In accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and implementing regulations, notification is hereby given that NMFS has issued a one-year LOA to take marine mammals incidental to the explosive removal of offshore oil and gas structures (EROS) in the Gulf of Mexico.
This authorization is effective from July 1, 2012 through June 30, 2013.
ADDRESSES: The application and LOAs are available for review by writing to Tammy Adams, Acting Chief, Permits and Conservation Division, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910-3235 or by telephoning the contact listed here (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT), or online at: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/permits/incidental.htm. Documents cited in this notice may be viewed, by appointment, during regular business hours, at the aforementioned address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Howard Goldstein or Jolie Harrison, Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, 301-427-8401.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 101(a)(5)(A) of the MMPA (16 U.S.C.
1361 et seq.) directs the Secretary of Commerce (who has delegated the
authority to NMFS) to allow, upon request, the incidental, but not
intentional, taking of small numbers of marine mammals by United States
citizens who engage in a specified activity (other than commercial
fishing) within a specified geographical region, if certain findings
are made and regulations are issued. Under the MMPA, the term ``take'' means to
harass, hunt, capture, or kill or to attempt to harass, hunt, capture,
or kill any marine mammal.
Authorization for incidental taking, in the form of annual LOAs,
may be granted by NMFS for periods up to five years if NMFS finds,
after notice and opportunity for public comment, that the total taking
over the five-year period will have a negligible impact on the species
or stock(s) of marine mammals, and will not have an unmitigable adverse
impact on the availability of the species or stock(s) for subsistence
uses (where relevant). In addition, NMFS must prescribe regulations
that include permissible methods of taking and other means of effecting
the least practicable adverse impact on the species and its habitat
(i.e., mitigation), and on the availability of the species for
subsistence uses, paying particular attention to rookeries, mating
rounds, and areas of similar significance. The regulations also must
include requirements pertaining to the monitoring and reporting of such
taking.
Regulations governing the taking of marine mammals incidental to
EROS were published on June 19, 2008 (73 FR 34875), and remain in
effect through July 19, 2013. For detailed information on this action,
please refer to that Federal Register notice. The species that
applicants may take in small numbers during EROS activities are
bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), Atlantic spotted dolphins
(Stenella frontalis), pantropical spotted dolphins (Stenella
attenuata), Clymene dolphins (Stenella clymene), striped dolphins
(Stenella coeruleoalba), spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris),
rough-toothed dolphins (Steno bredanensis), Risso's dolphins (Grampus
griseus), melon-headed whales (Peponocephala electra), short-finned
pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus), and sperm whales (Physeter
macrocephalus). NMFS received requests for a LOA from ExxonMobil
Production Company (ExxonMobil) for activities covered by EROS
regulations.
Reporting
ExxonMobil has not used explosives for any rig structure removal
operations under the 2011 to 2012 LOA.
Pursuant to these regulations, NMFS has issued an LOA to
ExxonMobil. Issuance of the LOA is based on a finding made in the
preamble to the final rule that the total taking over the five-year
period (with monitoring, mitigation, and reporting measures) will have
a negligible impact on the affected species or stock(s) of marine
mammals and will not have an unmitigable adverse impact on subsistence
uses. NMFS will review reports to ensure that the applicant is in
compliance with meeting the requirements contained in the implementing
regulations and LOA, including monitoring, mitigation, and reporting
requirements.