial IHA).
    2. The request for renewal must include the following:
    <bullet> An explanation that the activities to be conducted under 
the requested renewal IHA are identical to the activities analyzed 
under the initial IHA, are a subset of the activities, or include 
changes so minor (e.g., reduction in pile size) that the changes do not 
affect the previous analyses, mitigation and monitoring requirements, 
or take estimates (with the exception of reducing the type or amount of 
take).
    <bullet> A preliminary monitoring report showing the results of the 
required monitoring to date and an explanation showing that the 
monitoring results do not indicate impacts of a scale or nature not 
previously analyzed or authorized.
    3. Upon review of the request for renewal, the status of the 
affected species or stocks, and any other pertinent information, NMFS 
determines that there are no more than minor changes in the activities, 
the mitigation and monitoring measures will remain the same and 
appropriate, and the findings in the initial IHA remain valid.
    An additional public comment period of 15 days (for a total of 45 
days), with direct notice by email, phone, or postal service to 
commenters on the initial IHA, is provided to allow for any additional 
comments on the proposed renewal. A description of the renewal process 
may be found on our website at: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/

[[Page 64885]]

national/marine-mammal-protection/incidentalharassment-authorization-
renewals.

History of Request

    On July 21, 2026, ODOT contacted NMFS requesting a renewal of their 
original IHA, in order to complete the work that was originally planned 
but would not be able to during the construction season originally 
planned. On September 3, 2026, a notice of NMFS' proposal to issue a 
renewal IHA to ODOT for take of marine mammals incidental to the 
Yaquina Bay Dolphin Replacement Project in Newport, Oregon was 
published in the Federal Register (91 FR 56636). 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. 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 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 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 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.
    No incidental take of ESA-listed species is authorized or expected 
to result from this activity. Therefore, NMFS has determined that 
formal consultation under section 7 of the ESA is not required for this 
action.

Authorization

    Accordingly, consistent with the requirements of section 
101(a)(5)(D) of the MMPA, NMFS has issued a renewal IHA to ODOT for 
authorization to take marine mammals incidental to construction 
activities for the Yaquina Bay Dolphin Replacement Project in Newport, 
Oregon.

     Dated: October 7, 2026.
Kimberly Damon-Randall,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2026-20868 Filed 10-9-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P


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