[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 185 (Friday, September 24, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58365-58366]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-24026]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XY60
Taking and Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals
Incidental to Missile Launch Operations from San Nicolas Island, CA
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; request for comments on proposed revised Letter of
Authorization.
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SUMMARY: In June, 2009, pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act
(MMPA), NMFS issued regulations to govern the unintentional taking of
marine mammals incidental to U.S. Navy (Navy) missile launch
operations, a military readiness activity, from San Nicolas Island
(SNI), California, for the period of June 2009 through June 2014. The
second Letter of Authorization (LOA) for the incidental take of marine
mammals during the described activities and specified timeframes is
effective from June 4, 2010, through June 3, 2011. Following issuance
of the LOA, the Navy submitted a revised monitoring plan for their
activities at SNI. NMFS is proposing to issue a revised LOA, which
would incorporate the revised monitoring plan, to replace the one that
is currently in effect.
DATES: Comments and information must be received no later than October
25, 2010.
ADDRESSES: Comments on the revised monitoring plan should be addressed
to Michael Payne, Chief, Permits, Conservation, and Education Division,
Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service, 1315
East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910. The mailbox address for
providing email comments is [email protected]. NMFS is not
responsible for email comments sent to addresses other than the one
provided here. Comments sent via email, including all attachments, must
not exceed a 10-megabyte file size.
Instructions: All comments received are a part of the public record
and will generally be posted to http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/permits/incidental.htm without change. All Personal Identifying Information
(for example, name, address, etc.) voluntarily submitted by the
commenter may be publicly accessible. Do not submit Confidential
Business Information or otherwise sensitive or protected information.
A copy of the revised monitoring plan may be obtained by writing to
the address specified above, telephoning the contact listed below (see
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT), or visiting the internet at: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/permits/incidental.htm. Documents cited in this
notice may also be viewed, by appointment, during regular business
hours, at the aforementioned address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michelle Magliocca, Office of
Protected Resources, NMFS, 301-713-2289, or Monica DeAngelis, NMFS,
562-980-3232.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Section 101(a)(5)(A) of the MMPA (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) directs
the Secretary of Commerce 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 regulations are issued. However, for military readiness
activities, the National Defense Authorization Act (Public Law 108-136)
removed the ``small numbers'' and ``specified geographical region''
limitations. Under the MMPA, the term ``take'' means to harass, hunt,
capture, or kill, or to attempt to harass, hunt, capture, or kill
marine mammals.
Authorization may be granted for periods up to 5 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 of 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 for monitoring and reporting of
such taking.
Regulations governing the taking of Northern elephant seals
(Mirounga angustirostris), Pacific harbor seals (Phoca vitulina
richardsi), and California sea lions (Zalophus californianus), by
harassment, incidental to missile launch operations at SNI, were issued
on June 2, 2009, and remain in effect until June 2, 2014 (74 FR 26580).
The most recent LOA under these regulations was issued on June 4, 2010
(75 FR 28587). For more detailed information on this action, please
refer to these documents. The regulations and LOA include mitigation,
monitoring, and reporting requirements for the incidental take of
marine mammals during missile launches at SNI. Northern elephant seals,
Pacific harbor seals, and California sea lions are found on various
haul-out sites and rookeries on SNI. The current LOA authorizes take of
the three pinniped species listed above that may result from the
launching of up to 40 missiles from SNI per year. Up to 10 launches per
year may occur at night. Nighttime launches will only occur when
required by the test objectives, e.g., when testing the Airborne Laser
system. The noise generated by Navy activities may result in the
incidental harassment of pinnipeds, both behaviorally and in terms of
physiological (auditory) impacts. The noise and visual disturbances
from missile launches may cause the animals to move towards or enter
the water. The current LOA authorizes the following numbers of
pinnipeds to be incidentally taken by Level B harassment annually: 474
Northern elephant seals; 467 Pacific harbor seals; and 1,606 California
sea lions.
