70 FR 64 pgs. 17234-17238 - Incidental Take of Marine Mammals Incidental to SpecifiedActivities; Seismic Retrofit of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, SanFrancisco Bay, CA
Type: NOTICEVolume: 70Number: 64Pages: 17234 - 17238
Docket number: [I.D. 030805A]
FR document: [FR Doc. 05-6715 Filed 4-4-05; 8:45 am]
Agency: Commerce Department
Sub Agency: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Official PDF Version: PDF Version
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[I.D. 030805A]
Incidental Take of Marine Mammals Incidental to SpecifiedActivities; Seismic Retrofit of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, SanFrancisco Bay, CA
AGENCY:
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS),National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION:
Notice of receipt of application and proposedauthorization for an incidental take authorization; request forcomments.
SUMMARY:
NMFS has received a request from the California Department of Transportation (CALTRANS) for a renewal of its Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) to take small numbers of marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to seismic retrofit construction of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge (the Bridge), San Francisco Bay (SFB), CA. Under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is requesting comments on its proposal to renew an incidental take authorization to CALTRANS to incidentally take,by harassment, small numbers of Pacific harbor seals and possibly California sea lions for 1 year.
DATES:
Comments and information must be received nolater than May 5, 2005.
ADDRESSES:
You may submit comments on the application andproposed authorization, using the identifier 030805A, by any of thefollowing methods:
• E-mail: PR1.030805A@noaa.gov -you must include the identifier 030805A in the subject line of the message.Comments sent via e-mail, including all attachments, must not exceed a10-megabyte file size.
• Hand-delivery or mailing of paper, disk, or CD-ROMcomments: Stephen L. Leathery, Chief, Permits, Conservation and EducationDivision, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service,1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910-3225.
To help us process and review your comments more efficiently, please useonly one method. A copy of the application containing a list of referencesused in this document may be obtained by writing to the address above or bytelephoning the contacts listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATIONCONTACT .
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Sarah Hagedorn, NMFS,(301) 713-2322 or Monica DeAngelis, NMFS Southwest Region, (562)980-3232.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Sections 101(a)(5)(A) and (D) of the MMPA (16 U.S.C. 1361 etseq. ) direct the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) to allow, uponrequest, the incidental, but not intentional taking of marine mammals byU.S. citizens who engage in a specified activity (other than commercialfishing) within a specified geographical region if certain findings aremade and regulations are issued.
Permission may be granted if the Secretary finds that the total takingwill have a negligible impact on the species or stock(s), will not have anunmitigable adverse impact on the availability of the species or stock(s)for subsistence uses, and that the permissible methods of taking andrequirements pertaining to the monitoring and reporting of such taking areset forth. NMFS has defined "negligible impact" in 50 CFR216.103 as "an impact resulting from the specified activity thatcannot be reasonably expected to, and is not reasonably likely to,adversely affect the species or stock through effects on annual rates ofrecruitment or survival."
Subsection 101(a)(5)(D) of the MMPA established an expedited process bywhich citizens of the United States can apply for an authorization toincidentally take small numbers of marine mammals by harassment. Exceptfor certain categories of actions not pertinent here, the MMPA defines"harassment" as:
any act of pursuit, torment, or annoyance which (i) has thepotential to injure a marine mammal or marine mammal stock in the wild[Level A harassment]; or (ii) has the potential to disturb a marine mammalor marine mammal stock in the wild by causing disruption of behavioralpatterns, including, but not limited to, migration, breathing, nursing,breeding, feeding, or sheltering [Level B harassment].
Summary of Request
On December 16, 2004, NMFS received a letter from CALTRANS requestingreauthorization of an IHA that was first issued to it on December 16, 1997(62 FR 67045, December 23, 1997), was renewed on January 8, 2000 (65 FR2375, January 14, 2000), September 19, 2001 (66 FR 49165, September 26,2001), September 23, 2002 (67 FR 61323, September 30, 2002), and November19, 2003 (68 FR 66076, November 25, 2003). The authorization renewalrequest is for the possible harassment of small numbers of Pacific harborseals ( Phoca vitulina ) and possibly some California sea lions( Zalophus californianus ), incidental to seismic retrofitconstruction of the Bridge.
