Incidental to naval explosive ordnance disposal school training operations at eglin air force base, florida
Download 344.59 Kb.
|
- Navigate this page:
- Proposed Action
C. Endangered SpeciesFive species of sea turtles, i.e., the leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea), green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas), Kemp’s ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys kempii), hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata), and loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) as well as the Gulf sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi) are found in the area of the NEODS test sites and could potentially be harmed by the proposed activity. Eglin AFB informally consulted with NMFS Southeast Regional Office (SERO) pursuant to section 7 of the ESA regarding these species and the findings are discussed in section (VI)(A)(2) of this document. Information regarding the abundance, distribution, and life history of these species may be found in Eglin AFB’s Biological Assessment which is incorporated by reference. VI. ENVIRONMENTAL CONSEQUENCES The impact of Federal actions must be considered prior to implementation to determine whether the action will significantly affect the quality of the human environment. In this section, an analysis of the environmental impacts of promulgating regulations and issuing LOA(s) to Eglin AFB and the alternatives to that proposed action are presented. The impacts on marine mammals and marine mammal habitat are discussed in detail in the U.S. Air Force’s application, the preamble to the proposed and final rules and the documents that they rely on. Those documents are available to the public [link]. The acoustic impacts analysis is included below as Appendix II. Proposed ActionBackground The EGTTR encompasses approximately 222,739 km2 (86,000 mi2) within the GOM and consists of the airspace over the GOM, which is scheduled and operated by Eglin AFB. Potential impacts to marine mammals from NEODS testing are expected to occur at the NEODS test areas of Eglin AFB shown in Figure 1-1 of Eglin AFB’s application, which are located approximately 5.6 km (3 nautical miles [nmi]) from shore, in approximately 18.3 m (60 ft) of water and in area W-151 of the EGTTR. The proposed operations result in detonation of small, live explosive charges adjacent to the mine disables the mine function. Inert mines are utilized for training purposes. This training would occur up to eight times annually, at varying times within the year. Without taking into account reductions in type and level of take resulting from the effective implementation of mitigation and monitoring measures, NMFS has determined that the NEODS training operations could result in the Level B harassment taking of 10 Atlantic bottlenose dolphins per year and 50 Atlantic bottlenose dolphin takes over the course of the 5-year rule. NMFS believes that the implementation of the required monitoring and mitigation measures will make Level A harassment or mortality of any individual bottle nose dolphin highly unlikely (see Section [VI][A]). NMFS has further determined that the anticipated takes incidental to this activity and issuance of these authorizations are expected to result in a negligible impact on affected species and stocks of Atlantic bottlenose dolphins. The Eglin AFB revised application and the analysis in the final rule are incorporated here by reference. Figure 2. NEODS test locations in the EGTTR. |
