Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 230 / Monday, November 30, 2020 / Notices 76527 

Request for Administrative Review,’’ dated 

September 4, 2020; GGB’s Letter, ‘‘Withdrawal of 

Request for the Administrative Review of the 

Antidumping Duty Order on Tapered Roller 

Bearings from the People’s Republic of China, A– 

570–601 (POR: 6/1/19–5/31/20),’’ dated August 18, 

2020; Ningbo Xinglun’s Letter, ‘‘Tapered Roller 

Bearing from the People’s Republic of China: 

Withdrawal of Request for Administrative Review,’’ 

dated September 9, 2020; and SGBC’s Letter, 

‘‘Tapered Roller Bearing from the People’s Republic 

of China: Withdrawal of Request for Administrative 

Review,’’ dated September 4, 2020. 

Partial Rescission 

Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.213(d)(1), 

Commerce will rescind an 

administrative review, in whole or in 

part, if a party who requested the review 

withdraws the request within 90 days of 

the date of publication of notice of 

initiation of the requested review. CPZ/ 

SKF, GGB, SGBC, and Xinglun Bearings 

timely withdrew their requests for an 

administrative review. No other party 

requested a review of these four 

companies. Accordingly, we are 

rescinding this review, in part, with 

respect to these companies, pursuant to 

19 CFR 351.213(d)(1). 

The instant review will continue with 

respect to the following companies: 

BRTEC Wheel Hub Bearing Co., Ltd.; 

C&U Group Shanghai Bearing Co., Ltd.; 

Hebei Xintai Bearing Forging Co., Ltd.; 

Shanghai Tainai Bearing Co., Ltd.; 

Xinchang Newsun Xintianlong 

Precision Bearing Manufacturing Co., 

Ltd.; and Zhejiang Jingli Bearing 

Technology Co., Ltd. 

Assessment 

Commerce will instruct U.S. Customs 

and Border Protection (CBP) to assess 

antidumping duties on all appropriate 

entries. For the companies for which 

this review is rescinded, antidumping 

duties shall be assessed at rates equal to 

the cash deposit of estimated 

antidumping duties required at the time 

of entry, or withdrawal from warehouse, 

for consumption, in accordance with 19 

CFR 351.212(c)(1)(i). Commerce intends 

to issue appropriate assessment 

instructions to CBP 15 days after 

publication of this notice in the Federal 

Register. 

Notification to Importers 

This notice serves as a reminder to 

importers of their responsibility under 

19 CFR 351.402(f)(2) to file a certificate 

regarding the reimbursement of 

antidumping duties prior to liquidation 

of the relevant entries during this 

review period. Failure to comply with 

this requirement could result in the 

presumption that reimbursement of 

antidumping duties occurred and the 

subsequent assessment of doubled 

antidumping duties. 

Notification Regarding Administrative 

Protective Orders 

This notice also serves as a reminder 

to parties subject to administrative 

protective order (APO) of their 

responsibility concerning the return or 

destruction of proprietary information 

disclosed under APO in accordance 

with 19 CFR 351.305, which continues 

to govern business proprietary 

information in this segment of the 

proceeding. Timely written notification 

of the return/destruction of APO 

materials or conversion to judicial 

protective order is hereby requested. 

Failure to comply with the regulations 

and terms of an APO is a violation 

which is subject to sanction. 

This notice is issued and published in 

accordance with sections 751 and 

777(i)(1) of the Act, and 19 CFR 

351.213(d)(4). 

Dated: November 24, 2020. 

James Maeder, 

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping 

and Countervailing Duty Operations. 

[FR Doc. 2020–26334 Filed 11–27–20; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XA623] 

Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to 

Specified Activities; Taking Marine 

Mammals Incidental to Port of Kalama 

Expansion Project on the Lower 

Columbia River 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; issuance of Renewal 

incidental harassment authorization. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

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 Port of Kalama (POK) to 

incidentally harass marine mammals 

incidental to construction activities 

associated with an expansion project at 

the POK on the Lower Columbia River, 

Washington. 

DATES: This Renewal IHA is valid from 

November 23, 2020 through October 18, 

2021. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Amy Fowler, Office of Protected 

Resources, NMFS, (301) 427–8401. 

