Je veux savoir à propos de…

45966

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 156 / Tuesday, August 17, 2021 / Notices
concrete impact pile driving, a result from the analysis discussed in greater detail in the 2018 IHA 83 FR 30406;
June 28, 2018. Because of this, no take will be authorized for killer whales or harbor porpoises during the concrete impact piling activities discussed in the Navys 20212022 IHA application.
A detailed description of the construction activities for which authorization of take was requested may be found in the Federal Register notice of the proposed 2018 IHA 83 FR 10689;
March 12, 2018 and the modified proposed 2020 IHA 85 FR 74989;
November 24, 2020. The location, timing e.g., seasonality, and nature of the subset of construction activities planned under the renewal IHA are identical to those analyzed for concrete impact piling in the 2018 Notice 83 FR
30406; June 28, 2018 and subsequent 2020 modification Notice 85 FR 86538;
December 30, 2020.
This renewal IHA is effective from August 11, 2021 until July 15, 2022.
Description of Marine Mammals A description of the marine mammals in the area of the activities for which authorization of take is proposed here, including information on abundance, status, distribution, and hearing, may be found in the notices of the proposed and final notices for the 2018 83 FR 10689;
March 12, 2018 and 83 FR 30406; June 28, 2018 and the 2020 modified 85 FR
74989; November 24, 2020 and 85 FR
86538; December 30, 2020 IHAs. NMFS
has reviewed the monitoring data from the 2020 modified IHA, recent Stock Assessment Reports SARs, information on relevant Unusual Mortality Events UMEs, and other scientific literature, and determined that neither this nor any new information affects which species or stocks have the potential to be
affected or the pertinent information in the Description of the Marine Mammals in the Area of Specified Activities contained in the supporting documents for the 2018 IHA.
The only changes from the 2018 IHA
83 FR 30406; June 28, 2018 and modified 2020 IHA 85 FR 86538;
December 30, 2020 are a decrease in the abundance of United States stock California sea lions from 296,750 in 2011 to 257,606 in 2014 and an increase in the stock abundance of Steller sea lions of the eastern United States stock from 41,638 in 2015 to 43,201 in 2017 Carretta et al., 2018, Muto et al., 2019, Muto et al., 2020.
This updated information does not change the findings or conclusions from the 2018 IHA 83 FR 30406; June 28, 2018 and modified 2020 IHA 85 FR
86538; December 30, 2020.
Potential Effects on Marine Mammals and Their Habitat A description of the potential effects of the specified activity on marine mammals and their habitat for the activities for which take is authorized here may be found in the notices of the proposed and final notices for the 2018
83 FR 10689; March 12, 2018 and 83 FR
30406; June 28, 2018 and the 2020
modified 85 FR 74989; November 24, 2020 and 85 FR 86538; December 30, 2020 IHAs. NMFS has reviewed the monitoring data from the 2020 modified IHA, recent Stock Assessment Reports, information on relevant UMEs, other scientific literature, and determined that neither this nor any other new information affects our initial analysis of impacts on marine mammals and their habitat.
Estimated Take A detailed description of the methods and inputs used to estimate take for the
specified activity can be found in the proposed and final Federal Register notices for the 2018 83 FR 10689;
March 12, 2018 and 83 FR 30406; June 28, 2018 and the 2020 modified 85 FR
74989; November 24, 2020 and 85 FR
86538; December 30, 2020 IHAs. The information informing the take estimates remains applicable to this authorization, and is unchanged from the previously issued IHAs. As before, no serious injury or mortality is anticipated to result from the Navys construction activities.
We assume, for purposes of analysis, that no take will occur for either cetacean species i.e., killer whales and harbor porpoises during the specified impact pile driving activities for the 103
concrete piles. This is because the isopleths for impact pile driving of concrete piles were described as fully monitorable with maximum distances to behavioral thresholds of 46 m and 541 m, respectively, and maximum distance to injury thresholds being 14
m; therefore, no killer whale behavioral or injury takes were expected to occur.
Harbor porpoise are able to be visually detected to a distance of about 200 m by experienced observers in conditions up to Beaufort 2 Department of the Navy, 2017. Therefore, the concrete isopleths are able to be fully monitored with maximum distance of 46 m, so no takes were calculated for the estimated 35
days of concrete fender pile installation.
More information can be found under Take Calculation and Estimation in the 2018 proposed 83 FR 10689; March 12, 2018 and 2018 final 83 FR 30406; June 28, 2018 notices. Thus, only take is expected for pinniped species, which is shown below in Table 2.

TABLE 2 PROPOSED TAKE OF MARINE MAMMAL STOCKS AND PERCENTAGE OF STOCK OR POPULATION FOR THE
RENEWAL IHA DURING THE 20212022 PROJECT PERIOD
Scientific name
Stock
California sea lion
Steller sea lion

Zalophus californianus
Eumetopias jubatus monteriensis.
Phoca vitulina richardii

United States
Eastern United States
Hood Canal

khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES

Harbor seal

Authorized Level A harassment percent of stock
Authorized Level B harassment percent of stock
257,606
43,201

0 0
0 0

1,710 0.7.
110 0.3.

1,088

280 unknown.1

1,225 unknown.1

Stock abundance
Species
1 Because the stock information is not considered current, there are no minimum abundance estimates to use for calculation. The abundance estimate for this stock is greater than eight years old 1999 and is therefore not considered current. PBR is considered undetermined for this stock, as there is no current minimum abundance estimate for use in calculation. We nevertheless present the most recent abundance estimates, as these represent the best available information for use in this document.

The stocks taken including the lack of take for the cetacean stocks during
VerDate Sep<11>2014

17:08 Aug 16, 2021

Jkt 253001

concrete impact pile driving, methods of take, and types of take remain
PO 00000

Frm 00015

Fmt 4703

Sfmt 4703

unchanged from what was described in the previously issued 2020 modified
E:FRFM17AUN1.SGM

17AUN1