[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 218 (Friday, November 13, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Page 58600]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-27316]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XS78
Incidental Taking of Marine Mammals; Taking of Marine Mammals
Incidental to the Explosive Removal of Offshore Structures in the Gulf
of Mexico
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; issuance of a letter of authorization.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA)
and implementing regulations, notification is hereby given that NMFS
has issued a one-year Letters of Authorization (LOA) to take marine
mammals incidental to the explosive removal of offshore oil and gas
structures (EROS) in the Gulf of Mexico.
DATES: This authorization is effective from November 10, 2009 through
November 9, 2010.
ADDRESSES: The application and LOAs are available for review by
writing to P. Michael Payne, Chief, Permits, Conservation, and
Education Division, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine
Fisheries Service, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910-3235
or by telephoning the contact listed here (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT), or online at: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/permits/incidental.htm. Documents cited in this notice may be viewed, by
appointment, during regular business hours, at the aforementioned
address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Howard Goldstein or Ken Hollingshead,
Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, 301-713-2289.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 101(a)(5)(A) of the MMPA (16 U.S.C.
1361 et seq.) directs the NMFS to allow, upon request, the incidental,
but not intentional, taking of small numbers of marine mammals by
United States 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 for incidental taking, in the form of annual LOAs,
may be granted by NMFS 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 (where
relevant). 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 (i.e.,
mitigation), and on the availability of the species for subsistence
uses, paying particular attention to rookeries, mating rounds, and
areas of similar significance. The regulations also must include
requirements pertaining to the monitoring and reporting of such taking.
Regulations governing the taking incidental to EROS were published on
June 19, 2008 (73 FR 34889), and remain in effect through July 19,
2013. For detailed information on this action, please refer to that
Federal Register notice. The species that applicants may take in small
numbers during EROS activities are bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops
truncatus), Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis), pantropical
spotted dolphins (Stenella attenuata), Clymene dolphins (Stenella
clymene), striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba), spinner dolphins
(Stenella longirostris), rough-toothed dolphins (Steno bredanensis),
Risso's dolphins (Grampus griseus), melon-headed whales (Peponocephala
electra), short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus), and
sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus).
Pursuant to these regulations, NMFS has issued an LOA to Tarpon
Operating & Development, L.L.C. Issuance of the LOA is based on a
finding made in the preamble to the final rule that the total taking by
these activities (with monitoring, mitigation, and reporting measures)
will result in no more than a negligible impact on the affected species
or stock(s) of marine mammals and will not have an unmitigable adverse
impact on subsistence uses. NMFS also finds that the applicant will
meet the requirements contained in the implementing regulations and
LOA, including monitoring, mitigation, and reporting requirements.
Dated: November 6, 2009.
James H. Lecky,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. E9-27316 Filed 11-12-09; 8:45 am]
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