Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 118 / Wednesday, June 23, 2021 / Notices 32895 

should be directed to Mr. Kris 

Kleinschmidt, (kris.kleinschmidt@

noaa.gov; (503) 820–2412), at least 10 

days prior to the meeting date. 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. 

Dated: June 17, 2021. 

Tracey L. Thompson, 

Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2021–13197 Filed 6–22–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XB171] 

Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to 

Specified Activities; Taking Marine 

Mammals Incidental to Seattle 

Multimodal Project at Colman Dock in 

Washington State 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; request for comments on 

proposed Renewal incidental 

harassment authorization. 

SUMMARY: NMFS received a request from 

the Washington State Department of 

Transportation (WSDOT) for the 

Renewal of their currently active 

incidental harassment authorization 

(IHA) to take marine mammals 

incidental to Seattle Multimodal Project 

at Colman Dock in Seattle, Washington 

State. These activities consist of 

activities that are covered by the current 

authorization but will not be completed 

prior to its 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 July 8, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: Comments should be 

addressed to Jolie Harrison, Chief, 

Permits and Conservation Division, 

Office of Protected Resources, National 

Marine Fisheries Service. Written 

comments should be submitted via 

email to ITP.Fowler@noaa.gov. 

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 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/permit/ 

incidental-take-authorizations-undermarine-mammal-protection-act 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. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Amy Fowler, Office of Protected 

Resources, NMFS, (301) 427–8401. 

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-undermarine-mammal-protection-act. In case 

of problems accessing these documents, 

please call the contact listed above. 

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 proposed or, if the taking 

is limited to harassment, a notice of a 

proposed incidental take authorization 

is provided to the public for review. 

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’’). Monitoring and reporting of 

such takings are also required. The 

meaning of key terms such as ‘‘take,’’ 

‘‘harassment,’’ and ‘‘negligible impact’’ 

can be found in section 3 of the MMPA 

(16 U.S.C. 1362) and the agency’s 

regulations at 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 

one year for each reauthorization. In the 

notice of proposed IHA for the initial 

authorization, 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 caseby-case basis, NMFS may issue a onetime one-year Renewal 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, 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 Detailed Description of 

Specified Activities 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 and Duration 

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 one year from 

expiration of the initial IHA); 

(2) The request for renewal must 

include the following: 

• 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 

• A preliminary monitoring report 

showing the results of the required 


jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES
32896 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 118 / Wednesday, June 23, 2021 / Notices 

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/incidentalharassment-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 (NAO) 

216–6A, NMFS must review our 

proposed action (i.e., the issuance of an 

IHA Renewal) 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 has 

preliminarily determined that the 

issuance of the proposed IHA Renewal 

qualifies to be categorically excluded 

from further NEPA review. We will 

review all comments submitted in 

response to this notice prior to 

concluding our NEPA process or making 

a final decision on the IHA Renewal 

request. 

History of Request 

On September 3, 2020, NMFS issued 

an IHA to WSDOT to take marine 

mammals incidental to the fourth year 

of work associated with the Seattle 

Multimodal Project at Colman Dock in 

Seattle, Washington (85 FR 59737; 

September 23, 2020), effective from 

September 10, 2020 through September 

9, 2021. The initial IHA covered one 

year of the larger project for which 

WSDOT obtained prior IHAs (82 FR 

31579, July 7, 2017; 83 FR 35226, July 

25, 2018; 84 FR 36581, July 29, 2019). 

On March 18, 2021, 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 

requested 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 (available at https://

www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/ 

marine-mammal-protection/incidentaltake-authorizations-constructionactivities) 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 

WSDOT has requested incidental take 

for construction activities related to the 

Seattle Multimodal Project at Colman 

Dock in Seattle, Washington State. The 

activities addressed in this request 

represent a subset of the activities 

analyzed in the initial IHA, consisting of 

vibratory pile removal only, and are 

identical to the activities described in 

the initial IHA. 

