Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Replacement of Pier 302 at Naval Base Point Loma, San Diego, California

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) prohibits the “take” of marine mammals, with certain exceptions. Sections 101(a)(5)(A) and (D) of the MMPA (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) direct the Secretary of Commerce (as delegated to NMFS) 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 either regulations are promulgated or, if the taking is limited to harassment, an incidental harassment authorization is issued.

Authorization for incidental takings shall be granted if NMFS finds that the taking will have a negligible impact on the species or stock(s) and will not have an unmitigable adverse impact on the availability of the species or stock(s) for taking for subsistence uses (where relevant). Further, NMFS must prescribe the permissible methods of taking and other “means of effecting the least practicable adverse impact” on the affected species or stocks and their habitat, paying particular attention to rookeries, mating grounds, and areas of similar significance, and on the availability of such species or stocks for taking for certain subsistence uses (referred to here as “mitigation measures”). NMFS must also prescribe requirements pertaining to monitoring and reporting of such takings. The definition of key terms such as “take,” “harassment,” and “negligible impact” can be found in the MMPA and the NMFS's implementing regulations (see 16 U.S.C. 1362; 50 CFR 216.103).

NMFS' regulations implementing the MMPA at 50 CFR 216.107(e) indicate that IHAs may be renewed for additional periods of time not to exceed 1 year for each reauthorization. In the notice of proposed IHA for the initial IHA, NMFS described the circumstances under which we would consider issuing a renewal for this activity, and requested public comment on a potential renewal under those circumstances. Specifically, on a case-by-case basis, NMFS may issue a one-time 1-year renewal of an IHA following notice to the public providing an additional 15 days for public comments when (1) up to another year of identical, or nearly identical, activities as described in the Detailed Description of Specified Activities section of the initial IHA issuance notice is planned or (2) the activities as described in the Description of the Specified Activities and Anticipated Impacts section of the initial IHA issuance notice would not be completed by the time the initial IHA expires and a renewal would allow for completion of the activities beyond that described in the DATES section of the notice of issuance of the initial IHA, provided all of the following conditions are met:

1. A request for renewal is received no later than 60 days prior to the needed renewal IHA effective date (recognizing that the renewal IHA expiration date cannot extend beyond 1 year from expiration of the initial IHA);

2. The request for renewal must include the following:

• An explanation that the activities to be conducted under the requested renewal IHA are identical to the activities analyzed under the initial IHA, are a subset of the activities, or include changes so minor (e.g., reduction in pile size) that the changes do not affect the previous analyses, mitigation and monitoring requirements, or take estimates (with the exception of reducing the type or amount of take); and
• A preliminary monitoring report showing the results of the required monitoring to date and an explanation showing that the monitoring results do not indicate impacts of a scale or nature not previously analyzed or authorized; and

3. Upon review of the request for renewal, the status of the affected species or stocks, and any other pertinent information, NMFS determines that there are no more than minor changes in the activities, the mitigation and monitoring measures will remain the same and appropriate, and the findings in the initial IHA remain valid.

An additional public comment period of 15 days (for a total of 45 days), with direct notice by email, phone, or postal service to commenters on the initial IHA, is provided to allow for any additional comments on the proposed renewal. A description of the renewal process may be found on our website at: www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/incidental-harassment-authorization-renewals. Any comments received on the potential renewal, along with relevant comments on the initial IHA, have been considered in the development of this proposed IHA renewal, and a summary of agency responses to applicable comments is included in this notice. NMFS will consider any additional public comments prior to making any final decision on the issuance of the requested renewal, and agency responses will be summarized in the final notice of our decision.

National Environmental Policy Act

To comply with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and NOAA Administrative Order 216-6A, NMFS must review our proposed action ( i.e., the issuance of an IHA) with respect to potential impacts on the human environment.

This action is consistent with categories of activities identified in Categorical Exclusion B4 (incidental take authorizations with no anticipated serious injury or mortality) of the Companion Manual for NOAA Administrative Order 216-6A, which do not individually or cumulatively have the potential for significant impacts on the quality of the human environment and for which we have not identified any extraordinary circumstances that would preclude this categorical exclusion. Accordingly, NMFS determined that the issuance of the initial IHA qualified to be categorically excluded from further NEPA review. NMFS has preliminarily determined that the application of this categorical exclusion remains appropriate for this renewal IHA.

