[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 217 (Friday, November 8, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 88731-88733]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-26013]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XE403]


Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities; 
Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Ferry Berth Construction in Tongass 
Narrows in Ketchikan, Alaska

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

ACTION: Notice; issuance of incidental harassment authorization.

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SUMMARY: NMFS has received a request from the Alaska Department of 
Transportation and Public Facilities (ADOT&PF) for the re-issuance of a 
previously issued incidental harassment authorization (IHA) with the 
only change being effective dates. The initial IHA authorized take of 
11 species of marine mammals, by Level A and Level B harassment, 
incidental to construction associated with the Ferry Berth construction 
Ketchikan, Alaska. The project has been delayed and none of the work 
covered in the initial IHA 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 IHA. NMFS is, 
therefore, issuing a second identical IHA to cover the

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incidental take analyzed and authorized in the initial IHA.

DATES: The initial IHA was effective from September 11, 2023, through 
September 10, 2024. ADOT&PF has requested re-issuance with new 
effective dates of September 1, 2025 through August 31, 2026.

ADDRESSES: An electronic copy of the final 2023 IHA previously issued 
to ADOT&PF, ADOT&PF's application, and the Federal Register notices 
proposing and issuing the initial IHA may be obtained by visiting 
https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/incidental-take-authorizations-construction-activities. In case of 
problems accessing these documents, please call the contact listed 
below (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Sections 101(a)(5)(A) and (D) of the Marine Mammal Protection Act 
(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 authorization is provided to the 
public for review.
    An authorization for incidental takings shall be granted if NMFS 
finds that the taking will have a negligible impact on the species or 
stock(s), will not have an unmitigable adverse impact on the 
availability of the species or stock(s) for subsistence uses (where 
relevant), and if the permissible methods of taking and requirements 
pertaining to the mitigation, monitoring and reporting of such takings 
are set forth.
    NMFS has defined ``negligible impact'' in 50 CFR 216.103 as an 
impact resulting from the specified activity that cannot be reasonably 
expected to, and is not reasonably likely to, adversely affect the 
species or stock through effects on annual rates of recruitment or 
survival.
    The MMPA states that the term ``take'' means to harass, hunt, 
capture, kill or attempt to harass, hunt, capture, or kill any marine 
mammal.
    Except with respect to certain activities not pertinent here, the 
MMPA defines ``harassment'' as any act of pursuit, torment, or 
annoyance which (i) has the potential to injure a marine mammal or 
marine mammal stock in the wild (Level A harassment); or (ii) has the 
potential to disturb a marine mammal or marine mammal stock in the wild 
by causing disruption of behavioral patterns, including, but not 
limited to, migration, breathing, nursing, breeding, feeding, or 
sheltering (Level B harassment).

Summary of Request

    On September 14, 2023, NMFS published final notification of our 
issuance of an IHA authorizing take of marine mammals incidental to the 
Tongass Narrows Ferry Berth Construction Project (88 FR 63067). The 
effective dates of that IHA were September 11, 2023 through September 
10, 2024. On August 16, 2024, ADOT&PF submitted a request that we 
reissue an identical IHA that would be effective from September 1, 2025 
through August 31, 2026, in order to conduct the construction work that 
was analyzed and authorized through the previously issued IHA. In the 
request they described that the project had been delayed. None of the 
work identified in the initial IHA (e.g., pile driving and removal and 
down-the-hole drilling) has occurred. Therefore, re-issuance of the IHA 
is appropriate.

Summary of Specified Activity and Anticipated Impacts

    The planned activities (including mitigation, monitoring, and 
reporting), authorized incidental take, and anticipated impacts on the 
affected stocks are the same as those analyzed and authorized through 
the previously issued IHA.
    The existing ferry facilities improve access to developable land on 
Gravina Island, improve access to the Ketchikan International Airport, 
and facilitate economic development in the Ketchikan Gateway Borough. 
The new ferry berths provide redundancy to the existing ferry berths. 
The location, timing, and nature of the activities, including the types 
of equipment planned for use, are within scope of those described in 
the initial IHA. The mitigation and monitoring are also as prescribed 
in the initial IHA.
    Species that are expected to be taken by the planned activity 
include minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata), fin whale 
(Balaenoptera physalus), humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae), Gray 
whale (Eschrichtius robustus), Pacific white-sided dolphin 
(Lagenorhynchus obliquidens), killer whale (Oricnus orca), harbor 
porpoise (Phocoena phocoena), Dall's porpoise (Phocoenoides dalli), 
Steller sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus), northern elephant seal (Mirounga 
angustirostris), harbor seal (Phoca vitulina). 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 in the initial IHA. NMFS has reviewed 
recent stock assessment reports, information on relevant unusual 
mortality events, and recent scientific literature, and determined that 
no new information affects our original analysis of impacts or take 
estimate under the initial IHA.
    We refer to the documents related to the previously issued IHA, 
which include the Federal Register notice of the issuance of the 
initial 2023 IHA for ADOT&PF's construction work (88 FR 63067), 
ADOT&PF's application, the Federal Register notice of the proposed IHA 
(88 FR 46746), and all associated references and documents.

Determinations

    ADOT&PF will conduct activities as analyzed in the initial 2023 
IHA. 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 IHA and no new information has emerged 
that would change those findings. The re-issued 2025 IHA includes 
identical required mitigation, monitoring, and reporting measures as 
the initial IHA, 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) ADOT&PF'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

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proposed action with respect to environmental consequences on the human 
environment.
    Accordingly, NMFS has determined that the issuance of the IHA 
qualifies to be categorically excluded from further NEPA review. This 
action is consistent with categories of activities identified in CE B4 
of the Companion Manual for NAO 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.

Endangered Species Act (ESA)

    Section 7(a)(2) of the ESA of 1973 (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, in this case with the NMFS' Alaska Regional Office 
(AKRO).
    NMFS is authorizing take of the Mexico-North Pacific stock of 
humpback whale, and fin whale, which are listed as threatened or 
endangered under the ESA. The NMFS AKRO issued a Biological Opinion 
under section 7 of the ESA on the issuance of an IHA to ADOT&PF under 
section 101(a)(5)(D) of the MMPA by NMFS OPR. The biological opinion 
concluded that the action is not likely to jeopardize the continued 
existence of the listed species.

Authorization

    NMFS has issued an IHA to ADOT&PF for in-water construction 
activities associated with the specified activity from September 1, 
2025 through August 31, 2026. All previously described mitigation, 
monitoring, and reporting requirements from the initial 2023 IHA are 
incorporated.

    Dated: November 5, 2024.
Kimberly Damon-Randall,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-26013 Filed 11-7-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P