Incidental Take Authorization: U.S. Navy Operations of Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System Low Frequency Active (SURTASS LFA) Sonar (beginning in 2019)
Summary
NOAA Fisheries, upon request from the U.S. Navy, issues these regulations pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act to govern the taking of marine mammals incidental to the use of Surveillance Towed Array Sensor Systems Low Frequency Active (SURTASS LFA) sonar systems onboard U.S. Navy surveillance ships for training and testing activities conducted under the authority of the Secretary of the Navy in the western and central North Pacific and eastern Indian oceans beginning August 2019. These regulations, which allow for the issuance of Letters of Authorization (LOA) for the incidental take of marine mammals during the described activities and timeframes, prescribe the permissible methods of taking and other means of effecting the least practicable adverse impact on marine mammal species or stocks and their habitat, and establish requirements pertaining to the monitoring and reporting of such taking.
Diagram showing operation of a Navy SURTASS LFA platform at sea
Supporting Materials
- Issued LOA (pdf, 19 pages)
- Amended Application November 2018 (pdf, 237 pages)
- LOA Application (pdf, 225 pages)
- References (pdf, 32 pages)
- Stranding Notification and Reporting Plan (pdf, 3 pages)
- Biological Opinion (pdf, 382 pages)
- EIS
- EIS Record of Decision (pdf, 20 pages)
- Public Comments on Proposed Rule (pdf, 72 pages)
- Harbor porpoise desktop study (see Publications Section)
- Public Comment on Notice of Receipt (pdf, 5 pages)