[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 147 (Friday, July 31, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45642-45643]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-18790]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XC969
Draft Guidance for Assessing the Effects of Anthropogenic Sound
on Marine Mammal Hearing--Acoustic Threshold Levels for Onset of
Permanent and Temporary Threshold Shifts
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), on behalf of
NMFS and the National Ocean Service (referred collectively here as the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)), announces the
availability of a revised version of draft guidance for assessing the
effects of anthropogenic sound on marine mammal species under NOAA's
jurisdiction. The guidance provides updated received levels, or
thresholds, above which individual marine mammals are predicted to
experience changes in their hearing sensitivity (either temporary or
permanent) for all underwater anthropogenic sound sources. NOAA
solicits public comment on the revised draft guidance based on updated
scientific information and comments received during the first public
comment period.
DATES: Comments must be received by September 14, 2015.
ADDRESSES: The revised draft guidance is available in electronic form
via the Internet at http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/acoustics/.
You may submit comments, which should be identified with NOAA-NMFS-
2013-0177, by any of the following methods:
Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public comments via
the Federal eRulemaking Portal http://www.regulations.gov.
Mail: Send comments to: Chief, Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle
Conservation Division, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine
Fisheries Service, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910-
3226, Attn: Acoustic Guidance.
Instructions: All comments received are a part of the public record
and will generally be posted to http://www.regulations.gov without
change. All Personal Identifying Information (e.g., name, address,
etc.) voluntarily
[[Page 45643]]
submitted by the commenter may be publicly accessible. Do not submit
Confidential Business Information or otherwise sensitive or protected
information.
NMFS will accept anonymous comments (enter N/A in the required
fields, if you wish to remain anonymous). You may submit attachments to
electronic comments in Microsoft Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF
file formats only.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Amy Scholik-Schlomer, Office of
Protected Resources, 301-427-8449, [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NOAA has developed draft guidance for
assessing the effects of anthropogenic sound on the hearing of marine
mammal species under NOAA's jurisdiction (i.e., whales, dolphins,
porpoises, seals and sea lions). Specifically, the guidance identifies
the received levels, or thresholds, above which individual marine
mammals are predicted to experience changes in their hearing
sensitivity (either temporary or permanent) for all underwater
anthropogenic sound sources. This guidance is intended to be used by
NOAA analysts and managers and other relevant user groups and
stakeholders, including other federal agencies, when seeking to
determine whether and how their activities are expected to result in
particular types of impacts to marine mammals via acoustic exposure.
The document outlines NOAA's updated acoustic threshold level,
describes in detail how the thresholds were developed, and explains how
they will be updated in the future. NOAA published a Federal Register
Notice on December 27, 2013, announcing the availability of the draft
guidance and a 30-day public comment period (78 FR 78822), which was
extended another 45 days based upon public request on January 29, 2014
(79 FR 4672). Please refer to these Federal Register Notices for
additional background about the draft guidance.
While NOAA was in the process of evaluating and addressing public
comments, the U.S. Navy updated its methodology for the development of
marine mammal auditory weighting functions and acoustic threshold
levels. NOAA evaluated the proposed methodology and preliminarily
determined that it reflects the best available science. Accordingly, we
have incorporated it into our draft guidance. NOAA also re-evaluated
its methods for defining threshold usage for sources characterized as
``impulsive'' or ``non-impulsive'' based on comments received during
the initial public comment period. As a result, NOAA is now soliciting
public comment, via this second public comment period, on this revised
version of the draft guidance that incorporates these changes.
Updated sections can be found in the following locations: (1) A
summary of the updated draft acoustic threshold levels and marine
mammal auditory weighting functions is in the main body of the
document, with additional details provided in Appendix A (Navy
Technical Report); (2) NOAA's proposed methodology for defining
threshold usage for sources characterized as ``impulsive'' or ``non-
impulsive'' is in Section 2.3.1 of the main document, with additional
details in Appendix C; (3) a new appendix identifying research
recommendations and data gaps in response to comments submitted during
the initial public comment period is Appendix D; and a new appendix
providing optional alternative methodology for user groups unable to
apply the guidance's more complex acoustic threshold levels and
auditory weighting functions is Appendix E.
Before the guidance is finalized, NOAA will address substantive
public comments received from the initial public comment period, as
well as from this second public comment period. Therefore, NOAA
encourages the public to currently focus comments on the revised and
new sections of the document. We are particularly interested in
identification of any additional datasets for inclusion in the
assessment, comments on our proposed methodology for transitioning from
``impulsive'' to ``non-impulsive'' acoustic threshold levels, and
evaluation of the methodology associated with updated marine mammal
auditory weighting functions and acoustic thresholds.
The guidance is classified as a Highly Influential Scientific
Assessment by the Office of Management and Budget. As such, independent
peer review is required prior to broad public dissemination by the
Federal Government. NOAA recently conducted two independent peer
reviews in association with the revised draft guidance (in addition to
the peer review on the first draft of the guidance). Details of both
peer reviews can be found within the draft guidance and at the
following Web site: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/acoustics/.
Dated: July 27, 2015.
Perry F. Gayaldo,
Deputy Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-18790 Filed 7-30-15; 8:45 am]
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