[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 128 (Wednesday, July 6, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40184-40186]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-14191]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XC142]


Taking of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specific Activities; 
Taking of Marine Mammals Incidental to Pile Driving and Removal 
Activities During the Metlakatla Seaplane Facility Refurbishment 
Project, Metlakatla, 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 (AKDOT&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 
eight species of marine mammals, by Level B harassment only, incidental 
to pile driving and removal activities and down-the-hole (DTH) drilling 
activities associated with maintenance improvements to the existing 
Metlakatla Seaplane Facility (MSF), Metlakatla, 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 August 1, 2021 through 
July 31, 2022. The AKDOT&PF has requested re-issuance with new 
effective dates of July 1, 2022 through June 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 July 1, 2022 through June 
30, 2023.

ADDRESSES: An electronic copy of the final 2021 IHA previously issued 
to the AKDOT&PF, the AKDOT&PF'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-alaska-department-transportation-metlakatla-

[[Page 40185]]

seaplane-facility. In case of problems accessing these documents, 
please call the contact listed below (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Benjamin Laws, 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 August 6, 2021, NMFS published a final notice of our issuance of 
an IHA authorizing take of marine mammals incidental to the MSF project 
in Southeast Alaska (86 FR 43190). The effective dates of that IHA were 
August 1, 2021 through July 31, 2022. On May 4, 2022, the AKDOT&PF 
informed NMFS that the project was delayed. None of the work identified 
in the initial IHA (e.g., pile driving activities, DTH) has occurred. 
The AKDOT&PF submitted a request on May 4, 2022 that we reissue an 
identical IHA that would be effective from July 1, 2022 through June 
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 repairs to the MSF. The 
existing facility has deteriorated in recent years and AKDOT&PF has 
conducted several repair projects. The facility is near the end of its 
useful life, and replacement of all the existing float structures is 
required to continue safe operation in the future. Refurbishment of the 
MSF will require pile installation and removal using impact and 
vibratory driving methods, as well as DTH and is expected to take 26 
days of in-water work. 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: 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 AKDOT&PF's construction work (86 FR 43190), 
the AKDOT&PF's application, the Federal Register notice of the proposed 
IHA (86 FR 34203), and all associated references and documents.

Determinations

    The AKDOT&PF 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 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 
AKDOT&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 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

[[Page 40186]]

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 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 July 23, 2021. The AKRO's biological 
opinion states that the action is not likely to jeopardize the 
continued existence of Mexico DPS humpback whales. The July 23, 2021 
biological opinion is still in effect.

Authorization

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

    Dated: June 28, 2022.
Kimberly Damon-Randall,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-14191 Filed 7-5-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P