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48996

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 167 / Wednesday, September 1, 2021 / Notices
operation to provide for personal safety during observations;
Writing skills sufficient to prepare a report of observations including but not limited to the number and species of marine mammals observed; dates and times when in-water construction activities were conducted; dates, times, and reason for implementation of mitigation or why mitigation was not implemented when required; and marine mammal behavior; and Ability to communicate orally, by radio or in person, with project personnel to provide real-time information on marine mammals observed in the area as necessary.
Up to two PSOs will be employed.
PSO locations will provide an unobstructed view of all water within the shutdown zone, and as much of the Level A and Level B harassment zones as possible. PSO locations have been discussed above. An additional monitoring location is described as follows:
1 An additional monitoring location on the Fuel Pier trestle or on a captained vessel may be utilized for pre-activity monitoring if the monitoring zone is beyond the visual range of the lead PSOs position. This vessel will start south of the Project area where potential marine mammal occurrence is lowest before the pile removal activity has begun and move north.
Monitoring will be conducted 30
minutes before, during, and 30 minutes after pile removal activities. In addition, observers shall record all incidents of marine mammal occurrence, regardless of distance from activity and distance from the buffered shutdown zone and Level B harassment isopleth, and shall document any behavioral reactions in concert with distance from piles being removed.

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Hydroacoustic Monitoring and Reporting The Navy has indicated in their application that they may perform hydroacoustic monitoring on any removal method and sound source that was not previously recorded and included in the Compendium of Underwater and Airborne Sound Data during Pile Installation and In-Water Demolition Activities in San Diego Bay, California NAVFAC SW, 2020.
However, as data from the Compendium for pile clippers, wire saw, and underwater chainsaw and the City of Seattle Pier 62 project for the vibratory hammer; Greenbusch Group, 2018 are recent, it is unlikely that hydroacoustic monitoring will occur during this project.

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Reporting A draft marine mammal monitoring and acoustic measurement report will be submitted to NMFS within 90
calendar days after the completion of these activities, or 60 days prior to a requested date or issuance of any future IHAs for projects at the same location, whichever comes first. The report will include an overall description of work completed, a narrative regarding marine mammal sightings, and associated PSO
data sheets. Specifically, the report must include:
Dates and times begin and end of all marine mammal monitoring;
Construction activities occurring during each daily observation period, including how many and what type of piles were removed and by what method i.e., vibratory and if other removal methods were used;
Weather parameters and water conditions during each monitoring period e.g., wind speed, percent cover, visibility, sea state;
The number of marine mammals observed, by species, relative to the pile location and if pile removal was occurring at time of sighting;
Age and sex class, if possible, of all marine mammals observed;
PSO locations during marine mammal monitoring;
Distances and bearings of each marine mammal observed to the pile being driven or removed for each sighting if pile removal was occurring at time of sighting;
Description of any marine mammal behavior patterns during observation, including direction of travel and estimated time spent within the Level A
and Level B harassment zones while the source was active;
Number of individuals of each species differentiated by month as appropriate detected within the monitoring zone, and estimates of number of marine mammals taken, by species a correction factor may be applied to total take numbers, as appropriate;
Detailed information about any implementation of any mitigation triggered e.g., shutdowns and delays, a description of specific actions that ensued, and resulting behavior of the animal, if any;
Description of attempts to distinguish between the number of individual animals taken and the number of incidences of take, such as ability to track groups or individuals;
and Submit all PSO datasheets and/or raw sighting data in a separate file from the Final Report referenced immediately above.

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If no comments are received from NMFS within 30 days, the draft final report will constitute the final report. If comments are received, a final report addressing NMFS comments must be submitted within 30 days after receipt of comments.
Reporting Injured or Dead Marine Mammals In the event that personnel involved in the construction activities discover an injured or dead marine mammal, and the lead PSO determines that the cause of the injury or death is unknown and the death is relatively recent i.e., in less than a moderate state of decomposition, the lead PSO will report to the Navy POC. The Navy POC shall then report the incident to the Office of Protected Resources OPR, NMFS and to the regional stranding coordinator as soon as feasible. If the death or injury was clearly caused by the specified activity, the Navy must immediately cease the specified activities until NMFS 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 IHA-holder must not resume their activities until notified by NMFS.
The report must include the following information:
Time, date, and location latitude/
longitude of the first discovery and updated location information if known and applicable;
Species identification if known or description of the animals involved;
Condition of the animals including carcass condition if the animal is dead;
Observed behaviors of the animals, if alive;
Description of marine mammals observation in the 24-hours preceding the incident;
If available, photographs or video footage of the animals; and General circumstances under which the animal was discovered.
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
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