[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 43 (Friday, March 4, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12070-12072]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-4972]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XA253
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 three 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 February 27, 2011,
through February 26, 2012, and May 15, 2011, through May 14, 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 under LOAs 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). NMFS received requests for LOA renewals
[[Page 12071]]
from Energy Resource Technology GOM, Inc. (ERT), Demex International,
Inc. (Demex), and Noble Energy, Inc. (Noble Energy), 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 ERT and Noble Energy's removal of offshore
structures during 2010. Demex has not used their LOA for any operations
to date. NMFS PROP observers and non-NMFS observers reported the
following during ERT and Noble Energy's EROS operations in 2010:
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Marine mammals Biological impacts
Company Structure Dates sighted observed to marine
(individuals) mammals
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ERT............................ Vermillion Area, May 13 to 17, Bottlenose None.
Block 199, 2010. dolphins (22),
Platform JA. Spotted dolphins
(15).
ERT............................ South Marsh May 11 to 16, None............. None.
Island Area, 2010.
Block 24,
Platform A.
ERT............................ West Cameron May 14 to 20, Bottlenose None.
Area, Block 331, 2010. dolphins (8),
Platform A. Unidentified
dolphins (13).
ERT............................ West Cameron May 16 to 21 and Bottlenose A bottlenose dolphin
Area, Block 458, August 22 to 24, dolphins (23). was killed at this
Platform D. 2010. location via
entanglement in a
diver's guide line.
ERT............................ South Marsh May 17 to 23, Bottlenose None.
Island Area, 2010. dolphins (14).
Block 113,
Platform B.
ERT............................ West Cameron May 21 to 24, Bottlenose None.
Area, Block 328, 2010. dolphins (1).
Platform A.
ERT............................ Eugene Island May 24 to June 4, Bottlenose None.
Area, Block 2010. dolphins (77).
128A, Platform
JC.
ERT............................ East Cameron May 22 to 23, May Spotted dolphins None.
Area, Block 282, 25 to 29, June (20).
Platform C. 12 to 17, and
August 25, 2010.
ERT............................ West Cameron May 25 to June 3, None............. None.
Area, Block 405, 2010.
Platform A.
ERT............................ East Cameron May 29 to June 1, None............. None.
Area, Block 298, and June 18 to
Platform E. 20, 2010.
ERT............................ High Island Area, June 15 to 17, Bottlenose None.
Block A544, and August 26 to dolphins (14),
Platform A. 27, 2010. Spotted dolphins
(8).
ERT............................ East Cameron August 2 to 6, None............. None.
Area, Block 364, and August 30 to
Platform A. September 2,
2010.
ERT............................ East Cameron August 28 to 29, None............. None.
Area, Block 346, 2010.
Subsea Well
6.
Noble Energy................... Brazos Area, June 20 to 24, Bottlenose None.
Block A51, 2010. dolphins (30),
Platform F. Spotted dolphins
(11).
Noble Energy................... Eugene Island June 21 to 23, None............. None.
Area, Block 308, July 5 to 6, and
Platform A. July 10 to 11,
2010.
Noble Energy................... Main Pass Area, August 16 to 21, Unidentified None.
Block 305, 2010. dolphins (1).
Platform B.
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On May 20, 2010, NMFS received a phone call from a PROP observer
regarding a single bottlenose dolphin that was injured and most likely
killed by entanglement in a diver's guide line during platform removal
operations. ERT was conducting these EROS operations in the GOM
accompanied by a LOA, issued under the MMPA. No serious injury or
mortality was anticipated or authorized in the EROS regulations. The
PROP observer reported the incident as required in EROS regulations.
The mortality of the individual bottlenose dolphin was unrelated to the
use of explosives, and determined as unforeseen by NMFS. During the
many years in which NMFS PROP observers have monitored EROS operations,
this is the first reported observed lethal ``take'' by entanglement of
a dolphin in a diver guide line or any other kind of line.
There are two primary methodologies used in the GOM for severing
decommissioned targets; non-explosive and explosive severance. The EROS
[[Page 12072]]
regulations analyzed both methodologies and determined that non-
explosive severance activities have little or no impact on the marine
environment and would not result in an incidental take of marine
mammals, though they are relatively time-consuming and potentially
harmful to human health and safety (primarily for divers). Due to the
unlikelihood of take of marine mammals incidental to entanglement
during EROS activities, the then Minerals Management Service (now the
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement) did not
request (nor did NMFS contemplate) MMPA authorization for take of
marine mammals from entanglement in the EROS regulations.
Due to the low predictability of an incident resulting in the
mortality of a marine mammal from entanglement in a diver's guide line,
NMFS's regulations for EROS do not address this aspect of the activity;
nor is NMFS currently aware of any specific additional monitoring and
mitigation measures to further reduce the likelihood of such an event,
other than the recommendation to remove any unattended lines from the
water column and/or keep guide lines taut (i.e., no slack) during EROS
operations. NMFS may further explore monitoring and mitigation measures
in the next rulemaking for EROS activities. In the meantime, NMFS will
continue to monitor EROS activities and may recommend additional
monitoring and mitigation measures to future LOA holders.
Of note, ERT was in compliance with the mitigation and monitoring
measures required by the regulations and LOA and provided the specific
information outlined in the reporting section of the rule, as well as
additional information. The unexpected dolphin mortality does not
change the negligible impact and small numbers determinations in the
regulations.
Authorization
Pursuant to these regulations, NMFS has issued an LOA to Energy
Resource Technology GOM, Inc., Demex International, Inc., and Noble
Energy, Inc. 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: February 23, 2011.
James H. Lecky,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-4972 Filed 3-3-11; 8:45 am]
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