[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 206 (Monday, October 26, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65214-65215]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-27104]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XE252
Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities;
Rehabilitation of the Jetty System at the Mouth of the Columbia River,
Washington and Oregon
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; receipt of application for letter of authorization;
request for comments and information.
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SUMMARY: NMFS has received a request from the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, Portland District (Corps) for authorization to take marine
mammals incidental to the rehabilitation of the jetty system at the
mouth of the Columbia River (MCR) including the North Jetty, South
Jetty, and Jetty A. The Corps is requesting a Letter of Authorization
(LOA) for pile installation and removal associated with construction of
temporary offloading facilities at the North Jetty, South Jetty, and
Jetty A over the course of 5 years; approximately September 2017
through August 2022. Pursuant to regulations implementing the Marine
Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is announcing receipt of the Corps'
request for the development and implementation of regulations governing
the incidental taking of marine mammals and inviting information,
suggestions, and comments on the Corps' application and request.
DATES: Comments and information must be received no later than November
25, 2015.
ADDRESSES: Comments on the application should be addressed to Jolie
Harrison, Chief, Permits and Conservation Division, Office of Protected
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service. Physical comments should
be sent to 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910 and
electronic comments should be sent to [email protected].
Instructions: NMFS is not responsible for comments sent by any
other method, to any other address or individual, or received after the
end of the comment period. Comments received electronically, including
all attachments, must not exceed a 25-megabyte file size. Attachments
to electronic comments will be accepted in Microsoft Word or Excel or
Adobe PDF file formats only. All comments received are a part of the
public record and will generally be posted to the Internet at http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/permits/incidental/construction.htm without
change. All personal identifying information (e.g., name, address)
voluntarily submitted by the commenter may be publicly accessible. Do
not submit confidential business information or otherwise sensitive or
protected information.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert Pauline, Office of Protected
Resources, NMFS, (301) 427-8401.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Availability
A copy of the Corps' application may be obtained by writing to the
address specified above (see ADDRESSES), telephoning the contact listed
above (see
[[Page 65215]]
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT), or visiting the internet at: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/permits/incidental/construction.htm
Background
Sections 101(a)(5)(A) and (D) of the MMPA (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.)
direct the Secretary of Commerce to allow, upon request by U.S.
citizens who engage in a specified activity (other than commercial
fishing) within a specified area, the incidental, but not intentional,
taking of small numbers of marine mammals, providing that certain
findings are made and the necessary prescriptions are established.
The incidental taking of small numbers of marine mammals may be
allowed only if NMFS (through authority delegated by the Secretary)
finds that the total taking by the specified activity during the
specified time period will (i) have a negligible impact on the species
or stock(s) and (ii) not have an unmitigable adverse impact on the
availability of the species or stock(s) for subsistence uses (where
relevant). Further, the permissible methods of taking and requirements
pertaining to the mitigation, monitoring and reporting of such taking
must be set forth, either in specific regulations or in an
authorization.
The allowance of such incidental taking under section 101(a)(5)(A),
by harassment (which is defined to include behavioral harassment and
injury), serious injury, death, or a combination thereof, requires that
regulations be promulgated for the specific activity. Subsequently, a
Letter of Authorization may be issued pursuant to the prescriptions
established in such regulations, providing that the level of taking
will be consistent with the findings made for the total taking
allowable under the specific regulations. Under section 101(a)(5)(D),
NMFS may authorize such incidental taking by harassment only, for
periods of not more than one year, pursuant to requirements and
conditions contained within an IHA. The proposed incidental take
authorization and establishment of prescriptions through either
specific regulations or an IHA requires notice and opportunity for
public comment.
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.'' Except with respect to certain activities
not pertinent here, section 3(18) of 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].''
Activities such as those described in the application (e.g., pile
driving) may result in the disturbance of marine mammals through
disruption of behavioral patterns
Summary of Request
On February 13, 2015, NMFS received an application for a single
multi-year project for the taking of marine mammals incidental to the
rehabilitation of the North Jetty, South Jetty, and Jetty A at the MCR.
NMFS issued an incidental harassment authorization (IHA) for the first
year of the project on August 31, 2015 (80 FR 53777 September 8, 2015)
allowing the take of specified marine mammals for work associated with
the reconstruction of Jetty A only. The IHA is valid from May 1, 2016
through April 30, 2017. The Corps is seeking an LOA for this same
project that would cover in-water work associated with continuation of
Jetty A reconstruction as well as reconstruction of the North Jetty and
South Jetty. The Corps has requested regulations to be effective for
the period from approximately summer of 2017 through 2022. The Corps
requested authorization to take marine mammals by Level B harassment
only: Killer whale (Orcinus orca), Steller sea lion (Eumatopius
jubatus), gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus), harbor porpoise (Phocoena
phocoena), California sea lion (Zalophus californianus), and harbor
seal (Phoca vitulina richardii).
Specified Activities
The Corps is proposing to conduct monitoring actions, repairs, and
rehabilitation of the three rubble-mound jetty structures at the MCR.
The three structures are referred to as North Jetty, South Jetty, and
Jetty A. Initial work on Jetty A will be covered by an IHA which has
already been issued. The Corps is requesting a LOA for remaining pile
repairs and removal actions at Jetty A, for pile installation and
removal at North Jetty, and for pile installation and removal at South
Jetty. Pile installation and removal activities are required as part of
the construction of four temporary barge offloading facilities. These
facilities combined will require up to 96 piles with a maximum diameter
of 24-inches and up to 373 sections of Z-piles to retain rock fill.
They will be installed via vibratory installation. A full description
of the activities proposed by the Corps is described in the
application.
Information Solicited
Interested persons may submit information, suggestions, and
comments concerning the Corps' request (see ADDRESSES). All
information, suggestions, and comments related to The Corps' request
and NMFS' potential development and implementation of regulations
governing the incidental taking of marine mammals by the Corps will be
considered by NMFS in developing, if appropriate, regulations governing
the issuance of letters of authorization.
Dated: October 20, 2015.
Perry Gayaldo,
Deputy Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-27104 Filed 10-23-15; 8:45 am]
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