The Bridge is being seismically retrofitted to withstand a future severeearthquake. Construction is scheduled to extend through the year 2005. Adetailed description of the work planned is contained in the Final NaturalEnvironmental Study/Biological Assessment for the Richmond-San RafaelBridge Seismic Retrofit Project (CALTRANS, 1996). As in the previous IHAs,activities will include excavation around pier bases, hydro-jet cleaning,installation of steel casings around the piers with a crane, installationof micro-piles, and installation of precast concrete jackets. Foundationconstruction will require approximately 2 months per pier, withconstruction occurring on more than one pier at a time. In addition topier retrofit, superstructure construction and tower retrofit work may alsobe carried out. Other seismic retrofit work will include:
• Installation of isolation bearings, needed to strengthenbridge structure;
• Reinforcement of lower chord members and diagonal trussesby bolting new additional steel members and gusset plates to the existingmembers;
• Cleaning and painting of new and existing steelmembers;
• Removal and replacement of the truss shoe pins;
• Deck rehabilitation and joint replacement at variouslocations on the bridge; and
• Installation of temporary bracing prior to the removal ofthe steel chevron members on the piers followed by the installation ofpermanent Eccentric Braced Frames to provide additional strength.
Because seismic retrofit construction between piers 52 and 57 has thepotential to disturb harbor seals hauled out on Castro Rocks, an IHA iswarranted.
Description of Habitat and Marine Mammals Affected by theActivity
A description of SFB ecosystem and its associated marine mammals can befound in the CALTRANS application (CALTRANS, 1997) and in CALTRANS (1996).Castro Rocks are a small chain of rocky islands located next to the Bridgeand approximately 1500 ft (460 m) north of the Chevron Long Wharf. Theyextend in a southwesterly direction for approximately 800 ft (240 m) frompier 55. The rocks start at about 55 ft (17 m) from pier 55 (A rock) andend at approximately 250 ft (76 m) from pier 53 (F rock). The chain ofrocks is exposed during low tides and inundated during high tide.
Marine Mammals
General information on harbor seals and other marine mammal speciesfound in Central California waters can be found in Forney etal. (2000, 2001), which are available at the following URL: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/prot_res/PR2/Stock_Assessment_Program/sars.html. Please refer to these documents for information on these species. Themarine mammals likely to be affected by work in the Bridge area are limitedto harbor seals and California sea lions.
Harbor seals are widely distributed in the North Atlantic and NorthPacific, and is the only marine mammal species expected to be foundregularly in the Bridge area. The minimum size of the California harborseal population is estimated at 25,720 animals (Forney etal. , 2003). A more detailed description of harbor seals was providedin the 1997 proposed notification of issuance of an authorization (62 FR46480 (September 3, 1997) with corrections and clarifications provided onDecember 23, 1997 (62 FR 67045). This information is not repeated here,but may be found in those Federal Register notices. Pups areborn in mid- to late-March, peak numbers of pups are observed in early May,and, by the first week in June, all pups are weaned (Kopec and Harvey,1995). Estimated total pup counts at Castro Rocks were 35 in 1999, 40 in2000 and 40 in 2001 (A. Bohorquez pers. comm in Green et al. ,2001). This represents approximately 22-24 percent of the pups bornin SFB.
The California sea lion primarily uses the Central SFB area to feed.California sea lions are periodically observed at Castro Rocks. Theminimum population size of the California sea lion (U.S. stock) isestimated to be 138,881 (Forney et al. , 2003). No pupping orregular haulouts occur in the project area. Potential Effects on MarineMammals
The impact to the harbor seals and California sea lions is expected tobe disturbance by the presence of workers, construction noise, andconstruction vessel traffic. Disturbance from these activities is expectedto have only a short-term negligible impact to a small number of harborseals and sea lions. These disturbances will be reduced to the lowestlevel practicable by implementation of the proposed work restrictions andmitigation measures (see Mitigation).
Marine mammal monitoring under previous IHAs has been conducted atCastro Rocks and at two "control" haul-out locations in SFB -Mowry Slough and Yerba Buena Island (Green et al. 2004) since1998. To date, over 14,000 hours of observations have been conducted atthese sites with two-thirds of those hours at Castro Rocks. Whiledisturbances can consist of head alerts, approaches to the water, andflushes into the water, only the latter behavior is considered by NMFS tobe Level B harassment. At Castro Rocks, of all flush disturbancesmonitored during the day, the major harassment sources were watercraft(e.g. motorboats, sailboats, tankers, kayaks and jet skis) with 0.0990disturbances/hr field time (d/hr); wildlife (seals and birds) with 0.0635d/hr; other man-made (debris, workmen on bridge, other people) with 0.0695d/hr; and automobiles with 0.0157 d/hr. Construction activities resultedin 0.0165 d/hr. There were fewer flushes observed at night. More detailedinformation on the extent of disturbance at Castro Rocks by activitiesother than the requested authorization is available in Green et al. (2004).