Accordingly the proposed authorized 

take is for the same eleven species 

authorized in the initial IHA (see Table 

4), and the amount of take is reflective 

of the take estimation methods 

described in the initial IHA applied to 

the remaining work described below. 

The following documents are 

referenced in this notice and include 

important supporting information: 

• Initial 2020 final IHA (85 FR 59737; 

September 23, 2020); 

• Initial 2020 proposed IHA (85 FR 

40992; July 8, 2020); and 

• Initial IHA application, references 

cited, marine mammal monitoring plan, 

preliminary monitoring report, and 

previous public comments received 

(available at https://

www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/ 

marine-mammal-protection/incidentaltake-authorizations-constructionactivities). 

Detailed Description of the Activity 

A detailed description of the pile 

installation and removal activities for 

which take was authorized in the initial 

IHA may be found in the Federal 

Register notices of the proposed and 

final IHA for the initial authorization 

(85 FR 40992, July 8, 2020; 85 FR 59737, 

September 23, 2020). Only a subset of 

the construction activities remain to be 

conducted, and 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. 

Below and in Table 1 we describe the 

specific in-water pile driving and pile 

removal activities that were planned 

and already occurred under the initial 

IHA and those that remain to be 

completed under this renewal IHA: 

• Vibratory driving followed by 

impact proofing (driving) of 36-inch 

steel piles. A total of 73 piles were 

installed using the vibratory hammer 

over 9 days, with an average of 

approximately 8 piles installed per day. 

Vibratory pile driving and impact 

proofing occurred on different days; 

• Vibratory driving and then removal 

of 24-inch temporary steel piles. A total 

of 30 piles were planned be installed 

and later removed, with an average of 8 

piles installed/removed per day; 

• Vibratory removal of 355 14-inch 

timber piles over 18 days, with 

approximately 20 piles removed per 

day; and 

• Vibratory removal of 30 12-inch 

steel piles over 3 days, with 10 piles 

removed per day. 

All vibratory and impact pile 

installation was completed. Only 

vibratory removal of timber and 

temporary steel piles remains to be 

completed (Table 1). 


jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 118 / Wednesday, June 23, 2021 / Notices 32897 

TABLE 1—SUMMARY OF PLANNED IN-WATER PILE DRIVING

Pile size and type Method 

Number of 

piles planned 

to be 

completed in 

initial IHA 

Number of 

piles 

completed 

under 

initial IHA 

Number of 

piles to be 

completed in 

IHA renewal 

36-inch Steel ................................................... Impact drive (proof) ........................................ * 73 73 0 

36-inch Steel ................................................... Vibratory drive ................................................ * 73 73 0 

24-inch Steel (temporary) ............................... Vibratory drive ................................................ * 30 30 0

24-inch Steel (temporary) ............................... Vibratory remove ............................................ * 30 5 25 

14-inch Timber ................................................ Vibratory remove ............................................ 355 316 39 

12-inch Steel ................................................... Vibratory remove ............................................ 30 30 0 

* These are same piles. 

The total estimated duration of pile 

driving activities planned in the initial 

IHA was 47 days. In consideration of the 

time required to remove each pile using 

a vibratory hammer and the number of 

piles that may be removed per day, a 

total of eight days of work remain to 

remove the rest of the timber piles and 

temporary steel piles (Table 2). 

Due to NMFS and U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service (USFWS) in-water 

work timing restrictions to protect 

Endangered Species Act (ESA)-listed 

salmonids, planned WSDOT in-water 

construction is limited each year to July 

15 through February 15 at this location. 

For this project, in-water construction is 

planned to take place between August 1, 

2021 and February 15, 2022. The 

proposed Renewal would be effective 

from August 1, 2021 through July 31, 

2022. 

