All Protected Resources Regulations & Actions
Incidental Take Authorization: Ocean Wind, LLC Marine Site Characterization Surveys off of New Jersey
NOAA Fisheries has issued an incidental harassment authorization (IHA) to Ocean Wind, LLC to incidentally harass, by Level B harassment only, marine mammals during marine site characterization surveys off of New Jersey in the area of Commercial Lease of…
Published
05/14/2021
Incidental Take Authorization: Oil and Gas Industry Geophysical Survey Activity in the Gulf of Mexico
NOAA Fisheries, upon request from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), has issued regulations to govern the unintentional taking of marine mammals incidental to geophysical survey activities conducted by oil and gas industry operators, and…
- Final Rule
- Correction- Final Rule
- Paperwork Reduction Act Information Collection Request
- Proposed Rule
- Notice of Receipt of Application for Incidental Take Regulations
- Application for Incidental Take Regulations (pdf, 192 pages)
- Application Addendum- BOEM Notice to NMFS of Revised Scope of Action (pdf, 4 pa…
- Application Addendum- BOEM Revised Acoustic Exposure Estimates (pdf, 17 pages)
- Application Addendum- BOEM Revised Action Area Map (pdf, 1 page)
- Acoustic Modelling Report (pdf, 385 pages)
- Acoustic Modeling Report Addendum (pdf, 6 pages)
- Cumulative and Chronic Effects Report (pdf, 50 pages)
- Cumulative and Chronic Effects Report Addendum (pdf, 12 pages)
- Gulf of Mexico Acoustic Exposure Model Variable Analysis (pdf, 171 pages)
- Expert Working Group Report (Southall et al., 2017) (pdf, 26 pages)
- Public Comments Received on Notice of Receipt (pdf, 195 pages)
- Public Comments Received on Proposed Rule
- Regulatory Impact Analysis- Proposed Rule (pdf, 209 pages)
- Regulatory Impact Analysis- Final Rule (pdf, 117 pages)
- Regulatory Impact Analysis Appendices- Final Rule (pdf, 70 pages)
- References Cited (pdf, 45 pages)
- Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement
- Record of Decision (pdf, 11 pages)
- Biological Opinion
- Final Rule (pdf, 462 pages) Initially posted 12/8/2020.
Effective
04/19/2021
Incidental Take Authorization: Dominion Energy Virginia Marine Site Characterization Surveys off of Coastal Virginia
NOAA Fisheries has issued a modified incidental harassment authorization (IHA) to Dominion Energy Virginia to incidentally harass marine mammals incidental to marine site characterization surveys conducted in the areas of the Commercial Lease of…
- Notice of Issued Modified IHA (2021)
- Notice of Proposed Modified IHA (2021)
- Notice of Issued Modified IHA (2020)
- Notice of Proposed Modified IHA (2020)
- Notice of Issued IHA
- Notice of Proposed IHA
- Issued Modified IHA, 2021 (pdf, 13 pages)
- Issued Modified IHA, 2020 (pdf, 13 pages)
- Issued Initial IHA, 2020 (pdf, 14 pages)
- Application (pdf, 196 pages)
- Public Comments on Initial IHA, 2020 (pdf, 33 pages)
- Public Comments on Modified IHA, 2020 (pdf, 5 pages)
- Public Comments on Modified IHA, 2021 (pdf, 48 pages)
- References (pdf, 14 pages)
Effective
04/12/2021
Incidental Take Authorization: Skipjack Offshore Energy, LLC Marine Site Characterization Surveys Offshore of Delaware
NOAA Fisheries has issued an incidental harassment authorization to Skipjack Offshore Energy, LLC to incidentally harass, by Level B harassment only, marine mammals during marine site characterization surveys offshore of Delaware in the area of the…
Effective
04/05/2021
Incidental Take Authorization: NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center Fisheries and Ecosystem Research Activities in the California Current and
NOAA Fisheries' Office of Protected Resources has issued regulations to govern the unintentional taking of marine mammals incidental to fisheries research conducted in multiple specified geographical regions over the course of five years. These…
