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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 103 / Tuesday, June 1, 2021 / Proposed Rules activity on Pacific walruses and polar bears.
3 A site-specific Pacific walrus and polar bear safety, awareness, and interaction plan. The plan for each activity and location will detail the policies and procedures that will provide for the safety and awareness of personnel, avoid interactions with Pacific walruses and polar bears, and minimize impacts to these animals.
4 A Plan of Cooperation to mitigate potential conflicts between the activity and subsistence hunting, where relevant. Applicants must provide documentation of communication with potentially affected subsistence communities along the Beaufort Sea coast i.e., Kaktovik, Nuiqsut, and Utqigvik and appropriate subsistence user organizations i.e., the Alaska Nannut Co-Management Council, the Eskimo Walrus Commission, or North Slope Borough to discuss the location, timing, and methods of activities and identify and mitigate any potential conflicts with subsistence walrus and polar bear hunting activities. Applicants must specifically inquire of relevant communities and organizations if the activity will interfere with the availability of Pacific walruses and/or polar bears for the subsistence use of those groups. Applications for an LOA
must include documentation of all consultations with potentially affected user groups. Documentation must include a summary of any concerns identified by community members and hunter organizations and the applicants responses to identified concerns.

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18.123 How the Service will evaluate a request for a Letter of Authorization LOA.

a We will evaluate each request for an LOA based on the specific activity and the specific geographic location. We will determine whether the level of activity identified in the request exceeds that analyzed by us in considering the number of animals estimated to be taken and evaluating whether there will be a negligible impact on the species or stock and an unmitigable adverse impact on the availability of the species or stock for subsistence uses. If the level of activity is greater, we will reevaluate our findings to determine if those findings continue to be appropriate based on the combined estimated take of the greater level of activity that the applicant has requested and all other activities proposed during the time of the activities in the LOA application.
Depending on the results of the evaluation, we may grant the authorization, add further conditions, or deny the authorization.

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b In accordance with 18.27f5, we will make decisions concerning withdrawals of an LOA, either on an individual or class basis, only after notice and opportunity for public comment.
c The requirement for notice and public comment in paragraph b of this section will not apply should we determine that an emergency exists that poses a significant risk to the well-being of the species or stocks of polar bears or Pacific walruses.
18.124 Authorized take allowed under a Letter of Authorization LOA.

a An LOA allows for the nonlethal, non-injurious, incidental, but not intentional take by Level B harassment, as defined in 18.3 and under section 3 of the Marine Mammal Protection Act 16 U.S.C. 1371 et seq., of Pacific walruses and/or polar bears while conducting oil and gas industry exploration, development, production, and/or other substantially similar activities within the Beaufort Sea ITR
region described in 18.120.
b Each LOA will identify terms and conditions for each activity and location.
18.125 Prohibited take under a Letter of Authorization LOA.

Except as otherwise provided in this subpart, prohibited taking is described in 18.11 as well as:
a Intentional take, Level A
harassment, as defined in section 3 of the Marine Mammal Protection Act 16
U.S.C. 1362 et seq., and lethal incidental take of polar bears or Pacific walruses; and b Any take that fails to comply with this subpart or with the terms and conditions of an LOA.
18.126

Mitigation.

a Mitigation measures for all Letters of Authorization LOAs. Holders of an LOA must implement policies and procedures to conduct activities in a manner that affects the least practicable adverse impact on Pacific walruses and/
or polar bears, their habitat, and the availability of these marine mammals for subsistence uses. Adaptive management practices, such as temporal or spatial activity restrictions in response to the presence of marine mammals in a particular place or time or the occurrence of Pacific walruses and/or polar bears engaged in a biologically significant activity e.g., resting, feeding, denning, or nursing, among others, must be used to avoid interactions with and minimize impacts to these animals and their availability for subsistence uses.

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1 All holders of an LOA must:
i Cooperate with the Services Marine Mammals Management Office and other designated Federal, State, and local agencies to monitor and mitigate the impacts of oil and gas industry activities on Pacific walruses and polar bears.
ii Designate trained and qualified personnel to monitor for the presence of Pacific walruses and polar bears, initiate mitigation measures, and monitor, record, and report the effects of oil and gas industry activities on Pacific walruses and/or polar bears.
iii Have an approved Pacific walrus and polar bear safety, awareness, and interaction plan on file with the Services Marine Mammals Management Office and onsite and provide polar bear awareness training to certain personnel.
Interaction plans must include:
A The type of activity and where and when the activity will occur i.e., a summary of the plan of operation;
B A food, waste, and other bear attractants management plan;
C Personnel training policies, procedures, and materials;
D Site-specific walrus and polar bear interaction risk evaluation and mitigation measures;
E Walrus and polar bear avoidance and encounter procedures; and F Walrus and polar bear observation and reporting procedures.
2 All applicants for an LOA must contact affected subsistence communities and hunter organizations to discuss potential conflicts caused by the activities and provide the Service documentation of communications as described in 18.122.
b Mitigation measures for onshore activities. Holders of an LOA must undertake the following activities to limit disturbance around known polar bear dens:
1 Attempt to locate polar bear dens.
Holders of an LOA seeking to carry out onshore activities during the denning season NovemberApril must conduct two separate surveys for occupied polar bear dens in all denning habitat within 1.6 km 1 mi of proposed activities using aerial infrared imagery. Further, all denning habitat within 1.6 km 1 mi of areas of proposed seismic surveys must be surveyed three separate times with aerial infrared technology. The first survey must occur between the dates of November 25 and December 15, the second between the dates of December 5 and December 31, and the third if required between the dates of December 15 and January 15. All observed or suspected polar bear dens must be reported to the Service prior to the initiation of activities.

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