Electronic copies of the original 

application, Renewal request, and 

supporting documents (including NMFS 

Federal Register notices of the original 

proposed and final authorizations, and 

the previous IHA), as well as a list of the 

references cited in this document, may 

be obtained online at: https://

www.fisheries.noaa.gov/permit/ 

incidental-take-authorizations-undermarine-mammal-protection-act. In case 

of problems accessing these documents, 

please call the contact listed above. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The Marine Mammal Protection Act 

(MMPA) prohibits the ‘‘take’’ of marine 

mammals, with certain exceptions. 

Sections 101(a)(5)(A) and (D) of the 

MMPA (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) direct 

the Secretary of Commerce (as delegated 

to NMFS) to allow, upon request, the 

incidental, but not intentional, taking 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 either 

regulations are issued or, if the taking is 

limited to harassment, a notice of a 

proposed incidental take authorization 

is provided to the public for review. 

Authorization for incidental takings 

shall be granted if NMFS 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 

measures’’). Monitoring and reporting of 

such takings are also required. The 

meaning of key terms such as ‘‘take,’’ 

‘‘harassment,’’ and ‘‘negligible impact’’ 

can be found in section 3 of the MMPA 

(16 U.S.C. 1362) and the agency’s 

regulations at 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 

one year for each reauthorization. In the 

notice of proposed IHA for the initial 

authorization, 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 caseVerDate Sep<11>2014 20:03 Nov 27, 2020 Jkt 253001 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 E:\FR\FM\30NON1.SGM 30NON1

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by-case basis, NMFS may issue a onetime one-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, or nearly identical, 

activities as described in the Description 

of the Specified Activities and 

Anticipated Impacts section of this 

notice is planned or (2) the activities as 

described in the Description of the 

Specified Activities and Anticipated 

Impacts section of this notice would not 

be completed by the time the IHA 

expires and a Renewal would allow for 

completion of the activities beyond that 

described in the Dates and Duration 

section of the notice of proposed IHA 

for the initial IHA, provided all of the 

following conditions are met: 

• 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 one year from 

expiration of the initial IHA); 

• The request for renewal must 

include the following: 

(1) 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); and 

(2) 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. 

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: 

www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/ 

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

History of Request 

On September 28, 2015, we received 

a request from the POK for authorization 

of the taking, by Level B harassment 

only, of marine mammals incidental to 

the construction associated with the 

Port of Kalama Expansion Project, 

which involved construction of the 

Kalama Marine Manufacturing and 

Export Facility including a new marine 

terminal for the export of methanol, and 

installation of engineered log jams, 

restoration of riparian wetlands, and the 

removal of existing wood piles in a side 

channel as mitigation activities. The 

specified activity is expected to result in 

the take of three species of marine 

mammals (harbor seals (Phoca vitulina), 

California sea lions (Zalophus 

californianus), and Steller sea lions 

(Eumetopias jubatus)). A final version of 

the application, which we deemed 

adequate and complete, was submitted 

on December 10, 2015. We published a 

notice of a proposed IHA and request for 

comments on March 21, 2016 (81 FR 

15064). After the public comment 

period and before we issued the final 

IHA, POK requested that we issue the 

IHA for 2017 instead of the 2016 work 

season. We subsequently published the 

final notice of our issuance of the IHA 

on December 12, 2016 (81 FR 89436), 

effective from September 1, 2017- 

August 31, 2018. In-water work 

associated with the project was 

expected to be completed within the 

one-year timeframe of the IHA. 

On June 21, 2018, POK informed 

NMFS that work relevant to the 

specified activity considered in the 

MMPA analysis for the 2017–2018 IHA 

was postponed and would not be 

completed. POK requested that the IHA 

be issued to be effective for the period 

from 2018—2019. In support of that 

request, POK submitted an application 

addendum affirming that no change in 

the proposed activities is anticipated 

and that no new information regarding 

the abundance of marine mammals is 

available that would change the 

previous analysis and findings. A notice 

for the proposed incidental take 

authorization was published on July 25, 

2018 (83 FR 35220), and a corrected 

notice was published on August 14, 

2018 (83 FR 40257). On November 13, 

2018, NMFS published final notice of 

our issuance of an IHA authorizing take 

of marine mammals incidental to the 

Port of Kalama Expansion Project (83 FR 

56304). The effective dates of that IHA 

were October 18, 2018 through October 

18, 2019. 