TABLE 2—ESTIMATED DURATION OF REMAINING IN-WATER VIBRATORY PILE REMOVAL

Pile size and type 

Number of 

piles 

remaining 

Piles per day Minutes per 

pile 

Duration 

(days) 

24-inch steel .................................................................................................... 25 8 20 4 

14-inch timber .................................................................................................. 39 10 15 4 

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 Federal Register notice of 

proposed IHA for the initial 

authorization (85 FR 40992; July 8, 

2020) and the Federal Register notice of 

proposed IHA for the Year 3 Seattle 

Multimodal Project at Colman Dock (84 

FR 25757; June 4, 2019) and. 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 neither this nor any 

other new information 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 take is proposed 

here may be found in the Federal 

Register notice of proposed IHA for the 

initial authorization (85 FR 40992; July 

8, 2020). 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 neither 

this nor any other new information 

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 

Federal Register notices of proposed 

IHA (85 FR 40992; July 8, 2020) and 

final IHA (85 FR 59737; September 23, 

2020) for the initial authorization. 

Specifically, the source levels, 

corresponding Level A and Level B 

harassment zones (in m) and ensonified 

areas (in square kilometers (km2); Table 

3), and marine mammal density/ 

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. The only 

change from the methods used to 

estimate take in the initial IHA is the 

total duration (days) of pile driving 

activities, which has been reduced from 

a total of 47 days of activities, occurring 

over the course of seven months, in the 

initial IHA to 8 days of remaining 

activities estimated to occur within one 

month. 


jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES
32898 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 118 / Wednesday, June 23, 2021 / Notices 

TABLE 3—LEVEL A AND LEVEL B HARASSMENT ZONES AND ENSONIFIED AREAS

Pile type, size & pile driving method 

Level A harassment distance (m)/area 

(km2) 

Level B 

harassment 

distance 

(m)/area 

(km2) LF cetacean MF cetacean HF cetacean Phocid Otariid 

Vibratory drive/removal, 24 inch steel 

piles ...................................................... 96.6/0.03 8.6/0.00 142.8/0.06 58.7/0.01 4.1/0.00 8,690/40.53 

Vibratory removal 14 inch timber pile ...... 8.0/0.00 0.7/0.00 11.8/0.00 4.8/0.00 0.3/0.00 2,154/5.47 

LF = low-frequency; MF = mid-frequency; HF = high-frequency. 

Authorized takes would be by Level B 

harassment only, as use of the vibratory 

hammer has the potential to result in 

disruption of behavioral patterns for 

individual marine mammals. The initial 

IHA authorized take of harbor seals and 

harbor porpoises by Level A harassment 

from impact pile driving. However, as 

described in the initial IHA, based on 

the nature of the activity remaining in 

this Renewal (vibratory pile driving) 

and the anticipated effectiveness of the 

mitigation measures (i.e., shutdown, see 

Proposed Mitigation below), Level A 

harassment is neither anticipated from 

vibratory pile driving and is not 

proposed to be authorized here. 

As described in the initial IHA, the 

initial approach for take calculation was 

to use the information aggregated in the 

U.S. Navy Marine Species Density 

Database (U.S. Navy, 2019) with the 

following equation: 

Total Take = marine mammal density × 

ensonified area × pile driving days 

However, also as described in the 

initial IHA, adjustments were made to 

all of these initial estimates based on 

prior observation of marine mammals in 

the project area and account for group 

numbers, and in fact most estimates 

were based on a predicted number of 

individuals entering the Level B 

harassment zone per month, with 

several estimates also based on a 

predicted number entering per day. 

Take estimates for the activities 

remaining in this renewal IHA were 

developed using the identical methods 

as the initial IHA, in consideration of 

the remaining 8 days of work, and 

equated to one month where monthly 

estimates were used. Table 4 indicates 

the number of each species or stock 

proposed for authorization. 

