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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 103 / Tuesday, June 1, 2021 / Proposed Rules
been identified through Industry consultations with the potentially affected communities of Utqiagvik, Kaktovik, or Nuiqsut. During the 2016
2021 ITR period, Industry groups have communicated with Native communities and subsistence hunters through subsistence representatives, community liaisons, and village outreach teams as well as participation in community and commission meetings. Based on information gathered from these sources, it appears that subsistence hunting opportunities for walruses and polar bears have not been affected by past Industry activities conducted pursuant to the 20162021
Beaufort ITR, and are not likely to be affected by the proposed activities described in this proposed ITR. Given the similarity between the nature and extent of Industry activities covered by the prior Beaufort Sea ITR and those specified in AOGAs pending Request, and the continued requirement for Industry to consult and coordinate with Alaska Native communities and representative subsistence hunting and co-management organizations and develop a POC if necessary, we do not anticipate that the activities specified in AOGAs pending Request will have any unmitigable effects on the availability of Pacific walruses or polar bears for subsistence uses.

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Potential Effects of the Specified Activities on Pacific Walruses, Polar Bears, and Prey Species Industry activities can affect individual walruses and polar bears in numerous ways. Below, we provide a summary of the documented and potential effects of oil and gas industrial activities on both polar bears and walruses. The effects analyzed included harassment, lethal take, and exposure to oil spills.
Polar Bear: Human-Polar Bear Encounters Oil and gas industry activities may affect individual polar bears in numerous ways during the open-water and ice-covered seasons. Polar bears are typically distributed in offshore areas associated with multiyear pack ice from mid-November to mid-July. From midJuly to mid-November, polar bears can be found in large numbers and high densities on barrier islands, along the coastline, and in the nearshore waters of the Beaufort Sea, particularly on and around Barter and Cross Islands. This distribution leads to a significantly higher number of human-polar bear encounters on land and at offshore
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structures during the open-water period than other times of the year. Bears that remain on the multiyear pack ice are not typically present in the ice-free areas where vessel traffic occurs, as barges and vessels associated with Industry activities travel in open water and avoid large ice floes.
On land, the majority of Industrys bear observations occur within 2 km 1.2 mi of the coastline. Industry facilities within the offshore and coastal areas are more likely to be approached by polar bears and may act as physical barriers to movements of polar bears. As bears encounter these facilities, the chances for human-bear interactions increase. The Endicott and West Dock causeways, as well as the facilities supporting them, have the potential to act as barriers to movements of polar bears because they extend continuously from the coastline to the offshore facility. However, polar bears have frequently been observed crossing existing roads and causeways. Offshore production facilities, such as Northstar, Spy Island, and Oooguruk, have frequently been approached by polar bears but appear to present only a smallscale, local obstruction to the bears movement. Of greater concern is the increased potential for human-polar bear interaction at these facilities.
Encounters are more likely to occur during the fall at facilities on or near the coast. Polar bear interaction plans, training, and monitoring required by past ITRs have proven effective at reducing human-polar bear encounters and the risks to bears and humans when encounters occur. Polar bear interaction plans detail the policies and procedures that Industry facilities and personnel will implement to avoid attracting and interacting with polar bears as well as minimizing impacts to the bears.
Interaction plans also detail how to respond to the presence of polar bears, the chain of command and communication, and required training for personnel. Industry uses technology to aid in detecting polar bears including bear monitors, closed-circuit television, video cameras, thermal cameras, radar devices, and motion-detection systems.
In addition, some companies take steps to actively prevent bears from accessing facilities by using safety gates and fences.
The noises, sights, and smells produced by the proposed project activities could disturb and elicit variable responses from polar bears.
Noise disturbance can originate from either stationary or mobile sources.
Stationary sources include construction,
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maintenance, repair and remediation activities, operations at production facilities, gas flaring, and drilling operations. Mobile sources include aircraft traffic, geotechnical surveys, ice road construction, vehicle traffic, tracked vehicles, and snowmobiles.
The potential behavioral reaction of polar bears to the proposed activities can vary by activity type. Camp odors may attract polar bears, potentially resulting in human-bear encounters, unintentional harassment, intentional hazing, or possible lethal take in defense of human life see 50 CFR 18.34 for further guidance on passive polar bear deterrence measures. Noise generated on the ground by industrial activity may cause a behavioral e.g., escape response or physiologic e.g., increased heart rate, hormonal response Harms et al. 1997; Tempel and Gutierrez 2003
response. The available studies of polar bear behavior indicate that the intensity of polar bear reaction to noise disturbance may be based on previous interactions, sex, age, and maternal status Anderson and Aars 2008; Dyck and Baydack 2004.
Polar Bear: Effects of Aircraft Overflights Bears on the surface experience increased noise and visual stimuli when planes or helicopters fly above them, both of which may elicit a biologically significant behavioral response. Sound frequencies produced by aircraft will likely fall within the hearing range of polar bears see Nachtigall et al. 2007
and will thus be audible to animals during flyovers or when operating in proximity to polar bears. Polar bears likely have acute hearing with previous sensitivities demonstrated between 1.4
22.5 kHz tests were limited to 22.5 kHz;
Nachtigall et al. 2007. This range, which is wider than that seen in humans, supports the idea that polar bears may experience temporary called temporary threshold shift, or TTS or permanent called permanent threshold shift, or PTS hearing impairment if they are exposed to high-energy sound.
While species-specific TTS and PTS
thresholds have not been established for polar bears, thresholds have been established for the general group other marine carnivores which includes both polar bears and walruses Southall et al.
2019. Through a series of systematic modeling procedures and extrapolations, Southall et al. 2019
have generated modified noise exposure thresholds for both in-air and underwater sound Table 1.

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