[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 57 (Friday, March 23, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17033-17034]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-7041]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XB030


Taking and Importing Marine Mammals: Taking Marine Mammals 
Incidental to Navy's Training Activities at the Gulf of Mexico Range 
Complex

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

ACTION: Notice; issuance of a Letter of Authorization.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), as 
amended, and implementing regulations, notification is hereby given 
that NMFS has issued a two-year Letter of Authorization (LOA) to the 
U.S. Navy (Navy) to take marine mammals by harassment incidental to its 
training activities at the Gulf of Mexico (GOMEX) Range Complex.

DATES: Effective from March 18, 2012, through March 17, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Navy's November 2, 2011, LOA application, and 
the LOA are available 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, by telephoning the contact listed here (See FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT), or online at: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/permits/incidental.htm#applications. Documents cited in this notice may 
be viewed, by appointment, during regular business hours, at the 
aforementioned address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shane Guan, Office of Protected 
Resources, NMFS (301) 427-8401.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    Section 101(a)(5)(A) of the MMPA (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) directs 
the Secretary of Commerce to allow, upon request, the incidental, but 
not intentional taking of marine mammals by U.S. citizens who engage in 
a military readiness activity if certain findings are made and 
regulations are issued.
    Authorization may be granted for periods of 5 years or less 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 subsistence uses. 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, and on the availability 
of the species for subsistence uses, paying particular attention to 
rookeries, mating grounds, 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 
the U.S. Navy's training activities at the GOMEX Range Complex were 
published on February 17, 2011 (76 FR 9250), and remain in effect 
through February 17, 2016. They are codified at 50 CFR part 218 subpart 
D. These regulations include mitigation, monitoring, and reporting 
requirements for the incidental taking of marine mammals by the Navy's 
training activities. For detailed information on these actions, please 
refer to the February 17, 2011, Federal Register notice and 50 CFR part 
218 subpart D. On February 1, 2012, NMFS published a final rule (77 FR 
4917) that allows for the issuance of multi-year LOAs, as long as the 
regulations governing such LOAs are valid.

Summary of LOA Request

    NMFS received an application from the U.S. Navy for an LOA covering 
the Navy's training activities at the GOMEX Range Complex in the Gulf 
of Mexico under the regulations issued on February 17, 2011 (76 FR 
9250). The application requested authorization, for a period of two 
years, to take, by harassment, marine mammals incidental to proposed 
training activities that involve underwater explosive detonation.

Summary of Activity Under the 2011 LOA

    Between March 2011 and January 2012, there were no training events 
conducted in the GOMEX Range Complex.

Planned Activities for 2012 Through 2014

    In 2012 through March 2014, the Navy expects to conduct the same 
type and amount of training activities identified in the final rules 
and 2011 LOA. No modification is proposed by the Navy for its planned 
2012--2014 activities under the 2011 rule.

Estimated Take for 2012-2014

    The estimated takes for the Navy's proposed training activities are 
the same as those authorized in 2011. No change

[[Page 17034]]

has been made in the estimated takes from the 2011 LOA.

Summary of Monitoring, Reporting, and Other Requirements Under the 2009 
LOA

    In the 2011 LOA and regulations, the Navy is required to submit 
annual Range Complex monitoring and exercise reports by March 1, 
covering through January 1 of the same year. However, NMFS realized 
that the LOA for the GOMEX Range Complex training activities expires on 
March 17. To allow adequate time to review these reports for the 
issuance of future LOA renewal and rulemakings, the due date of these 
reports is changed to November 1, covering the period through August 1 
of the pervious year.

Annual Range Complex Exercise Report

    The Navy submitted their 2011 annual Range Complex training 
activities reports covering the period from the dates when Range 
Complex LOAs became effective through January 2012, and the reports are 
posted on NMFS Web site: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/permits/incidental.htm#applications. In the case of GOMEX Range Complex, the 
Navy reported that there were no training events during the reporting 
period between March 2011 and January 2012.

Monitoring and Annual Monitoring Reports

    The Navy submitted the Range Complex marine species monitoring 
reports within the required timeframes and they are posted on NMFS Web 
site: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/permits/incidental.htm#applications. 
Since there were no training events conducted between March 2011 and 
January 2012 at the GOMEX Range Complex, no monitoring opportunities 
were available during that period.

Adaptive Management

    In general, adaptive management allows NMFS to consider new 
information from different sources to determine (with input from the 
Navy regarding practicability) if monitoring efforts should be modified 
if new information suggests that such modifications are appropriate. 
All of the 5-year rules and LOAs issued to the Navy include an adaptive 
management component, which includes an annual meeting between NMFS and 
the Navy. NMFS and the Navy conducted an adaptive management meeting in 
October, 2011, which representatives from the Marine Mammal Commission 
participated in, wherein we reviewed the Navy monitoring results 
through August 1, 2011, discussed other Navy research and development 
efforts, and discussed other new information that could potentially 
inform decisions regarding Navy mitigation and monitoring. No changes 
were proposed for the 2012 monitoring plan for the Navy's GOMEX Range 
Complex training activities.

2011 Monitoring Meeting

    The regulations that established the framework for authorizing the 
taking of marine mammals incidental to Navy RDT&E activities required 
the Navy, with guidance and support from NMFS, to convene a Monitoring 
Workshop in 2011 (50 CFR 218.184(i)). The Marine Mammal Monitoring 
Workshop, which included scientists, representatives from non-
governmental organization, and Marine Mammal Commission staff, took 
place in June 2011. Pursuant to the regulations, this workshop 
presented a consolidated overview of monitoring activities conducted in 
2010, as well as the outcomes of selected monitoring-related research. 
In 2010, the Navy convened a Scientific Advisory Group (SAG), comprised 
of experts in the fields of marine mammals and underwater acoustics, to 
review the Navy's current monitoring plans and make recommendations. 
The results of the SAG's review were also presented at the meeting. 
Participants engaged in open discussion of the lessons learned, and 
discussed how to improve the Navy's monitoring plan moving forward. If 
changes to monitoring approaches are identified during future workshops 
that can be implemented during the annual LOA renewal process and 
subsequent 5-year regulations, the Navy and NMFS will modify the Navy-
wide monitoring plan and propose appropriate changes to the monitoring 
measures in specific LOAs for the different Range Complexes and study 
areas. For Range Complexes or study areas with substantive monitoring 
modifications, NMFS will subsequently publish proposed LOAs, with the 
modifications, in the Federal Register and solicit public input. After 
addressing public comments and making changes as appropriate, NMFS will 
issue new training area LOAs that reflect the new Navy-wide monitoring 
plan.

Authorization

    Since there are no changes in the Navy's proposed training 
activities at the GOMEX Range Complex, NMFS' determination that the 
Navy's GOMEX Range Complex training activities will have no more than a 
negligible impact on the affected species or stocks of marine mammals 
in the action area, as described in the original regulations, is still 
valid. There is no subsistence use of marine mammals that could 
potentially be impacted by the Navy's training activities at GOMEX 
Range Complex. Further, the level of taking authorized in 2012 through 
March 2014 for the Navy's GOMEX Range Complex training activities is 
consistent with our previous findings made for the total taking allowed 
under the GOMEX Range Complex regulations. Accordingly, NMFS has issued 
a two-year LOA for Navy's training activities conducted at the GOMEX 
Range Complex from March 18, 2012, through March 17, 2014.

    Dated: March 4, 2012.
Helen M. Golde,
Deputy Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2012-7041 Filed 3-22-12; 8:45 am]
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