During the work period (July 16 through March 1), the incidentalharassment of harbor seals and, on rare occasions, California sea lions isexpected to occur on a daily basis. In addition, the number of sealsdisturbed will vary daily depending upon tidal elevations. Monitoringduring construction periods by Green et al. (2004) indicates that althoughoverall seal numbers each month of the year are not significantly differentacross years, there are differences in subsite use by seals at Castro Rocksduring both the daytime and nighttime. For example, the average number ofseals hauled out on Castro Rocks (rocks A and C) during the fall of 2001(when construction activity was taking place within the area of thehaul-out site) was significantly different than the average number of sealshauled out on Castro Rocks during 1998-2000, prior to theconstruction period. For a more detailed discussion on the distribution ofharbor seals during the work and non-work periods and levels of impact byvarious natural and anthropogenic disturbance sources, please see Green et al. (2004) which is available upon request (see ADDRESSES .)
California sea lions have been shown to react to pile driving noise byporpoising quickly away from the site (SRS Technologies, 2001), but it isnot known whether they will react to general construction noise and moveaway from the rocks during construction activities. However, sea lions aregenerally thought to be more tolerant of human activities than harbor sealsand are, therefore, less likely to be affected.
Potential Effects on Habitat
Short-term impacts of the activities are expected to result in atemporary reduction in utilization of the Castro Rocks haulout site whilework is in progress or until seals acclimate to the disturbance. This willnot likely result in any permanent reduction in the number of seals atCastro Rocks. The abandonment of Castro Rocks as a harbor seal haulout androokery is not anticipated since existing traffic noise from the Bridge,commercial activities at the Chevron Long Wharf used for off-loading crudeoil, and considerable recreational boating and commercial shipping thatcurrently occur within the area have not caused long-term abandonment. Inaddition, mitigation measures and work restrictions are designed to preclude abandonment.
Therefore, as described in detail in CALTRANS (1996), other than thepotential short-term abandonment by harbor seals of part or all of CastroRocks during retrofit construction, no impact on the habitat or foodsources of marine mammals are likely from this construction project.
Mitigation
Several mitigation measures to reduce the potential for general noisewill be implemented by CALTRANS as part of their activity. With theexception of the Concrete Trestle Section, between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. nopiles will be driven (i.e., no repetitive pounding of piles) on the Bridgeand noise levels will not exceed 86 dBA at 50 ft (15 m). Seismicretrofitting will cease in the vicinity of Castro Rocks (piers 52 through57) during the pupping/molting restriction period (March 1 through July15).
Previous authorizations (1997-2001) required CALTRANS to complywith the following mitigation measures: (1) A February 15 through July 31restriction on work in the water south of the Bridge center line andretrofit work on the Bridge substructure, towers, superstructure, piers,and pilings from piers 52 through 57; (2) no watercraft will be deployed byCALTRANS employees or contractors during the year within the exclusion zonelocated between piers 52 and 57 except for when construction equipment isrequired for seismic retrofitting of piers 52 through 57; and (3) minimizevessel traffic to the greatest extent practicable in the exclusion zonewhen conducting construction activities between piers 52 and 57. From 1997through September 2002, the boundary of the exclusion zone was rectangularin shape (1700 ft (518 m) by 800 ft (244 m)), completely enclosing CastroRocks and piers 52 through 57, inclusive. The northern boundary of theexclusion zone was located 300 ft (91 m) from the most northern tip ofCastro Rocks, and the southern boundary was located 300 ft (91 m) from themost southern tip of Castro Rocks. The eastern boundary was located 300 ft(91 m) from the most eastern tip of Castro Rocks, and the western boundarywas located 300 ft (91 m) from the most western tip of Castro Rocks. Theexclusion zone is restricted as a controlled access area and is marked offwith buoys and warning signs for the entire year.
In 2002 (see 67 FR 61323, September 30, 2002), NMFS modified theWork/Boat Exclusion Zone (W/BEZ) so that the eastern boundary was shiftedfrom 100 ft (31 m) east of Pier 57 to 100 ft (31 m) west of Pier 57. Thismaintains a 400-ft (122-m) "buffer" as opposed tothe previous 600-ft (183-m) buffer, between the work at Pier 57and "A" rock. This modification is reasonable based onobserved seal behavior during the construction within the W/BEZ that harborseals adjusted their location preference on Castro Rocks by moving westerlyto rocks further from the construction (see discussion previously in thisdocument). However, CALTRANS notes that there has not been a statisticallysignificant change in the total numbers of animals that utilize the CastroRocks haulout. The eastern boundary of the exclusion zone will berelocated to its original position at 300 ft (91 m) from the most easterntip of Castro Rocks upon conclusion of work at Pier 57. This IHA does notinclude any further changes of the exclusion zone and will be identical tothe previous IHA.