TABLE 4—ESTIMATED TAKE PROPOSED TO BE AUTHORIZED BY SPECIES AND STOCK

Species Total proposed 

take Stock Stock abundance 

Percent 

of stock 

Gray whale ...................................................... 1 Eastern North Pacific ..................................... 26,960 0.004 

Humpback whale ............................................ 3 California/Oregon/Washington ....................... 2,900 0.103 

Minke whale .................................................... 1 California/Oregon/Washington ....................... 636 0.157 

Killer whale ...................................................... 10 West Coast transient ...................................... 349 2.865 

Bottlenose dolphin .......................................... 7 California/Oregon/Washington offshore ......... 1,924 0.364 

Harbor porpoise .............................................. 100 Washington inland waters .............................. 11,233 0.890 

Dall’s porpoise ................................................ 5 California/Oregon/Washington ....................... 25,750 0.019 

Harbor seal ..................................................... 720 Washington northern inland waters ............... 11,036 6.524 

Northern elephant seal ................................... 1 California breeding ......................................... 179,000 0.001 

California sea lion ........................................... 232 U.S ................................................................. 257,606 0.090 

Steller sea lion ................................................ 8 Eastern U.S .................................................... 43,201 0.019 

We have reviewed the preliminary 

monitoring report submitted by WSDOT 

and the monitoring results do not 

indicate impacts of a scale or nature not 

previously analyzed or authorized and, 

therefore, these estimates are 

appropriate. 

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 (85 FR 59737; 

September 23, 2020), with the exception 

of mitigation measures specific to 

impact pile driving, which will not 

occur under this IHA. The discussion of 

the least practicable adverse impact 

included in that document remains 

accurate. The following measures are 

proposed for this renewal: 

Proposed Mitigation 

Time Restriction—The applicant 

stated that work would occur only 

during daylight hours, when visual 

monitoring of marine mammals can be 

conducted. In addition, all in-water 

construction will be limited to the 

period between August 1, 2021, and 

February 15, 2022. 

Establishing and Monitoring Level A, 

Level B Harassment Zones, and 

Exclusion Zones—Before the 

commencement of in-water construction 

activities, which include vibratory pile 

removal, WSDOT shall establish Level 

A harassment zones where received 

underwater sound pressure levels 

(SPLs) or cumulative sound exposure 

levels (SELcum) could cause permanent 

threshold shift (PTS). 

WSDOT shall also establish Level B 

harassment zones where received 

underwater SPLs are higher than 120 

decibels root-mean-square (dBrms) re 1 

microPascal (mPa) for continuous noise 

sources (e.g., vibratory pile removal). 

WSDOT shall establish exclusion 

zones as shown in Table 5 to prevent 

Level A harassment takes of all marine 

mammal hearing groups. 

For in-water heavy machinery work 

other than pile driving (e.g., standard 

barges, etc.), if a marine mammal comes 

within 10 m, operations shall cease and 

vessels shall reduce speed to the 

minimum level required to maintain 

steerage and safe working conditions. 

This type of work could include the 

following activities: (1) Movement of the 

barge to the pile location; or (2) 

positioning of the pile on the substrate 

via a crane. 


jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 118 / Wednesday, June 23, 2021 / Notices 32899 

WSDOT shall establish exclusion 

zones for Southern Resident killer 

whales (SRKW) and all marine 

mammals for which takes are not 

authorized at the Level B harassment 

distances. Specifically, for vibratory 

removal of 24-inch steel piles, a 8.7 km 

exclusion zone shall be established. For 

vibratory removal of 14-inch timber 

piles, a 2.2 km exclusion zone shall be 

established. 

A summary of exclusion zones is 

provided in Table 5. 

TABLE 5—EXCLUSION ZONES BY SPECIES AND HEARING GROUP

Pile type and size 

Exclusion distance (m) 

LF MF HF Phocid Otariid SRKW 

24-inch steel ............................................. 100 10 150 60 10 8,700 

14-inch timber .......................................... 10 10 15 10 10 2,200 

NMFS-approved protected species 

observers (PSOs) shall conduct an initial 

survey of the exclusion zones to ensure 

that no marine mammals are seen 

within the zones beginning 30 minutes 

before removal of a pile segment begins. 