On August 21, 2019, POK informed 

NMFS that the project had been delayed 

by one year. None of the work identified 

in the IHA (i.e. pile driving and 

removal) had occurred and no take of 

any marine mammals had occurred 

since the effective date of the initial 

IHA. POK submitted a formal request for 

an identical IHA, but with modified 

effective dates, in order to conduct the 

construction work that was analyzed 

and authorized through the previously 

issued IHA. On October 17, 2019, NMFS 

issued an IHA to POK to take marine 

mammals incidental to construction 

activities at the Port of Kalama (84 FR 

57013; October 24, 2019), effective from 

October 19, 2019 through October 18, 

2020 (hereafter referred to as the initial 

IHA). 

On August 27, 2020, NMFS received 

an application for the Renewal of that 

initial IHA. As described in the request 

for the Renewal IHA, the activities for 

which incidental take is requested are 

identical to those covered in the initial 

authorization. In order to consider an 

IHA Renewal, NMFS requires the 

applicant provide a preliminary 

monitoring report which confirms that 

the applicant has implemented the 

required mitigation and monitoring, and 

which also shows that no impacts of a 

scale or nature not previously analyzed 

or authorized have occurred as a result 

of the activities conducted. As no 

construction activities have been 

conducted, POK has no monitoring 

results to report. NMFS has determined 

that POK’s proposed activities 

(including mitigation, monitoring, and 

reporting), estimated incidental take, 

and anticipated impacts on the affected 

stocks are the same as those analyzed 

and authorized through the initial IHA. 

Description of the Specified Activities 

and Anticipated Impacts 

POK’s planned activities include 

construction of a marine terminal and 

dock/pier for the export of methanol, 

and associated compensatory mitigation 

activities for the purposes of offsetting 

habitat effects from the action. 

Specifically, the location, timing, and 

nature of the activities, including the 

types of equipment planned for use, are 

identical to those described in the 

original IHA. 

Similarly, the anticipated impacts are 

identical to those described in the initial 

IHA. NMFS anticipates the take of three 

species of marine mammals (Pacific 

harbor seals, California sea lions, and 

Steller sea lions) by Level A and Level 

B harassment incidental to underwater 

noise resulting from construction 

associated with the proposed activities. 

The following documents are 

referenced in this notice and include 

important supporting information: 

• Initial reissued IHA (84 FR 57013; 

October 24, 2019); 


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• Initial final IHA (83 FR 56304; 

November 13, 2018); 

• Initial proposed IHA (83 FR 40257; 

August 14, 2018); 

• 2017 final IHA (81 FR 89436; 

December 12, 2016); 

• 2017 proposed IHA (81 FR 15064; 

March 21, 2016); and 

• 2017 and 2018 IHA applications, 

references cited, and previous public 

comments received (available at https:// 

www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/ 

marine-mammal-protection/incidentaltake-authorizations-constructionactivities). 

Detailed Description of the Activity 

POK is planning to construct a marine 

terminal and dock/pier for the export of 

methanol, and associated compensatory 

mitigation activities for the purposes of 

offsetting habitat effects from the action. 

The marine terminal will be 

approximately 45,000 square feet in 

size, supported by 320 concrete piles 

(24-inch precast octagonal piles to be 

driven by impact hammer) and 16 steel 

piles (12 x 12-inch and 4 x 18-inch 

anticipated to be driven by vibratory 

hammer, and impact hammering will 

only be done to drive/proof if 

necessary). The compensatory 

mitigation includes installation of 8 

engineered log jams, which will be 

anchored by untreated wooden piles 

driven by impact hammer at low tides 

(not in water). The compensatory 

mitigation also includes removal of 

approximately 320 untreated wooden 

piles from an abandoned U.S. Army 

Corps of Engineers (USACE) dike in a 

nearby backwater area. The piles will be 

removed either by direct pull or 

vibratory extraction. Finally, the 

compensatory mitigation includes 

wetland restoration and enhancement 

by removal of invasive species and 

replacement with native wetland 

species. 

A detailed description of the 

construction activities for which take is 

authorized may be found in the Federal 

Register notice of proposed IHA for the 

2017 authorization (81 FR 15064; March 

21, 2016). As stated above, location, 

timing (e.g., seasonality), and nature of 

the pile driving operations, including 

the type and size of piles and the 

methods of pile driving, are identical to 

those analyzed in the initial IHA. The 

IHA Renewal is effective from the date 

of issuance (November 23, 2020) to 

October 18, 2021 (i.e., one year after the 

expiration of the initial IHA). 

