View all text of Subpart AA [§ 217.260 - § 217.269]

§ 217.262 - Permissible methods of taking.

Under the LOA, issued pursuant to §§ 216.106 and 217.266, LOA Holder, and those persons it authorizes or funds to conduct activities on its behalf, may incidentally, but not intentionally, take marine mammals within the vicinity of BOEM Lease Area OCS-A 0498 Commercial Lease of Submerged Lands for Renewable Energy Development, along export cable routes, and at the two sea-to-shore transition points located in New Jersey at Oyster Creek, Island Beach State Park in Barnegat Bay, Farm Property, and BL England in the following ways, provided LOA Holder is in complete compliance with all terms, conditions, and requirements of the regulations in this subpart and the appropriate LOA:

(a) By Level B harassment associated with the acoustic disturbance of marine mammals by impact pile driving (WTG and OSS foundation installation), vibratory pile driving (cofferdam and goal post installation and removal), UXO/MEC detonations, and HRG site characterization surveys;

(b) By Level A harassment associated with the acoustic disturbance of marine mammals by impact pile driving of WTG and OSS foundations and UXO/MEC detonations;

(c) Take by mortality or serious injury of any marine mammal species is not authorized; and

(d) The incidental take of marine mammals by the activities listed in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section is limited to the following species:

Table 1 to Paragraph (d)

Marine mammal species Scientific name Stock North Atlantic right whaleEubalaena glacialisWestern Atlantic. Blue whaleBalaenoptera musculusWestern North Atlantic. Fin whaleBalaenoptera physalusWestern North Atlantic. Humpback whaleMegaptera novaeangliaeGulf of Maine. Minke whaleBalaenoptera acutorostrataCanadian Eastern Coastal. Sei whaleBalaenoptera borealisNova Scotia. Sperm whalePhyseter macrocephalusNorth Atlantic. Atlantic spotted dolphinStenella frontalisWestern North Atlantic. Atlantic white-sided dolphinLagenorhynchus acutusWestern North Atlantic. Bottlenose dolphinTursiops truncatusWestern North Atlantic—Offshore. Northern Migratory Coastal. Common dolphinDelphinus delphisWestern North Atlantic. Long-finned pilot whaleGlobicephala melasWestern North Atlantic. Short-finned pilot whaleGlobicephala macrorhynchusWestern North Atlantic. Risso's dolphinGrampus griseusWestern North Atlantic. Harbor porpoisePhocoena phocoenaGulf of Maine/Bay of Fundy. Gray sealHalichoerus grypusWestern North Atlantic. Harbor sealPhoca vitulinaWestern North Atlantic.