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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 167 / Wednesday, September 1, 2021 / Notices
Base Point Loma, we authorize seven Level B takes.

TABLE 7ESTIMATED TAKE USING THE PAST SIGHTING APPROACH FOR EACH SPECIES AND STOCK DURING THE
PROJECT
Data source
15

1,260

California Stock

1

84

California Breeding Stock.
California/Oregon/
Washington Stock;
California Stock.
California/Oregon/
WashingtonNorthern and Southern Stocks.
California Coastal Stock.

NAVFAC SW 2017, 2018.
NAVFAC SW 2017, 2018.
NAVFAC SW 2015a
Scientific name
Stock
California sea lion

Zalophus californianus
U.S. Stock

Harbor seal

Phoca vitulina

Northern elephant seal
Mirounga angustirostris.
Delphinus sp.3

Common dolphins Short-beaked, longbeaked.
Pacific white-sided dolphin.

Bottlenose dolphin

Lagenorhynchus obliquidens.

Tursiops truncatus

Estimated sightings per day
Total Level B take requested 2

Common name
17

9

756 between both species.

NAVFAC SW 2015a
1

84

NAVFAC SW 2015a
1

84

NAVFAC SW 2017, 2018.

Percent of stock 0.49.
0.27.
0.00.
0.08 per SBCD stock;
0.31 per LBCD
stock.
0.31.

18.54.

1 Only recently documented near the project occurrence with one distressed individual hauled out on a beach inshore to the south during the second year of the previous Fuel Pier IHA NAVFAC SW, 2015a. A conservative estimate of 2 was assumed with a +5 take buffer added.
2 These numbers were derived by multiplying the rounded average daily sightings by 84 days and then summed for the total requested Level B harassment take.
3 See discussion in the section on Common Dolphins Short-beaked and Long-beaked regarding the Society for Marine Mammalogys Committee on Taxonomy decision Committee on Taxonomy, 2020.

By using the sighting-based approach, take values are not affected by the chosen isopleth sizes from Table 5.
Given the very small Level A
harassment isopleths for all species, no take by Level A harassment is anticipated or authorized.

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Mitigation In order to issue an IHA under section 101a5D of the MMPA, NMFS must set forth the permissible methods of taking pursuant to the activity, and other means of effecting the least practicable impact on the species or stock and its habitat, paying particular attention to rookeries, mating grounds, and areas of similar significance, and on the availability of the species or stock for taking for certain subsistence uses latter not applicable for this action.
NMFS regulations require applicants for incidental take authorizations to include information about the availability and feasibility economic and technological of equipment, methods, and manner of conducting the activity or other means of effecting the least practicable adverse impact upon the affected species or stocks and their habitat 50 CFR
216.104a11.
In evaluating how mitigation may or may not be appropriate to ensure the least practicable adverse impact on species or stocks and their habitat, as 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
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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.
The following mitigation measures are included in the IHA:
All pile removal activities will occur individually, with the exception for the removal of the 14-inch and 16inch concrete piles, which may be removed simultaneously by use of the pile clippers;
A 20 m 66-ft shutdown zone will be implemented around all pile removal activities Table 8. If a marine mammal enters the shutdown zones, pile removal activities must be delayed or halted;
Two Protected Species Observers PSOs will be employed and establish monitoring locations. The Holder must establish monitoring locations as described in the Monitoring Plan. For all pile removal activities, a minimum of one PSO must be assigned to each active pile removal location to monitor
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the shutdown zones. PSOs must be able to monitor the entire shutdown zone and the entire Level B harassment zone, or out to at least 400 m of the radial distance of the larger Level B
harassment zones towards the Navigation Channel. In the event of concurrent pile removal i.e., via two pile clippers at two different locations that cannot be appropriately monitored by one PSO, the pier or location where the lead PSO is stationed being blocked by a refueling vessel or other obstruction, multiple PSOs may be necessary to monitor the necessary shutdown and Level B harassment zones;
If pile removal activities have been halted or delayed due to the presence of a species in the shutdown zone, activities may commence only after the animal has been visually sighted to have voluntarily exited the shutdown zone, or after 15 minutes have passed without a re-detection of the animal;
If the take reaches the authorized limit for an authorized species, or if a marine mammal species that is not authorized for this project enters the Level B harassment zone, pile removal will cease until consultation with NMFS
can occur. If in-water pile removal activities are occurring when a nonauthorized species enters the Level B
harassment zone, activities must shutdown;
The placement of the PSOs during all pile removal activities will ensure that the entire shutdown zone is visible.
Should environmental conditions deteriorate such that marine mammals within the entire shutdown zone will
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