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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 113 / Tuesday, June 15, 2021 / Notices The potential impacts from harassment on stocks that are harvested in Cook Inlet would be limited to minor behavioral changes e.g., increased swim speeds, changes in dive time, temporary avoidance near the POA, etc. within the vicinity of the POA. Some PTS may occur; however, the shift is likely to be slight due to the implementation of mitigation measures e.g., shutdown zones and the shift would be limited to lower pile driving frequencies which are on the lower end of phocid and otariid hearing ranges. In summary, any impacts to harbor seals would be limited to those seals within Knik Arm outside of any hunting area and the very few takes of Steller sea lions in Knik Arm would be far removed in time and space from any hunting in lower Cook Inlet.
Based on the description of the specified activity, the measures described to minimize adverse effects on the availability of marine mammals for subsistence purposes, and the proposed mitigation and monitoring measures, NMFS has preliminarily determined that there will not be an unmitigable adverse impact on subsistence uses from the POAs proposed activities.

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Endangered Species Act Section 7a2 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 ESA: 16 U.S.C.
1531 et seq. requires that each Federal agency insure that any action it authorizes, funds, or carries out is not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of any endangered or threatened species or result in the destruction or adverse modification of designated critical habitat. To ensure ESA compliance for the issuance of IHAs, NMFS consults internally whenever we propose to authorize take for endangered or threatened species, in this case with the Alaska Region Protected Resources Division Office.
NMFS is proposing to authorize take of CIBWs, humpback whales from the
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Mexico DPS stock or Western North Pacific Stock, and Steller sea lions from the western DPS, which are listed under the ESA. The Permit and Conservation Division has requested initiation of Section 7 consultation with the Alaska Region Protected Resources Division Office for the issuance of this IHA.
NMFS will conclude the ESA
consultation prior to reaching a determination regarding the proposed issuance of the authorization.
Proposed Authorization As a result of these preliminary determinations, NMFS proposes to issue an IHA to the POA for conducting pile driving associated with the relocation of SFD in Knik Arm, Alaska, provided the previously mentioned mitigation, monitoring, and reporting requirements are incorporated. A draft of the proposed IHA can be found at https
www.fisheries.noaa.gov/permit/
incidental-take-authorizations-undermarine-mammal-protection-act.
Request for Public Comments We request comment on our analyses, the proposed authorization, and any other aspect of this notice of proposed IHA for the proposed pile driving associated with the relocation of the SFD in Knik Arm, Alaska. We also request at this time comment on the potential Renewal of this proposed IHA
as described in the paragraph below.
Please include with your comments any supporting data or literature citations to help inform decisions on the request for this IHA or a subsequent Renewal IHA.
On a case-by-case basis, NMFS may issue a one-time, one-year Renewal IHA
following notice to the public providing an additional 15 days for public comments when 1 up to another year of identical or nearly identical, or nearly identical, activities as described in the Description of Proposed Activities section of this notice is planned or 2
the activities as described in the Description of Proposed Activities
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section of this notice would not be completed by the time the IHA expires and a Renewal would allow for completion of the activities beyond that described in the Dates and Duration section of this notice, provided all of the following conditions are met:
A request for renewal is received no later than 60 days prior to the needed Renewal IHA effective date recognizing that the Renewal IHA expiration date cannot extend beyond one year from expiration of the initial IHA;
The request for renewal must include the following:
1 An explanation that the activities to be conducted under the requested Renewal IHA are identical to the activities analyzed under the initial IHA, are a subset of the activities, or include changes so minor e.g., reduction in pile size that the changes do not affect the previous analyses, mitigation and monitoring requirements, or take estimates with the exception of reducing the type or amount of take; and 2 A preliminary monitoring report showing the results of the required monitoring to date and an explanation showing that the monitoring results do not indicate impacts of a scale or nature not previously analyzed or authorized.
Upon review of the request for Renewal, the status of the affected species or stocks, and any other pertinent information, NMFS
determines that there are no more than minor changes in the activities, the mitigation and monitoring measures will remain the same and appropriate, and the findings in the initial IHA
remain valid.
Dated: June 10, 2021.
Catherine Marzin, Acting Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
FR Doc. 202112551 Filed 61421; 8:45 am BILLING CODE 351022P

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