Biological Opinion on the Issuance of a Letter of Authorization under the MMPA to Hilcorp Alaska, LLC and Eni U.S. Operating Co. Inc. for the Construction, Maintenance, and Use of Sea Ice Roads and Trails on the North Slope, Beaufort Sea, AK, 2020 to 2025
March 26, 2020
ESA Section 7 Biological Opinion on the Issuance of a LOA to Hilcorp Alaska, LLC and Eni U.S. Operating Co. Inc. for Sea Ice Roads and Trails on the North Slope, Beaufort Sea, Alaska, 2020 to 2025, NMFS Consultation Number: AKRO-2019-00194.
In this document, the action agency is NMFS’s Office of Protected Resources – Permits and Conservation Division (Permits Division). Permits Division proposes to issue a Letter of Authorization pursuant to section 101(a)(5)(A) of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, as amended (MMPA) (16 U.S.C. § 1371(a)(5)(A)), to take marine mammals by harassment incidental to ice road, trail, and pad construction, use, and maintenance, in the waters of the Beaufort Sea, by Hilcorp Alaska, LLC and Eni U.S. Operating Company Incorporated from April 2020 to March 2025. The consulting agency for this proposal is NMFS’s Alaska Region.
This document represents NMFS’s biological opinion on the effects of this proposal on endangered and threatened species and designated critical habitat.