NOAA NEPA Document Database

NMFS has received an application from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to take marine mammals, by harassment incidental to conducting a one-day field-based land survey of cultural sites located on a small island within the eastern Aleutian Islands archipelago for a land claim made by an Alaska Regional Native Corporation under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. The proposed date for this action would be on one day between the periods of June 1 through July 31, 2015. Per the Marine Mammal Protection Act, NMFS is requesting comments on the proposal to issue an Authorization to BLM to incidentally take, by Level B harassment only, one species of marine mammal during the specified activity.

The Navy plans to conduct a wharf maintenance project involving replacement of four piles at an existing wharf. NMFS\' proposed action is the issuance of an MMPA authorization for the take of marine mammals incidental to the Navy\'s wharf maintenance project.

The proposed action is issuance of a major modification to Permit No. 17183-01 to increase the number of ESA-listed sea turtles that may be taken during research. Take activities may result in short-lived harassment or harm but are not likely to result in serious injury or mortality. No other portions of the environment are expected to be impacted.

Provide ESA compliance through ESA section 4(d) Limit 6 for 10 hatchery programs in the Hood Canal (Puget Sound) operated by tribes and the State of Washington.

The purpose of this proposed action is to modify trip limits, accountability measures, electronic reporting requirements, and gillnet permits for commercial king mackerel landed by gillnet in the Gulf of Mexico. The need for this proposed action is to increase efficiency, stability, and accountability, and reduce the potential for regulatory discards in the commercial king mackerel gillnet component of the fishery.

Amendment 101. The proposed rule would allow fishermen to use longline pot gear in addition to hook-and-line gear to harvest sablefish in the individual fishing quota (IFQ) fishery in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). Sablefish caught on hook-and-line gear are eaten or damaged (depredation) by sperm and killer. Sablefish mortality from whale depredation is difficult to measure, but increases the fishing costs and the uncertainty in sablefish abundance indices. Research into whale deterrence strategies and changes in fishing practices has not resolved the problem. The use of longline pot gear to harvest sablefish could reduce whale and seabird interactions with fishing gear, reduce sablefish mortality from whale depredation, and increase efficiency of the IFQ fishery. The proposed rule would implement management measures intended to provide equitable fishing opportunities for sablefish IFQ fishermen using either gear type. The proposed rule would allow retention of Pacific halibut caught incidentally in longline pot gear if the fisherman holds sufficient halibut IFQ and the International Pacific Halibut Commission implements complementary regulations. No effects are expected on the physical environment, habitat, groundfish (other than sablefish), ecosystem component species (other than halibut), and ecosystem components of the environment because harvest limits and habitat protections would not be changed by the proposed rule. The potentially affected resource components are: sablefish, halibut, marine mammals (specifically sperm and killer whales), seabirds, and socioeconomics.

Southwest Fisheries Science Center proposes to continue its existing fisheries research programs with the addition of certain mitigation measures designed to avoid and reduce interactions with marine mammals and other protected species. Southwest Fisheries Science Center is seeking a Letter of Authorization to incidentally take marine mammals in the course of executing its fisheries research programs.

The proposed action is to amend the permit to:
1) extend the action area to include all U.S. waters from Maine to Florida to the limit of the Exclusive Economic Zone;
2) add harassment during aerial surveys;
3) add Blainsville’s beaked whale (Mesoplodon densirostris), false killer whales (Pseudorca crassidens), hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata), loggerhead (Caretta caretta), Kemp’s ridley (Lepidochelys kempii), and green (Chelonia mydas) sea turtles to the species that may be harassed;
4) change the frequency of vessel-based surveys from once per season to twice a month, year-round; and
5) increase the number of marine mammals and sea turtles that could be harassed.

The proposed action is NMFS' domestic implementation of the conservation and management measures of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, pursuant to the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission Implementation Act, on the "tropical tunas" or bigeye tuna, yellowfin tuna, and skipjack tuna from 2015 through the end of 2020. A rulemaking associated with one aspect of the Programmatic EA must be made effective before a certain longline bigeye tuna catch limit is reached, which could be as early as August 2015, if not earlier. A rulemaking associated with one aspect of the Programmatic EA must be made effective before a certain longline bigeye tuna catch limit is reached, which could be as early as August 2015, if not earlier. As such, we will be providing a copy of the programmatic EA and FONSI to PPI when the proposed rule publishes and requesting that PPI conduct its review during the public comment period, rather than after the public comment period ends.

AK LNG proposes to conduct a geophysical and geotechnical survey in Cook Inlet investigate the technical suitability of a pipeline study corridor across Cook Inlet and potential marine terminal locations near Nikiski. The proposed activity would occur for 12 weeks during the 2015 open water season after August 7, 2015. The following specific aspects of the proposed activities are likely to result in the take of marine mammals: sub-bottom profiler (chirp and boomer), vibracoring, and a seismic airgun. Take, by Level B Harassment only, of individuals of four species is anticipated to result from the specified activities.

The final authorization must be issued by August 7, 2015. We are hoping to issue the proposed IHA in the next two weeks.

The timeline is accelerated and Cook Inlet energy projects are generally controversial.

