[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 126 (Thursday, July 1, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Page 38078]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-15911]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XX16
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 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: These authorizations are effective from July 1, 2010 through
June 30, 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
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 any 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 notice 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 ExxonMobil
Production Company. 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: June 24, 2010.
James H. Lecky,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2010-15911 Filed 6-30-10; 8:45 am]
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