Golde, Helen M. (Helen Marcy)

National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)

"The National Marine Fisheries Service proposes to issue an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) to Shell Offshore Inc. for the taking, by Level B harassment, of small numbers of marine mammals, incidental to conducting an exploratory drilling program in Camden Bay in the Beaufort Sea, Alaska, during the 2012 open-water season. NMFS has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) titled 'Issuance of Incidental Harassment Authorizations for the Take of Marine Mammals by Harassment Incidental to Conducting Exploratory Drilling Programs in the U.S. Beaufort and Chukchi Seas,' and prepared an independent Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI). NMFS has determined that the impact of conducting the exploratory drilling program in the U.S. Beaufort Sea may result, at worst, in a temporary modification in behavior of small numbers of eight species of marine mammals. Based on its review of the record, including the EA and FONSI, NMFS has determined that issuance of the IHA will not result in any significant direct, indirect, or cumulative impact to any element of the human environment. NMFS does not anticipate that take by injury (Level A harassment), serious injury, or death will occur; nor has NMFS authorized take by Level A harassment. NMFS has further determined that this activity will result in a negligible impact on the affected species or stocks and will not have an unmitigable adverse impact on the availability of affected species or stocks for taking for subsistence uses"--Summary on cover letter.