[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 191 (Wednesday, October 2, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 80228-80231]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-22605]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XE281]


Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities; 
Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Replacement of Pier 302 at Naval 
Base Point Loma, San Diego, California

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

ACTION: Notice; request for comments on proposed renewal incidental 
harassment authorization.

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SUMMARY: NMFS received a request from the U.S. Navy for the renewal of 
their currently active incidental harassment authorization (IHA) to 
take marine mammals incidental to Replacement of Pier 302 at Naval Base 
Point Loma in San Diego, California. U.S. Navy's activities will not be 
completed prior to the IHA's expiration. Pursuant to the Marine Mammal 
Protection Act, prior to issuing the currently active IHA, NMFS 
requested comments on both the proposed IHA and the potential for 
renewing the initial authorization if certain requirements were 
satisfied. The renewal requirements have been satisfied, and NMFS is 
now providing an additional 15-day comment period to allow for any 
additional comments on the proposed renewal not previously provided 
during the initial 30-day comment period.

DATES: Comments and information must be received no later than October 
17, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be addressed to Jolie Harrison, Chief, 
Permits and Conservation Division, Office of Protected Resources, 
National Marine Fisheries Service, and should be submitted via email to 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#d29b8682fc9da5b7bca192bcbdb3b3fcb5bda4"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="4a031e1a64053d2f24390a24252b2b642d253c">[email protected]</span></a>.
    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, including all attachments, must 
not exceed a 25-megabyte file size. Attachments to comments will be 
accepted in Microsoft Word, Excel or Adobe PDF file formats only. All 
comments received are a part of the public record and will generally be 
posted online at https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/permit/incidental-take-authorizations-under-marine-mammal-protection-act without change. All 
personal identifying

[[Page 80229]]

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.
    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-under-marine-mammal-protection-act. In case of 
problems accessing these documents, please call the contact listed 
below.

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

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 promulgated or, if the taking is limited to 
harassment, an incidental harassment authorization is issued.
    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''). NMFS must also prescribe requirements pertaining to 
monitoring and reporting of such takings. The definition of key terms 
such as ``take,'' ``harassment,'' and ``negligible impact'' can be 
found in the MMPA and the NMFS's implementing regulations (see 16 
U.S.C. 1362; 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 1 year for each reauthorization. In the notice of proposed IHA 
for the initial IHA, 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 case-by-case basis, NMFS may issue a one-time 1-year 
renewal of an 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, activities as described in the Detailed 
Description of Specified Activities section of the initial IHA issuance 
notice is planned or (2) the activities as described in the Description 
of the Specified Activities and Anticipated Impacts section of the 
initial IHA issuance notice would not be completed by the time the 
initial IHA expires and a renewal would allow for completion of the 
activities beyond that described in the DATES section of the notice of 
issuance of the initial IHA, provided all of the following conditions 
are met:
    1. 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 1 year from expiration of the 
initial IHA);
    2. The request for renewal must include the following:
    <bullet> 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
    <bullet> 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; and
    3. 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/incidental-harassment-authorization-renewals. Any 
comments received on the potential renewal, along with relevant 
comments on the initial IHA, have been considered in the development of 
this proposed IHA renewal, and a summary of agency responses to 
applicable comments is included in this notice. NMFS will consider any 
additional public comments prior to making any final decision on the 
issuance of the requested renewal, and agency responses will be 
summarized in the final notice of our decision.

National Environmental Policy Act

    To comply with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA; 
42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and NOAA Administrative Order 216-6A, NMFS must 
review our proposed action (i.e., the issuance of an IHA) with respect 
to potential impacts on the human environment.
    This action is consistent with categories of activities identified 
in Categorical Exclusion B4 (incidental take authorizations 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 determined that the issuance of the 
initial IHA qualified to be categorically excluded from further NEPA 
review. NMFS has preliminarily determined that the application of this 
categorical exclusion remains appropriate for this renewal IHA.

