View all text of Subpart DD [§ 217.290 - § 217.299]

§ 217.292 - Permissible methods of taking.

Under a LOA, issued pursuant to §§ 216.106 and 217.296, LOA Holder and those persons it authorizes or funds to conduct activities on its behalf may incidentally, but not intentionally, take marine mammals within BOEM Lease Area OCS-A 0483 Commercial Lease of Submerged Lands for Renewable Energy Development, along export cable routes, and at the sea-to-shore transition point located at the State Military Reservation in Virginia Beach, Virginia 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 and vibratory pile driving (WTG and OSS foundation installation), impact pile driving of goal posts, vibratory pile driving of temporary cofferdams, and HRG site characterization surveys; and

(b) By Level A harassment associated with the acoustic disturbance of marine mammals by impact pile driving WTG and OSS foundations.

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

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

Table 1 to Paragraph (d)

Marine mammal species Scientific name Stock North Atlantic right whaleEubalaena glacialisWestern 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. Pygmy sperm whaleKogia brevicepsWestern North Atlantic. Atlantic spotted dolphinStenella frontalisWestern North Atlantic. Atlantic white-sided dolphinLagenorhynchus acutusWestern North Atlantic. Bottlenose dolphinTursiops truncatusWestern North Atlantic—Offshore.
Southern Migratory Coastal.
Clymene dolphinStenella clymeneWestern North Atlantic. Common dolphinDelphinus delphisWestern North Atlantic. False killer whalePseudorca crassidensWestern North Atlantic. Melon-headed whalePeponocephala electraWestern North Atlantic. Long-finned pilot whaleGlobicephala melasWestern North Atlantic. Short-finned pilot whaleGlobicephala macrorhynchusWestern North Atlantic. Pantropical spotted dolphinStenella attenuataWestern 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.