Summary of the Modification
On June 7, 2010, NMFS received a revised monitoring plan for
vehicle launches at SNI, California, in association with an LOA issued
on June 4, 2010 and in effect through June 3, 2011. The revised
monitoring plan was updated to reflect new equipment and procedures
proposed by the Navy, along with a proposal to discontinue targeted
monitoring of Northern elephant seals. After reviewing the revised
monitoring plan, the Marine Mammal Commission (Commission) further
recommended that the Navy obtain, analyze, and review existing
information regarding potential displacement of Northern elephant
seals, Pacific harbor seals, and California sea lions from those
rookeries and haul out sites affected by launch activities. NMFS marine
mammal surveys from SNI have since been reviewed for any indications of
decreasing trends in pinniped
[[Page 58366]]
abundance or changes in distribution since the take of marine mammals
incidental to launches from SNI were authorized beginning in August
2001. The surveys do not indicate any significant changes in abundance
or distribution; therefore, NMFS proposes that the Navy's revised
monitoring plan remain as is. The following are the only proposed
modifications to the current LOA; all other mitigation and monitoring
requirements would remain unchanged.
Nighttime Launches
The Navy recently acquired forward looking infrared (FLIR) HS-324
Command thermal imaging cameras for nighttime monitoring of pinnipeds
before, during, and after each missile launch. Previously, no cameras
were available for nighttime monitoring of pinniped haul out sites. The
thermal imaging cameras, made by FLIR Systems, Inc., would be located
to overlook haul out sites up to 6 hours prior to a launch, depending
on safety restrictions. Placement of the cameras would cause minimal
disturbance to pinnipeds and would focus on a subgroup of pinnipeds
within the haul out aggregation. The cameras record data internally and
are capable of storing more than 5 hours of video; however, they do not
record sound, so no simultaneous audio recording separate from the
acoustic monitoring data, collected as described in the regulations (74
FR 26580) and current LOA (75 FR 28587), would be available. Navy
biologists would make direct visual observations of the pinniped
groups, prior to deployment of the thermal imaging cameras, in order to
record weather conditions, species, locations of any pinnipeds hauled
out, etc.
Monitoring of Northern Elephant Seals
The Navy proposes to eliminate targeted monitoring of Northern
elephant seals during all future launches of Vandal- and Coyote-size,
and smaller, vehicles on SNI. During the majority of launches monitored
over the past 9 years, Northern elephant seals exhibited little
reaction to vehicle launches. The Navy's most recent monitoring report
estimated that zero Northern elephant seals were harassed by launches
from SNI. During future launches, Northern elephant seals would only be
monitored if they happen to be alongside other monitored pinniped
species (i.e., Pacific harbor seals and California sea lions) and in
the camera's field of view. Monitoring sites would be chosen based
primarily on the presence of Pacific harbor seals and California sea
lions. By eliminating targeted monitoring of Northern elephant seals,
the Navy would focus on these more responsive pinniped species and
remaining questions about the frequency and extent of these responses.
All other aspects of the Navy's monitoring requirements, as stated in
the regulations (74 FR 26580) and current LOA (75 FR 28587), would
remain the same.
Summary of Activity and Monitoring Conducted During 2010
The Navy submitted a preliminary, qualitative review of marine
mammal monitoring activities between June 4, 2010, and September 1,
2010, as part of their proposal for a revised monitoring plan. The
review briefly describes two single launches from SNI on two different
days. These launches occurred during daylight hours. A single Coyote
missile was launched on each of two days, June 9 and July 8, 2010, from
the Alpha Launch Complex located 190 m (623 ft) above sea level on the
west-central part of SNI. For each launch, three remote video cameras
and three or four audio recorders were deployed at varying distances
from the launch site. Trained staff also collected general information
on environmental conditions and the status and behavior of focal animal
groups prior to and following each launch. Behavioral responses were
similar to those observed during previously monitored launches. The
authorized level of take was not exceeded, and no evidence of injury or
mortality was observed during or immediately succeeding the launches
for the monitored pinniped species.
Proposed Authorization
The Navy continues to comply with the requirements of the current
2010 LOA. NMFS has preliminarily determined that this action would
continue to have a negligible impact on the affected species or stocks
of marine mammals on SNI, and there are no subsistence uses of these
three pinniped species in California waters. Accordingly, NMFS proposes
to issue a revised LOA to the Navy authorizing the take of three marine
mammal species, by harassment, incidental to missile launch activities
from SNI. The revised LOA would expire one year from the date of
issuance.
Dated: September 20, 2010.
Helen M. Golde,
Deputy Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2010-24026 Filed 9-23-10; 8:45 am]
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