Environmental Assessment on Issuing a Scientific Research and Enhancement Permit to the Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program to Include Hot Branding, Unmanned Aircraft Systems, and Vaccinations

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) proposes to issue Permit No. 18786 to the NMFS Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program (MMHSRP) for takes of marine mammals under NMFS jurisdiction for enhancement and research, pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, as amended (MMPA; 16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) and the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). The permit would be valid for five years and would authorize the MMHSRP to conduct emergency response of ESA-listed marine mammals, disentanglements of and health-related research on all marine mammals, and collection, receipt, transfer, import, export, analysis, and curation of marine mammal specimens. The Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) for the MMHSRP (NMFS 2009) evaluated the effects of the various enhancement and research activities conducted by the MMHSRP. The Final PEIS did not evaluate new actions proposed by the MMHSRP: hot branding, unmanned aircraft system (UAS) use, and vaccinations. This environmental assessment supplements the analysis in the PEIS to evaluate the effects of using hot brands, UAS, and vaccinations during emergency response or research activities conducted by the MMHSRP.