Regulacje i polityka gospodarcza · 9.12.1999

Marine Mammals; Incidental Take During Specified Activities

These proposed regulations would authorize the incidental, unintentional take of small numbers of polar bears and Pacific walrus during year-round oil and gas industry (Industry) exploration, development, and production operations in the Beaufort Sea and adjacent northern coast of Alaska. The operations are similar to and include all activities covered by our original 5-year Beaufort Sea incidental take regulations effective from December 16, 1993, through December 15, 1998, and current regulations in effect from January 28, 1999, through January 30, 2000, except that these proposed regulations would also allow incidental, unintentional takes resulting from subsea pipeline activities placed offshore at the Northstar facility in the Beaufort Sea. We are proposing that this rule be effective for 3 years, from January 31, 2000, through January 31, 2003. We propose a finding that the total expected takings of polar bear and Pacific walrus during oil and gas industry exploration, development, and production activities will have a negligible impact on these species, and no unmitigable adverse impacts on the availability of these species for subsistence use by Alaska Natives. We base this