[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 89 (Monday, May 9, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27571-27573]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-09924]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XB983]


Taking of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specific Activities

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 City of Hoonah (City) 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 nine species of marine mammals, by Level 
A and Level B harassment, incidental to pile driving activities 
associated with construction upgrades of a cargo dock at the city-owned 
Hoonah Marine Industrial Center (HMIC) in Port Frederick Inlet on 
Chichagof Island in Hoonah, Alaska. The project has been delayed and 
none of the work covered in the initial IHA has been conducted. The 
initial IHA was effective from May 7, 2021, through May 6, 2022. The 
City has requested re-issuance with new effective dates of October 1, 
2022 through September 30, 2023. 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 incidental take analyzed and 
authorized in the initial IHA.

DATES: This authorization is effective from October 1, 2022 through 
September 30, 2023.

ADDRESSES: An electronic copy of the final 2021 IHA previously issued 
to the City, the City's application, and the Federal Register notices 
proposing and issuing the initial IHA may be obtained by visiting 
https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/incidental-take-authorization-hoonah-marine-industrial-center-cargo-dock-project-hoonah. In case of 
problems accessing these documents, please call the contact

[[Page 27572]]

listed below (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephanie Egger, 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 May 20, 2021, NMFS published final notice of our issuance of an 
IHA authorizing take of marine mammals incidental to the City of Hoonah 
for the Hoonah Marine Industrial Center Cargo Dock Project, Hoonah, 
Alaska (86 FR 27410). The effective dates of that IHA were May 7, 2021, 
through May 6, 2022. On February 27, 2022, the City informed NMFS that 
the project was delayed. None of the work identified in the initial IHA 
(e.g., pile driving activities) has occurred. The City submitted a 
request on April 6, 2022 that we reissue an identical IHA that would be 
effective from October 1, 2022 through September 30, 2023, in order to 
conduct the construction work that was analyzed and authorized through 
the previously issued IHA. 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 purpose of this project is to make upgrades to the HMIC. 
Upgrades to the site include the installation of three breasting 
dolphins, a sheet pile bulk cargo dock, fender piles, and a catwalk. 
The planned upgrades are needed to continue safely accommodating barges 
and other vessels delivering essential goods to the City. The planned 
project at the HMIC is located in Port Frederick Inlet, approximately 
0.8 kilometers (km) (0.5 miles) northwest of downtown Hoonah 0.24 km 
(0.15 miles) east of the State of Alaska Ferry Terminal in Southeast 
Alaska. 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. The mitigation and monitoring are also as 
prescribed in the initial IHA.
    Species that are expected to be taken by the planned activity 
include: Gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus), Minke whale (Balaenoptera 
acutorostrata), Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae), Killer whale 
(Orcinus orca), Pacific White-Sided Dolphin (Lagenorhynchus 
obliquidens), Dall's porpoise (Phocoenoides dalli), Harbor porpoise 
(Phocoena phocoena), Steller Sea Lion (Eumetopias jubatus), and 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 2021 IHA for the City's construction work (86 FR 27410), the 
City's application, the Federal Register notice of the proposed IHA (86 
FR 12630), and all associated references and documents.

Determinations

    The City will conduct activities as analyzed in the initial 2021 
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 2022 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 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; and (4) the City'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 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 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

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have not identified any extraordinary circumstances that would preclude 
this categorical exclusion.

Endangered Species Act (ESA)

    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, in this case with the Alaska Regional 
Office (AKRO).
    NMFS is authorizing take of Mexico DPS humpback whales, and Western 
DPS Steller sea lions, which are listed under the ESA. The Permit and 
Conservation Division completed a Section 7 consultation with the AKRO 
for the issuance of this IHA and a biological opinion was issued on May 
4, 2021. The AKRO's biological opinion states that the action is not 
likely to jeopardize the continued existence of Western DPS Steller sea 
lions or Mexico DPS humpback whales. The May 4, 2021 biological opinion 
is still in effect.

Authorization

    NMFS has issued an IHA to the City for in-water construction 
activities associated with the specified activity from October 1, 2022 
through September 30, 2023. All previously described mitigation, 
monitoring, and reporting requirements from the initial 2021 IHA are 
incorporated.

    Dated: May 4, 2022.
Kimberly Damon-Randall,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-09924 Filed 5-6-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P