Interior Department, Fish and Wildlife Service
We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, propose to revise a portion of our regulations under the Marine Mammal Protection Act pertaining to incidental take of marine mammals. Existing regulations authorize the nonlethal, incidental, unintentional take by harassment of small numbers of polar bears from the Southern Beaufort Sea stock and Pacific walruses during year-round oil and gas industry activities in the Beaufort Sea (Alaska and the Outer Continental Shelf) and adjacent northern coast of Alaska. Such take may result from oil and gas exploration, development, production, and transportation activities occurring through August 5, 2026. The proposed revisions would authorize incidental take by Level A harassment of polar bears in addition to the incidental Level B harassment of polar bears and Pacific walruses already authorized in the existing regulations. No lethal take is or would be authorized. We request comments on these proposed regulations.
Document Headings Document headings vary by document type but may contain the following: the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document the number of the CFR title and the number of each part the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly related to the agency docket number / agency internal file number the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions See the Document Drafting Handbook for more details. Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service 50 CFR Part 18 [Docket No. FWS-R7-ES-2024-0140; FXES111607MRG01-245-FF07CAMM00] RIN 1018-BI09 AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior. ACTION: Proposed rule; availability of draft environmental assessment; request for comments. SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, propose to revise a portion of our regulations under the Marine Mammal Protection Act pertaining to incidental take of marine mammals. Existing regulations authorize the nonlethal, incidental, unintentional take by harassment of small numbers of polar bears from the Southern Beaufort Sea stock and Pacific walruses during year-round oil and gas industry activities in the Beaufort Sea (Alaska and the Outer Continental Shelf) and adjacent northern coast of Alaska. Such take may result from oil and gas exploration, development, production, and transportation activities occurring through August 5, 2026. The proposed revisions would authorize incidental take by Level A harassment of polar bears in addition to the incidental Level B harassment of polar bears and Pacific walruses already authorized in the existing regulations. No lethal take is or would be authorized. We request comments on these proposed regulations. DATES: Comments on these proposed revisions to our incidental take regulations and the accompanying draft supplemental environmental assessment will be accepted on or before December 9, 2024. Information Collection Requirements: If you wish t…
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Citation: 89 FR 88216