In addition to shifting the W/BEZ, in 2002, NMFS extended the period inwhich work was allowed in the vicinity of Castro Rocks from February 15thto March 1st. CALTRANS requested this modification due to unforseencircumstances affecting the ability of the contractor to the seismicretrofit work on Pier 57. The original Work Closure Period (February15-July 31) was designed to encompass the entire harbor seal puppingand breeding seasons and nearly the entire molting season at Castro Rocks.Thus, the Work Closure Period included the entire pupping season at CastroRocks and a substantial pre-pupping period when females are moving intopupping areas (see 62 FR 67045, December 23, 1997). Moving the start ofthe Work Closure Period from February 15th to March 1st still provides a 2-week window prior to the onset of successfulpupping (March 15th), and because NMFS did not find scientific evidenceindicating that female harbor seals need a "quiet period" fromgeneral noise in order to pup successfully, NMFS determined that shiftingthe Work Closure Period from February 15th to March 1st would not have asignificant impact on harbor seal pupping.
In 2002, NMFS also modified the date at which work is allowed to startin the vicinity of Castro Rocks from August 1st to a new date ofJuly 16th . As mentioned in previous documents, newborn harborseal pups are able to swim immediately after birth (Zeiner etal. , 1990) and pups are weaned by the first week of June. Therefore,terminating the Closure Period on July 16th is not expected toaffect pup survival. Under authorizations issued prior to the current IHA,the July 31st ending date for the Work Closure Period was established toprotect harbor seals during the molting season. However, those documentsalso noted that NMFS believed that it is likely that harbor seals evolvedadaptive mechanisms to deal with exposure to the water during the molt.For example, on some harbor seal haul-outs (such as Castro Rocks) duringthe molting season seals must enter the water once or even twice a day dueto tidal fluctuations limiting access to the haul-out. Also, since harborseals lose hair in patches during the molt, they are never completelyhairless and would not be as vulnerable to heat loss in the water duringthis period compared to other seals (e.g., elephant seals) that lose theirall their hair at one time. Finally, NMFS notes that if the levels ofharbor seal disturbance during the molt are relatively high, seals arelikely to utilize other local haul-out sites during the molt (DeLong, R.,pers. comm. 1997; Hanan, D., pers. comm. 1997; Harvey, J., pers. comm.1997). Hanan (1996) found that although harbor seals tagged at an isolatedsouthern California haul-out tended to exhibit site-fidelity during themolt, some seals were observed molting at other nearby haul-outs. Based onthese reasons therefore, NMFS determined that terminating the ClosurePeriod on July 16th would not significantly affect harbor seals ingeneral or molting seals at Castro Rocks in particular.
Monitoring
NMFS will require CALTRANS to continue to monitor the impact of seismicretrofit construction activities on harbor seals at Castro Rocks.Monitoring will be conducted by one or more NMFS-approved monitors.CALTRANS is to monitor at least one additional harbor seal haulout withinSan Francisco Bay to evaluate whether harbor seals use alternative hauloutareas as a result of seismic retrofit disturbance at Castro Rocks.
The monitoring protocol will be divided into the Work Period Phase (July16 through February 28) and the Closure Period Phase (March 1 through July15). During the Work Period Phase and Closure Period Phase, the monitor(s)will conduct observations of seal behavior at least 3 days/week forapproximately one tidal cycle each day at Castro Rocks. The following datawill be recorded: (1) Number of seals and sea lions on site; (2) date; (3)time; (4) tidal height; (5) number of adults, subadults, and pups; (6)number of individuals with red pelage; (7) number of females and males; (8)number of molting seals; and (9) details of any observed disturbances.Concurrently, the monitor(s) will record general construction activity,location, duration, and noise levels. At least two nights/week, themonitor will conduct a harbor seal census after midnight at Castro Rocks.In addition, during the Work Period Phase and prior to any constructionbetween piers 52 and 57, inclusive, the monitor(s) will conduct baselineobservations of seal behavior at Castro Rocks and at the alternativesite(s) once a day for a period of five consecutive days immediately beforethe initiation of construction in the area to establish pre-constructionbehavioral patterns. During the Work Period and Closure Period Phases, themonitor(s) will conduct observations of seal behavior, and collectappropriate data, at the alternative Bay harbor seal haulout at least threedays/week (Work Period) and two days/week (Closure Period), during a lowtide.
