Chapter XI — Permits for Marine Mammals 



Sound. The Service prepared an environmental 

 assessment on the request and on 8 November 1994 

 published in the Federal Register a proposed authori- 

 zation for public review and comment. 



The Commission provided comments on the 

 proposed authorization and environmental assessment 

 by letter of 8 December 1994. The Commission 

 concurred with the Service's assessment that the 

 planned project likely would affect only a small 

 number of harbor seals by harassment only and would 

 have a negligible impact on the local harbor seal 

 population. The Commission noted, however, that the 

 details of the monitoring program to be conducted to 

 verify that any effects were, in fact, negligible had yet 

 to be agreed on by the Service and the applicant. The 

 Commission recommended that the proposed small- 

 take authorization not be issued until the uncertainties 

 concerning the monitoring program had been resolved 

 and the Service was able to conclude that the program 

 was adequate to detect any non-negligible effects. 



The requested authorization was issued by the 

 Service on 12 January 1995, incorporating most of the 

 Commission's recommendations. 



Lockheed Vehicle Launches from 

 Vandenberg Air Force Base, California 



On 10 May 1995 the National Marine Fisheries 

 Service published in the Federal Register a notice of 

 receipt of an application from the Lockheed Environ- 

 mental Systems and Technology Company for authori- 

 zation to take small numbers of harbor seals by 

 harassment incidental to launches of space vehicles 

 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The 

 Federal Register notice indicated that the Service 

 proposed to issue a one-year authorization, with 

 prescribed requirements for monitoring and reporting. 



The Marine Mammal Commission, in consultation 

 with its Committee of Scientific Advisors, reviewed 

 the information provided in the proposed authorization 

 and forwarded comments to the National Marine 

 Fisheries Service on 14 June 1995. The Commission 

 noted that, although information provided by the 

 applicant indicated that young seals possibly could be 

 harmed or killed as a result of startle responses, the 



Service apparently had concluded that taking other 

 than by harassment was extremely unlikely. Because 

 the authorization was being requested pursuant to 

 section 101(a)(5)(D) of the Marine Mammal Protec- 

 tion Act (which allows for issuance of small-take 

 authorizations for taking by harassment only), the 

 Commission advised the Service to ensure the appli- 

 cant was aware that taking by means other than 

 harassment would not be covered by the authorization 

 and would constitute a violation of the Act. 



The Commission also noted that information 

 provided in the Federal Register indicated that, in 

 addition to harbor seals, other pinniped species, 

 several species of cetaceans, and sea otters are known 

 to occur in areas where they could be exposed to 

 noise from vehicle launches. The Commission 

 recommended that the Service consult with the appli- 

 cant to determine whether additional species should be 

 included in the request for a small-take authorization. 



The Commission further noted that the applicant 

 proposed to monitor the effects of vehicle launches by 

 simultaneously measuring noise levels and videotaping 

 harbor seal behavior. However, the proposal did not 

 indicate where the monitoring would be done or why 

 the planned monitoring program was believed suffi- 

 cient to verify that any taking would be by harassment 

 only. The Commission pointed out that monitoring 

 should be done in all areas where taking might occur, 

 not just at harbor seal haul-out sites near Vandenberg. 



The requested authorization was issued 19 July 

 1995 authorizing the incidental harassment of a small 

 but unspecified number of Pacific harbor seals during 

 Lockheed's vehicle launches from Vandenberg. It re- 

 quired monitoring of harbor seals and noise-level 

 measurements on San Miguel Island, as well as the 

 Rocky Point haul-out site near Vandenberg, prior to, 

 during, and following launches. The Service provided 

 its reasons for not authorizing small takes of other 

 species in a 26 July 1995 Federal Register notice. 



Delta II Rocket Launches 



from Vandenberg Air Force Base 



On 12 July 1995 the National Marine Fisheries 

 Service received an application from the U.S. Air 



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