March 26, 2021 Ms. Donna Wieting Director, Office of Protected Resources National Marine Fisheries Service
“We are writing to express our profound concern regarding flaws in the incidental harassment authorizations (“IHAs”) issued by the National Marine Fisheries Service (“NMFS”) for marine site[s]….
March 26, 2021
Ms. Donna Wieting
Director, Office of Protected Resources National Marine Fisheries Service 1315 East-West Hwy.
Silver Spring, MD 20910
Ms. Jolie Harrison
Division Chief, Permits and Conservation Division, Office of Protected Resources National Marine Fisheries Service
1315 East-West Hwy.
Silver Spring, MD 20910
RE: Failure to Adequately Protect Endangered and Protected Marine Mammals During Marine Site Characterization Surveys Required for Offshore Wind Energy Development
Dear Ms. Wieting and Ms. Harrison,
We are writing to express our profound concern regarding flaws in the incidental harassment authorizations (“IHAs”) issued by the National Marine Fisheries Service (“NMFS”) for marine site characterization surveys required for offshore wind energy development. We are submitting these comments on the Proposed IHA developed by NMFS in response to the request by Skipjack Offshore Energy, LLC. 86 Fed. Reg. 11,239 (Feb. 24, 2021). However, our comments summarize our overarching concerns regarding the agency’s IHA process for marine site characterization activities required for offshore wind energy development. As such, we request that these comments be considered in relation to all offshore wind energy for marine site characterization activities authorized off the U.S. East Coast.
The Biden-Harris Administration has set forth an ambitious and necessary goal for the nation to have net- zero global greenhouse gas emissions by mid-century or before. Our organizations are united in support of responsibly developed offshore wind energy as a critically needed climate change solution, and we have long advocated for policies and actions needed to bring it to scale in an environmentally protective manner. Responsible development of offshore wind energy avoids, minimizes, and mitigates impacts to ocean wildlife and habitat and traditional ocean uses, meaningfully engages stakeholders from the start, and uses best available science and data to ensure science-based and stakeholder-informed decision making.
The rapid transition to a clean energy economy is of paramount importance to wildlife and the environment that face unprecedented impacts from climate change. It is imperative, however, that all offshore wind energy development activities move forward with strong protections in place for coastal and marine habitats and wildlife. We can and must develop this resource thoughtfully and responsibly, using science-based measures to avoid, minimize, mitigate, and monitor impacts on valuable and
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vulnerable wildlife. This must include a specific focus on ensuring sufficient measures are in place to protect our most vulnerable threatened and endangered species and a robust plan for pre, during, and post construction monitoring that can enable effective adaptive management strategies.
The duty to advance offshore wind energy development in a manner protective of wildlife and the environment extends to site characterization surveys that occur prior to, and during, offshore wind energy construction. We are extremely concerned that NMFS is not currently aligned with that view. Between March 2018 and July 2020, our groups submitted 12 comment letters to NMFS on proposed IHAs for marine site characterization surveys associated with 12 offshore wind Lease Areas and associated potential export cable route corridors from Massachusetts to North Carolina (see Attachment 1). In these letters, we consistently identified recurring flaws in NMFS’ incidental take analyses and recommended measures to mitigate and monitor potential impacts to endangered and protected marine mammals— actions critical to environmentally responsible offshore wind energy development. We are heartened to see that in some instances developers are going beyond sub-standard NMFS requirements to adopt more protective measures, but NMFS should require even stronger protections of all developers.
Despite our urging, NMFS has made no meaningful improvements to the IHAs issued; in fact, NMFS has weakened the required mitigation and monitoring measures over time and repeatedly modified individual IHAs after issuance at industry request. This trend is irresponsible in light of the worsening conservation status of a number of species, including the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale, and the significant increase in the number and geographic and temporal scale of marine site characterization surveys.
In this letter, we summarize our overarching concerns and necessary improvements, and request a meeting with you and your staff to discuss how the new Administration should adjust its current IHA process to reflect requirements under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (“MMPA”) and its commitment to sustainable development of renewable energy sources. We have previously submitted similar comments to NMFS1 and incorporate new information and additional concerns in this letter.
In brief, NMFS must:
A. Incorporate additional data sources into calculations of marine mammal density and take;
B. Analyze cumulative impacts to North Atlantic right whales and other endangered and protected
marine mammal species and stocks as part of the take estimation and permitting process;
C. Not adjust take numbers downward for large whales based on unproven mitigation measures;
D. Require mitigation measures that meet the least practicable adverse impact standard;
E. Strengthen its vessel speed restrictions to mitigate the harm of increased vessel traffic; and
F. Prohibit extensions of any one-year IHA through a truncated 15-day comment period as is
contrary to the MMPA.
We also submit our recommendations for advancing monitoring and mitigation during offshore wind energy development