ADFG comments on the proposed humpback whale habitat designation

Alan Bailey

for Petroleum News

In an Oct. 2 letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission regarding the FERC environmental assessment for the Kenai LNG Cool Down Project, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game drew FERC’s attention to a federal proposal to designate much of the Lower Cook Inlet as critical habitat for the humpback whale. The designation could presumably impact the permitting of LNG tanker traffic through the Cook Inlet.

In October 2019 the National Marine Fisheries Service proposed designating a huge area of the ocean off the western and northwestern coast of the United States as critical habitat for the humpback whale. The designated area would include the Lower Cook Inlet, south of Kalgin Island, including the area of Bureau of Ocean Energy Management oil and gas leasing, and including state nearshore waters around the southern Kenai Peninsula. The public comment period for the designation ended on Jan. 31 of this year.

In 2016 NMFS had designated as endangered under the Endangered Species Act the two whale population segments that use Cook Inlet. Because the agency views the Lower Cook Inlet as having a medium conservation rating for one of these population segments, the agency proposed designating the region as part of the whale critical habitat.

Activities that may impact the wellbeing of the whales, and hence potentially be subject to review under the ESA, include oil and gas activities; seismic surveying; in-water construction; vessel traffic; and LNG terminal activities, the proposed rule said. However, NMFS only estimated the economic impacts of the habitat designation in terms of administrative costs for federal agencies, commenting that the impacts on activities such as seismic surveying were speculative. The primary benefit from the designation would be the prevention of the destruction or adverse modification of the critical habitat, the proposed rule said.

- ALAN BAILEY