History of Request

    On October 1, 2023, NMFS issued an IHA to the U.S. Navy to take 
marine mammals incidental to Replacement of Pier 302 at Naval Base 
Point Loma in San Diego, California (88 FR 6703, February 1, 2023), 
effective from October 1, 2023, through September 30, 2024. On July 31, 
2024, NMFS received an application for the renewal of that initial IHA. 
As described in the application for renewal IHA, the activities for 
which incidental take is

[[Page 80230]]

requested are consist of activities that are covered by the initial 
authorization but will not be completed prior to its expiration. As 
required, the applicant also provided 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.

Description of the Specified Activities and Anticipated Impacts

    The planned activities for this project are a subset of previous 
activities that were not completed in the initial IHA. There are still 
17, 6-inch steel round piles to install using a vibratory hammer which 
will be completed over 2 days. All other aspects (including mitigation, 
monitoring, and reporting), authorized take species, and anticipated 
impacts on the affected stocks are the same as those analyzed and 
authorized through the previously issued IHA.
    The purpose of the project is to replace Pier 302 which provides 
the U.S. Navy's marine mammal program with adequate facilities to house 
its marine mammals and provide a safe working environment for personnel 
to support the U.S. Navy's overall mission to maintain, train, and 
equip combat ready Naval forces. The location, timing, and nature of 
the activities, including the types of equipment planned for use, are 
identical to those described in the initial IHA.
    Species that are proposed to be taken incidental to pile driving 
activity, by Level B harassment only, are California sea lion (Zalophus 
californianus), northern elephant seal (Mirounga angustirostris), 
harbor seal (Phoca vitulina), bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus), 
Pacific white-sided dolphin (Lagenorhynchus obliquidens), and common 
dolphin (Delphinus delphis). Take was calculated using the same method 
as the initial IHA, but altered to reflect the reduced amount of 
activity, i.e., only installing 17, 6-inch round steel piles.

Detailed Description of the Activity

    A detailed description of the demolition and construction 
activities for which take is proposed here may be found in the notices 
of the proposed (87 FR 68442, November 15, 2022) and final (88 FR 6703, 
February 1, 2023) IHAs for the initial authorization. During the 
initial IHA, the U.S. Navy removed 22, 18-inch octagonal concrete pile 
and 3, 18-inch round steel piles and installed 30, 24-inch octagonal 
concrete and 2, 14-inch square concrete piles. As noted above, 
remaining work includes installation of 17, 6-inch steel round piles 
using a vibratory hammer, which will be completed over 2 days. The 
location, timing, and nature of the activities, including the types of 
equipment planned for use, are identical to those described in the 
previous notices. The proposed renewal would be effective for a period 
not exceeding 1 year from the date of expiration of the initial IHA.

Description of Marine Mammals

    A description of the marine mammals in the area of the activities 
for which authorization of take is proposed here, including information 
on abundance, status, distribution, and hearing, may be found in the 
notices of the proposed and final IHAs for the initial authorization. 
NMFS has reviewed the monitoring data from the initial IHA, recent 
draft 2023 Stock Assessment Reports, information on relevant Unusual 
Mortality Events, and other scientific literature, and determined there 
is no new information that 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 an 
authorization of incidental take is proposed here may be found in the 
notices of the proposed and final IHAs for the initial authorization. 
NMFS has reviewed the monitoring data from the initial IHA, recent 
draft Stock Assessment Reports, information on relevant Unusual 
Mortality Events, and other scientific literature, and determined that 
there is no new information that 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 notices of the 
proposed and final IHAs for the initial authorization. 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 noted above, 
the amount of estimated take proposed for authorization here is lower 
than that authorized through the initial IHA, corresponding with the 
subset of activity remaining for completion.
    To calculate take, the U.S. Navy estimated average occurrence of 
each species based on previous nearby completed Navy projects and 
multiplied it by the number of total piles driving days to get their 
estimated take abundance. Under the initial IHA, 32 days of pile 
driving were planned, but only 30 days' worth of pile work were 
completed. There are now 2 days of pile work remaining, with the same 
estimated abundance numbers used and multiplied by 2 days of pile 
driving work to produce take estimates for the renewal (table 1).

