216.248—Renewal of Letters of Authorization and Adaptive Management.
(a)
A Letter of Authorization issued under §§ 216.106 and 216.247 for the activity identified in § 216.240(c) will be renewed annually upon:
(1)
Notification to NMFS that the activity described in the application submitted under § 216.246 will be undertaken and that there will not be a substantial modification to the described work, mitigation or monitoring undertaken during the upcoming 12 months;
(2)
Timely receipt (by the dates indicated in these regulations) of the monitoring reports required under § 216.245(c) through (j); and
(3)
A determination by the NMFS that the mitigation, monitoring and reporting measures required under § 216.244 and the Letter of Authorization issued under §§ 216.106 and 216.247, were undertaken and will be undertaken during the upcoming annual period of validity of a renewed Letter of Authorization.
(b)
If a request for a renewal of a Letter of Authorization issued under §§ 216.106 and 216.248 indicates that a substantial modification, as determined by NMFS, to the described work, mitigation or monitoring undertaken during the upcoming season will occur, the NMFS will provide the public a period of 30 days for review and comment on the request. Review and comment on renewals of Letters of Authorization are restricted to:
(1)
New cited information and data indicating that the determinations made in this document are in need of reconsideration, and
(2)
Proposed changes to the mitigation and monitoring requirements contained in these regulations or in the current Letter of Authorization.
(c)
A notice of issuance or denial of a renewal of a Letter of Authorization will be published in the Federal Register.
(d)
NMFS, in response to new information and in consultation with the Navy, may modify the mitigation or monitoring measures in subsequent LOAs if doing so creates a reasonable likelihood of more effectively accomplishing the goals of mitigation and monitoring set forth in the preamble of these regulations. Below are some of the possible sources of new data that could contribute to the decision to modify the mitigation or monitoring measures:
(1)
Results from the Navy's monitoring from the previous year (either from AFAST or other locations).
(3)
Compiled results of Navy funded research and development (R&D) studies (presented pursuant to the ICMP ( § 216.245(d) )).
(4)
Results from specific stranding investigations (either from the AFAST Study Area or other locations, and involving coincident MFAS/HFAS or explosives training or not involving coincident use).
(6)
Results from general marine mammal and sound research (funded by the Navy (described below) or otherwise).