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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 24 / Monday, February 8, 2021 / Notices Establishment of Shutdown ZonesWADOT will establish shutdown zones for all pile driving and removal activities Table 8. The purpose of a shutdown zone is generally to define an area within which shutdown of the activity would occur upon sighting of a marine mammal or in anticipation of an animal entering the defined area. Shutdown zones typically vary based on the activity type and marine mammal hearing group Table 2. Because the zones are small in this project, and WADOT seeks to simplify their monitoring, they have requested to establish shutdown zones of the same size that apply separately to cetaceans and pinnipeds, rather than having multiple size zones within each of these marine mammal groups corresponding to each hearing group. Therefore the shutdown zones are based on the largest Level A harassment zone within the cetacean and pinniped groups, respecitively, with an absolute minimum shutdown zone size of 10 m 33 ft.
Pile wake-upWhen removing piles WADOT will shake the pile slightly prior to removal to break the bond with surrounding sediment to avoid pulling out large blocks of sediment. Piles they will also be removed slowly to minimize turbidity.

The placement of Protected Species Observers PSOs during all pile driving and removal activities described in detail in the Monitoring and Reporting section will ensure that the entire shutdown zone is visible during pile installation. Should environmental conditions deteriorate such that marine mammals within the entire shutdown zone would not be visible e.g., fog, heavy rain, pile driving and removal must be delayed until the PSO is confident marine mammals within the shutdown zone could be detected.
Monitoring for Level B
HarassmentWADOT will monitor the Level A and B harassment and shutdown zones. Monitoring zones provide utility for observing by establishing monitoring protocols for areas adjacent to the shutdown zones.
Monitoring zones enable observers to be aware of and communicate the presence of marine mammals in the project area outside the shutdown zone and thus prepare for a potential halt of activity should the animal enter the shutdown zone. Placement of PSOs will allow PSOs to observe marine mammals within the Level B harassment zones that serve as monitoring zones.
Pre-activity MonitoringPrior to the start of daily in-water construction activity, or whenever a break in pile driving/removal of 30 minutes or longer
occurs, PSOs will observe the shutdown and monitoring zones for a period of 30
minutes. The shutdown zone will be considered cleared when a marine mammal has not been observed within the zone for that 30-minute period. If a marine mammal is observed within the shutdown zone, a soft-start cannot proceed until the animal has left the zone or has not been observed for 15
minutes. When a marine mammal for which Level B harassment take is authorized is present in the Level B
harassment zone, activities may begin and Level B harassment take will be recorded. If the entire Level B
harassment zone is not visible at the start of construction, pile driving activities can begin. If work ceases for more than 30 minutes, the pre-activity monitoring of the shutdown zones will commence.
Pile driving or removal must occur during daylight hours.
Based on our evaluation of the applicants measures, as well as other measures considered by NMFS, NMFS
has determined that the mitigation measures provide the means effecting the least practicable impact on the affected species or stocks and their habitat, paying particular attention to rookeries, mating grounds, and areas of similar significance.

TABLE 8SHUTDOWN ZONES RADIUS IN METERS BY PILE TYPE, ACTIVITY AND HEARING GROUP
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Pile type Sheet
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Monitoring and Reporting In order to issue an IHA for an activity, section 101a5D of the MMPA states that NMFS must set forth requirements pertaining to the monitoring and reporting of such taking.
The MMPA implementing regulations at 50 CFR 216.104 a13 indicate that requests for authorizations must include the suggested means of accomplishing the necessary monitoring and reporting that will result in increased knowledge of the species and of the level of taking or impacts on populations of marine mammals that are expected to be present in the proposed action area.
Effective reporting is critical both to compliance as well as ensuring that the most value is obtained from the required monitoring.
Monitoring and reporting requirements prescribed by NMFS
should contribute to improved
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understanding of one or more of the following:
Occurrence of marine mammal species or stocks in the area in which take is anticipated e.g., presence, abundance, distribution, density;
Nature, scope, or context of likely marine mammal exposure to potential stressors/impacts individual or cumulative, acute or chronic, through better understanding of: 1 Action or environment e.g., source characterization, propagation, ambient noise; 2 affected species e.g., life history, dive patterns; 3 co-occurrence of marine mammal species with the action; or 4 biological or behavioral context of exposure e.g., age, calving or feeding areas;
Individual marine mammal responses behavioral or physiological to acoustic stressors acute, chronic, or cumulative, other stressors, or
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cumulative impacts from multiple stressors;
How anticipated responses to stressors impact either: 1 Long-term fitness and survival of individual marine mammals; or 2 populations, species, or stocks;
Effects on marine mammal habitat e.g., marine mammal prey species, acoustic habitat, or other important physical components of marine mammal habitat; and Mitigation and monitoring effectiveness.
Visual Monitoring Marine mammal monitoring must be conducted in accordance with the Monitoring Plan and section 5 of the IHA. Marine mammal monitoring during pile driving and removal must be conducted by NMFS-approved PSOs in a manner consistent with the following:

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