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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 116 / Monday, June 21, 2021 / Notices at night, but this is also dependent on operational requirements and only conducted when required by test objectives. The specified activities are expected to result in the take of three marine mammal species: California sea lions Zalophus californianus, harbor seals Phoca vitulina, and northern elephant seals Mirounga angustirostris by Level B harassment only, primarily in the form of behavioral disturbance, as a result of the airborne noise produced during launch activities.
We refer the reader to the documents related to the previously issued IHAs 84 FR 28462; June 19, 2019 and 85 FR
38863; June 29, 2020 as a detailed description of the planned target and missile launch activities can be found in these documents. We also refer the reader to the Navys current and previous applications and monitoring reports which can be found at https
www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/
marine-mammal-protection/incidentaltake-authorizations-military-readinessactivitiesactive-authorizations. The location, timing, and nature of the activities, including the types of missiles planned for use, are identical to
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those described in the previous notifications.

Potential Effects on Marine Mammals and Their Habitat
Comments and Responses A notice of NMFSs proposal to issue an IHA to the Navy was published in the Federal Register on May 4, 2021 86
FR 23690. That notice described the Navys activity, the marine mammal species that may be affected by the activity, and the anticipated effects on marine mammals. No comments were received during the public comment period.

A description of the potential effects of the specified activities on marine mammals and their habitat may be found in the documents supporting the previous IHAs, which remains applicable to the issuance of this IHA.
There is no new information on potential effects.

Description of Marine Mammals A description of the marine mammals in the area of the activities is found in these previous documents, which remains applicable to this IHA as well.
In addition, NMFS has reviewed recent draft Stock Assessment Reports, information on relevant Unusual Mortality Events, and recent scientific literature, and determined that no new information affects our original analysis of impacts under the previous authorizations. NMFS has also reviewed the Navys monitoring reports and they support the current take estimates and our findings. Therefore, no change in the take estimates was warranted.

Estimated Take A detailed description of the methods and inputs used to estimate authorized take is found in these previous documents. The methods of estimating take for this IHA are identical to those used in the previous IHAs. The source levels, number of launches, and the marine mammal abundance on SNI used to calculate take remain unchanged from the previously issued IHAs. The authorized stocks taken, types of take, and methods of taking remain unchanged from the previously issued IHAs. The same is true for the number of takes, which are indicated below in Table 1. As before, no serious injury or mortality is anticipated or authorized for the Navys activity.

TABLE 1REQUESTED TAKE AMOUNT, PER SPECIES, RELATIVE TO POPULATION SIZE
Authorized level B
harassment
Species California sea lion
Harbor seal
Northern elephant seal

11,000
480
40

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Description of Mitigation, Monitoring and Reporting Measures The mitigation, monitoring, and reporting measures here are identical to those included in the previous IHAs.
The discussion of the least practicable adverse impact included in that document remains accurate. All mitigation, monitoring, and reporting measures in the previous IHA are carried over to this IHA and summarized below:
D Personnel MitigationPersonnel will not enter pinniped haulouts.
Personnel will be adjacent to pinniped haulouts below the predicted missile path for two hours prior to a launch only for monitoring purposes.
D Launch MitigationMissiles will not cross over pinniped haulouts at elevations less than 305 m 1,000 ft.
Launches at night will be limited.
Launches will be avoided during harbor seal pupping season February through April unless constrained by mission
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Stock abundance percent taken by level B harassment 257,606 4.27 percent.
30,968 less than 2 percent.
179,000 less than 1 percent.

objectives. Launches will be limited during the pupping season for northern elephant seal January through February and California sea lion June through July unless constrained by mission objectives or certain other factors. It is vital that the Navy effectively executes readiness activities to ensure naval forces can effectively execute military operations.
D Aircraft Operation MitigationAll aircraft and helicopter flight paths must maintain a minimum distance of 1,000
ft 305 m from recognized seal haulouts and rookeries, except in emergencies.
D Non-authorized Take ProhibitedIf a species for which authorization has not been granted, or a species for which authorization has been granted but the authorized takes are met, the Navy must consult with NMFS before the next launch event.
D Visual and Video Camera MonitoringThe Navy proposes to conduct marine mammal monitoring during launches from SNI, using visual
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monitoring as well as simultaneous autonomous audio recording of launch sounds and video recording of pinniped behavior. Visual monitoring, before and after launches, is a scan of the haulout beaches to count pinnipeds over a wider field of view than can be captured by a stationary video camera. This is typically done over a 1530 minute period. Visual monitoring is conducted while the equipment is being set up and broken down for video and acoustic monitoring. Video monitoring is conducted by recording continuously from a minimum of two hours before the event to approximately one hour after the event. These video and audio records will be used to document pinniped responses to the launches.
D Acoustic MonitoringAcoustical recordings will be obtained during each monitored launch. These recordings will be suitable for quantitative analysis of the levels and characteristics of the received launch sounds.

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