National Marine Fisheries Service Comments on the Draft Application for the Cook Inlet Tidal Energy Project

• Main Authors: I. Pilot, License Criteria
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2009
• Subjects: Cairn; Beluga; Beluga whale; Beluga*; Delphinapterus leucas
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.222.7654; http://209.112.168.2/protectedresources/whales/beluga/development/orpc/fireisland/nmfscomments_orpc_licapp0509.pdf

This project must meet FERC’s criteria for Pilot projects to proceed under this licensing procedure. NMFS questions whether ORPC’s Cook Inlet project has 1) sufficiently met the criteria to avoid “sensitive ” locations and, 2) whether the draft license application is sufficient to support environmental analysis. On April 17, 2007, FERC issued a preliminary permit to ORPC for two locations in Upper Cook Inlet (UCI), one site adjacent to Cairn Point in Knik Arm, the other adjacent to Fire Island. The endangered Cook Inlet beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas) seasonally moves throughout much of Cook Inlet; however, some of the most valuable habitat for the whales is located in the region of UCI containing the two ORPC permitted sites. Both sites are located in an area designated as Type 1 Habitat of high value/high sensitivity as defined by the 2008 Conservation Plan for the Cook Inlet Beluga Whale (Figure 1). Cairn Point is an area of defined sensitivity because it serves as a migratory corridor to the upper reaches of Knik Arm. Consequently, NMFS recommended that ORPC focus on the Fire Island site rather than Cairn Point. It is also possible that the project action area adjacent to Fire Island is a high use area for Cook Inlet belugas; however, there is insufficient data available to confirm this. Baseline studies of