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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 108 / Tuesday, June 8, 2021 / Notices
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The Navy is required to notify NMFS
Office of Protected Resources OPR and NMFS Greater Atlantic Regional Stranding Coordinator or local stranding network at least 24 hours prior to commencing blasting events as well as within 24 hours after blasting events cease. If blasting events occur on consecutive days, the Navy must communicate how long the blasting is scheduled to last as well as when it is completed. In addition, in the event that personnel involved in the construction activities discover an injured or dead marine mammal, the Navy must immediately report the incident to NMFS OPR and the Stranding Coordinator or local stranding network and follow any instructions provided by the Stranding Coordinator or stranding network. If the death or injury was clearly caused by the specific activity, the Navy must immediately cease the specified activities until NMFS OPR is able to review the circumstances of the incident and determine what, if any, additional measures are appropriate to ensure compliance with the terms of the IHA. The Navy must not resume their activities until notified by NMFS OPR.
The Navy shall provide NMFS OPR and the Stranding Coordinator or local stranding network with the species or description of the animals, the condition of the animals including carcass condition, if the animal is dead, location, time of first discovery, observed behaviors if alive, and photo or video if available.
In the event that the Navy finds an injured or dead marine mammal that is not in the construction area, the Navy would report the same information as listed above to the Stranding Coordinator or local stranding network and NMFS OPR as soon as is operationally feasible.
Negligible Impact Analysis and Determination NMFS has defined negligible impact as an impact resulting from the specified activity that cannot be reasonably expected to, and is not reasonably likely to, adversely affect the species or stock through effects on annual rates of recruitment or survival 50 CFR 216.103. A negligible impact finding is based on the lack of likely adverse effects on annual rates of recruitment or survival i.e., populationlevel effects. An estimate of the number of takes alone is not enough information on which to base an impact determination. In addition to considering estimates of the number of marine mammals that might be taken through harassment, NMFS considers other factors, such as the likely nature
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of any responses e.g., intensity, duration, the context of any responses e.g., critical reproductive time or location, migration, as well as effects on habitat, and the likely effectiveness of the mitigation. NMFS also assesses the number, intensity, and context of estimated takes by evaluating this information relative to population status. Consistent with the 1989
preamble for NMFS implementing regulations 54 FR 40338; September 29, 1989, the impacts from other past and ongoing anthropogenic activities are incorporated into this analysis via their impacts on the environmental baseline e.g., as reflected in the regulatory status of the species, population size and growth rate where known, ongoing sources of human-caused mortality, or ambient noise levels.
Pile driving and removal, drilling, and blasting activities associated with the project, as described previously, have the potential to disturb or temporarily displace marine mammals. The specified activities may result in take, in the form of Level A harassment potential injury; from impact pile driving or blasting or Level B
harassment potential behavioral disturbance or TTS from underwater sounds generated from pile driving impact and vibratory, drilling and blasting. Potential takes could occur if individual marine mammals are present in the ensonified zone when pile driving, drilling, or blasting activities are occurring.
To avoid repetition, this introductory discussion of NMFS analysis applies to all of the species listed in Table 2, given that the anticipated effects of the Navys PNSY modification and expansion construction project activities on marine mammals are expected to be relatively similar in nature. There is no information about the nature or severity of the impacts, or the size, status, or structure of any species or stock that would lead to a different analysis by species for this activity, or else speciesspecific factors would be identified and analyzed.
Although some individual harbor porpoises and harbor and gray seals are estimated to experience Level A
harassment in the form of PTS if they remain within the impact pile driving Level A harassment zone for an entire day, or are present within the Level A
harassment zone during a blasting event, the degree of injury is expected to be mild and is not likely to affect the reproduction or survival of the individual animals. It is expected that, if hearing impairments occurs as a result of impact pile driving or blasting, the affected animal would lose a few dB in
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its hearing sensitivity, which in most cases is not likely to affect its survival and recruitment. Hearing impairment that might occur for these individual animals would be limited to the dominant frequency of the noise sources, i.e., in the low-frequency region below 2 kHz. Nevertheless, as for all marine mammal species, it is anticipated that, in general, these pinnipeds will avoid areas where sound levels could cause hearing impairment.
Therefore, it is not likely that an animal would stay in an area with intense noise that could cause severe levels of hearing damage.
Under the majority of the circumstances, anticipated takes are expected to be limited to short-term Level B behavioral harassment or TTS.
Marine mammals present in the vicinity of the action area and taken by Level B
harassment would most likely show overt brief disturbance startle reaction from blasting events and avoidance of the area impacted by elevated noise levels during pile driving and removal and drilling. Given the limited estimated number of predicted incidents of Level B harassment and Level A
harassment and the limited, short-term nature of the responses by the individuals, the impacts of the estimated take cannot be reasonably expected to, and are not reasonably likely to, rise to the level that they would adversely affect the species considered here at the population level, through effects on annual rates of recruitment or survival. There are no known important habitats, such as rookeries or haulouts, in the vicinity of the Navys PNSY DD1 modification and expansion construction project. The project also is not expected to have significant adverse effects on affected marine mammals habitat, including prey, as analyzed in detail in the Potential Effects of Specified Activities on Marine Mammals and their Habitat section in the Federal Register notice for the proposed IHA 86 FR 18244;
April 8, 2021.
In summary and as described above, the following factors primarily support our determination that the impacts resulting from this activity are not expected to adversely affect the species or stock through effects on annual rates of recruitment or survival:
No mortality is anticipated or authorized;
Some individual marine mammals might experience a mild level of PTS, but the degree of PTS is not expected to affect their survival;
Most adverse effects to marine mammals are likely to be temporary behavioral harassment or TTS; and
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