Small Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities; Lockheed Launch Vehicles at Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 042696B]

Small Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities;

Lockheed Launch Vehicles at Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA

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

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of issuance of an incidental harassment authorization.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In accordance with provisions of the Marine Mammal Protection

Act (MMPA) as amended, notification is hereby given that an Incidental

Harassment Authorization to take small numbers of harbor seals by

harassment incidental to launches of Lockheed-Martin's launch vehicles

(LMLVs) at Space Launch Complex 6 (SLC-6), Vandenberg Air Force Base,

CA (Vandenberg) has been issued.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This authorization is effective from July 18, 1996

through July 17, 1997.

[[Page 38438]]

ADDRESSES: The application, authorization and list of references used

in this determination are available for review in the following

offices: Marine Mammal Division, Office of Protected Resources, NMFS,

1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910, and the Southwest

Region, NMFS, 501 West Ocean Blvd. Long Beach, CA 90802.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kenneth Hollingshead, Office of

Protected Resources at 301-713-2055, or Irma Lagomarsino, Southwest

Regional Office at 310-980-4016.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Section 101(a)(5)(A) of the MMPA (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) directs

NMFS to allow, upon request, the incidental, but not intentional,

taking 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.

Permission may be granted if NMFS finds that the taking will have a

negligible impact on the species or stock(s), will not have an

unmitigable adverse impact on the availability of the species or

stock(s) for subsistence uses, and the permissible methods of taking

and requirements pertaining to the monitoring and reporting of such

taking are set forth.

The MMPA Amendments of 1994 established an expedited process by

which citizens of the United States can apply for an authorization to

incidentally take small numbers of marine mammals by harassment. The

MMPA defines ``harassment'' as:

* * *any act of pursuit, torment, or annoyance which (a) has

the potential to injure a marine mammal or marine mammal stock in

the wild; or (b) has the potential to disturb a marine mammal or

marine mammal stock in the wild by causing disruption of behavioral

patterns, including, but not limited to, migration, breathing,

nursing, breeding, feeding, or sheltering.

New subsection 101(a)(5)(D) establishes a 45-day time limit for

NMFS review of an application followed by a 30-day public notice and

comment period on any proposed authorizations for the incidental

harassment of small numbers of marine mammals. Within 45 days of the

close of the comment period, NMFS must either issue or deny issuance of

the authorization.

Summary of Request

On April 1, 1996, NMFS received an application from the U.S. Air

Force, Vandenberg, requesting continuation of an authorization for the

harassment of small numbers of harbor seals incidental to launches of

LMLVs at SLC-6, Vandenberg. These launches would place commercial

payloads into low earth orbit. Because of the requirements for

circumpolar trajectories of the LMLV and its payloads, the use of SLC-6

is the only feasible alternative for LMLV launches within the United

States. As a result of the noise associated with the launch itself and

the resultant sonic boom, these noises have the potential to cause a

startle response to those harbor seals which haul out on the coastline

south and southwest of Vandenberg and may be detectable to marine

mammals west of the Channel Islands. Launch noise would be expected to

occur over the coastal habitats in the vicinity of SLC-6 while low-

level sonic booms could be heard west of the Channel Islands.

Comments and Responses

A notice of receipt of the application and the proposed

authorization was published on May 2, 1996 (61 FR 19609) and a 30-day

public comment period was provided on the application and proposed

authorization. During the comment period, two letters were received.

The comments contained in these letters are addressed below. Other than

information necessary to respond to the comments, additional background

information on the activity and request can be found in the proposed

authorization notice and previous notices (60 FR 24840, May 10, 1995;

60 FR 38308, July 26, 1995) on LMLV launches. Therefore this

information is not repeated here. These documents are available from

NMFS (see ADDRESSES).

Comment 1: The Marine Mammal Commission (MMC) recommended that NMFS

obtain and assess the monitoring results from the 1995 authorization to

determine whether the conclusions made are justified.

Response 1: On August 15, 1995, Lockheed launched an LLV-1 rocket

from SLC-6. Monitoring by population census, still photography, and

video taping, indicated that, as expected, the launch noise produced a

startle and flight response in hauled-out harbor seals at and near

Rocky Point. Populations on beaches used for hauling out were reduced

from approximately 191 animals to 21 animals during the day of the

launch, as a result of launch activities, but returned to pre-launch

status (193 harbor seals) by the morning following the launch (Pollard

1995).

The intensity of sonic booms from the LMLV, which are predicted to

impinge on San Miguel Island at less than 60 dBA, are close enough to

ambient noise that they are not expected to cause any disturbances of

pinnipeds inhabiting the Channel Islands. During the launch of the

first (and only) LLV, no evidence of disturbance to the rookery on San

Miguel Island was observed immediately following the arrival of the

sonic boom created by the rocket (Howorth 1995).

Comment 2: The MMC recommended that NMFS require that any marine

mammal mortalities or serious injuries, or possible mortalities or

injuries, be reported immediately.

Response 2: NMFS agrees and has conditioned the incidental

harassment authorization accordingly.

Comment 3: The MMC recommended that NMFS and the Air Force consult

to determine whether authorization under section 101(a)(5)(A) would be

more appropriate than annual authorizations for each launch vehicle.

Response 3: Several previous authorization notices have noted that

NMFS anticipates that 1-year authorizations for each rocket type will

be replaced in the near future by a new set of regulations, under

section 101(a)(5)(A) of the MMPA, governing incidental takes of marine

mammals by launches of all rocket types from Vandenberg. An application

for a small take authorization under section 101(a)(5)(A) of the MMPA

is presently in preparation by the Air Force.

Comment 4: Save Our Coast was concerned about the adverse effect of

increasing rocket launches from Vandenberg on harbor seals and

considered monitoring to be of utmost importance.

Response 4: Monitoring continues to be required for this and all

incidental harassment authorizations for activities at Vandenberg.

Under the proposed programmatic authorization mentioned in Response 3,

cumulative impacts by all rocket launches at Vandenberg will need to be

addressed.

Conclusion

Since NMFS is assured that the taking will not result in more than

the harassment (as defined by the MMPA Amendments of 1994) of a small

number of harbor seals, would have only a negligible impact on the

species, and would result in the least practicable impact on the stock,

NMFS has determined that the requirements of section 101(a)(5)(D) have

been met and the authorization can be issued.

Authorization

For the above reasons, NMFS has issued an incidental harassment

authorization for 1 year for the above described activity provided the

above

[[Page 38439]]

mentioned mitigation, monitoring and reporting requirements are

undertaken.

Dated: July 17, 1996.

Patricia A. Montanio,

Acting Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine

Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 96-18791 Filed 7-23-96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-22-F