- LOA- Antarctic Marine Living Resources Ecosystem (pdf, 7 pages)
- LOA- California Current Ecosystem (pdf, 10 pages)
- LOA Application (pdf, 198 pages)
- Environmental Assessment (pdf, 307 pages)
- Environmental Assessment Appendices (pdf, 77 pages)
- FONSI (pdf, 4 pages)
- Environmental Assessment Adoption Memo (pdf, 5 pages)
- Biological Opinion (pdf, 235 pages, use Internet Explorer to open)
- Public Comments
- References (pdf, 5 pages)
Effective
01/15/2021
Incidental Take Authorization: U.S. Navy Northwest Training and Testing (NWTT) (2020)
NOAA Fisheries, upon request from the U.S. Navy, has issued regulations pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act to govern the taking of marine mammals incidental to the training and testing activities conducted in the Northwest Training and Testing…
- Testing LOA (pdf, 38 pages)
- Training LOA (pdf, 37 pages)
- Revised LOA Application (pdf, 442 pages)
- LOA Application (pdf, 452 pages)
- Notification and Reporting Plan (pdf, 4 pages)
- Monitoring and Reporting
- Biological Opinion
- Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (External Link)
- Environmental Impact Statement (External Link)
- Public Comments (External Link)
- References- Proposed Rule (pdf, 32 pages)
- References- Final Rule (pdf, 36 pages)
Effective
11/09/2020
Incidental Take Authorization: U.S. Navy Mariana Islands Training and Testing (MITT)
NOAA Fisheries, upon request from the U.S. Navy (Navy), has issued regulations pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) to govern the taking of marine mammals incidental to the training and testing activities conducted in the Mariana Islands…
- Letter of Authorization (pdf, 33 pages)
- Revised LOA Application (pdf, 325 pages)
- LOA Application (pdf, 318 pages)
- Monitoring and Reporting
- Notification and Reporting Plan (pdf, 4 pages)
- Biological Opinion
- Environmental Impact Statement
- Public Comments
- NRDC Comment Letter (pdf, 37 pages)
- References (pdf, 25 pages)
Effective
07/31/2020
Incidental Take Authorization: Mayflower Wind Energy, LLC Marine Site Characterization Surveys off of Massachusetts
NOAA Fisheries has issued an incidental harassment authorization to Mayflower Wind Energy LLC to incidentally harass, by Level B harassment only, marine mammals during site characterization surveys off the coast of Massachusetts in the area of the…
Effective
07/23/2020
Incidental Take Authorization: U.S. Navy Hawaii-Southern California Training and Testing (HSTT) (2018-2025)
NOAA Fisheries has issued regulations pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) to govern the taking of marine mammals incidental to the training and testing activities conducted in the Hawaii-Southern California Training and Testing (HSTT)…
- Final Rule for 2 Year Extension
- Proposed Rule for 2 Year Extension
- Notice of Receipt of Application for 2 Year Extension
- Final Rule
- Proposed Rule
- Notice of Receipt of Application for LOA
- LOA for Testing (pdf, 38 pages)
- LOA for Training (pdf, 38 pages)
- Application for Extension (pdf, 84 pages)
- LOA and Rule Application (pdf, 580 pages)
- Monitoring Reports (External Link)
- Environmental Impact Statement (External Link)
- Mitigation Addendum (pdf, 12 pages)
- Notification and Reporting Plan (pdf, 4 pages)
- Final Biological Opinion (pdf, 683 pages)
- Public Comments (External Link)
- References (pdf, 15 pages)
Published
07/10/2020
Incidental Take Authorization: Vineyard Wind LLC Marine Site Characterization Surveys off of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New York
NOAA Fisheries has received a request from Vineyard Wind, LLC (Vineyard Wind) for the re-issuance of a previously issued incidental harassment authorization (IHA) with the only change being effective dates. The initial IHA authorized take of 14 species…
Effective
06/21/2020