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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 157 / Wednesday, August 18, 2021 / Notices
The definitions of all applicable MMPA statutory terms cited above are included in the relevant sections below.
National Environmental Policy Act To comply with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969
NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. and NOAA Administrative Order NAO
2166A, NMFS must review our proposed action i.e., the issuance of an IHA with respect to potential impacts on the human environment.
Accordingly, NMFS plans to adopt NSFs Initial Environmental Evaluation IEE, which is generally the equivalent of an environmental assessment EA
under the Antarctic Conservation Act 16 U.S.C. 2401 et seq., provided our independent evaluation of the document finds that it includes adequate information analyzing the effects on the human environment of issuing the IHA.
We will review all comments submitted in response to this notice and the draft IEE prior to concluding our NEPA process or making a final decision on the IHA request.

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Summary of Request On December 29, 2020, NMFS
received a request from the National Science Foundation NSF for an IHA to take marine mammals incidental to construction activities associated with the Palmer Station Pier Replacement Project on Anvers Island, Antarctica.
NSF submitted several revisions of the application until it was deemed adequate and complete on July 15, 2021.
NSFs request is for take of a small number of 17 species of marine mammals by Level B harassment and/or
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Level A harassment. Neither NSF nor NMFS expects serious injury or mortality to result from this activity and, therefore, an IHA is appropriate.
Description of Proposed Activity Overview The purpose of the project is to construct a replacement pier at Palmer Station on Anvers Island, Antarctica for the United States Antarctic Program. It is severely deteriorated, and needs to be replaced as soon as possible.
Construction of the replacement pier and removal of the existing pier will require down-the-hole DTH pile installation, and vibratory pile removal.
Limited impact driving will occur only to proof piles after they have been installed. The proposed project is expected to take up to 89 days of inwater work and will include the installation of 52 piles and removal of 36 piles. Construction is expected to begin no later than November 2021, depending on local sea ice conditions, and would be completed by mid-April 2022. The pile driving and removal activities can result in take of marine mammals from sound in the water which results in behavioral harassment or auditory injury. Note that hereafter unless otherwise specified the term pile driving is used to refer to both pile installation including DTH pile installation and pile removal.
Dates and Duration The work described here is likely to begin in October or November 2021 and would be completed by mid-April 2022
with demobilization occurring no later than June of 2022. The construction
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season is limited due to ice and weather. Construction work cannot begin until the sea ice has vacated Hero Inlet and work must be completed prior to the return of sea ice so that personnel and equipment can be safely demobilized. The proposed IHA would be effective for a period of one year from October 1, 2021 through September 30, 2022. In-water activities will occur during daylight hours only. Work would be conducted 7 days per week for 12
hours hr per day and up to 89 days of in-water construction is anticipated.
Specific Geographic Region The activities would occur at Palmer Station on Hero Inlet, between Gamage Point and Bonaparte Point on the southwestern coast of Anvers Island in the Antarctica Peninsula Figure 1. The coordinates for the station are: 6446 S, 6403 W. Substrate at the project location consists of solid rock. In addition to the pier, there are several buildings, plus two large fuel tanks, and a helicopter pad. The area frequently experiences high winds, up to 130
kilometers km per hour, or greater.
Palmer Station lies outside the Antarctic Circle, so there are 19 hours of light and 5 hours of twilight at the height of austral summer and only 5 hours of daylight each day in the middle of austral winter. Hero Inlet is a narrow inlet approximately 135 meters m wide along the southwest side of Anvers Island. Maximum observed tidal range is 2.5 m with mean sea level at 0.72 m. The shoreline and upland area is generally rocky or exposed bedrock.
Ice cliffs rise above the station.
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