Introduction The United States Navy s Naval Special Warfare Group THREE of the Naval Special Warfare Command proposes to conduct training at multiple Western Washington locations. The purpose of the training is to provide a real world environment for Special Forces personnel to practice stealth tactics. The goal of the training is for these personnel to maneuver in the water and across land undetected. In accordance with the Endangered Species Act, the Navy, as a federal agency, must assess the impacts to ESA listed species for any action that it implements, funds or authorizes. The Navy must make one of the following determinations with respect to threatened or endangered species or designated critical habitat: No effect: ESA listed species will not be affected by the proposed action and will not be exposed to any potentially harmful/beneficial elements of the action. May affect, not likely to adversely affect: Effects would be beneficial, discountable to occur or Insignificant in scale. May affect, likely to adversely affect: One or more individuals of an ESA- listed species or one or more essential features of critical habitats are likely to be exposed to the actions and are likely to result in take or adverse effects. Action Agencies are required to consult with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) for actions that may affect species listed or designated critical habitat. In addition, the Magnuson- Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, as amended by the Sustainable Fisheries Act of 1996 (16 U.S.C. 1801, et esq.), requires Federal agencies to consult with the NMFS on activities that may adversely affect Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) designated by the Pacific Fisheries Management Council. Agencies are not required to consult for actions with No effect determinations for EFH or under ESA. This biological assessment documents that the proposed action will have no effect on federally listed species or their designated or proposed critical habitats and will not adversely affect EFH for federally managed fisheries. Therefore, Navy consultation with the USFWS and NMFS under the ESA and the Magnuson- Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act is not required. Proposed Action Training would occur between January 1 and May 31, 2016. Training, described in Table 1 below, would consist of activities such as swimming adjacent to shorelines, walking across the beach and upland areas, and launching, piloting and recovering a small submersible vehicle and inflatable boats. The proposed training would occur at multiple locations within Jefferson and Kitsap County.
Table 1. Training Activities conducted by Naval Special Warfare Units Training Type Combat Swimmer Exercises (CS) Insertion and Extraction (IE) Launch and Recovery (LR) Over the beach (OTB) Special Reconnaissance (SR) Activities Swimmers would enter the water from small inflatable boats and complete a swimming objective. Swimmers may remain up to six hours. Other types of training may be completed in conjunction with CS. Trainees would approach or depart an area using small submersible craft or small boats. This activity would train personnel to insert and extract people and equipment during the day or night. Activities would include swimming in and out of a small submersible craft or small inflatable boat to a target objective. Training would consist of launching and recovering up to two small submersible crafts from a boat ramp or water platform. The small submersible crafts are battery powered and very quiet. They would deliver four to six personnel to the training area within 20-800 yards from shoreline. As part of this training, the personnel would exit the craft and swim to the shoreline. The submersible craft would then return to the area, recover the personnel and return to the launch site. During OTB exercises, personnel would exit small submersible crafts or watercraft and swim to shore, cross the beach, and quietly move into the vegetation above the high water line. Upon arrival at a pre- designated area, personnel would remain hidden for a number of hours before exiting site. There would be no tell- tale signs left of their presence. This training could on land and/or water utilizing up to two small submersibles. Personnel would be delivered to a training area between 20-800 yards from the shoreline, exit the craft and conduct OTB training operations, then patrol to a predetermined location where they would remain hidden for a number of hours. Upon completion of the objective, the small submersible craft would return to the area, the personnel would swim to the craft and then depart area. If land based only, personnel would be dropped off via a vehicle and patrol to an objective activity similar to what is stated above. Training would be conducted by xx teams of xx personnel consisting of xx trainees and xx instructors and support staff. Marine based training would include the use of up to two