Notices

Takes of Marine Mammals:

Incidental to the Jordan Cove Energy Project, Coos Bay, OR

Filed on: 11/15/2019 at 8:45 am
Scheduled Pub. Date: 11/18/2019
FR Document: 2019-24857

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RTID 0648-XR026

Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities; Taking Marine Mammals

Incidental to the Jordan Cove Energy Project, Coos Bay, Oregon

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice; proposed incidental harassment authorization; request for comments on

proposed authorization and possible renewal.

SUMMARY: NMFS has received a request from Jordan Cove Energy Project, LP (JCEP) for

authorization to take marine mammals incidental to construction of the Jordan Cove Liquified

Natural Gas (LNG) terminal and ancillary projects. Pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection

Act (MMPA), NMFS is requesting comments on its proposal to issue an incidental harassment

authorization (IHA) allowing JCEP to incidentally take marine mammals during the specified

activities. NMFS is also requesting comments on a possible one-year Renewal that could be

issued under certain circumstances and if all requirements are met, as described in Request for

Public Comments at the end of this notice. NMFS will consider public comments prior to

making any final decision on the issuance of the requested MMPA authorizations and agency

responses will be summarized in the final notice of our decision. This project is being tracked on

the Fast Act Permitting Dashboard which can be accessed at

https://www.permits.performance.gov/permitting-projects/jordan-cove-lng-terminal-and-pacificconnector-

gas-pipeline.

This document is scheduled to be published in the

Federal Register on 11/18/2019 and available online at

https://federalregister.gov/d/2019-24857, and on govinfo.gov

DATES: Comments and information must be received no later than [insert date 30 days after

date of publication in the FEDERAL REGISTER].

ADDRESSES: Comments should be addressed to Jolie Harrison, Chief, Permits and

Conservation Division, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.

Physical comments should be sent to 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910 and

electronic comments should be sent to ITP.Daly@noaa.gov.

Instructions: NMFS is not responsible for comments sent by any other method, to any

other address or individual, or received after the end of the comment period. Comments received

electronically, including all attachments, must not exceed a 25-megabyte file size. Attachments

to electronic comments will be accepted in Microsoft Word or Excel or Adobe PDF file formats

only. All comments received are a part of the public record and will generally be posted online at

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/permit/incidental-take-authorizations-under-marine-mammalprotection-

act without change. All personal identifying information (e.g., name, address)

voluntarily submitted by the commenter may be publicly accessible. Do not submit confidential

business information or otherwise sensitive or protected information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jaclyn Daly, Office of Protected Resources,

NMFS, (301) 427-8401. Electronic copies of the application and supporting documents, as well

as a list of the references cited in this document, may be obtained online at:

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/permit/incidental-take-authorizations-under-marine-mammalprotection-

act. In case of problems accessing these documents, please call the contact listed

above.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The MMPA prohibits the take of marine mammals, with certain exceptions. Sections

101(a)(5)(A) and (D) of the MMPA (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) direct the Secretary of Commerce

(as delegated to NMFS) to allow, upon 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

either regulations are issued or, if the taking is limited to harassment, a notice of a proposed

incidental take authorization is provided to the public for review. Under the MMPA, take is

defined as meaning to harass, hunt, capture, or kill, or attempt to harass, hunt, capture, or kill any

marine mammal.

Authorization for incidental takings shall be granted if NMFS finds that the taking will

have a negligible impact on the species or stock(s) and will not have an unmitigable adverse

impact on the availability of the species or stock(s) for taking for subsistence uses (where

relevant). Further, NMFS must prescribe the permissible methods of taking and other “means of

effecting the least practicable adverse impact” on the affected species or stocks and their habitat,

paying particular attention to rookeries, mating grounds, and areas of similar significance, and on

the availability of such species or stocks for taking for certain subsistence uses (referred to in

shorthand as “mitigation”); and requirements pertaining to the mitigation, monitoring and

reporting of such takings are set forth. The definitions of all applicable MMPA statutory terms

cited above are included in the relevant sections below.

Link to the file: Takes of Marine Mammals:

Incidental to the Jordan Cove Energy Project