In addition, NMFS will require that, immediately following thecompletion of the seismic retrofit construction of the Bridge, themonitor(s) will conduct observations of seal behavior, at Castro Rocks, atleast five days/week for approximately 1 tidal cycle (high tide to hightide) each day, for one week/month during the months of April, July,October, and January. At least two nights/week during this same period,the monitor will conduct an additional harbor seal census aftermidnight.
Reporting
Under previous IHAs, CALTRANS has provided monitoring reports (Green et al. (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004). The findings from thesereports have been summarized previously in this document.
CALTRANS will provide weekly reports to the Southwest RegionalAdministrator (Regional Administrator), NMFS, including a summary of theprevious week's monitoring activities and an estimate of the number ofharbor seals and sea lions that may have been disturbed as a result ofseismic retrofit construction activities. These reports will providedates, time, tidal height, maximum number of harbor seals ashore, number ofadults, sub-adults and pups, number of females/males, number of harborseals with a red pelage, and any observed disturbances. A description ofretrofit activities at the time of observation and any sound pressurelevels measurements made at the haulout will also be provided. A draftinterim report must be submitted to NMFS by September 30, 2005.
Because seismic retrofit activities may continue beyond the date ofexpiration of this IHA (presumably under a new IHA), a draft final reportmust be submitted to the Regional Administrator within 90 days after theexpiration of this IHA. A final report must be submitted to the RegionalAdministrator within 30 days after receiving comments from the RegionalAdministrator on the draft final report. If no comments are received fromNMFS, the draft final report will be considered to be the final report.
CALTRANS will provide NMFS with a follow-up report on thepost-construction monitoring activities within 18 months of projectcompletion in order to evaluate whether haulout patterns are similar to thepre-retrofit haul-out patterns at Castro Rocks.
National Environmental Policy Act
NMFS prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) in 1997 that concludedthat the impacts of CALTRANS' seismic retrofit construction of theRichmond-San Rafael Bridge will not have a significant impact on the humanenvironment. A copy of that EA, which includes the Finding of NoSignificant Impact (FONSI) is available upon request (see ADDRESSES ). This action has not changed significantly from theaction analyzed in the 1997 EA. Therefore, this proposed action is notexpected to change the analysis or conclusion of the 1997 EA.
Endangered Species Act (ESA)
On January 27, 1997, NMFS completed consultation under section 7 of theESA with the Federal Highway Administration on Caltrans' proposed seismicretrofit work on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. That consultationconcluded that the project is not likely to adversely affect winter-runchinook salmon. Issuance of this proposed IHA to Caltrans constitutes anagency action that may affect ESA-listed species and, therefore, is subjectto section 7 of the ESA. Because the proposed underlying action has notchanged significantly from that considered in the consultation, NMFS haspreliminarily determined that issuance of an IHA will not lead to anyeffects to listed species apart from those that were considered in theconsultation on FHWA's action.
Preliminary Conclusions
NMFS has preliminarily determined that the short-term impact of theseismic retrofit construction of the Bridge, as described in this document,should result, at worst, in the temporary modification in behavior by smallnumbers of harbor seals and, possibly, by small numbers of California sealions. While behavioral modifications, including temporarily vacating thehaulout, may be made by these species to avoid the resultant visual andacoustic disturbance, this action is expected to have a negligible impacton the animals. In addition, no take by injury and/or death isanticipated, and harassment takes will be at the lowest level practicabledue to incorporation of the mitigation measures mentioned previously inthis document.
Proposed Authorization
NMFS proposes to renew an IHA to CALTRANS for the potential harassmentof small numbers of harbor seals and California sea lions incidental toseismic retrofit construction of the Bridge, provided the previouslymentioned mitigation, monitoring, and reporting requirements areincorporated. NMFS has preliminarily determined that the proposed activitywould result in the harassment of only small numbers of harbor seals andpossibly California sea lions and will have no more than a negligibleimpact on these marine mammal stocks.
Information Solicited
NMFS requests interested persons to submit comments, information, andsuggestions concerning this request (see ADDRESSES ). Priorto submitting comments, NMFS recommends reviewers of this document read theresponses to comments made previously (see 62 FR 67045, December 23, 1997;65 FR 2375, January 14, 2000; 66 FR 49165, September 26, 2001; 67 FR 61323,September 30, 2002; and 68 FR 66076, 2003) for this action, as NMFS doesnot intend to address these issues further without the submission ofadditional scientific information.
Dated: March 28, 2005.
Donna Wieting,
Acting Director, Office of Protected Resources, National MarineFisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 05-6715 Filed 4-4-05; 8:45 am]
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