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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 108 / Tuesday, June 8, 2021 / Notices TABLE 1VOLUME OF FILL REQUIRED IN EACH SUB-AREA IN MINHOTO-HESTER RESTORATION AREA
Area acres
Subarea Sub-area Sub-area Sub-area Sub-area
Estimated fill volume CY

Fill area acres
M4a
M4b
M5
H6

2.5
9.7
10.2
6.8

1.0
7.3
7.8
5.5

46,880
44,516
57,466
33,792

Total

29.2

21.6

182,654

Source: ESA 2014a.
1 Volumes are mid-range estimates; actual volumes may be higher or lower.

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 Stock Assessment Reports, information on relevant Unusual Mortality Events, and other scientific literature, and determined that neither this nor any other new information 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 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 neither this nor any other new information 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 final IHA notice for the initial authorization.
Specifically, the activity, days of operation, and marine mammal density data applicable to this authorization remain unchanged from the previously issued IHA. Similarly, the stock taken, method of take, and type of take remain unchanged from the previously issued IHA. The number of Level B harassment takes will be fewer since the proposed Renewal is for a subset of the days which can be seen in Table 2. The authorized take was determined by multiplying the daily take estimate 37.53 by the number of construction days remaining 62 days at MinhotoHester Restoration Area and rounding up Table 2.

TABLE 2CALCULATED TAKE AND PERCENTAGE OF STOCK EXPOSED
Authorized take % population 4

Species Level B
Pacific Harbor Seal

Level A

417 1 max seals/day 9 percent 2 62 days 3 = 2,327

0

1.3

1 Maximum
number of seals observed/day between January 2018 and April 2019 by Reserve Otter Monitoring Project.
Take from Phase I.
of construction days remaining in Minhoto-Hester Restoration Area.
4 Data from U.S. Pacific Marine Mammal Stock Assessments: 2015 Carretta et al., 2015.
2%

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3 Number
All estimates are considered conservative. Construction activities will occur in sections. Noise from construction activities in more southern sections may thus cause fewer disturbances to seals given their distance from seal haul outs approximately 100 m and greater.
There are unlikely to be 417 animals in the project area on any given day. Not all seals that previously used the haul outs within the footprint of the construction are expected use the haul outs just outside the project based on observations from Phase I of the project.
Some seals may seek alternative haul out habitat in other parts of Elkhorn Slough.

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Description of Proposed Mitigation, Monitoring and Reporting Measures The proposed mitigation, monitoring, and reporting measures included as requirements in this authorization are identical to those included in the Federal Register notice announcing the issuance of the initial IHA, and the discussion of the least practicable adverse impact included in that document and the notice of the proposed IHA 84 FR 72308; December 31, 2019 remains accurate. The following measures are proposed for this renewal:
Timing RestrictionsAll work must be conducted during daylight hours when visual monitoring of marine mammals can be implemented. If
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environmental conditions deteriorate such that marine mammals within the entire shutdown zone would not be visible e.g., fog, heavy rain, construction must be delayed until the PSO is confident marine mammals within the shutdown zone could be detected.
Visual MonitoringRequired monitoring must be conducted by dedicated, trained, NMFS-approved PSOs. PSOs shall establish a Level B
harassment zone within 300 m of all construction activities. When construction activities occur either, 1
in water or 2; within the boundaries of the two tidal restoration areas, MinhotoHester and Seal Bend identified in
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