Description of Marine Mammals 

A description of the marine mammals 

in the area of the activities for which 

take is authorized here, including 

information on abundance, status, 

distribution, and hearing, may be found 

in the Federal Register notices for the 

proposed IHA for the initial 

authorization (83 FR 40257; August 14, 

2018) and 2017 IHA (81 FR 15064; 

March 21, 2016). NMFS has reviewed 

recent draft Stock Assessment Reports, 

information on relevant Unusual 

Mortality Events, and other scientific 

literature. The 2019 Stock Assessment 

Report notes the estimated abundance of 

the Eastern U.S. stock of Steller sea 

lions has decreased slightly. However, 

NMFS has determined that neither this 

nor any other new information affects 

which species or stocks have the 

potential to be affected or the pertinent 

information in the Description of the 

Marine Mammals in the Area of 

Specified Activities contained in the 

supporting documents for the initial 

IHA. 

Potential Effects on Marine Mammals 

and Their Habitat 

A description of the potential effects 

of the specified activity on marine 

mammals and their habitat for the 

activities for which take is authorized 

may be found in the Federal Register 

notices for the proposed initial IHA (83 

FR 40257; August 14, 2018) and 2017 

IHA (81 FR 15064; March 21, 2016). 

NMFS has reviewed recent draft Stock 

Assessment Reports, information on 

relevant Unusual Mortality Events, and 

other scientific literature, and 

determined that neither this nor any 

other new information affects our initial 

analysis of impacts on marine mammals 

and their habitat. 

Estimated Take 

A detailed description of the methods 

and inputs used to estimate take for the 

specified activity are found in the 

Federal Register notices for the 

proposed initial IHA (83 FR 40257; 

August 14, 2018) and 2017 IHA (81 FR 

15064; March 21, 2016). Specifically, 

the source levels, days of operation, and 

marine mammal occurrence data 

applicable to this authorization remain 

unchanged from the previously issued 

IHA. Similarly, the stocks taken, 

methods of take, and types of take 

remain unchanged from the previously 

issued IHA, as do the number of takes, 

which are indicated below in Table 1. 

The estimated abundance of Steller sea 

lions has decreased from that described 

in the initial IHA (Muto et al., 2020), 

therefore the percent of stock proposed 

to be taken has increased. 

TABLE 1—AUTHORIZED TAKE AND PROPORTION OF POPULATION POTENTIALLY AFFECTED

Authorized 

take by 

level B 

harassment 

Authorized 

take by 

level A 

harassment 

Stock Abundance 

of stock 

Percentage 

of stock 

potentially 

affected 

Harbor seal ........................................ 1,530 10 Oregon/Washington Coast .............. 24,732 6.2 

California sea lion .............................. 372 0 U.S. .................................................. 153,337 0.2 

Steller sea lion ................................... 372 0 Eastern U.S. .................................... 43,201 0.86 

Description of Mitigation, Monitoring 

and Reporting Measures 

The mitigation, monitoring, and 

reporting measures included as 

requirements in this authorization are 

identical to those included in the 

Federal Register notice announcing the 

issuance of the initial IHA (83 FR 56304; 

November 13, 2018), and the discussion 

of the least practicable adverse impact 

included in that document remains 

accurate. The following measures are 

included in this Renewal: 

Mitigation Requirements 

In summary, mitigation includes 

implementation of shut down 

procedures if any marine mammal 

approaches or enters the Level A 

harassment zone for pile driving (26 

meters (m) (85 feet (ft)) for vibratory pile 

driving of steel piles; 63 m (207 ft) for 

impact driving of concrete piles; and 

252 m (828 ft) for impact driving of steel 

piles). For in-water heavy machinery 

work other than pile driving (e.g. 

standard barges, barge-mounted cranes, 

excavators, etc.), if a marine mammal 

comes within 10 m, operations must 

cease and vessels must reduce speed to 

the minimum level required to maintain 

steerage and safe working conditions. 

One trained observer must monitor to 

implement shutdowns and collect 


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information at each active pile driving 

location (whether vibratory or impact 

driving of steel or concrete piles). 

Pile driving activities must only be 

conducted during daylight hours. If the 

shutdown zone is obscured by fog or 

poor lighting conditions, pile driving 

must not be initiated until the entire 

shutdown zone is visible. Work that has 

been initiated appropriately in 

conditions of good visibility may 

continue during poor visibility. The 

shutdown zone must be monitored for 

30 minutes prior to initiating the start of 

pile driving, during the activity, and for 

30 minutes after activities have ceased. 

