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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 33 / Monday, February 22, 2021 / Notices
sound above 200 kHz, which is outside of marine mammals hearing ranges.
AGDC did not propose and does not plan to conduct the other activities single-beam echosounder and side-scan sonar suggested in this comment;
therefore, NMFS did not discuss these activities in the proposed or final authorization, and did not propose or require associated mitigation.
Comment 13: Commenters stated NMFS must consider impacts from vessel noise Erbe et al., 2019. The Chukchi and Beaufort Seas have very little vessel traffic, and the Arctics seals and whales are at risk from vessel collisions and disturbance McFarland, 2017. The determination that vessels do not need to be considered in this rulemaking because it is ordinary vessel traffic is in error. The proposed project will include numerous vessel trips for the construction of the AK LNG
facilities in a sensitive remote area. The commenter further states that NMFS
calculated that there will be 184 vessel trips per year associated with the Prudhoe Bay construction. Specifically, there is a significant risk that endangered bowhead and other whales will be harassed or harmed by vessels traveling from Asia to Dutch Harbor to Port Clarence to Prudhoe Bay Offshore Staging Area south of Reindeer Island to the West Dock. Notably, the route could endanger North Pacific right whales. NMFS must analyze the impacts of the proposed action on North Pacific right whales whose population hovers around 2631 individuals.
The commenter stated that NMFS
must account for take by vessel traffic.
First, low frequency noise from vessels tends to overlap with the communication sounds that marine mammals use, and therefore vessels can mask important communications Southall et al., 2018; Putland et al., 2018; Clark et al., 2009. Ship noise has been associated with decreased foraging activity for humpback whales Blair et al., 2016.
Response: AGDC requested authorization of take associated with construction activities at West Dock in Prudhoe Bay. AGDC did not predict, and did not request authorization for take from vessel noise or vessel strike associated with vessel transit, or for any other activities other than West Dock project construction activities addressed in this notice, or activities in the related AK LNG Cook Inlet rule 85 FR 50720;
August 17, 2020. NMFS concurs that such take is not likely to occur.
Therefore, vessel transit noted by the commenter is not within the scope of this IHA.

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Because vessels will be in transit, exposure to ship noise will be temporary and relatively brief and will occur in a predictable manner, and also the sounds are of relatively lower levels.
Regarding masking, elevated background noise from multiple vessels and other sources can interfere with the detection or interpretation of acoustic cues, but the brief exposures to one or two AGDC vessels at a time would be unlikely to disrupt behavioral patterns in a manner that would qualify as take.
Please see Section 6.4.7 of the Biological Opinion for additional information about vessel noise, and Section 2.1.2 of the Biological Opinion for required mitigation measures associated with vessel transit.
Regarding North Pacific right whales, the species does not occur in the project area, and therefore, no take of North Pacific right whales associated with the construction activities at West Dock is expected to occur. While North Pacific right whales and bowhead whales may occur in areas where project vessels will transit, take associated with vessel noise or vessel strike is not likely to occur for the reasons stated above vessel noise and in NMFS response to Comment 14
vessel strike.
Comment 14: A commenter expressed concern about potential vessel strike associated with the AK LNG project, stating that collisions with vessels is one of the biggest threats to the worlds endangered whales.
In a related comment, a commenter recommended that NMFS require AGDC
to implement vessel speed restrictions of 10 knots or less to reduce the risk of marine mammal ship strikes, reduce air pollution and reduce ocean noise that can mask marine mammal communications and displace marine mammals.
Response: The potential for vessel strikes is so low as to be discountable during the construction phase of the project, given the lack of known previous ship strikes in the area as discussed in section 6.3.2 of the Biological opinion and the required mitigation measures for vessel transit included in Section 2.1.2 of the Biological Opinion, which are expected to further reduce the potential for vessel strikes. The mitigation measures in the Biological Opinion pertaining to vessel transit which AGDC is required to adhere to, include a requirement for vessels traveling between West Dock/
Endicott and Foggy Island Bay not to exceed speeds of 10 knots in order to reduce the risk of vessel strikes. AGDC
only requested, and this IHA only authorizes, take associated with the construction at West Dock. Therefore,
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mitigation associated with other components of AGDCs broader AK LNG
project is not included in the IHA.
Potential impacts on marine mammals from vessels involved in the construction at West Dock were also discussed in Section 4.6.3.2 of the Alaska LNG Project Final EIS. NMFS
served as a cooperating agency and participated in the development of the Alaska LNG Project EIS, and adopted the Final EIS on February 16, 2021.
Comment 15: A commenter stated that ballast water and invasive species from ships can have harmful ecological impacts that may affect the Arctic habitat.
Response: The impacts of AGDCs activity on the human environment including invasive species and ballast water management are addressed in the Alaska LNG Project Final EIS. Please see Section 4.3.3.3 of that document for additional information regarding planned ballast water management.
AGDC did not request take of marine mammals associated with the introduction of invasive species. NMFS
concurs that the introduction of invasive species from the exchange of ballast water is unlikely to result in the take of marine mammals and did not authorize associated take.
Comment 16: A commenter stated that NMFS ignores out-of-water noise impacts on marine mammals. However, the marine mammals that are impacted by the proposed activities also inhabit sea ice and land above water. Some pinnipeds are equally susceptible to noise in air as in water Kastak et al., 2007. Southall et al. 2019 provides inair PTS and TTS thresholds for pinnipeds.
In a related comment, a commenter stated that while NMFS admits that there are non-acoustic stressors, it nonetheless completely writes them off without any support. The commenter cited the following from the notice of the proposed IHA: Potential nonacoustic stressors could result from the physical presence of the equipment and personnel; however, any impacts to marine mammals are expected to primarily be acoustic in nature.
Response: In-air stressors and nonacoustic stressors, such as the physical presence of land-based equipment and personnel, are not expected to affect cetaceans, given that cetaceans are present only in the water at some distance from shore and the activity and remain under water the majority of the time, and therefore are not expected to be exposed to these stressors. While AGDC may use barges to stage landbased equipment during some activities, these barges would be stationary, and at
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