small surface vessels of support staff and one or two submersible vehicles piloted by trainees. All vessels would be launched and retrieved at public boat launches or on Navy property. Vessels would travel at speeds below xx knots. Vessels would operate in no less than xx feet of water and would not be allowed to anchor, bottom out or be beached. Therefore, seafloor habitat and intertidal areas would not be impacted nor would aquatic vegetation be affected. Training activities will not occur in any streams, rivers or creeks. Prior to conducting any marine based training, all personnel will complete Marine Species Awareness Training. During the training conducted under the proposed action, lookouts will watch for the presence of marine mammals and report all sightings to the officer in charge. While in transit, naval vessels shall be alert at all times, use extreme caution, and proceed at a
safe speed so that the vessel can take proper and effective action to avoid a collision with any marine animal and can be stopped within a distance appropriate to the prevailing circumstances and conditions. Naval vessels shall maneuver to keep at least 500 yards away from any observed whale in the vessels path and avoid approaching whales head- on. Land based training could include the use of up to three vehicles that would remain on paved, public roadways or within Navy installation property. All training is non- invasive in nature meaning that live fire, digging, vegetation cutting, tree climbing, fires, etc. will not occur. The goal of the training is for personnel to remain undetected while performing their activities. Therefore, trainees will be careful to minimize avoid all signs of the presence such as noise, flushing birds or other animals, or alteration of the visual landscape. Additionally, trainees will leave no trace of their presence upon exit from these areas. Training is expected to occur xx times/days during January through May timeframe. Each training event can last between 2-72 hours. Each site is anticipated to be used once/twice/frequency (?) times. Differing combinations of activity types listed above may occur at the following locations: Blake Island Bremerton Marina Brownsville Marina Camp McKean/Kitsap Lake Coon Bay Fisherman's Harbor Fletcher Bay Fort Flagler Illahee State Park Liberty Bay Marina Manchester State Park Manzanita Bay Mats Mats Bay Mystery Bay Zelatched Point NAVBASE Kitsap, Bangor NAVBASE Kitsap, Bremerton NAVBASE Kitsap, Keyport NAVMAG Indian Island Oyster Bay Point Monroe Port Ludlow Port Madison Bay Port Townsend Marina Seabeck Elementary Scenic Beach Toandos Buffer Zone USS Turner Joy Under ESA, the Action Area of a project is defined as: all areas to be affected directly or indirectly by the federal action and not merely the immediate area involved in the action (ESA, 50 CFR 17.11). The Action Area can be delineated by determining which action has the greatest geographical effect above baseline conditions. However, for this project, the effects of the action will not rise above background conditions either within the immediate vicinity of the training activities or beyond (please see analysis in ESA Effect Determinations) Therefore, the Action Area for this project is defined as the total area where training will occur.
ESA Listed Species Training will occur within the range and habitat of species listed under the ESA. Additionally, the project activities will occur in designated critical habitats of some of these species. The species that may occur within the Action Area and their designated critical habitat are listed in Table 2, below. Table 2. ESA listed Species and Critical Habitat within the Action Area Common name Scientific name Puget Sound ESU Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tsawytscha Hood Canal ESU summer- run chum salmon O. keta Puget Sound DPS steelhead O. mykiss Bull trout Salvelinus confluentus Puget Sound DPS Canary Rockfish Sebastes pinniger Puget Sound DPS Yelloweye Rockfish Sebastes ruberrimus Puget Sound DPS Bocaccio Sebastes paucispinis Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae Southern Resident Killer whale Orcinus orca Marbled murrelet Brachyramphus marmoratus ESA Status Endangered Endangered Endangered Designated Critical Habitat along the shorelines from extreme high tide to a depth of 30 m (98 ft). along the shorelines from extreme high tide to a depth of 30 m (98 ft). along the shorelines from extreme high tide to a depth of 30 m (98 ft). in marine waters to a depth of 10 m (33 ft). from extreme high water to 30 meters (98 ft) in depth for juveniles and in depths greater than 30 m (98 ft) for adults. from extreme high water to 30 meters (98 ft) in depth for juveniles and in depths greater than 30 m (98 ft) for adults. from extreme high water to 30 meters (98 ft) in depth for juveniles and in depths greater than 30 m (98 ft) for adults. None designated in marine waters deeper than 6 m (20 ft). None present within the Action Area.