If marine mammals are found within the 

exclusion zone, pile driving of the 

segment would be delayed until they 

move out of the area. If a marine 

mammal is seen above water and then 

dives below, the contractor would wait 

15 minutes. If no marine mammals are 

seen by the observer in that time it can 

be assumed that the animal has moved 

beyond the exclusion zone. 

If pile driving of a segment ceases for 

30 minutes or more and a marine 

mammal is sighted within the 

designated exclusion zone prior to 

commencement of pile removal, the 

observer(s) must notify the pile driving 

operator (or other authorized 

individual) immediately and continue 

to monitor the exclusion zone. 

Operations may not resume until the 

marine mammal has exited the 

exclusion zone or 15 minutes have 

elapsed since the last sighting. 

Shutdown Measures—WSDOT shall 

implement shutdown measures if a 

marine mammal is detected within or 

entering an exclusion zone listed in 

Table 5. 

WSDOT shall also implement 

shutdown measures if SRKW are sighted 

within the vicinity of the project area 

and are approaching the Level B 

harassment zone during in-water 

construction activities. 

If a killer whale approaches the Level 

B harassment zone during pile driving 

or removal, and it is unknown whether 

it is a SRKW or a transient killer whale, 

it shall be assumed to be a SRKW and 

WSDOT shall implement the shutdown 

measure. 

If a SRKW or an unidentified killer 

whale enters the Level B harassment 

zone undetected, in-water pile driving 

or pile removal shall be suspended until 

the whale exits the Level B harassment 

zone, or 15 minutes have elapsed with 

no sighting of the animal, to avoid 

further Level B harassment. 

Further, WSDOT shall implement 

shutdown measures if the number of 

authorized takes for any particular 

species reaches the limit under the IHA 

(if issued) and if such marine mammals 

are sighted within the vicinity of the 

project area and are approaching the 

Level B harassment zone during inwater construction activities. 

Coordination with Local Marine 

Mammal Research Network—Prior to 

the start of pile driving for the day, 

WSDOT shall contact the Orca Network 

and/or Center for Whale Research to 

find out the location of the nearest 

marine mammal sightings. The Local 

Marine Mammal Research Network 

consists of a list of over 600 (and 

growing) residents, scientists, and 

government agency personnel in the 

United States and Canada. Sightings are 

called or emailed into the Orca Network 

and immediately distributed to other 

sighting networks including: the NMFS 

Northwest Fisheries Science Center, the 

Center for Whale Research, Cascadia 

Research, the Whale Museum Hotline 

and the British Columbia Sightings 

Network. 

Sightings information collected by the 

Orca Network includes detection by 

hydrophone. The SeaSound Remote 

Sensing Network is a system of 

interconnected hydrophones installed 

in the marine environment of Haro 

Strait (west side of San Juan Island) to 

study orca communication, in-water 

noise, bottom fish ecology and local 

climatic conditions. A hydrophone at 

the Port Townsend Marine Science 

Center measures average in-water sound 

levels and automatically detects 

unusual sounds. These passive acoustic 

devices allow researchers to hear when 

different marine mammals come into 

the region. This acoustic network, 

combined with the volunteer 

(incidental) visual sighting network 

allows researchers to document 

presence and location of various marine 

mammal species. 

Proposed Monitoring and Reporting 

Monitoring Measures—WSDOT shall 

employ NMFS-approved PSOs to 

conduct marine mammal monitoring for 

its Seattle Multimodal Project at Colman 

Dock. The PSOs will observe and collect 

data on marine mammals in and around 

the project area for 30 minutes before, 

during, and for 30 minutes after all pile 

removal and pile installation work. 

