Marine mammals: Incidental taking; authorization letters, etc.— Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA; 30th Space Wing, U.S. Air Force; rocket launches; seals and sea lions,

[Federal Register: October 8, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 195)]

[Notices]

[Page 54866-54868]

From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

[DOCID:fr08oc99-68]

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 080599C]

Taking and Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Rocket Launches

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

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Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of issuance of a modification to a letter of authorization.

SUMMARY: NMFS has amended the Letter of Authorization (LOA) issued on April 2, 1999, to the 30‹SUP›th‹/SUP› Space Wing, U.S. Air Force at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California (Vandenberg), to include an additional rocket type to its list of launch vehicles authorized to harass seals and sea lions incidental to launch activities.

DATES: Effective from October 14, 1999, through April 2, 2000.

ADDRESSES: A copy of the request for modification, the LOA and the supporting documentation are available for review during regular business hours in the following offices: Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910, and the Southwest Region, NMFS, 501 West Ocean Boulevard, Suite 4200, Long Beach, CA 90802.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kenneth R. Hollingshead, Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, (301) 713-2055, or Christina Fahy, NMFS, (562) 980-4023.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 101(a)(5)(A) of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.; the MMPA) directs NMFS to 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.

Permission 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 pertaining to the monitoring and reporting of such taking. Regulations governing the taking of seals and sea lions incidental to missile and rocket launches, aircraft flight test operations, and helicopter operations at Vandenberg were published on March 1, 1999 (64 FR 9925), and remain in effect until December 31, 2003.

In accordance with the MMPA, as amended, and implementing regulations, a 1-year LOA to take small numbers of seals and sea lions was issued on April 2, 1999, to the 30‹SUP›th‹/SUP› Space Wing (64 FR 17145, April 8, 1999). On August 3, 1999, the 30‹SUP›th‹/SUP› Space Wing requested NMFS to amend the LOA to include a new rocket, the Minotaur, to the list of rockets authorized to take harbor seals and California sea lions incidental to activities at Vandenberg. The U.S. Air Force did not request NMFS to increase the number of annual launches from Vandenberg that are authorized to take marine mammals under the LOA.

Comments and Responses

On August 18, 1999 (64 FR 44893), NMFS published a notice of receipt of, and requested public comment on, the request. During the 15-day public comment period, one letter was received. The U.S. Marine Mammal Commission noted that it had no objection to NMFS' issuance of the requested modification.

Discussion and Analysis

Spaceport Systems International (SSI) wants to begin launching the OSP Space Launch Vehicle, the Minotaur rocket, from the California Commercial Spaceport (CCS) on Vandenberg. The Minotaur contains 2 segments of Minuteman II solid-fuel motors and 2 Orion upperstage motors. According to SSI, the sound emitted during the launch should be no more than what a Minuteman II would emit.

Because this is a new launch vehicle, it was not included in the LOA issued to Vandenberg on April 2, 1999. Therefore, in order for NMFS to authorize the takings by harassment incidental to this new rocket, NMFS must be assured that the takings will not exceed the level of incidental harassment considered when it made its negligible impact finding on March 1, 1999 (64 FR 9925). First, Vandenberg is authorized to harass pinnipeds incidental to 10 missile launches from North Vandenberg and 20 rocket launches annually from South Vandenberg. This authorized level of launches for incidental takes of marine mammals will not be modified by NMFS to add this additional rocket to the LOA. Second, as mentioned previously, the Minotaur rocket consists of the first two segments of Minuteman II solid-fuel motors and two Orion upperstage motors. For incidental takes of pinnipeds on the Vandenberg coastline, only the first one or two motors are important for assessing impacts along the California coast. The Minotaur, like the Minuteman II missiles launched from North Vandenberg, use Thiokol first-stage rocket motor with 202,600 pounds (lbs) of thrust and a second-stage motor made by Aerojet with 60,000 lbs of thrust. As a result, launch noises would be similar to those expected at North Vandenberg during a Minuteman II launch.

Third, Vandenberg has requested a small take of harbor seals (and possibly a few California sea lions) by incidental harassment for this rocket launched from the CCS, an area close to Space Launch Complex (SLC)-6. While the CCS was identified in the 30‹SUP›th‹/SUP› Space Wing's July 11, 1997, application for a small take authorization and in the U.S. Air Force's Programmatic Operations Environmental Assessment for small takes of marine mammals, because the CCS was under construction at the time, no rocket types were identified for launching at that time of the application to NMFS. As a result, an incidental take assessment could not be made for this location by either NMFS or the 30‹SUP›th‹/SUP› Space Wing during the rulemaking. However, impacts to pinnipeds from launches at nearby SLC-6 by Lockheed Martin's family of Athena rockets was analyzed on July 21, 1998 (63 FR 39055) and previously (see 60 FR 24840, May 10, 1995).

Finally, because the Minotaur rocket's first stage solid-fuel booster is half the size of the first-stage booster of the Athena 1 launched from SLC-6, it can be expected to impact the nearby harbor seal haulouts to a lesser, but unknown, level than the Athena. NMFS estimated that the Athena rocket would, under typical conditions, result in a sound pressure level of 127 dB (107 dBA) re 20 ‹greek-m›Pa at the harbor seal haulouts at Rocky

Point, which are about 1.5 mi (2.4 km) to the south and southwest of SLC-6. This level is sufficient to cause harbor seals to leave the beach at Point Arguello, Rocky Point, and Boathouse Flats. However, because the CCS is only 1 mile (1.6 km) from the closest haulout at Rocky Point whereas SLC-6 is approximately 2.5 mi (4.0 km) away from the nearest haulout, NMFS expects that SPLs from the launch of the Minotaur will be similar to levels expected from the Athena rocket at the Rocky Point haulout.

Because the addition of the Minotaur rocket to the launch list at Vandenberg will not result in an increase in the

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number of launches authorized to take pinnipeds under the LOA, NMFS does not expect additional cumulative impacts to occur and therefore, NMFS has determined that the takes will remain small and not have more than a negligible impact on seals and sea lions at Vandenberg.

Monitoring and Reporting

Because this is a new launch vehicle, the 30‹SUP›th‹/SUP› Space Wing is required under the LOA to measure the noise profiles from the rocket at the time of its first launch and to monitor impacts on marine mammals at nearby active, pinniped haulouts.

Dated: October 4, 1999. Art Jeffers, Deputy Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 99-26390Filed10-7-99; 8:45 am]

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