If pinnipeds are present within the 

shutdown zone prior to pile driving, the 

start must be delayed until the animals 

leave the shutdown zone of their own 

volition, or until 15 minutes elapse 

without re-sighting the animal(s). 

Soft start procedures must be 

implemented at the start of each day’s 

impact pile driving and at any time 

following cessation of impact driving for 

a period of thirty minutes or longer. If 

steel piles require impact installation or 

proofing, a bubble curtain must be used 

for sound attenuation. If water velocity 

is 1.6 ft per second (1.1 miles per hour 

(mph)) or less for the entire installation 

period, the pile being driven must be 

surrounded by a confined or unconfined 

bubble curtain that will distribute small 

air bubbles around 100 percent of the 

pile perimeter for the full depth of the 

water column. If water velocity is 

greater than 1.6 ft per second (1.1 mph) 

at any point during installation, the pile 

being driven must be surrounded by a 

confined bubble curtain (e.g., a bubble 

ring surrounded by a fabric or nonmetallic sleeve) that will distribute air 

bubbles around 100 percent of the pile 

perimeter for the full depth of the water 

column. 

Monitoring Requirements 

At least three NMFS-approved 

observers must be on duty during 

impact driving at all times. As discussed 

above, one observer must monitor and 

implement shutdowns and collect 

information at each pile driving location 

at all times. In addition, two shorebased observers are required (one 

upstream of the project and another 

downstream of the project), whose 

primary responsibility shall be to record 

pinnipeds in the Level B harassment 

zone and to alert the barge-based 

observer to the presence of pinnipeds, 

thus creating a redundant alert system 

for prevention of injurious interaction as 

well as increasing the probability of 

detecting pinnipeds in the disturbance 

zone. 

At least three observers must be on 

duty during vibratory pile driving 

activity for the first two days, and 

thereafter on every third day to allow for 

estimation of Level B harassment takes. 

Similar to requirements for impact 

driving, the first observer must be 

positioned on a work platform or barge 

where the entirety of the shutdown zone 

can be monitored. Shore based 

observers must be positioned to observe 

the disturbance zone from the bank of 

the river. Observers must immediately 

inform other observers and construction 

personnel of all marine mammal 

sightings. 

Reporting Requirements 

POK must provide NMFS with a draft 

monitoring report within 90 calendar 

days of the expiration of the IHA, or 

within conclusion of the construction 

work, whichever comes first. If 

comments are received from NMFS on 

the draft report within 30 days, a final 

report must be submitted to NMFS 

within 30 days thereafter. If no 

comments are received from NMFS 

within 30 days after receipt of the draft 

report, the draft report will be 

considered final. The monitoring report 

must include the following elements: 

• Dates and times (begin and end) of 

all marine mammal monitoring; 

• Construction activities occurring 

during each daily observation period, 

including how many and what type of 

piles were driven or removed and by 

what method (i.e., impact or vibratory); 

• Weather parameters and water 

conditions during each monitoring 

period (e.g., wind speed, percent cover, 

visibility, sea state); 

• Age and sex class, if possible, of all 

marine mammals observed; 

• PSO locations during marine 

mammal monitoring; 

• Distances and bearings of each 

marine mammal observed to the pile 

being driven or removed for each 

sighting (if pile driving or removal was 

occurring at time of sighting); 

• Description of any marine mammal 

behavior patterns during observation, 

including direction of travel and 

estimated time spent within the Level A 

and Level B harassment zones while the 

source was active; 

• Number of individuals of each 

species detected within the monitoring 

zone(s), and estimates of the number of 

marine mammals taken, by species (a 

correction factor may be applied to total 

take numbers, as appropriate); 

• Detailed information about any 

implementation of mitigation triggered 

(e.g., shutdowns and delays), a 

description of specific actions that 

ensued, and resulting behavior of the 

animal, if any; 

• Description of attempts to 

distinguish between the number of 

individual animals taken and the 

number of incidences of take, such as 

ability to track groups or individuals; 

and 

• An extrapolation of the estimated 

takes by Level B harassment based on 

the number of observed exposures 

within the Level B harassment zone, the 

portion of the Level B harassment zone 

that was not visible during monitoring, 

and amount of time monitors were not 

present during vibratory installation or 

removal. 