NMFS-approved PSOs shall meet the 

following requirements: 

1. Independent observers (i.e., not 

construction personnel) are required; 

2. At least one observer must have 

prior experience working as an observer; 

3. Other observers may substitute 

education (undergraduate degree in 

biological science or related field) or 

training for experience; 

4. Where a team of three or more 

observers are required, one observer 

should be designated as lead observer or 

monitoring coordinator. The lead 

observer must have prior experience 

working as an observer; and 

5. NMFS will require submission and 

approval of observer Curriculum Vitas; 

Monitoring of marine mammals 

around the construction site shall be 

conducted using high-quality binoculars 

(e.g., Zeiss, 10 × 42 power). Due to the 

different sizes of zones of influence 

(ZOIs) from different pile sizes, several 

different ZOIs and different monitoring 

protocols corresponding to a specific 

pile size will be established. During 

vibratory removal of 24-inch steel piles, 

four land-based PSOs and one ferrybased PSO will monitor the zone. 

During vibratory removal of 14-inch 

timber piles, four land-based PSOs will 

monitor the zone. Locations of the landbased PSOs and routes of monitoring 

vessels are shown in WSDOT’s Marine 

Mammal Monitoring Plan, which is 

available online at https://

www.fisheries.noaa.gov/permit/ 

incidental-take-authorizations-undermarine-mammal-protection-act. 

To verify the required monitoring 

distance, the exclusion zones and zones 

of influence will be determined by using 


jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES
32900 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 118 / Wednesday, June 23, 2021 / Notices 

a range finder or hand-held global 

positioning system device. 

Reporting Measures—WSDOT is 

required to submit a draft report on all 

marine mammal monitoring conducted 

under the IHA (if issued) within 90 

calendar days of the completion of the 

project. A final report shall be prepared 

and submitted within 30 days following 

resolution of comments on the draft 

report from NMFS. 

The marine mammal report must 

contain the informational elements 

described in the Marine Mammal 

Monitoring Plan for the initial IHA, 

dated May 12, 2020, including, but not 

limited to: 

1. Dates and times (begin and end) of 

all marine mammal monitoring; 

2. Construction activities occurring 

during each daily observation period, 

including how many and what type of 

piles were driven or removed; 

3. Weather parameters and water 

conditions during each monitoring 

period (e.g., wind speed, percent cover, 

visibility, sea state); 

4. The number of marine mammals 

observed, by species, relative to the pile 

location and if pile driving or removal 

was occurring at time of sighting; 

5. Age and sex class, if possible, of all 

marine mammals observed; 

6. PSO locations during marine 

mammal monitoring; 

7. Distances and bearings of each 

marine mammal observed to the pile 

being driven or removed for each 

sighting (if pile driving or removal was 

occurring at time of sighting); 

8. Description of any marine mammal 

behavior patterns during observation, 

including direction of travel and 

estimated time spent within the Level B 

harassment zones while the source was 

active; 

9. Number of individuals of each 

species (differentiated by month as 

appropriate) detected within the 

monitoring zone; 

10. Detailed information about any 

implementation of any mitigation 

triggered (e.g., shutdowns and delays), a 

description of specific actions that 

ensued, and resulting behavior of the 

animal, if any; 

11. Description of attempts to 

distinguish between the number of 

individual animals taken and the 

number of incidences of take, such as 

ability to track groups or individuals; 

and 

12. Submit all PSO datasheets and/or 

raw sighting data (in a separate file from 

the Final Report referenced immediately 

above). 

In the event that personnel involved 

in the construction activities discover 

an injured or dead marine mammal, 

WSDOT shall report the incident to the 

Office of Protected Resources (OPR) 

(301–427–8401), NMFS and to the West 

Coast Region (WCR) regional stranding 

coordinator (1–866–767–6114) as soon 

as feasible. If the death or injury was 

clearly caused by the specified activity, 

WSDOT must immediately cease the 

specified activities until NMFS is able 

to review the circumstances of the 

incident and determine what, if any, 

additional measures are appropriate to 

ensure compliance with the terms of the 

IHA. WSDOT must not resume their 

activities until notified by NMFS. 

