The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service has sent out the following notice:
“The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is pleased to announce the upcoming availability of an updated version of “Draft NOAA Guidance for Assessing the Effects of Anthropogenic Sound on Marine Mammal Hearing: Acoustic Threshold Levels for Onset of Permanent and Temporary Threshold Shifts” for a second 45-day public comment period. The changes to the updated version of this document are based on recent science and comments from the initial public comment period (December 2013-March 2014). The public comment period for the Guidance will open Friday, July 31.
NOAA has developed draft guidance for assessing the effects of anthropogenic sound on marine mammal species under NOAA’s jurisdiction. The guidance provides updated received levels, or acoustic threshold levels, based on the best available science, above which individual marine mammals are predicted to experience changes in their hearing sensitivity (either temporary or permanent) for all underwater anthropogenic sound sources. This guidance is intended to be used by NOAA analysts and managers and other relevant user groups and stakeholders, including other federal agencies, when seeking to determine whether and how their activities are expected to result in particular types of impacts to marine mammals via acoustic exposure.
Electronic copies of the document can be found on July 31 at: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/acoustics/guidelines.htm and the Federal eRulemaking Portal http://www.regulations.gov. Comments may also be submitted via the Federal eRulemaking Portal (http://www.regulations.gov, search for NOAA-NMFS-2013-0177).”