NMFS proposes to specify a catch limit of 2,000 metric tons (mt) of longline-caught bigeye tuna for each of the pelagic longline fisheries of American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands in 2015. NMFS also proposes to authorize each U.S. territory to allocate and transfer up to 1,000 mt of its 2,000 mt bigeye tuna limit to a U.S. longline fishing vessel or vessels based in another U.S. territory or Hawaii, and identified in a specified fishing agreement applicable to the territory. NMFS will monitor catches of longline-caught bigeye tuna by the longline fisheries of each U.S territory, including catches made U.S. longline vessels operating under specified fishing agreements. If NMFS projects that a longline fishery will reach a territorial catch limit, NMFS would prohibit the retention of longline-caught bigeye tuna in the applicable territory. If NMFS projects that the longline fishery will reach a territorial allocation limit under a specified fishing agreement, NMFS would prohibit the retention of longline-caught bigeye tuna in the appropriate fishery. The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council recommended the proposed limits, which are identical to those that NMFS implemented in 2014, consistent with the process set forth in the Fishery Ecosystem Plan for Pelagic Fisheries of the Western Pacific Region.

Specified fishing arrangements allow U.S. vessels to contribute funds to the Western Pacific Sustainable Fisheries Fund. This, in turn, supports NMFS-approved fisheries development projects identified in a U.S. territory’s marine conservation plan. The proposed action would help ensure that territory longline fisheries continue to have access to bigeye tuna, and would support the responsible development of pelagic fisheries in the U.S. territories. The proposed specifications would provide U.S. longline vessels participating in the Hawaii longline fishery up to 1,000 mt of bigeye tuna through each specified fishing agreement.

The fishery would not change under any alternative in a way that has not already been considered in existing consultations.

This proposed action must be completed in a timely manner because the Hawaii longline fishery is expected to reach the U.S. bigeye tuna catch limit of 3,502 mt in September 2015. The proposed action would prevent the fishery from reaching this limit and prevent a possible restriction on catch and retention of bigeye tuna by Hawaii longline vessels.

NMFS expects to have a draft EA for PPI by July 2015. Although the proposed action would specify limits only for 2015, the EA analyzes the potential impacts of the proposed action in 2015 and 2016. We will likely request PPI review concurrent with public review.

This document considers several potential actions including limits for individual potential sector contributions and permits. It also considers establishing an inshore/offshore GOM cod allocation and a redfish fishery.

This action will restrict fishing with bottom-tending gear in a broad zone and 15 discrete zones to protect deep-sea corals. The red crab fishery will be exempt from these restrictions.

Just "inherited" this acion from a Trustee Council that NOAA is now a member of. CERCLA case for contaminated industrial site in Texas. Trustees arte preparing a DARP-EA to comply with requirements and intend to mitigate/compensate public for lost resources and services. Restoration would include estuarine marsh habitat, freshwater wetlands, and terrestrial uplands.

Anticipate release of Draft DARP-EA for public comment June 26; 30-day comment period; hope to complete preliminary draft for Final DARP-EA and FONSI as soon as possible; would like to have cleared by end of July or asap.

There are no known controversial or significant potential impacts, and the Trustees anticipate this will be a routine NEPA process. The main issue to be aware of is the timing is critical - the DARP-EA must be completed as soon as possible so that some of the required transactions can occur this summer, due to landuse needs and resource management windows.

Amendment 111. This document analyzes proposed management measures to reduce Pacific halibut prohibited species catch (PSC) mortality limits in the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands (BSAI) groundfish fisheries. PSC limit reductions are considered for various sectors, including the BSAI trawl limited access sector, the Amendment 80 sector, longline catcher vessels, longline catcher processors, and the Community Development Quota sector (i.e., a reduction to the CDQ’s allocated prohibited species quota reserve). The objective of reducing PSC limits would be to minimize bycatch to the extent practicable and provide additional harvest opportunities in the directed halibut fishery. This action is not anticipated to have significant impacts to protected species.

Supplemental document to take into consideration effects of the prohibition on bunkering that are affecting the U.S. purse seine fleet during a fishery closure on the high seas and U.S. EEZ in the western and central Pacific Ocean as part of a final rule package. These effects were not considered in the previous EA for the interim rule. NMFS is also undertaking a separate but related interim rule to remove the bunkering prohibitions, due to the economic consequences being experienced by the fleet.

Environmental Assessment for a Rule to Implement Decisions of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission for: Fishing Effort Limits in Purse Seine Fisheries for 2015 -- RIN 0648-BF03

Due to the economic consequences being experienced by the fleet, we are attempted to issue this final rule and the related interim rule as soon as possible.

NMFS proposes to allow large federally permitted U.S. longline vessels to fish in certain areas of the Large Vessel Prohibited Area (LVPA) around Swains Island, Tutuila, and the Manua Islands. NMFS would continue to prohibit fishing in the LVPA by large purse seine vessels. The fishing requirements for the Rose Atoll Marine National Monument would remain unchanged. The intent of the proposed rule is to improve the viability of the American Samoa longline fishery.

This EIS replaces and extends an Environmental Assessment, registered with PPI as "Proposed ESA determination on three early-winter steelhead hatchery programs in the Nooksack, Stillaguamish, and Dungeness River basins of Washington State." The proposed action under the EIS Is NMFS' potential approval of five management plans for early winter steelhead hatchery programs in Puget Sound. Potentially significant impacts may occur to listed Puget Sound steelhead and salmon.

NOAA’s proposed action is implementation of the preferred restoration alternative, to enhance estuarine fish habitat in the affected area by restoring 1.2 acres of salt marsh.

RC hopes to have this action clearedand signed by Aug 17

NOAA Fisheries and the US Fish and Wildlife Service are jointly publishing a final rule to revise the regulatory definition of "destruction or adverse modification" of critical habitat to replace the definition that was invalidated by U.S. Circuit Courts in 2001 and 2004. This rule formalizes guidance that was issued by NOAA Fisheries and the US Fish and Wildlife Service in 2004 and 2005, respectively.

We hope to send the Final Rule to OMB in August 2015.

During our 150 day review period, we solicited comments on whether an EA was necessary. We do not intend to solicit additional public comments on this action (or the NEPA process)