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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 86 / Thursday, May 6, 2021 / Rules and Regulations well as subsistence uses where applicable, we carefully consider two primary factors:
1 The manner in which, and the degree to which, the successful implementation of the measures is expected to reduce impacts to marine mammals, marine mammal species or stocks, and their habitat. This considers the nature of the potential adverse impact being mitigated likelihood, scope, range. It further considers the likelihood that the measure will be effective if implemented probability of accomplishing the mitigating result if implemented as planned, the likelihood of effective implementation probability implemented as planned, and;
2 The practicability of the measures for applicant implementation, which may consider such things as cost, impact on operations, and, in the case of a military readiness activity, personnel safety, practicality of implementation, and impact on the effectiveness of the military readiness activity.
In addition to the measures described later in this section, the Navy will employ the following mitigation measures:
For in-water heavy machinery work other than pile driving, if a marine mammal comes within 10 m, operations shall cease and vessels shall reduce speed to the minimum level required to maintain steerage and safe working conditions;
The Navy will conduct briefings between construction supervisors and crews and the marine mammal monitoring team prior to the start of all pile driving activity and when new personnel join the work, to explain responsibilities, communication procedures, marine mammal monitoring protocol, and operational procedures;
For those marine mammals for which Level B harassment take has not been requested, in-water pile installation/removal will shut down immediately if such species are observed within or entering the Level B
harassment zone; and
If take reaches the authorized limit for an authorized species, pile installation/removal will shut down immediately if these species approach the Level B harassment zone to avoid additional take.
The following mitigation measures apply to the Navys in-water construction activities.
Establishment of Shutdown Zones The Navy will establish shutdown zones for all pile driving and removal activities. 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 will vary based on the activity type and marine mammal hearing group Table 11.
Protected Species Observers PSOs The placement of PSOs during all pile driving and removal activities described in the Monitoring and Reporting section will ensure that the entire shutdown zone is visible during pile driving and removal. Should environmental conditions deteriorate such that marine mammals within the entire shutdown zone would not be visible e.g., fog, heavy rain, night, 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 Harassment The Navy will monitor the Level B
harassment zones areas where SPLs are equal to or exceed the 160 dB rms threshold for impact driving and the 120
dB rms threshold during vibratory pile driving to the extent practicable, and the Level A harassment zones. The Navy will monitor at least a portion of the Level B harassment zone on all pile driving days. 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 cessation of
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activity should the animal enter the shutdown zone.
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. A determination that the shutdown zone is clear must be made during a period of good visibility i.e., the entire shutdown zone and surrounding waters must be visible to the naked eye.
Soft StartSoft-start procedures are believed to provide additional protection to marine mammals by providing warning and/or giving marine mammals a chance to leave the area prior to the hammer operating at full capacity. For impact pile driving, contractors will be required to provide an initial set of three strikes from the hammer at reduced energy, followed by a 30-second waiting period. This procedure will be conducted three times before impact pile driving begins. Soft start will be implemented at the start of each days impact pile driving and at any time following cessation of impact pile driving for a period of 30 minutes or longer.
The Navy does not plan to use a pile driving energy attenuator during construction.

TABLE 11SHUTDOWN ZONES DURING PILE INSTALLATION AND REMOVAL
Shutdown zone Site
Pile size and type
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Pier 12
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Craney Island
Lamberts Point

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Pier 3

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