                    Table 1--Authorized Amount of Taking by Level A/B Harassment, by Species
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                     Expected
                                                                      average         Initial        Proposed
                             Species                                individuals     authorized      authorized
                                                                      per day          take            take
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
California sea lion \1\.........................................              15             480              30
Harbor seal \1\.................................................               1              32               2
Bottlenose dolphin \1\..........................................               1              32               2
Common dolphin (Long- and Short-beaked) \2\.....................               9             288              18
Pacific white-sided dolphin \2\.................................               1              32               2
Northern elephant seal..........................................           (\3\)               7               1
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------

[[Page 80231]]

 
    Total.......................................................  ..............             871              55
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Average daily counts based on observations during Year 4 Fuel Pier Replacement Project Monitoring (NAVFAC SW
  2017b).
\2\ Average daily counts based on observations during Year 2 Fuel Pier Replacement Project Monitoring (NAVFAC SW
  2015).
\3\ Expected potential of two northern elephant seals over the duration of project activity with a +5 buffer.

Description of Proposed Mitigation, Monitoring and Reporting Measures

    The proposed 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, and the discussion of the least practicable adverse impact 
included in that document and the notice of the proposed IHA remains 
accurate.

Comments and Responses

    As noted previously, NMFS published a notice of a proposed IHA (87 
FR 68442, November 15, 2022) and solicited public comments on both our 
proposal to issue the initial IHA for Replacement of Pier 302 at Naval 
Base Point Loma and on the potential for a renewal IHA, should certain 
requirements be met.
    All public comments were addressed in the notice announcing the 
issuance of the initial IHA (88 FR 6703, February 1, 2023) and none of 
the comments specifically pertained to the renewal of the IHA.

Preliminary Determinations

    The U.S. Navy's action will require completing a subset of pile 
driving activities that were not able to be finished under the initial 
IHA. They need to install 17, 6-inch round steel piles using a 
vibratory hammer, but all other project aspects and anticipated impacts 
remain the same. Marine mammal abundance, potential effects, 
mitigation, and monitoring all remain the same. Only estimated take 
numbers are changing to reflect 2 days of pile driving compared to 32 
in the initial IHA.
    NMFS has preliminarily concluded that there is no new information 
suggesting that our analysis or findings should change from those 
reached for the initial IHA. Based on the information and analysis 
contained here and in the referenced documents, NMFS has determined the 
following: (1) the required mitigation measures will affect 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) the U.S. 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, and; (5) appropriate monitoring and reporting requirements are 
included.

Endangered Species Act

    Section 7(a)(2) of the Endangered Species Act (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 
et seq.) requires that each Federal agency ensure 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 species is proposed for 
authorization or expected to result from this activity. Therefore, NMFS 
has determined that formal consultation under section 7 of the ESA is 
not required for this action.

Proposed Renewal IHA and Request for Public Comment

    As a result of these preliminary determinations, NMFS proposes to 
issue a renewal IHA to the U.S. Navy for conducting Replacement of Pier 
302 at Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego, California through September 
30, 2025, provided the previously described mitigation, monitoring, and 
reporting requirements are incorporated. A draft of the proposed and 
final initial IHA can be found at https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/permit/incidental-take-authorizations-under-marine-mammal-protection-act. We request comment on our analyses, the proposed renewal IHA, and 
any other aspect of this notice. Please include with your comments any 
supporting data or literature citations to help inform our final 
decision on the request for MMPA authorization.

    Dated: September 26, 2024.
Kimberly Damon-Randall,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-22605 Filed 10-1-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P


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