Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Seward Cruise Ship Passenger Dock and Terminal Facility Project in Seward, Alaska

<NOTICE> DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE <SUBAGY>National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration</SUBAGY> <DEPDOC>[RTID 0648-XF106]</DEPDOC> <SUBJECT>Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Seward Cruise Ship Passenger Dock and Terminal Facility Project in Seward, Alaska</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce. <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Notice; issuance of incidental harassment authorization. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> In accordance with regulations implementing the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) as amended, notification is hereby given that NMFS has issued an incidental harassment authorization (IHA) to Turnagain Marine Construction (TMC) for authorization to take marine mammals incidental to Seward Cruise Ship Passenger Dock and Terminal Facility project in Seward, Alaska. </SUM> <DATES> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> This authorization is effective for 1 year from the date of notification by the IHA-holder, not to exceed 1 year from the date of issuance (September 5, 2025). </DATES> <HD SOURCE="HED">ADDRESSES:</HD> 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: <E T="03">https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/incidental-take-authorization-turnagain-marine-constructions-seward-cruise-ship-passenger.</E> In case of problems accessing these documents, please call the contact listed below. <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> Jenna Harlacher, Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, (301) 427-8401. </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD1">MMPA Background and Determinations</HD> The MMPA prohibits the “take” of marine mammals, with certain exceptions. Among the exceptions is section 101(a)(5)(D) of the MMPA (16 U.S.C. 1361 <E T="03">et seq.</E> ) which directs the Secretary of Commerce (as delegated to NMFS) to allow, upon request, the incidental, but not intentional, taking by harassment 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 the public has an opportunity to comment on the proposed IHA. Specifically, NMFS will issue an IHA if it 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 here as “mitigation”). NMFS must also prescribe requirements pertaining to the monitoring and reporting of such takings. The definitions of key terms, such as “take,” “harassment,” and “negligible impact,” can be found in the MMPA and the NMFS' implementing regulations (see 16 U.S.C. 1362; 50 CFR 216.103). On July 22, 2025, a notice of NMFS' proposal to issue an IHA to TMC for take of marine mammals incidental to Seward Cruise Ship Passenger Dock and Terminal Facility project in Seward, Alaska was published in the <E T="04">Federal Register</E> (90 FR 34463). In that notice, NMFS indicated the estimated numbers, type, and methods of incidental take proposed for each species or stock, as well as the mitigation, monitoring, and reporting measures that would be required should the IHA be issued. The <E T="04">Federal Register</E> notice also included analysis to support NMFS' preliminary conclusions and determinations that the IHA, if issued, would satisfy the requirements of section 101(a)(5)(D) of the MMPA for issuance of the IHA. The <E T="04">Federal Register</E> notice included web links to a draft IHA for review, as well as other supporting documents. No substantive comments were received during the public comment period. With the exception of the minor changes described below, there are no changes to the specified activity, the species taken, type, or methods of take, or the mitigation, monitoring, or reporting measures in the proposed IHA notice. No new information that would change any of the preliminary analyses, conclusions, or determinations in the proposed IHA notice has become available since that notice was published and, therefore, the preliminary analyses, conclusions, and determinations included in the proposed IHA are considered final. