[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 35 (Wednesday, February 22, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10481-10482]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-4117]



[[Page 10481]]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XA985


Incidental Taking of Marine Mammals; Taking of Marine Mammals 
Incidental to the Explosive Removal of Offshore Structures in the Gulf 
of Mexico

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

ACTION: Notice; issuance of letters of authorization.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and 
implementing regulations, notification is hereby given that NMFS has 
issued one-year Letters of Authorization (LOA) to take marine mammals 
incidental to the explosive removal of offshore oil and gas structures 
(EROS) in the Gulf of Mexico.

DATES: These authorizations are effective from February 27, 2012 
through February 26, 2013.

ADDRESSES: The application and LOAs are available for review by writing 
to P. Michael Payne, Chief, Permits and Conservation Division, Office 
of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service, 1315 East-
West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910-3235 or by telephoning the 
contact listed here (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT), or online 
at: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/permits/incidental.htm. Documents cited 
in this notice may be viewed, by appointment, during regular business 
hours, at the aforementioned address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Howard Goldstein or Jolie Harrison, 
Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, 301-427-8401.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 101(a)(5)(A) of the MMPA (16 U.S.C. 
1361 et seq.) directs the Secretary of Commerce (who has delegated the 
authority to NMFS) to allow, upon request, the incidental, but not 
intentional, taking of small numbers of marine mammals by United States 
citizens who engage in a specified activity (other than commercial 
fishing) within a specified geographical region, if certain findings 
are made and regulations are issued. Under the MMPA, the term ``take'' 
means to harass, hunt, capture, or kill or to attempt to harass, hunt, 
capture, or kill any marine mammal.
    Authorization for incidental taking, in the form of annual LOAs, 
may be granted by NMFS for periods up to five years if NMFS finds, 
after notice and opportunity for public comment, that the taking will 
have a negligible impact on the species or stock(s) of marine mammals, 
and will not have an unmitigable adverse impact on the availability of 
the species or stock(s) for subsistence uses (where relevant). In 
addition, NMFS must prescribe regulations that include permissible 
methods of taking and other means of effecting the least practicable 
adverse impact on the species and its habitat (i.e., mitigation), and 
on the availability of the species for subsistence uses, paying 
particular attention to rookeries, mating rounds, and areas of similar 
significance. The regulations also must include requirements pertaining 
to the monitoring and reporting of such taking.
    Regulations governing the taking of marine mammals incidental to 
EROS were published on June 19, 2008 (73 FR 34875), and remain in 
effect through July 19, 2013. For detailed information on this action, 
please refer to that Federal Register notice. The species that 
applicants may take in small numbers during EROS activities are 
bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), Atlantic spotted dolphins 
(Stenella frontalis), pantropical spotted dolphins (Stenella 
attenuata), Clymene dolphins (Stenella clymene), striped dolphins 
(Stenella coeruleoalba), spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris), 
rough-toothed dolphins (Steno bredanensis), Risso's dolphins (Grampus 
griseus), melon-headed whales (Peponocephala electra), short-finned 
pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus), and sperm whales (Physeter 
macrocephalus). NMFS received requests for LOAs from Energy Resource 
Technology GOM, Inc. (ERT) and Demex International, Inc. (Demex) for 
activities covered by EROS regulations.

Reporting

    NMFS Galveston Laboratory's Platform Removal Observer Program 
(PROP) has provided reports for ERT removal of offshore structures 
during 2011. Demex has not used their LOA for any operations to date. 
NMFS PROP observers and non-NMFS observers reported the following 
during ERT's EROS operations in 2011:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                         Marine mammals      Biological impacts
      Company               Structure                 Dates                 sighted          observed to marine
                                                                         (individuals)             mammals
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ERT................  Vermillion Area, Block  April 10 to 20, 2011..  Spotted dolphins (14)  None.
                      100, Platform C.
ERT................  Matagorda Island Area,  May 3 to 7, 2011......  Bottlenose dolphins    None.
                      Block 604, Platforms                            (15), Spotted
                      <greek-i>1 and <greek-                          dolphins (23), and
                      i>14.                                           Unidentified
                                                                      dolphins (1).
ERT................  Matagorda Island Area,  May 4 to 7, 2011......  Bottlenose dolphins    None.
                      Block 604, Well                                 (25).
                      <greek-i>3.
ERT................  Brazos Area, Block      May 16 to 31, 2011....  Bottlenose dolphins    None.
                      436, Platform B.                                (97) and Spotted
                                                                      dolphins (5).
ERT................  Vermilion Area, Block   May 30 to June 2, 2011  None.................  None.
                      83, Platform A.
ERT................  West Cameron Area,      May 31 to June 10,      Bottlenose dolphins    None.
                      Block 398, Platform B.  2011.                   (25) and Spotted
                                                                      dolphins (12).
ERT................  Vermillion Area, Block  June 3 to 7, 2011.....  None.................  None.
                      61, Platform B.
ERT................  West Cameron Area,      June 8 to 9, 2011.....  None.................  None.
                      Block 417, Caisson A.
ERT................  Brazos Area, Block      June 14 to 20 and June  Bottlenose dolphins    None.
                      453, Platform A.        27 to July 3, 2011.     (87).
ERT................  Matagorda Island Area,  July 4 to 8 and July    Bottlenose dolphins    None.
                      Block 604, Platform A.  10 to 12, 2011.         (36).

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ERT................  South Marsh Island      July 23 and August 4    None.................  None.
                      Area, Block 107,        to 8, 2011.
                      Platform B.
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    Pursuant to these regulations, NMFS has issued an LOA to ERT and 
Demex. Issuance of the LOAs is based on a finding made in the preamble 
to the final rule that the total taking by these activities (with 
monitoring, mitigation, and reporting measures) will result in no more 
than a negligible impact on the affected species or stock(s) of marine 
mammals and will not have an unmitigable adverse impact on subsistence 
uses. NMFS will review reports to ensure that the applicants are in 
compliance with meeting the requirements contained in the implementing 
regulations and LOA, including monitoring, mitigation, and reporting 
requirements.

    Dated: February 16, 2012.
James H. Lecky,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2012-4117 Filed 2-21-12; 8:45 am]
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