Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to SouthCoast Wind Energy Marine Site Characterization Surveys Off the Coast of Massachusetts and Rhode Island

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The 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.

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: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/incidental-harassment-authorization-renewals.

History of Request

On May 11, 2023, NMFS issued an IHA to SouthCoast Wind to take marine mammals incidental to marine site characterization off Massachusetts and Rhode Island in the New England region, specifically within BOEM Lease Area OCS-A-0521 and associated ECR areas (88 FR 31678, May 18, 2023), effective from May 12, 2023 through May 11, 2024. This 2023 IHA was substantially similar to the prior 2021 IHA associated with identical survey activities in the same lease area (86 FR 27393, May 20, 2021; 86 FR 38033, July 19, 2021) and, therefore, Federal Register notices for the 2023 IHA relied heavily upon information originally presented in Federal Register notices for the 2021 IHA.

On July 1, 2024, NMFS received an application from SouthCoast Wind for the renewal of the initial 2023 IHA. As described in the application for renewal, the activities for which authorization of incidental take is requested consist of activities that are covered by the initial authorization but were not completed prior to its expiration. As required, the applicant also provided a monitoring report (available at https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/incidental-take-authorization-southcoast-wind-energy-llcs-marine-site-characterization ) 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. The notice of the proposed renewal incidental harassment authorization was published on September 19, 2024 (89 FR 76796). There are no changes from the proposed authorization to this final authorization.

Description of the Specified Activities and Anticipated Impacts

Under the initial IHA, SouthCoast Wind planned to conduct marine site characterization surveys, including high-resolution geophysical (HRG) surveys, in waters off Massachusetts and Rhode Island, specifically within BOEM Lease Area OCS-A 0521 and associated ECR areas. SouthCoast Wind's 2023 survey plan included a total of approximately 2,700 km tracklines. However, only 718 km of survey tracklines were completed. SouthCoast Wind was unable to complete the planned surveys associated with the 2023 IHA prior to its expiration.

Under the renewal IHA, SouthCoast Wind is planning to complete a subset of the activities during the remainder of October 2024—May 2025, using the same survey equipment, methods and types of vessels as those previously analyzed. The 2024-2025 surveys will also be within the same survey area described in the applications for the 2021 and 2023 IHAs. The planned survey trackline, the number of active sound source days (the number of days the vessels will be actively emitting sound into the water column), and vessel days (number of days that the vessels will be present in the area) will be reduced in 2024-2025. A total of up to 700 km (435 mi) of trackline (500 km (311 mi) in the Lease Area (Inter-Array Cable surveys) and 200 km (124 mi) in the ECC will be surveyed (table 1). On average, approximately 50 km (31 mi) will be surveyed per day within the Lease Area and 15 km (9 mi) per day within the ECC, resulting in 10 active sound source days in the Lease Area and approximately 14 active sound source days in the ECC (for a total of approximately 24 active sound source days in the entire project area). The previous IHA application described up to four vessels being utilized concurrently to conduct the surveys, and this would be unchanged under the 2024-2025 renewal IHA. There are no changes to mitigation and monitoring requirements from the 2023-2024 IHA to this 2024 IHA renewal. The only changes under this renewal IHA are that fewer trackline kilometers will be surveyed, there will be fewer sound source days, and fewer vessel days. More information can be found in the following Federal Register notices (86 FR 27393, May 20, 2021; 86 FR 38033, July 19, 2021; 88 FR 14335, March 8, 2023; 88 FR 31678, May 18, 2023; 89 FR 76796, September 19, 2024).