POK must also submit all PSO 

datasheets and/or raw sighting data (in 

a separate file from the final report). 

In the unanticipated event that the 

construction activities clearly cause the 

take of a marine mammal in a manner 

prohibited by this Authorization, such 

as an injury, serious injury, or mortality 

(Level A take), POK must immediately 

cease all operations and immediately 

report the incident to the NMFS Office 

of Protected Resources and the NMFS 

West Coast Regional Stranding 

Coordinator. The report must include 

the following information: 

1. Time, date, and location (latitude 

and longitude) of the incident; 

2. Description of the incident; 

3. Status of all sound sources used in 

the 24 hours preceding the incident; 

4. Environmental conditions (wind 

speed, wind direction, sea state, cloud 

cover, visibility, water depth); 

5. Description of the marine mammal 

observations in the 24 hours preceding 

the incident; 

6. Species identification or 

description of the animal(s) involved; 

7. The fate of the animal(s); and 

8. Photographs or video footage of the 

animal(s), if equipment is available. 

Activities must not resume until 

NMFS is able to review the 

circumstances of the prohibited take. 

NMFS will work with POK to determine 

what is necessary to minimize the 

likelihood of further prohibited take and 

ensure MMPA compliance. POK may 

not resume their activities until notified 

by NMFS via letter, email, or telephone. 

In the event that POK discovers an 

injured or dead marine mammal, and 

the marine mammal observer 

determines that the cause of injury or 

death is unknown and the death is 

relatively recent (less than a moderate 

state of decomposition), POK must 

immediately report the incident to the 

NMFS Office of Protected Resources, 

and the NMFS West Coast Regional 

Stranding Coordinator. The report must 

include the same information identified 


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above. Activities may continue while 

NMFS reviews the circumstances of the 

incident. NMFS will work with POK to 

determine whether modifications in the 

activities are appropriate. 

In the event that POK discovers an 

injured or dead marine mammal, and 

the marine mammal observer 

determines that the injury or death is 

not associated with or related to the 

activities authorized in the IHA 

(previously wounded animal, carcass 

with moderate to advanced 

decomposition, or scavenger damage), 

POK must report the incident to the 

NMFS Office of Protected Resources, 

and the NMFS West Coast Regional 

Stranding Coordinator within 24 hours 

of the discovery. POK must provide 

photographs or video footage (if 

available) or other documentation of the 

stranded animal(s) to NMFS Office of 

Protected Resources and the West Coast 

Regional Stranding Coordinator. POK 

may continue its operations under such 

a case. 

Public Comments 

A notice of NMFS’ proposal to issue 

a Renewal IHA to POK was published 

in the Federal Register on October 21, 

2020 (85 FR 66957). That notice either 

described, or referenced descriptions of, 

POK’s activity, the marine mammal 

species that may be affected by the 

activity, the anticipated effects on 

marine mammals and their habitat, 

proposed amount and manner of take, 

and proposed mitigation, monitoring 

and reporting measures. NMFS received 

a comment letter from the Marine 

Mammal Commission (Commission). 

The comments and our responses are 

summarized below. 

Comment 1: The Commission 

reiterated a comment made on the 

initial 2018 IHA regarding the 

estimation of the Level A harassment 

zones and recommended NMFS revise 

the Level A harassment zones for harbor 

seals during impact driving of concrete 

piles and vibratory driving of steel piles 

based on eight piles driven per day, 

because harbor seals may be present in 

the project area for longer periods than 

California or Steller sea lions and 

therefore accumulate more sound 

energy. 

Response: NMFS addressed this 

comment in the Federal Register notice 

announcing the issuance of the initial 

2018 IHA (83 FR 56304; November 13, 

2018). NMFS agrees that it is possible 

that harbor seals may be present in the 

general project area for longer periods 

than California or Steller sea lions. 

However, NMFS feels that it is 

unreasonable to assume that seals 

would remain within the area for a full 

eight hours, as they may be transiting 

between two sites (one approximately 

one mile upstream and one 

approximately 3.5 miles downstream) 

where they are known to forage and/or 

haul out. In addition, it is not 

reasonable to assume that pile driving 

activities would occur for eight 

consecutive hours daily, and is more 

likely that these activities would occur 

for an hour to two hours at a time, and 

would be broken up by time needed to 

set up new piles. However, NMFS has 

determined it is reasonable to assume 

that seals would be present for double 

the amount of time as sea lions 

(assuming a two-hour duration versus a 

one-hour duration due to the fact that 

they may be transiting the area twice if 

they move from one site to the other and 

return again) results in a Level A 

harassment threshold distance of 63 m 

for impact driving of concrete piles and 

26 m for vibratory driving of steel piles. 