The report must include the following 

information: 

1. Time, date, and location (latitude/ 

longitude) of the first discovery (and 

updated location information if known 

and applicable); 

2. Species identification (if known) or 

description of the animal(s) involved; 

3. Condition of the animal(s) 

(including carcass condition if the 

animal is dead); 

4. Observed behaviors of the 

animal(s), if alive; 

5. If available, photographs or video 

footage of the animal(s); and 

6. General circumstances under which 

the animal was discovered. 

Comments and Responses 

As noted previously, NMFS published 

a notice of a proposed IHA (85 FR 

40992; July 8, 2020) and solicited public 

comments on both our proposal to issue 

the initial IHA for the Seattle 

Multimodal Project at Colman Dock 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 (85 FR 59737; September 

23, 2020). Below, we describe how we 

have addressed, with updated 

information where appropriate, any 

comments received that specifically 

pertain to the Renewal of the initial 

2020 IHA. 

Comment: The Marine Mammal 

Commission recommended that NMFS 

refrain from issuing renewals for any 

authorization and instead use its 

abbreviated Federal Register notice 

process, which is similarly expeditious 

and fulfills NMFS’s intent to maximize 

efficiencies. 

Response: In prior responses to 

comments about IHA Renewals (e.g., 84 

FR 52464; October 02, 2019 and 85 FR 

53342, August 28, 2020), NMFS has 

explained how the Renewal process, as 

implemented, is consistent with the 

statutory requirements contained in 

section 101(a)(5)(D) of the MMPA, 

provides additional efficiencies beyond 

the use of abbreviated notices, and, 

further, promotes NMFS’ goals of 

improving conservation of marine 

mammals and increasing efficiency in 

the MMPA compliance process. 

Therefore, we intend to continue 

implementing the Renewal process. 

Preliminary Determinations 

The construction activities proposed 

by WSDOT are a subset of, and identical 

to, those analyzed in the initial IHA, 

and the method of taking and the effects 

of the action are identical to the initial 

IHA (though the amount of proposed 

authorized take is notably lower). The 

potential effects of WSDOT’s activities 

are limited to Level B harassment in the 

form of behavioral disturbance. In 

analyzing the effects of the activities in 

the 2020 IHA, NMFS determined that 

WSDOT’s activities would have a 

negligible impact on the affected species 

or stocks and that the authorized take 

numbers of each species or stock were 

small relative to the relevant stocks (e.g., 

less than one-third of all stocks). The 

mitigation measures and monitoring and 

reporting requirements as described 

above are identical to 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 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; (4) 

WSDOT’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 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, in this 

case with the West Coast Region 

Protected Resources Division, whenever 


jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 118 / Wednesday, June 23, 2021 / Notices 32901 

we propose to authorize take for 

endangered or threatened species. 

The only species listed under the ESA 

with the potential to be present in the 

action area are the Mexico Distinct 

Population Segment (DPS) and Central 

America DPS of humpback whales. The 

effects of this Federal action were 

adequately analyzed in NMFS’ 

Biological Opinion for the Seattle 

Multimodal Project at Colman Dock, 

Seattle, Washington, dated October 1, 

2018, which concluded that issuance of 

an IHA would not jeopardize the 

continued existence of any endangered 

or threatened species or destroy or 

adversely modify any designated critical 

habitat. 

Proposed Renewal IHA and Request for 

Public Comment 

As a result of these preliminary 

determinations, NMFS proposes to issue 

a Renewal IHA to WSDOT to conduct 

the Seattle Multimodal Project at 

Colman Dock Year 4 in Washington 

State, between August 1, 2021 and July 

31, 2022, 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-undermarine-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: June 17, 2021. 

Catherine Marzin, 

Acting Director, Office of Protected Resources, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2021–13154 Filed 6–22–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XB139] 

Pacific Fishery Management Council; 

Public Meeting 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of public online meeting. 

