[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 98 (Friday, May 21, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Page 28566]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-12293]
[[Page 28566]]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XW34
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 letters 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 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: These authorizations are effective from June 1, 2010 through
May 31, 2011, July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2011, and August 1, 2010
through July 31, 2011.
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 Jolie Harrison,
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 Secretary of Commerce (who has delegated the
authority to NMFS) to allow, upon request, the incidental, but not
intentional, taking of small numbers of marine mammals by United States
(U.S.) citizens who engage in a specified activity (other than
commercial fishing) within a specified geographical region, if certain
findings are made and regulations are issued. Under the MMPA, the term
``take'' means to harass, hunt, capture, or kill or to attempt to
harass, hunt, capture, or kill marine mammal.
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 of 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 of marine mammals incidental to EROS
were published on June 19, 2008 (73 FR 34875), 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 Fairways
Offshore Exploration, Inc., El Paso Exploration & Production Company,
L.P., and ATP Oil & Gas Corporation. Issuance of the LOAs 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: May 17, 2010.
James H. Lecky,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2010-12293 Filed 5-20-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S