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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 148 / Thursday, August 5, 2021 / Rules and Regulations may utilize vessels, fixed-wing aircrafts, or helicopters to access research sites.

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Mitigation Measures AOGA has included in their Request a number of measures to mitigate the effects of the proposed activities on Pacific walruses and polar bears. Many of these measures have been historically used by oil and gas entities throughout the North Slope of Alaska and have been developed as a part of past coordination with the Service. Measures include: Development and adherence to polar bear and Pacific walrus interaction plans; design of facilities to reduce the possibility of polar bears reaching attractants; avoidance of operating equipment near potential den locations;
flying aircraft at a minimum altitude and distance from polar bears and hauled out Pacific walruses; employing trained protected species observers; and reporting all polar bear or Pacific walrus encounters to the Service. Additional descriptions of these measures can be found in the AOGA Request for an ITR
at: www.regulations.gov in Docket No.
FWSR7ES20210037.
Maternal Polar Bear Den Survey Flights Per AOGAs Request, Industry will also conduct aerial infrared AIR
surveys to locate maternal polar bear dens in order to mitigate potential impacts to mothers and cubs during the lifetime of this ITR. AIR surveys are used to detect body heat emitted by polar bears, which, in turn, is used to determine potential denning polar bears. AIR surveys are performed in winter months December or January before winter activities commence. AIR
imagery is analyzed in real-time during the flight and then reviewed post-flight with the Service to identify any suspected maternal den locations, ensure appropriate coverage, and check the quality of the images and recordings.
Some sites may need to be resurveyed if a suspected hotspot heat signature detectable in a snowdrift is observed.
These followup surveys of hotspots are conducted in varying weather conditions or using an electro-optical camera during daylight hours. On-theground reconnaissance or the use of scent-training dogs may also be used to recheck the suspected den.
Surveys utilize AIR cameras on fixedwing aircrafts with flights typically flown between 245457 meters 800
1,500 feet above ground level at a speed of <185 km/h <115 mph. Surveys typically occur twice a day weather permitting during periods of darkness civil twilight across the North Slope for less than 4.5 hours per survey.
Surveys are highly dependent on the
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weather as it can affect the image quality of the AIR video and the safety of the participants. These surveys do not follow a typical transect configuration;
instead they are concentrated on areas that would be suitable for polar bear denning activity such as drainages, banks, bluffs, or other areas of topographic relief around sites where Industry has winter activities, tundra travel, or ice road construction planned or anticipated. As part of AOGAs Request and as described in the mitigation measures included in this ITR, all denning habitat within 1 mile of the ice-season industrial footprint will be surveyed twice each year. In years where seismic surveys are proposed, all denning habitat within the boundaries of the seismic surveys will be surveyed three times, and a third survey will be conducted on denning habitat along the pipeline between Badami and the road to Endicott Island.
Greater detail on the timing of these surveys can be found in Methods for Modeling the Effects of Den Disturbance.
A suspected heat signature observed in a potential den found via AIR is classified into three categories: A
hotspot, a revisit, or a putative den. The following designations are discussed below.
A hotspot is a warm spot found on the AIR camera indicative of a polar bear den through the examination of the size and shape near the middle of the snow drift. Signs of wildlife presence e.g., digging, tracks may be present and visible. Suspected dens that are open i.e., not drifted closed by the snow are considered hotspots because polar bears may dig multiple test evacuation sites when searching for an appropriate place to den and unused dens will cool down and be excluded from consideration.
Hotspots are reexamined and either eliminated or upgraded to a putative den designation. Industry representatives, in coordination and compliance with the Service, may utilize other methods outside of AIR to gather additional information on a suspected hotspot.
A revisit is a designation for a warm spot in a snowdrift but lacking signs of a polar bear den e.g., tailings pile, signs of animal activity, appropriate shape or size. These categorizations are often revisited during a subsequent survey, upgraded to a hotspot designation, or eliminated from further consideration pending the evidence presented.
A putative den is a hotspot that has maintained a distinct heat signature longer than a day and is found within the appropriate habitat. The area may
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show evidence of an animals presence that may not definitively be attributed to a non-polar bear species or cause e.g., a fox or other animal digging. The final determination is often unknown as these sites are not investigated further, monitored, or revisited in the spring.
When and if a putative den is found near planned or existing infrastructure or activities, the Industry representatives will immediately cease operations within 1 mile of the location and coordinate with the Service to mitigate any potential disturbances while further information is obtained.
Evaluation of the Nature and Level of Activities The annual level of activity at existing production facilities in the Request will be similar to that which occurred under the previous regulations. The increase in the area of the industrial footprint with the addition of new facilities, such as drill pads, pipelines, and support facilities, is at a rate consistent with prior 5-year regulatory periods.
Additional onshore and offshore facilities are projected within the timeframe of these regulations and will add to the total permanent activities in the area. This rate of expansion is similar to prior production schedules.
Description of Marine Mammals in the Specified Geographic Region Polar Bear Polar bears are distributed throughout the ice-covered seas and adjacent coasts of the Arctic region. The current total polar bear population is estimated at approximately 26,000 individuals 95
percent Confidence Interval CI =
22,00031,000, Wiig et al. 2015; Regehr et al. 2016 and comprises 19 stocks ranging across 5 countries and 4
ecoregions that reflect the polar bear dependency on sea-ice dynamics and seasonality Amstrup et al. 2008. Two stocks occur in the United States Alaska with ranges that extend to adjacent countries: Canada the Southern Beaufort Sea SBS stock and the Russia Federation the Chukchi/
Bering Seas stock. The discussion below is focused on the Southern Beaufort Sea stock of polar bears, as the proposed activities in this ITR would overlap only their distribution.
Polar bears typically occur at low, uneven densities throughout their circumpolar range DeMaster and Stirling 1981, Amstrup et al. 2011, Hamilton and Derocher 2019 in areas where the sea is ice-covered for all or part of the year. They are typically most abundant on sea-ice, near polynyas i.e., areas of persistent open water and
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