Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to the Empire Wind Project, Offshore New York

Resumo

NMFS has received a request from Empire Offshore Wind, LLC (Empire Wind), a 50/50 joint venture between Equinor and BP p.l.c., for Incidental Take Regulations (ITR) and an associated Letter of Authorization (LOA). The requested regulations would govern the authorization of take, by Level A harassment and/or Level B harassment, of small numbers of marine mammals over the course of 5 years (2024- 2029) incidental to construction of the Empire Wind Project offshore New York in a designated lease area on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS-A-512). Project activities likely to result in incidental take include impact pile driving, vibratory pile driving and removal, and site assessment surveys using high-resolution geophysical (HRG) equipment. As required by the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS requests comments on its proposed rule. NMFS will consider public comments prior to making any final decision on the promulgation of the requested incidental take authorization (ITA) and issuance of the LOA; agency responses to public comments will be summarized in the final notice of our decision. The proposed regulations, if issued, would be effective January 22, 2024, through January 21,