[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 191 (Wednesday, October 2, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 80212-80213]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-22723]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XE326]


Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities; 
Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Construction Activities Associated 
With the Murray St. Bridge Seismic Retrofit Project in Santa Cruz, 
California

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

ACTION: Notice; issuance of incidental harassment authorizations.

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SUMMARY: NMFS has received a request from the City of Santa Cruz for 
the re-issuance of previously issued incidental harassment 
authorizations (IHAs). The initial IHAs authorized take incidental to 
construction associated with Murray St. Bridge seismic retrofit project 
in Santa Cruz, California. The project has been delayed and none of the 
planned work has been conducted. The scope of the activities and 
anticipated effects remain the same, authorized take numbers are not 
changed, and the required mitigation, monitoring, and reporting remains 
the same as included in the initial IHAs. NMFS therefor is reissuing 
identical IHAs, with the only change being to the effective dates.

DATES: These authorizations are effective from July 1, 2025 through 
June 30, 2026 and July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, respectively.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The 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, an IHA 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 the species or stocks for 
taking for certain subsistence uses (referred to in shorthand as 
``mitigation''); and requirements pertaining to the mitigation, 
monitoring and reporting of the takings are set forth. The definitions 
of all applicable MMPA statutory terms used above are included in the 
relevant sections below and can be found in section 3 of the MMPA (16 
U.S.C. 1362) and NMFS regulations at 50 CFR 216.103.

Summary of Request

    On May 2, 2023, NMFS published a final notice of issuance for two 
consecutive IHAs authorizing take of marine mammals incidental to the 
Murray St. Bridge seismic retrofit project (88 FR 27452). The effective 
dates of the IHAs were July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024 and July 1, 
2024 through June 30, 2025. On September 5,

[[Page 80213]]

2024, the City of Santa Cruz informed NMFS that the project was 
delayed. None of the planned work (e.g., pile driving and removal) has 
occurred. The City of Santa Cruz submitted a request that we reissue 
identical IHAs to be effective from July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026 
and July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, in order to conduct the 
construction work that was analyzed in association with the previously 
issued IHAs. There is no new information that would affect the 
authorized take numbers or required mitigation, monitoring, and 
reporting requirements and, therefore, the only change is to the 
effective dates.

Summary of Specified Activity and Anticipated Impacts

    The planned activities, mitigation, monitoring, and reporting 
requirements, authorized incidental take, and anticipated impacts on 
the affected stocks are the same as those analyzed for the previously 
issued IHAs.
    The City plans to conduct a seismic retrofit on the Murray St. 
Bridge, which spans the Santa Cruz Small Craft Harbor. As part of the 
project, the City will use vibratory pile extraction to temporarily 
remove docks and associated piles to accommodate construction access to 
the bridge. Impact pile driving will be used to install additional 
bridge support piles. In order to facilitate installation of bridge 
piles, vibratory extraction may be used to construct a temporary 
trestle. As an alternative to the trestle, a temporary barge may be 
constructed instead. The purpose of the project is to provide the 
bridge with additional vertical support and resistance to lateral 
seismic forces by installing additional pilings and structural support 
elements. The City's activity includes impact and vibratory pile 
driving and vibratory pile removal, which may result in the incidental 
take of marine mammals by Level A and Level B harassment. The Murray 
St. Bridge project area includes waters within the Santa Cruz Small 
Craft Harbor and adjacent lands managed by the Santa Cruz Port 
District. The location, timing, and nature of the activities, including 
the types of equipment planned for use, are identical to those 
described in the initial IHAs. The mitigation and monitoring are also 
as prescribed in the initial IHA.
    Species that are expected to be taken incidental to the planned 
activity include California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) and 
harbor seals (Phoca vitulina richardii). A description of the methods 
and inputs used to estimate take anticipated to occur and, ultimately, 
the take that was authorized is found in the previous documents 
referenced above. The data inputs and methods of estimating take are 
identical to those used for the initial IHAs. NMFS has reviewed recent 
Stock Assessment Reports and information on relevant Unusual Mortality 
Events, and determined that no new information affects our original 
analysis of impacts or take estimate for the initial IHAs.
    We refer to the documents related to the previously issued IHAs, 
which include the Federal Register notice of the issuance of the 
initial IHAs for the City of Santa Cruz's construction work (88 FR 
27452, May 2, 2023), the application, the Federal Register notice of 
the proposed IHA (88 FR 12316, February 27, 2023), and all associated 
references and documents.

Determinations

    The City of Santa Cruz will conduct activities as analyzed for the 
initial IHAs. As described above, the number of authorized takes of the 
same species and stocks of marine mammals are identical to the numbers 
that were found to meet the negligible impact and small numbers 
standards and authorized under the initial IHAs and no new information 
has emerged that would change those findings. The re-issued IHAs 
include identical required mitigation, monitoring, and reporting 
measures as the initial IHAs, and there is no new information 
suggesting that our analysis or findings should change.
    Based on the information 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; and (4) the City of 
Santa Cruz'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

    To comply with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA; 
42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and NOAA Administrative Order (NAO) 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 (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 determined at 
the time of issuance that the IHAs qualify to be categorically excluded 
from further NEPA review, and there is no new information that would 
affect this determination.

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.
    However, no incidental take of ESA-listed species is authorized 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.

Authorization

    NMFS has issued two consecutive IHAs to the City for the potential 
harassment of small numbers of harbor seals and California sea lions 
incidental to the seismic retrofit of the Murray St. Bridge project in 
Santa Cruz, California. All previously described mitigation, 
monitoring, and reporting requirements from the initial IHAs are 
incorporated.

    Dated: September 27, 2024.
Kimberly Damon-Randall,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-22723 Filed 10-1-24; 8:45 am]
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