[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 34 (Wednesday, February 22, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11344-11345]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-03410]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XE271
Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities;
Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to the Bravo Wharf Recapitalization
Project
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; revision of an incidental harassment authorization.
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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that we have revised an incidental
harassment authorization (IHA) issued to the U.S. Navy (Navy) to
incidentally harass, by Level B harassment only, one species of marine
mammal during construction activities associated with a wharf
recapitalization project at Naval Station Mayport, Florida. The project
has been delayed and the effective dates revised accordingly.
DATES: This authorization is now effective from March 13, 2017, through
March 12, 2018.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Laura McCue, Office of Protected
Resources, NMFS, (301) 427-8401.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On July 21, 2015, we received a request from the Navy for
authorization of the taking, by Level B harassment only, of marine
mammals incidental to pile driving in association with the Bravo Wharf
Recapitalization Project at Naval Station Mayport, Florida (NSM). A
final version, which we deemed adequate and complete, was submitted on
November 17, 2015. We published notice of a proposed IHA and request
for comments on December 7, 2015 (80 FR 75978), and subsequently
published final notice of our issuance of the IHA on August 9, 2016 (81
FR 52637). In-water work associated with the project was expected to be
completed within
[[Page 11345]]
the one-year timeframe of the IHA (effective dates originally December
1, 2016 through November 30, 2017). One species of marine mammal is
expected to be affected by the specified activities: Bottlenose dolphin
(Tursiops truncatus truncatus). This species may occur year-round in
the action area. On January 23. 2017, the Navy informed us that no work
had been performed relevant to the specified activity considered in the
MMPA analysis and requested that the dates of the IHA be revised.
Summary of the Activity
The purpose of the project is to complete necessary repairs at an
existing general purpose berthing wharf at NSM. The wharf is one of
NSM's two primary deep-draft berths and is one of the primary ordnance
handling wharves, and is in an advanced state of deterioration
resulting in load restrictions. Construction of the replacement pier
will require vibratory pile installation, with impact pile driving as a
contingency. The entire project is expected to require a maximum of 130
in-water workdays over two phases within a 24-month period. This IHA
would be valid from December 1, 2016 through November 30, 2017.
In order to rehabilitate Bravo Wharf, the Navy proposes to install
a new steel sheet pile bulkhead at Bravo Wharf, requiring approximately
880 single sheet piles (Phase I--berths B-2 and B-3: 590; Phase II--
berth B-1: 290). Vibratory driving will be the primary method of
installation for all piles, although impact driving may be required as
a contingency in the case of difficult subsurface driving conditions.
Effects to marine mammals from the specified activity are expected
to result from underwater sound produced by vibratory and impact pile
driving. In order to assess project impacts, the Navy used thresholds
recommended by NMFS. The Navy assumed practical spreading loss and used
empirically-measured source levels from representative pile driving
events to estimate potential marine mammal exposures. The calculations
predict that only Level B harassment would occur associated with pile
driving activities, and required mitigation measures further ensure
that no more than Level B harassment would occur.
Findings
Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA)--As required by the MMPA, in
order to issue an IHA, we determined that (1) the required mitigation
measures are sufficient to reduce the effects of the specified
activities to the level of least practicable impact; (2) the authorized
takes will have a negligible impact on the affected marine mammal
species; (3) the authorized takes represent small numbers relative to
the affected stock abundances; and (4) the Navy's activities will not
have an unmitigable adverse impact on taking for subsistence purposes
as no relevant subsistence uses of marine mammals are implicated by
this action.
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)--The Navy prepared an
Environmental Assessment analyzing the project. We reviewed the EA and
the public comments received and determined that it was appropriate to
adopt the document in order to assess the impacts to the human
environment of issuance of an IHA to the Navy. We signed a Finding of
No Significant Impact on July 25, 2016.
Endangered Species Act (ESA)--There are no ESA-listed marine
mammals expected to occur in the action area. Therefore, the Navy did
not request authorization of the incidental take of ESA-listed species
and no such authorization was issued; therefore, no consultation under
the ESA was required.
Summary of the Revision
Construction activities have been delayed for the project due to
delays from construction activities at another wharf in NSM, where they
are allowed to only have one out-of-service wharf at a time. No in-
water work has occurred, including all aspects of the specified
activity considered in our issuance of the IHA. The IHA, as issued, is
a one-year IHA with no consideration of seasonality in timing any
component of the specified activity. Therefore, shifting the effective
dates of the IHA to accommodate the Navy's delayed schedule for this
project has no effect on our analysis of project impacts and does not
affect our findings. NOAA's new acoustic guidance was published in the
Federal Register on August 4, 2016 (81 FR 51693) after the original IHA
was issued. We are not considering this information here; the change to
the effective dates is the only change to this IHA. No other new
information is available that would substantively affect our analyses
under the MMPA, NEPA, or ESA. All mitigation, monitoring, and reporting
measures described in our notice of issuance of the IHA remain in
effect. The species for which take was authorized and the numbers of
incidences of take authorized are unchanged.
As a result of the foregoing, we have revised the IHA issued to the
Navy to conduct the specified activities in Naval Station Mayport, FL.
Originally valid for 1 year, from December 1, 2013, through November
30, 2014, the IHA now becomes effective on March 13, 2017, and is valid
for one year, until March 12, 2018.
Dated: February 16, 2017.
Donna S. Wieting,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2017-03410 Filed 2-21-17; 8:45 am]
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