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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 234 (Thursday, December 5, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 96645-96646]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-28453]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XE452

Taking and Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals 
Incidental to Rocky Intertidal Monitoring Surveys Along the Oregon and 
California Coasts

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

ACTION: Notice; receipt of application for letter of authorization; 
request for comments and information.

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SUMMARY: NMFS has received a request from the University of California 
Santa Cruz for authorization to take small numbers of marine mammals 
incidental to rocky intertidal monitoring along the coasts of Oregon 
and California over the course of 5 years from the date of issuance. 
Pursuant to regulations implementing the Marine Mammal Protection Act 
(MMPA), NMFS is announcing receipt of the University of California 
Santa Cruz's request for the development and implementation of 
regulations governing the incidental taking of marine mammals. NMFS 
invites the public to provide information, suggestions, and comments on 
the University of California Santa Cruz's application and request.

DATES: Comments and information must be received no later than January 
6, 2025.

ADDRESSES: Comments on the applications should be addressed to Jolie 
Harrison, Chief, Permits and Conservation Division, Office of Protected 
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service. Comments should be

[[Page 96646]]

submitted electronically to [email protected].
    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 received electronically, including 
all attachments, must not exceed a 25-megabyte file size. Attachments 
to electronic comments will be accepted in Microsoft Word or 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/node/23111 without change. All personal 
identifying 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.
    An electronic copy of the University of California Santa Cruz's 
application may be obtained online at: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/incidental-take-authorizations-research-and-other-activities. In case of problems accessing these 
documents, please call the contact listed below.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    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, a notice of a proposed 
authorization is provided to the public for review.
    An incidental take authorization 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 6, 2024, NMFS received an application from the 
University of California Santa Cruz requesting authorization for take 
of marine mammals incidental to research activities related to rocky 
intertidal monitoring along the coasts of Oregon and California. 
Following receipt of additional information from the applicant, we 
determined the application was adequate and complete on November 22, 
2024. The requested regulations would be valid for 5 years, from 2025 
through 2030. The University of California Santa Cruz plans to conduct 
necessary work, including research surveys, to monitor rocky intertidal 
communities. The proposed action may result in incidental disturbance 
of pinnipeds caused by researcher presence and research activities in 
the vicinity, including visual stimulus, noise, and use of unmanned 
aerial systems, thereby resulting in incidental take, by Level B 
harassment only. Therefore, the University of California Santa Cruz 
requests authorization to incidentally take marine mammals.
    The requested incidental take regulations would be the second such 
regulations issued on request to the University of California Santa 
Cruz, following regulations effective from 2020-2025 (https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/incidental-take-authorization-university-california-santa-cruz-rocky-intertidal-monitoring-0).

Specified Activities

    The Multi-Agency Rocky Intertidal Network (MARINe, https://marine.ucsc.edu/), administered by the University of California Santa 
Cruz, conducts monitoring at rocky intertidal sites in California and 
Oregon. They have been conducting similar research since 2013. 
Information from MARINe's research is used to inform marine policy and 
is made available to the public through outreach and educational 
programs. The University of California Santa Cruz anticipates 
approximately 300 survey days over the course of the 5-year period. 
They expect to take California sea lions, northern elephant seals, 
Steller sea lions, and California and Oregon/Washington stocks of 
harbor seals.

Information Solicited

    Interested persons may submit information, suggestions, and 
comments concerning the University of California Santa Cruz's request 
(see ADDRESSES). NMFS will consider all information, suggestions, and 
comments related to the request during the development of proposed 
regulations governing the incidental taking of marine mammals by the 
University of California Santa Cruz, if appropriate.

    Dated: November 29, 2024.
Kimberly Damon-Randall,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-28453 Filed 12-4-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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