History of Request

On October 1, 2023, NMFS issued an IHA to the U.S. Navy to take marine mammals incidental to Replacement of Pier 302 at Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego, California (88 FR 6703, February 1, 2023), effective from October 1, 2023, through September 30, 2024. On July 31, 2024, NMFS received an application for the renewal of that initial IHA. As described in the application for renewal IHA, the activities for which incidental take is requested are consist of activities that are covered by the initial authorization but will not be completed prior to its expiration. As required, the applicant also provided a preliminary monitoring report which confirms that the applicant has implemented the required mitigation and monitoring, and which also shows that no impacts of a scale or nature not previously analyzed or authorized have occurred as a result of the activities conducted.

Description of the Specified Activities and Anticipated Impacts

The planned activities for this project are a subset of previous activities that were not completed in the initial IHA. There are still 17, 6-inch steel round piles to install using a vibratory hammer which will be completed over 2 days. All other aspects (including mitigation, monitoring, and reporting), authorized take species, and anticipated impacts on the affected stocks are the same as those analyzed and authorized through the previously issued IHA.

The purpose of the project is to replace Pier 302 which provides the U.S. Navy's marine mammal program with adequate facilities to house its marine mammals and provide a safe working environment for personnel to support the U.S. Navy's overall mission to maintain, train, and equip combat ready Naval forces. The location, timing, and nature of the activities, including the types of equipment planned for use, are identical to those described in the initial IHA.

Species that are proposed to be taken incidental to pile driving activity, by Level B harassment only, are California sea lion ( Zalophus californianus), northern elephant seal ( Mirounga angustirostris), harbor seal ( Phoca vitulina), bottlenose dolphin ( Tursiops truncatus), Pacific white-sided dolphin ( Lagenorhynchus obliquidens), and common dolphin ( Delphinus delphis). Take was calculated using the same method as the initial IHA, but altered to reflect the reduced amount of activity, i.e., only installing 17, 6-inch round steel piles.

Detailed Description of the Activity

A detailed description of the demolition and construction activities for which take is proposed here may be found in the notices of the proposed (87 FR 68442, November 15, 2022) and final (88 FR 6703, February 1, 2023) IHAs for the initial authorization. During the initial IHA, the U.S. Navy removed 22, 18-inch octagonal concrete pile and 3, 18-inch round steel piles and installed 30, 24-inch octagonal concrete and 2, 14-inch square concrete piles. As noted above, remaining work includes installation of 17, 6-inch steel round piles using a vibratory hammer, which will be completed over 2 days. The location, timing, and nature of the activities, including the types of equipment planned for use, are identical to those described in the previous notices. The proposed renewal would be effective for a period not exceeding 1 year from the date of expiration of the initial IHA.

Description of Marine Mammals

A description of the marine mammals in the area of the activities for which authorization of take is proposed here, including information on abundance, status, distribution, and hearing, may be found in the notices of the proposed and final IHAs for the initial authorization. NMFS has reviewed the monitoring data from the initial IHA, recent draft 2023 Stock Assessment Reports, information on relevant Unusual Mortality Events, and other scientific literature, and determined there is no new information that affects which species or stocks have the potential to be affected or the pertinent information in the Description of the Marine Mammals in the Area of Specified Activities contained in the supporting documents for the initial IHA.

Potential Effects on Marine Mammals and Their Habitat

A description of the potential effects of the specified activity on marine mammals and their habitat for the activities for which an authorization of incidental take is proposed here may be found in the notices of the proposed and final IHAs for the initial authorization. NMFS has reviewed the monitoring data from the initial IHA, recent draft Stock Assessment Reports, information on relevant Unusual Mortality Events, and other scientific literature, and determined that there is no new information that affects our initial analysis of impacts on marine mammals and their habitat.

Estimated Take

A detailed description of the methods and inputs used to estimate take for the specified activity are found in the notices of the proposed and final IHAs for the initial authorization. Specifically, the source levels, days of operation, and marine mammal occurrence data applicable to this authorization remain unchanged from the previously issued IHA. Similarly, the stocks taken, methods of take, and types of take remain unchanged from the previously issued IHA. As noted above, the amount of estimated take proposed for authorization here is lower than that authorized through the initial IHA, corresponding with the subset of activity remaining for completion.

To calculate take, the U.S. Navy estimated average occurrence of each species based on previous nearby completed Navy projects and multiplied it by the number of total piles driving days to get their estimated take abundance. Under the initial IHA, 32 days of pile driving were planned, but only 30 days' worth of pile work were completed. There are now 2 days of pile work remaining, with the same estimated abundance numbers used and multiplied by 2 days of pile driving work to produce take estimates for the renewal (table 1).