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Changes From the Proposed IHA to the Final IHA</HD> Changes have been made to correct typographical errors to table 5, and due to those changes in table 5, updates have been made to tables 6, 8, and 9 of the proposed <E T="04">Federal Register</E> notice. These tables are reprinted below. In table 5, there were typographical errors in the peak source levels for all Down-the-hole drilling (DTH) piles. Additionally, we revised the RMS source level for DTH driving of the 60- and 72-inch (in) (152.4 centimeters (cm)- and 182.9 cm) piles to be equal to the 48-in (121.9 cm) source level based on the lack of data and uncertainty in extrapolation for very large piles. The previous proxy levels (from 88 FR 19502, March 31, 2023) were estimated before any acoustic data had been gathered on DTH driving of large piles and did not represent the most current understanding of DTH sound production. See below for the revised table 5. As a result of this change, the Level B harassment zone for DTH driving of 60- and 72-in piles increased to 34,145 m in table 6 and the maximum harassment zone has been revised in table 9. In table 8, take by Level B harassment changed for gray whales (changed from two Level B takes to three Level B takes) and take by Level A and Level B harassment changed for fin whales (changed from two Level A and six Level B takes to three Level A and eight Level B takes) based on the increased Level B isopleth for 60- and 72-in DTH activities. None of these minor changes affect or change the analysis or the findings in the proposed IHA notice. <GPOTABLE COLS="6" OPTS="L2,nj,p7,7/8,i1" CDEF="s50,r40,12,13,12,r55"> <TTITLE>Table 5—Estimates of Mean Underwater Sound Levels Generated During In-Water Vibratory and Impact Pile Installation and Vibratory Pile Removal</TTITLE> <CHED H="1">Method</CHED> <CHED H="1">Pile size and type</CHED> <CHED H="1">Proxy sound source levels at 10m</CHED> <E T="02">No Bubble Curtain in use (Unattenuated)</E> </ENT> </ROW> <ROW EXPSTB="00"> <ENT I="01">Vibratory removal</ENT> <ENT>H-pile</ENT> <ENT>NMFS, 2023.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Vibratory removal</ENT> <ENT>20-in steel pile</ENT> <ENT>U.S. Navy, 2013.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Vibratory Installation and removal</ENT> <ENT>36-in steel pile (temporary)</ENT> <ENT/> <ENT/> <ENT>166</ENT> <ENT>NMFS, 2023.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Vibratory Installation</ENT> <ENT>48-in steel pile</ENT> <ENT>U.S. Navy, 2013.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Impact Installation</ENT> <ENT>48-in steel pile</ENT> <ENT>Caltrans, 2020.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">DTH</ENT> <ENT>36-in steel pile (temporary)</ENT> <E T="03">et al.,</E> 2019; NMFS, 2022a; Reyff and Heyvaert, 2019; Reyff, 2020. </ENT> </ROW> <ROW RUL="s"> <ENT I="01">DTH</ENT> <ENT>48-in steel pile</ENT> <ENT>NMFS Communication.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW EXPSTB="05" RUL="s"> <ENT I="21"> <E T="02">Bubble Curtain in use (Attenuated) </E> <SU>1</SU> </ENT> </ROW> <ROW EXPSTB="00"> <ENT I="01">Vibratory Installation</ENT> <ENT>48, 60, 72-in steel pile</ENT> <ENT>U.S. Navy, 2013.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Impact Installation</ENT> <ENT>48-in steel pile</ENT> <ENT>Caltrans, 2020.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Impact Installation</ENT> <ENT>60, 72-in steel pile</ENT> <ENT>Caltrans, 2020.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">DTH</ENT> <ENT>48-in steel pile</ENT> <ENT>NMFS Communication.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">DTH</ENT> <ENT>60, 72-in steel pile</ENT> <ENT>NMFS Communication.</ENT> </ROW> <TNOTE> <E T="02">Note:</E> peak = peak sound level; rms = root mean square; SEL = sound exposure level. </TNOTE> <TNOTE> <SU>1</SU>  Attenuated source levels with 5dB reduction due to use of a bubble curtain during these activities (Caltrans, 2015; Austin <E T="03">et al.,</E> 2016). </TNOTE> </GPOTABLE> <GPOTABLE COLS="8" OPTS="L2,nj,p7,7/8,i1" CDEF="s50,r50,10,10,10,10,10,10"> <TTITLE>Table 6—Level A and Level B Harassment Isopleths</TTITLE> <CHED H="1">Method</CHED> <CHED H="1">Pile size and type</CHED> <CHED H="1"> Level A harassment zone (m) </CHED> <CHED H="2">LF</CHED> <CHED H="2">HF</CHED> <CHED H="2">VHF</CHED> <CHED H="2">PW</CHED> <CHED H="2">OW</CHED> <E T="02">No Bubble Curtain in use (Unattenuated)</E> </ENT> </ROW> <ROW EXPSTB="00"> <ENT I="01">Vibratory removal</ENT> <ENT>H-pile</ENT> <ENT>17.7</ENT> <ENT>6.8</ENT> <ENT>14.4</ENT> <ENT>22.7</ENT> <ENT>7.6</ENT> <ENT>4,641.6</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Vibratory removal</ENT> <ENT>20-in steel pile</ENT> <ENT>9.6</ENT> <ENT>3.7</ENT> <ENT>7.8</ENT> <ENT>12.3</ENT> <ENT>4.1</ENT> <ENT>7,356.4</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Vibratory Installation and removal</ENT> <ENT>36-in steel pile (temporary)</ENT> <ENT>19.9</ENT> <ENT>7.6</ENT> <ENT>16.2</ENT> <ENT>25.6</ENT> <ENT>8.6</ENT> <ENT>11,659.1</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Vibratory Installation</ENT> <ENT>48-in steel pile</ENT> <ENT>42.8</ENT> <ENT>16.4</ENT> <ENT>35</ENT> <E ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 17k characters. 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