SUMMARY: The Pacific Fishery 

Management Council’s (Pacific Council) 

Ad Hoc Southern Oregon Northern 

California Coast (SONCC) Coho 

Workgroup (Workgroup) will host an 

online meeting that is open to the 

public. 

DATES: The online meeting will be held 

Wednesday, July 7, 2021, from 9 a.m., 

Pacific Daylight Time, until 5 p.m., or 

until business for the day has been 

completed. 

ADDRESSES: This meeting will be held 

online. Specific meeting information, 

including directions on how to join the 

meeting and system requirements will 

be provided in the meeting 

announcement on the Pacific Council’s 

website (see www.pcouncil.org). You 

may send an email to Mr. Kris 

Kleinschmidt (kris.kleinschmidt@

noaa.gov) or contact him at (503) 820– 

2412 for technical assistance. 

Council address: Pacific Fishery 

Management Council, 7700 NE 

Ambassador Place, Suite 101, Portland, 

OR 97220–1384. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Robin Ehlke, Staff Officer, Pacific 

Council; telephone: (503) 820–2426. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

purpose of the meeting will be to review 

Pacific Council guidance from its June 

2021 meeting and to continue to 

develop associated modeling and 

analyses needed for a risk assessment 

and potential harvest control rule 

alternatives for Pacific Council 

consideration. The Workgroup may also 

discuss and prepare for future 

Workgroup meetings and future 

meetings with the Pacific Council and 

its advisory bodies. 

Although non-emergency issues not 

contained in the meeting agenda may be 

discussed, those issues may not be the 

subject of formal action during this 

meeting. Action will be restricted to 

those issues specifically listed in this 

document and any issues arising after 

publication of this document that 

require emergency action under section 

305(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act, 

provided the public has been notified of 

the intent to take final action to address 

the emergency. 

Special Accommodations 

Requests for sign language 

interpretation or other auxiliary aids 

should be directed to Mr. Kris 

Kleinschmidt (kris.kleinschmidt@

noaa.gov; (503) 820–2412) at least 10 

business days prior to the meeting date. 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. 

Dated: June 15, 2021. 

Tracey L. Thompson, 

Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2021–13147 Filed 6–22–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Defense Acquisition Regulations 

System 

[Docket Number DARS–2021–0008; OMB 

Control Number 0704–0255] 

Information Collection Requirement; 

Defense Federal Acquisition 

Regulation Supplement; Construction 

and Architect-Engineer Contracts 

AGENCY: Defense Acquisition 

Regulations System, Department of 

Defense (DoD). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Defense Acquisition 

Regulations System has submitted to 

OMB for clearance the following 

proposed extension of a collection of 

information under the provisions of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act. 

DATES: Consideration will be given to all 

comments received by July 23, 2021. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Title and OMB Number: Defense 

Federal Acquisition Regulation 

Supplement (DFARS) Part 236, 

Construction and Architect-Engineer 

Contracts, and related clauses at DFARS 

252.236; OMB Control Number 0704– 

0255. 

Type of Request: Revision and 

extension of a currently approved 

collection. 

Affected Public: Businesses and other 

for-profit entities. 

Respondent’s Obligation: Required to 

obtain or retain benefits. 

Number of Respondents: 1,691. 

Responses per Respondent: 5. 

Annual Responses: 8,554. 

Average Burden per Response: 12. 

Annual Burden Hours: 96,814. 

Reporting Frequency: On occasion. 

Needs and Uses: DoD contracting 

officers need this information to 

evaluate contractor proposals for 

contract modifications; to determine 

that a contractor has removed 

obstructions to navigation; to review 

contractor requests for payment for 

mobilization and preparatory work; to 

determine reasonableness of costs 

allocated to mobilization and 

demobilization; and to determine 

eligibility for the 20 percent evaluation 

preference for United States firms in the 

award of some overseas construction 

contracts. 


jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES