[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 57 (Friday, March 24, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14853-14855]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-4321]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[I.D. 022706B]
Taking and Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals
Incidental to Rocket Launches at Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; issuance of a Letter of Authorization.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and
implementing regulations, notification is hereby given that a 1-year
letter of authorization (LOA) has been issued to the 30th Space Wing,
U.S. Air Force, to harass seals and sea lions incidental to rocket and
missile launches on Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB), California.
DATES: Effective March 17, 2006, through March 16, 2007.
ADDRESSES: The LOA and supporting documentation are available by
writing to Steve Leathery, Chief, Permits, Conservation, and Education
Division, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries
Service, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910-3225, by
telephoning one of the contacts 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 and at the Southwest Region, NMFS, 501 West Ocean Boulevard,
Suite 4200, Long Beach, CA 90802.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jolie Harrison, Office of Protected
Resources, NMFS, (301) 713-2289, or Monica DeAngelis, NMFS, (562) 980-
4023.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Section 101(a)(5)(A) of the MMPA (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) directs
the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to
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allow, on request, the incidental, but not intentional, taking of small
numbers of marine mammals by U.S. 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 ``taking'' means to harass, hunt,
capture, or kill or to attempt to harass, hunt, capture or kill marine
mammals.
Authorization may be granted for periods up to 5 years if NMFS
finds, after notification and opportunity for public comment, that the
taking 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. In
addition, NMFS must prescribe regulations that include permissible
methods of taking and other means effecting the least practicable
adverse impact on the species and its habitat and on the availability
of the species for subsistence uses, paying particular attention to
rookeries, mating grounds, and areas of similar significance. The
regulations must include requirements for monitoring and reporting of
such taking.
Regulations governing the taking of harbor seals, northern elephant
seals, California sea lions, and northern fur seals, by harassment,
incidental to missile and rocket launches, aircraft flight test
operations, and helicopter operations at VAFB, were issued on February
06, 2004 (69 FR 5720), and remain in effect until February 06, 2009.
For detailed information on this action, please refer to that document.
These regulations include mitigation, monitoring, and reporting
requirements for the incidental taking of marine mammals during rocket
launches at VAFB.
Summary of Request
NMFS received a request for an LOA pursuant to the aforementioned
regulations that would authorize, for a period not to exceed one year,
take of marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to rocket launches at
VAFB.
Summary of Activity and Monitoring Under the Current LOA
In compliance with the 2005 LOA, VAFB submitted an annual report on
the rocket launches at VAFB. A summary of that report (SRS
Technologies, 2006) follows.
A total of eight launches were conducted at VAFB between January 1,
2005, and December 31, 2006. The dates, locations, and monitoring
required for the launches are summarized in Table 1.
Table 1. Summary of launches that occurred at VAFB in 2005
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Launch
Vehicle Date Time Site Monitoring Conducted
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Minotaur XSS-11 11-Apr 6:35 SLC-8 South VAFB
Delta II NOAA-N 20-May 3:22 SLC-2 North VAFB and San
Miguel Island
Minuteman III 21-Jul 1:01 NVAFB No
Minuteman III 25-Aug 1:01 NVAFB No
Minuteman III 7-Sep 1:01 NVAFB No
Minuteman III 14-Sep 1:01 NVAFB No
Minotaur STP-R1 22-Sep 19:24 SLC-8 No
Titan IV B-26 19-Oct 11:05 SLC-4E San Miguel Island
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For all four Minuteman III and the one Minotaur STP, launches
occurred outside of the harbor seal pupping season and a sonic boom of
greater than 1 lbs/ft2 (psf) was not predicted to occur at San Miguel
Island (SMI) as a result of the launch, so biological monitoring was
not required or conducted. With the exception of the Delta II, acoustic
measurements of all of the vehicles launched in 2005 had previously
been taken, and were not required or conducted again.
Though no sonic boom greater than 1 psf was predicted at SMI, the
Minotaur XSS-11 was launched during the harbor seal pupping season, and
therefore monitoring was required at VAFB. Monitoring was conducted
between the Harbor Seal Beach and Flat Iron Rock haul-out sites on
South VAFB. Though it was too foggy to see the behavior of the seals
present at the moment the rocket was launched, the same number of adult
seals and pups were present at the site 3.5 hours after the launch as
were present the day prior to the launch, and numbers increased the
next day, and were higher again 2 weeks later. In the days immediately
surrounding the launch, a maximum of 25 adult seals and 16 pups were
observed.
The Delta II NOAA-N was launched during harbor seal pupping season
and a sonic boom greater than 1 psf was predicted to reach SMI, so
monitoring was required at SMI and VAFB. On North VAFB, at the Spur
Road haul-out site, harbor seal numbers increased the day after the
launch and were higher again two weeks later. In the days immediately
surrounding the launch, a maximum of 52 adult seals were observed. In
the Adam's Cove area of Point Bennett on the western end of SMI, two
smaller focal groups of California sea lions composed primarily of
adult females were observed. The observer did not hear a sonic boom and
saw no visible reaction to the launch by the sea lions (with night
vision goggles). In the days immediately surrounding the launch, a
maximum of 625 adult sea lions were observed. Similarly, no reaction by
elephant seals to the launch was observed at Point Bennett, and the
maximum number seen was 256.
A sonic boom greater than 1 psf was predicted to occur at SMI
during the Titan IV B-26 launch, however, it occurred outside of the
harbor seal pupping season, so no monitoring was required at VAFB. A
smaller focal group of California sea lions was monitored at the North-
West Cove area of Point Bennett on SMI. The observer did not hear a
sonic boom (and acoustic measurements indicated no sonic boom impacted
SMI) and saw no visible reaction to the launch by the sea lions. A
maximum of 3,157 sea lions (mostly juveniles) were seen in the days
surrounding the launch.
In summary, no impacts to any marine mammals on SMI were detected
during the launches. On VAFB, there was no evidence of injury or
mortality as a result of the launches and numbers of hauled out animals
were back to pre-launch levels within one day of both launches
monitored.
Authorization
Accordingly, NMFS has issued an LOA to the 30th Space Wing, U.S.
Air Force authorizing the harassment of
[[Page 14855]]
marine mammals incidental to rocket launches at VAFB. Issuance of this
LOA is based on findings, described in the preamble to the final rule
(67 FR 5720, February 6, 2004) and supported by information contained
in VAFB's required 2005 annual report, that the activities described
under this LOA will have no more than a negligible impact on marine
mammal stocks and will not have an unmitigable adverse impact on the
availability of the affected marine mammal stocks for subsistence uses.
Dated: March 20, 2006.
James H. Lecky,
Director, Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E6-4321 Filed 3-23-06; 8:45 am]
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