ESA Effect Determinations In order to determine whether the proposed action has the potential to affect ESA listed species, the Navy first examined what impacts could occur as a result of training activities. Then, each impact was examined to determine if ESA listed species could be exposed to these impacts, and if there could be any resulting potential stressors that may affect individuals, their habitats, and their prey species. Activities were grouped into activity types which consist of swimming, watercraft operation, walking within intertidal areas, and walking within upland areas. Each activity type was then assessed to determine the possible impacts (Table 3). Table 3. Naval Special Warfare Training Activity Types and Potential Impacts Activity Type Swimming Watercraft Operation Walking within intertidal area Walking within upland area Possible Impact elevated noise levels, collisions with marine species elevated noise levels, collisions with marine species, bottoming out/scouring of marine seafloor habitat, impacts to marine vegetation elevated noise levels, suspension of sediments/increased turbidity elevated noise levels The potential impacts were then evaluated in terms of the possibility for a listed species to be exposed to a potential stressor as a result. Additionally, for designated critical habitat to be affected, an effect to the Primary constituent elements (PCEs) that comprise the habitat would need to be affected. As a result of this analysis, the Navy determined that listed species would not be exposed to any effects of the project and that no PCEs would be affected. The analysis for each species group is given below. Puget Sound Chinook, Hood Canal summer run chum, Puget Sound steelhead, bull trout and rockfish Listed fish species may be present within the Action Area during the training. However, the Navy has determined that training activities would not affect these species for the following reasons: Training activities will not overlap with freshwater habitat of salmon and bull trout. Training activities would not occur in depths that would overlap with adult rockfish habitat. Fish species would not be exposed to underwater noise above ambient levels as a result of training activities. No equipment would be used that could strike, capture, entangle or come in any type of physical contact with fish. Fish would not be at risk for collisions with watercraft or swimming personnel. Nabors, Tiffany L CI, 12/14/15 3:58 PM Comment [1]: Feedback needed here- Not sure if the explanation of how the conclusions were reached is helpful or if it is just confusing. I could delete and just start section with The Navy determined that listed species. Nabors, Tiffany L CI, 12/14/15 2:48 PM Comment [2]: Do we know the maximum water depths of activities? I understand that this may not be able to be disclosed. So can I say that activities will not occur in adult rockfish habitat: rocky bottoms or other structure in deep water 30 m or greater (although most commonly found 50 m or deeper).
Personnel walking within intertidal areas would not generate levels suspend sediments above what is produced by tidal action. Therefore, fish would not be exposed to increased turbidity. Project activities would not result in indirect effects through prey species or habitat. Additionally, the Navy has determined that the proposed action would not have an effect on designated salmon or rockfish critical habitat as the project activities would not have an effect to PCEs. Humpback whale and southern resident killer whale Humpback whales and southern resident killer whales may occur within the vicinity of NSW training activities. However, the Navy has determined that the proposed action would have no effects on these ESA listed marine mammals because: The proposed activities will not generate underwater sound levels above ambient levels. Marine vessel use will be consistent with background levels at each location since each site will only likely be used x times and will occur in areas commonly used for launching vessels and boating. Vessels associated with NSW training will be traveling at low speeds which would allow them to maneuver away from marine mammals present within the area. Therefore, crews would avoid collisions and be able avoid transiting within the path of whales. All vessels will remain at least 500 yards away from any observed whale. Project activities would not result in indirect effects through prey species or habitat. Additionally, the Navy has determined that the proposed action would not have an effect on designated Southern Resident killer whale critical habitat as the project activities would not have an effect to PCEs. Marbled Murrelet The marbled murrelet may occur within the proposed training areas. However, the Navy has determined that a No Effect determination is warranted because: Training activities would not produce underwater or in- air noise above ambient levels. No equipment would be used that could strike, capture, entangle or physically contact marbled murrelets. Marbled murrelets would not be at risk for collisions with watercraft or swimming personnel.
Personnel walking within intertidal areas would not generate suspend sediments in levels that could reach marbled murrelet foraging areas and result in reduced visibility during foraging. Project activities would not result in indirect effects to species through affects to prey or habitat. Training will not occur in designated marbled murrelet critical habitat and therefore will have no effect. Essential Fish Habitat The project was analyzed for potential effect to Pacific Groundfish, Pacific Coast Salmon, and Coastal Pelagics EFH. The Navy has determined that NSW training will not reduce the quality and quantity of EFH within the Action Area and that an effect determination of No Adverse is warranted. Therefore, consultation with NMFS under Magnuson- Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act is not required.