As noted in the notice for the 

proposed initial IHA, Level A 

harassment takes proposed for 

authorization did not rely on calculated 

takes, and were qualitatively proposed 

for authorization out of an abundance of 

caution in the event that some seals may 

be undetected before entering the Level 

A harassment zone. Therefore, the 

amount of Level A harassment takes 

authorized did not change as a result of 

reconsidering the Level A harassment 

zone and only resulted in a revision of 

the Level A harassment monitoring area. 

The required shutdown distances to 

avoid Level A harassment take are 63 m 

and 26 m, which correspond to a twohour duration for impact driving of 

concrete piles and vibratory driving of 

steel piles, respectively. 

Comment 2: The Commission also 

reiterated their recommendation that 

NMFS investigate the appropriate 

timeframes over which sound exposure 

levels should be accumulated when 

estimating the extents of the Level A 

harassment zones. In the absence of 

relevant recovery time data for marine 

mammals, the Commission believes that 

animat modeling that considers various 

operational and animal scenarios should 

be used to inform the appropriate 

accumulation time and could be 

incorporated into NMFS’s acoustic 

guidance user spreadsheet that currently 

estimates the Level A harassment zones. 

The Commission recommended NMFS 

prioritize this issue in the near future 

and consider incorporating animat 

modeling into the user spreadsheet. 

Response: NMFS appreciates the 

Commission’s recommendations. As 

noted by the Commission, NMFS has 

formed an internal committee to address 

this issue and has consulted with 

external acousticians and modelers. 

NMFS continues to work on improving 

the user spreadsheet and looks forward 

to sharing our progress in the future. 

Comment 3: The Commission noted 

that the draft IHA Renewal did not 

specify what specific information POK 

would be required to include in its 

monitoring report and recommended 

NMFS revise the authorization such that 

the reporting requirements are 

consistent with recently issued IHAs. 

Response: NMFS agrees with the 

Commission’s recommendations and 

has revised the authorization to specify 

the information that must be included 

in POK’s monitoring report (see 

Description of Mitigation, Monitoring 

and Reporting Measures section of this 

notice). 

Comment 4: The Commission 

recommended NMFS reinforce the need 

for POK to keep a running tally of the 

total takes by Level B harassment based 

on observed and extrapolated takes to 

ensure that POK does not exceed the 

authorized number of takes. 

Response: The IHA indicates the 

number of takes authorized for each 

species. We agree that POK must ensure 

they do not exceed authorized takes, 

and further note that they are required 

to report ‘‘an extrapolation of the 

estimated takes by Level B harassment 

based on the number of observed 

exposures within the Level B 

harassment zone, the portion of the 

Level B harassment zone that was not 

visible during monitoring, and amount 

of time monitors were not present 

during vibratory installation or 

removal.’’ 

Comment 5: The Commission 

recommended NMFS refrain from 

issuing a Renewal for any authorization 

unless it is consistent with the 

procedural requirements specified in 

section 101(a)(5)(D)(iii) of the MMPA. 

Response: In prior responses to 

comments about IHA Renewals (e.g., 84 

FR 52464; October 02, 2019 and 85 FR 

53342; August 28, 2020), NMFS has 

explained how the Renewal process, as 

implemented, is consistent with the 

statutory requirements contained in 

section 101(a)(5)(D) of the MMPA, 

provides additional efficiencies beyond 

the use of abbreviated notices, and, 

further, promotes NMFS’ goals of 

improving conservation of marine 

mammals and increasing efficiency in 

the MMPA compliance process. 

Therefore, we intend to continue 

implementing the Renewal process. 

National Environmental Policy Act 

To comply with the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 

(NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and 


TKELLEY on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with NOTICES
76532 Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 230 / Monday, November 30, 2020 / Notices 

NOAA Administrative Order (NAO) 

216–6A, NMFS must review our 

proposed action (i.e., the issuance of an 

incidental harassment authorization) 

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 NOAA 

Administrative Order 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 IHA 

Renewal qualifies to be categorically 

excluded from further NEPA review. 

