Endangered Species Act (ESA) Section 7(a)(2) Biological Opinion Hilcorp Alaska and Harvest Alaska Oil and Gas Activities, Cook Inlet, Alaska NMFS Consultation Number: AKRO-2018-00381 Action Agency: National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA), Office of Protected Resources, Permits and Conservation Division; and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Affected Species and Determinations: Is Action Likely to Is Action Likely Is Action Adversely Affect Species To Destroy or Likely To ESA-Listed Species Status or Critical Habitat? Adversely Jeopardize the Critical Modify Critical Species Species? Habitat Habitat? Cook Inlet Beluga Whale Endangered Yes No No No (Delphinapterus leucas) Fin Whale Endangered Yes NA No N/A (Balaenoptera physalus) Humpback Whale, Western North Pacific DPS Endangered Yes NA No N/A (Megaptera novaeangliae) Humpback Whale, Mexico DPS Threatened Yes NA No N/A (Megaptera novaeangliae) Steller Sea Lion, Western Endangered Yes No No No DPS (Eumetopias jubatus) Consultation Conducted By: National Marine Fisheries Service, Alaska Region Issued By: _____________________ James W. Balsiger, Ph.D. Regional Administrator Date: ____June 18, 2019____ https://doi.org/10.25923/1akr-an16 Hilcorp Alaska and Harvest Alaska Oil and Gas Activities, Cook Inlet, Alaska AKRO-2018-00381 Accessibility of this Document Every effort has been made to make this document accessible to individuals of all abilities and compliant with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. The complexity of this document may make access difficult for some. If you encounter information that you cannot access or use, please email us at [email protected] or call us at 907-586-7228 so that we may assist you. 2 Hilcorp Alaska and Harvest Alaska Oil and Gas Activities, Cook Inlet, Alaska AKRO-2018-00381 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................... 12 1.1 BACKGROUND ................................................................................................................ 12 1.2 CONSULTATION HISTORY .............................................................................................. 13 2 DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED ACTION AND ACTION AREA .................... 14 2.1 PROPOSED ACTION......................................................................................................... 14 2.1.1 Proposed Activities ................................................................................................... 14 Activities within Lower Cook Inlet ................................................................................ 17 Activities within Existing Cook Inlet Assets ...................................................................... 31 2.1.2 Mitigation Measures ................................................................................................. 41 2.2 ACTION AREA ................................................................................................................ 57 3 APPROACH TO THE ASSESSMENT ............................................................................ 59 4 RANGEWIDE STATUS OF THE SPECIES AND CRITICAL HABITAT ................. 61 4.1 STATUS OF LISTED SPECIES ........................................................................................... 62 4.1.1 Cook Inlet Beluga Whales ........................................................................................ 63 Status and Population Structure ..................................................................................... 63 Distribution and Occurrence in the Action Area ................................................................. 64 Behavior and Group Size ............................................................................................ 69 Feeding and Prey Selection .......................................................................................... 69 Hearing, Vocalizations, and Other Sensory Abilities ............................................................ 70 Cook Inlet Beluga Whale Critical Habitat ......................................................................... 71 4.1.2 Fin Whales ................................................................................................................ 73 Status and Population Structure ..................................................................................... 73 Distribution ............................................................................................................ 75 Occurrence in the Action Area ...................................................................................... 76 Feeding and Prey Selection .......................................................................................... 77 Hearing, Vocalizations, and Other Sensory Capabilities ........................................................ 78 4.1.3 Western North Pacific DPS and Mexico DPS Humpback Whales ........................... 79 4.1.3.1 Status and Population Structure ..................................................................................... 79 4.1.3.2 Distribution ............................................................................................................ 80 4.1.3.3 Occurrence in the Action Area ...................................................................................... 81 4.1.3.4 Feeding and Prey Selection .......................................................................................... 83 4.1.3.5 Hearing, Vocalizations, and Other Sensory Capabilities ........................................................ 85 4.1.4 Steller Sea Lion, Western DPS ................................................................................. 86 4.1.4.1 Status and Population Structure ..................................................................................... 86 4.1.4.2 Distribution ............................................................................................................ 86 4.1.4.3 Occurrence in the Action Area ...................................................................................... 87 4.1.4.4 Feeding and Prey Selection .......................................................................................... 89 4.1.4.5 Hearing, Vocalizations, and Other Sensory Abilities ............................................................ 90 4.1.4.6 Steller sea lion Critical Habitat ..................................................................................... 90 5 ENVIRONMENTAL BASELINE ..................................................................................... 93 5.1 COASTAL DEVELOPMENT ............................................................................................... 93 5.1.1 Road Construction .................................................................................................... 95 5.1.2 Port Facilities ............................................................................................................ 96 5.2 OIL AND GAS DEVELOPMENT ........................................................................................ 98 3 Hilcorp Alaska and Harvest Alaska Oil and Gas Activities, Cook Inlet, Alaska AKRO-2018-00381 5.3 UNDERWATER INSTALLATIONS .................................................................................... 102 5.4 NATURAL AND ANTHROPOGENIC NOISE ...................................................................... 103 5.4.1 Seismic Activity Noise in Cook Inlet ..................................................................... 104 5.4.2 Oil and Gas Exploration, Drilling, and Production Noise ...................................... 108 5.4.3 Construction and Dredging Noise ........................................................................... 109 5.4.4 Vessel Traffic Noise ............................................................................................... 109 5.4.5 Aircraft Noise.......................................................................................................... 111 5.4.6 Noise and Critical Habitat ....................................................................................... 112 5.5 WATER QUALITY AND WATER POLLUTION.................................................................. 113 5.5.1 Petrochemical spills ................................................................................................ 114 5.5.2 Wastewater Discharge ............................................................................................ 116 5.5.3 Mixing Zones .......................................................................................................... 117 5.5.4 Stormwater Runoff.................................................................................................. 118 5.5.5 Aircraft De-icing ..................................................................................................... 118 5.5.6 Ballast Water Discharges ........................................................................................ 118 5.5.7 Contaminants Found in Listed Species ................................................................... 119 5.6 FISHERIES .................................................................................................................... 120 5.6.1 Entanglement .......................................................................................................... 120 5.6.2 Competition for Prey............................................................................................... 122 5.7 TOURISM