[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 81 (Wednesday, April 27, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23570-23571]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-10177]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XA356
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 six 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 May 1, 2011 through
April 30, 2012, and June 1, 2011, through May 31, 2012.
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-
[[Page 23571]]
finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus), and sperm whales
(Physeter macrocephalus). NMFS received requests for LOAs from Merit
Energy Company (Merit), Northstar Interests, LLC. (Northstar
Interests), Northstar Offshore Energy Partners, LLC. (Northstar
Offshore), Ridgelake Energy, Inc. (Ridgelake), Rosetta Resources
Offshore, LLC. (Rosetta), and Sojitz Energy Venture, Inc. (Sojitz) for
activities covered by the EROS regulations.
Reporting
NMFS regulations require timely receipt of reports for activities
conducted under the previously issued LOA and a determination that the
required mitigation, monitoring, and reporting were undertaken. NMFS
Galveston Laboratory's Platform Removal Observer Program (PROP) has
provided reports for Merit Energy Company's (Merit) removal of offshore
structures during 2010. While Merit did not have a LOA in 2010 to 2011
or previous years, the energy company used the explosives company,
Demex International, Inc., which was issued an LOA for 2010 to 2011,
and renewed their LOA again for 2011 to 2012. Northstar Interests,
Northstar Offshore, Ridgelake, Rosetta, and Sojitz have not conducted
any EROS operations to date. NMFS PROP observers reported the following
during Merit's EROS operations in 2010 to 2011:
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Marine mammal Biological impacts
Company Structure Dates sightings observed to marine
(Individuals) mammals
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Merit................ High Island Area, May 23 to 28, Bottlenose dolphins None.
Block 138, Platform 2010. (150).
A.
Merit................ High Island Area, May 23 to 24, Bottlenose dolphins None.
Block 39, Caisson 2010. (1).
9.
Merit................ High Island Area, May 25 to 26, None................. None.
Block 39, Platform B. 2010.
Merit................ High Island Area, May 27 to 30, Bottlenose dolphins None.
Block 39, Caisson 2010. (4).
10.
Merit................ Vermilion Area, Block May 31 to June Bottlenose dolphins None.
28, Platform A. 4, 2010. (33).
Merit................ High Island Area, June 5 to 9, Bottlenose dolphins None.
Block 38, Caisson 1. 2010. (103).
Merit................ Matagorda Island June 6 to 14, Bottlenose dolphins None.
Area, Block 682, 2010. (16).
Platform A.
Merit................ High Island Area, June 16, 2010... Bottlenose dolphins None.
Block 39, Platform A. (10).
Merit................ Matagorda Island June 15 to 20, Bottlenose dolphins None.
Area, Block 672, 2010. (13).
Platform A.
Merit................ Mustang Island Area, June 21 to 27 Bottlenose dolphins None.
Block A22, Platform and July 3 to (4) and Spotted
A. 9, 2010. dolphins (8).
Merit................ Mustang Island Area, July 10 to 18, Unidentified dolphins None.
Block 785, Platform 2010. (15).
A.
Merit................ Matagorda Island July 19 to 25, Bottlenose dolphins None.
Area, Block 704, 2010. (3) and Unidentified
Platform B. dolphins (29).
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Pursuant to these regulations, NMFS has issued an LOA to Merit,
Northstar Interests, Northstar Offshore, Ridgelake, Rosetta, and
Sojitz. 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 will review reports to ensure that the applicants are in
compliance with meeting the requirements contained in the implementing
regulations and LOA, including monitoring, mitigation, and reporting
requirements.
Dated: April 20, 2011.
James H. Lecky,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-10177 Filed 4-26-11; 8:45 am]
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