[Federal Register: March 25, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 58)]
[Notices]
[Page 15742-15743]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr25mr08-37]
[[Page 15742]]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XF88
Incidental Take of Marine Mammals; Taking of Marine Mammals
Incidental to Conducting Precision Strike Weapons Testing and Training
by Eglin Air Force Base in the Gulf of Mexico
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of issuance of a letter of authorization.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with provisions of the Marine Mammal Protection
Act (MMPA), as amended, notification is hereby given that a letter of
authorization (LOA) to take four species of marine mammals, by
harassment, incidental to testing and training during Precision Strike
Weapons (PSW) tests in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), a military readiness
activity, has been issued to Eglin Air Force Base (AFB).
DATES: This authorization is effective from March 19, 2008, through
March 18, 2009.
ADDRESSES: The application and LOA are available for review in the
Permits, Conservation, and Education Division, Office of Protected
Resources, NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910 or by
contacting one of the individuals mentioned below (See FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kenneth Hollingshead or Candace
Nachman, NMFS, (301) 713-2289.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Section 101(a)(5)(A) of the MMPA (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) directs
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 by NMFS and
regulations are issued. Under the MMPA, the term ``taking'' means to
harass, hunt, capture, or kill or to attempt to harass, hunt, capture
or kill marine mammals.
Authorization, in the form of annual LOAs, may be granted for
periods up to five years if NMFS finds, after notification and
opportunity for public comment, that the taking will have a negligible
impact on the species or stock(s) of marine mammals and will not have
an unmitigable adverse impact on the availability of the species or
stock(s) for subsistence uses. In addition, NMFS must prescribe
regulations that include permissible methods of taking and other means
effecting the least practicable adverse impact on the species and its
habitat, and on the availability of the species for subsistence uses,
paying particular attention to rookeries, mating grounds, and areas of
similar significance. The regulations must include requirements
pertaining to the monitoring and reporting of such taking. Regulations
governing the taking of marine mammals incidental to PSW testing and
training within the Eglin Gulf Test and Training Range in the GOM, were
published on November 24, 2006 (71 FR 67810), and remain in effect from
December 26, 2006, through December 27, 2011. The four species that
Eglin AFB may take in small numbers during PSW testing and training are
Atlantic bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), Atlantic spotted
dolphins (Stenella frontalis), dwarf sperm whales (Kogia simus), and
pygmy sperm whales (Kogia breviceps).
Issuance of the annual LOA to Eglin AFB is based on findings made
in the preamble to the final rule that the total takings by this
project would result in no more than a negligible impact on the
affected marine mammal stocks or habitats and would not have an
unmitigable adverse impact on subsistence uses of marine mammals. NMFS
also finds that the applicant will meet the requirements contained in
the implementing regulations and LOA, including monitoring and
reporting requirements. Without any mitigation measures, a small
possibility exists for one bottlenose dolphin and one spotted dolphin
to be exposed to blast levels from the PSW testing sufficient to cause
mortality. Additionally, less than two cetaceans might be exposed to
noise levels sufficient to induce Level A harassment (injury) annually,
and as few as 31 or as many as 52 cetaceans (depending on the season
and water depth) could potentially be exposed (annually) to noise
levels sufficient to induce Level B harassment in the form of temporary
(auditory) threshold shift (TTS).
While none of these impact estimates consider the proposed
mitigation measures that will be employed by Eglin AFB to minimize
potential impacts to protected species, NMFS has authorized Eglin AFB a
total of one mortality, two takes by Level A harassment, and 53 takes
by Level B harassment (temporary auditory threshold shift) annually.
However, the proposed mitigation measures described in the final rule
(71 FR 67810, November 24, 2006) and the LOA are anticipated to reduce
potential impacts to marine mammals in both numbers and degree of
severity. These measures include a conservative safety range for marine
mammal exclusion; incorporation of aerial and shipboard survey
monitoring efforts in the program both prior to and after detonation of
explosives; and a prohibition on detonations whenever marine mammals
are detected within the safety zone, may enter the safety zone at the
time of detonation, or if weather and sea conditions preclude adequate
aerial surveillance. This LOA may be renewed annually based on a review
of the activity, completion of monitoring requirements, and receipt of
reports required by the LOA.
Summary of Request
NMFS received a request for a LOA pursuant to the aforementioned
regulations that would authorize, for a period not to exceed 1 year,
take of marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to PSW testing and
training in the GOM.
Summary of Activity and Monitoring Under the Current LOA
In 2007, only one Focused Lethality Munition, a low collateral
variant of the Small Diameter Bomb, was released over the GOM on July
11, 2007. It was a single release of a Guided Test Vehicle (GTV) with
an inert fuse. The GTV has no explosives. Because it was not a live PSW
test and did not have any impacts to protected species, a survey plan
was not included in Eglin AFB's report. The Joint Air-to-Surface Stand-
off Missile program had no activity in 2007.
Authorization
The U.S. Air Force complied with the requirements of the 2007 LOA,
and NMFS has determined that there was no take of marine mammals by the
U.S. Air Force in 2007. Accordingly, NMFS has issued a LOA to Eglin AFB
authorizing the take by harassment of marine mammals incidental to PSW
testing and training in the EGTTR in the GOM. Issuance of this LOA is
based on findings described in the preamble to the final rule (71 FR
67810, November 24, 2006) and supported by information contained in
Eglin's 2008 request for a new LOA that the activities described under
this LOA will not result in more than the incidental harassment of
certain marine mammal species and will have a negligible impact on the
affected species or stocks. The provision requiring that the activity
not have an
[[Page 15743]]
unmitigable adverse impact on the availability of the affected species
or stock for subsistence uses does not apply for this action.
Dated: March 19, 2008.
James H. Lecky,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. E8-5938 Filed 3-24-08; 8:45 am]
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