Page 21 - IAGC The Voice 2017

NMFS' 2016 Technical Guidance for Assessing the Effects of
Anthropogenic Sound on Marine Mammal Hearing (Level
A Acoustic Guidance) established new acoustic criteria for
assessing potential Level A harassment under the MMPA.
The application of the 2016 Guidance presented significant
risk that the preparation of MMPA Incidental Take
Authorization (ITA) applications would be more
burdensome and time-consuming and would cause NMFS
NOAA/NMFS 2016 & 2017 processing of those applications to be delayed.

As a direct result of Executive Order 13795 in April 2017,
LEVEL A ACOUSTIC GUIDANCE America-First Offshore Energy Strategy, NOAA/NMFS re-
opened the comment period for the Level A Acoustic
Guidance. The IAGC filed a joint-trades comment letter
on 17 July 2017 asking for a more rigorous peer-reviewed
and public process along with some substantive changes to
the current guidance.

The IAGC and API's comments offer ideas on how NMFS
may improve the application of the Technical Guidance to
be consistent with the Executive Orders issued earlier this
year. The comments request that NMFS considers and
incorporates these comments, prepare a new draft version
of the Technical Guidance, provide that draft for public
review and comment, and then promptly issue a new,
improved version of the Technical Guidance.

The Technical Guidance, which may be available later this
year or early next year is relevant to essential offshore
geophysical activities because federal agencies and permit
applicants may use the guidance to determine the potential
effects of those activities on marine mammals.

Joint comments from the IAGC, API, NOIA and the Offshore
Operators Committee (OOC) cite several flaws in the Gulf of
Mexico Incidental Take Regulations Application. Those flaws
include the Application's requested levels of Incidental Take
are not supported by the best available science, the lack of
consideration of the beneficial effects of mitigation measures
as part of the proposed action, and the overly conservative
modeling that BOEM admits does not accurately reflect the REVISED APPLICATION FOR
anticipated impact.
MARINE MAMMAL INCIDENTAL
Consequently, the Application does not accurately present TAKE REGULATIONS FOR GOM
the number of Incidental Takes that are "likely to occur," does
not clearly present the species and number of marine GEOPHYSICAL SURVEYS
mammals likely to be found within the activity area and does
not have sufficient statistical inference to support the
interpretation of modeled results. It also fails to present a
practicability assessment and presents little information
about the proposed monitoring plan.

NMFS is expected to issue draft Incidental Take Regulations
by the end of 2017.
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