§ 217.67 - Renewals and modifications of Letter of Authorization.

§ 217.67 Renewals and modifications of Letters Letter of Authorization.

(a) An A LOA issued under §§ § 216.106 of this chapter and § 217.66 for the activity identified in § 217.60(a) and (b) shall be renewed or modified upon request by the applicantUSSF, provided that:

(1) The specified activity and mitigation, monitoring, and reporting measures, as well as the anticipated impacts, are the same as those described and analyzed for these regulations this subpart (excluding changes made pursuant to the adaptive management provision in § 217.67paragraph (c)(1) of this section); and

(2) NMFS determines that the mitigation, monitoring, and reporting measures required by the previous LOA under these regulations this subpart were implemented.

(b) For LOA modification or renewal requests by the applicant that include changes to the activity or the mitigation, monitoring, or reporting measures (excluding changes made pursuant to the adaptive management provision in § 217.67paragraph (c)(1) of this section) that do not change the findings made for the regulations this subpart or that result in no more than a minor change in the total estimated number of takes (or distribution by species or stock or years), NMFS may publish a notice of proposed changes to the LOA in the Federal Register, including the associated analysis of the change, and solicit public comment before issuing the LOA.

(c) An LOA issued under §§ § 216.106 of this chapter and § 217.66 for the activity identified in § 217.60(a) and (b) may be modified by NMFS under the following circumstances:

(1) Adaptive Management—NMFS After consulting with the USSF regarding the practicability of the modifications, NMFS, through adaptive management, may modify (including augmentadding or removing measures) the existing mitigation, monitoring, or reporting measures (after consulting with the USAF regarding the practicability of the modifications) if doing so creates a reasonable likelihood of more effectively accomplishing the goals of the mitigation and monitoring set forth in the preamble for these regulations.

(i) Possible sources of data that could contribute to the decision to modify the mitigation, monitoring, or reporting measures in an LOA include:

(A) Results from the USAFUSSF's monitoring from the previous year(s). ;

(B) Results from other marine mammal and/or sound research or studies. ; or

(C) Any information that reveals marine mammals may have been taken in a manner, extent or number not authorized by these regulations this subpart or a subsequent LOAsLOA.

(ii) If, through adaptive management, the modifications to the mitigation, monitoring, or reporting measures are substantialmore than minor, NMFS will publish a notice of the proposed changes to the LOA in the Federal Register and solicit public comment.

(2) Emergencies—If If NMFS determines that an emergency exists that poses a significant risk to the well-being of the species or stocks of marine mammals specified in LOAs issued pursuant to § 216.106 of this chapter and § 217.62(c), an LOA may be modified without prior notice or opportunity for public comment. Notice would be published in the Federal Register within 30 days of the action.