Determinations 

The construction activities planned 

by POK are identical to those analyzed 

in the initial IHA, as are the planned 

number of days of activity, the method 

of taking, and the effects of the action. 

The potential effects of POK’s activities 

are limited to Level A and Level B 

harassment in the form of auditory 

injury and behavioral disturbance. In 

analyzing the effects of the activities in 

the initial IHA, NMSF determined that 

POK’s activities would have a negligible 

impact on the affected species or stocks 

and that the authorized take numbers of 

each species or stock were small relative 

to the relevant stocks (e.g., less than 

seven percent of all stocks). The 

mitigation measures and monitoring and 

reporting requirements as described 

above are identical to the initial IHA. 

NMFS has concluded that there is no 

new information suggesting that our 

analysis or findings should change from 

those reached for the initial IHA. This 

includes consideration of the estimated 

abundance of the Eastern U.S. stock of 

Steller sea lions decreasing slightly. 

Based on the information and analysis 

contained here and in the referenced 

documents, NMFS has determined the 

following: (1) the required mitigation 

measures will effect the least practicable 

impact on marine mammal species or 

stocks and their habitat; (2) the 

authorized takes will have a negligible 

impact on the affected marine mammal 

species or stocks; (3) the authorized 

takes represent small numbers of marine 

mammals relative to the affected stock 

abundances; (4) POK’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, 

and; (5) appropriate monitoring and 

reporting requirements are included. 

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 insure 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 marine 

mammal species is expected to result 

from this activity, and none would be 

authorized. Therefore, NMFS has 

determined that consultation under 

section 7 of the ESA is not required for 

this action. 

Renewal 

NMFS has issued a Renewal IHA to 

POK for the take of marine mammals 

incidental to conducting in-water 

construction activities associated with 

the POK Expansion Project on the 

Lower Columbia River, Washington, 

from November 23, 2020 through 

October 18, 2021. 

Dated: November 24, 2020. 

Donna S. Wieting, 

Director, Office of Protected Resources, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2020–26344 Filed 11–27–20; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XA686] 

New England Fishery Management 

Council; Public Meeting 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of public meeting. 

SUMMARY: The New England Fishery 

Management Council (Council) is 

scheduling a public meeting of its 

Herring Committee via webinar to 

consider actions affecting New England 

fisheries in the exclusive economic zone 

(EEZ). Recommendations from this 

group will be brought to the full Council 

for formal consideration and action, if 

appropriate. 

DATES: This webinar will be held on 

Friday, December 11, 2020 at 9 a.m. 

Webinar registration URL information: 

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/ 

register/7246047020300504335. 

ADDRESSES: Council address: New 

England Fishery Management Council, 

50 Water Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, 

MA 01950. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Thomas A. Nies, Executive Director, 

New England Fishery Management 

Council; telephone: (978) 465–0492. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Agenda 

The Committee will meet to review 

and discuss 2021 work priorities for the 

Atlantic Herring Fishery Management 

Plan including: (1) A framework action 

that considers spawning closures on 

Georges Bank (GB); (2) development of 

a formal rebuilding plan for Atlantic 

herring; (3) review and potentially 

adjust accountability measures (AMs) in 

the herring plan; and (4) coordinate 

with the Mid-Atlantic Fishery 

Management Council (MAFMC) and 

Atlantic States Marine Fisheries 

Commission (ASMFC) on various 

herring management issues (i.e. river 

herring and shad (RH/S)). Other 

business will be discussed, as necessary. 

Although non-emergency issues not 

contained on the agenda may come 

before this Council for discussion, those 

issues may not be the subject of formal 

action during this meeting. Council 

action will be restricted to those issues 

specifically listed in this notice and any 

issues arising after publication of this 

notice that require emergency action 

under section 305(c) of the MagnusonStevens Act, provided the public has 

been notified of the Council’s intent to 

take final action to address the 

emergency. The public also should be 

aware that the meeting will be recorded. 

Consistent with 16 U.S.C. 1852, a copy 

of the recording is available upon 

request. 

Special Accommodations 

This meeting is physically accessible 

to people with disabilities. Requests for 

sign language interpretation or other 

auxiliary aids should be directed to 

Thomas A. Nies, Executive Director, at 

(978) 465–0492, at least 5 days prior to 

the meeting date. 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. 

Dated: November 24, 2020. 

Diane M. DeJames-Daly, 

Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2020–26348 Filed 11–27–20; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 


TKELLEY on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with NOTICES