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Interior Department, Fish and Wildlife Service

Marine Mammals; Incidental Take of Polar Bears and Pacific Walruses in the Beaufort Sea and North Slope of Alaska

Published October 19, 2026. Takes effect October 19, 2026, printed at 91 FR 66204, amending 50 CFR 18. 52,411 words.

Read it at the Federal Register →

What the Rule Says It Does

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), in response to a request under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) of 1972 from the Alaska Oil and Gas Association (AOGA), finalize regulations facilitating the authorization of incidental, unintentional take of small numbers of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) and Pacific walruses (Odobenus rosmarus divergens) during year-round oil and gas industry activities in the Beaufort Sea (Alaska and the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS)) and adjacent northern coast of Alaska. Take may result from oil and gas exploration, development, production, and transportation activities occurring for a period of 5 years. Oil and gas industry operations include similar types of activities covered by the previous 5-year Beaufort Sea incidental take regulations effective from August 6, 2021, through August 5, 2026. We will issue letters of authorization, upon request, for specific activities in accordance with these regulations.

This is the rule's own summary, as the Federal Register prints it.

The Order It Names

The rule names this order itself. What it does about it is a reading, and none is recorded here.

On the Face of the Rule

As filed

[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 200 (Monday, October 19, 2026)] [Rules and Regulations] [Pages 66204-66274] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 2026-21371]

Vol. 91

Monday,

No. 200

October 19, 2026

Part II

Department of the Interior

Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Part 18

Marine Mammals; Incidental Take of Polar Bears and Pacific Walruses in the Beaufort Sea and North Slope of Alaska; Final Rule

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Part 18

[Docket No. FWS-R7-ES-2026-0694; FXES111607MRG01-267-FF07CAMM00] RIN 1018-BI93

Marine Mammals; Incidental Take of Polar Bears and Pacific Walruses in the Beaufort Sea and North Slope of Alaska

AGENCY

Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION

Final rule.

DATES

This rule is effective October 19, 2026 and remains effective through October 19, 2031.

ADDRESSES

Document availability: You may view this rule, the associated final environmental assessment (EA), and other supporting material at https://www.regulations.gov under Docket No. FWS-R7-ES- 2026-0694, or these documents may be requested as described in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT

Madonna Baucum, Chief of Regulations, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, by email at [email protected], or by telephone at (703) 468-8211. Individuals in the United States who are deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay services. Individuals outside the United States should use the relay services offered within their country to make international calls to the point-of-contact in the United States.

The fields the Federal Register prints at the head of the rule, quoted as printed. Its summary is quoted above.

Why the Agency Says It Is Doing This

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

Immediate Promulgation

In accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act (APA; 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3)), we find that we have good cause to make this rule effective less than 30 days after publication. Immediate promulgation of the rule will ensure that the requester will implement mitigation measures, monitoring, and reporting requirements that reduce potential impacts on polar bears (Ursus maritimus) and Pacific walruses (Odobenus rosmarus divergens), will allow the applicant to receive coverage under the MMPA (16 U.S.C. 1371(a)(5)(A)) for potential take of polar bears and Pacific walruses, increase our understanding of impacts that result from the requester's activities, and thus further our conservation objectives. Finally, this rule recognizes an exemption that is afforded the requester under the MMPA.

The passage that opens the rule's preamble, where the agency sets out what it is doing and on what authority. Every heading that follows it is listed below.

What the Rule Contains

Every heading the Federal Register prints in this rule, in the order it prints them. 69 headings, 52,411 words in all.

  1. AGENCYOn its face · 6 words
  2. ACTIONOn its face · 3 words
  3. SUMMARYOn its face · 143 words
  4. DATESOn its face · 15 words
  5. ADDRESSESOn its face · 41 words
  6. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACTOn its face · 79 words
  7. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATIONPreamble · 2 words
  8. Immediate PromulgationPreamble · 117 words
  9. Executive SummaryPreamble · 301 words
  10. BackgroundPreamble · 826 words
  11. Summary of RequestPreamble · 346 words
  12. Summary of Changes From the Proposed RegulationsPreamble · 1,189 words
  13. Description of the RegulationsPreamble · 325 words
  14. Description of Specified Geographic Region and Specified ActivitiesPreamble · 330 words
  15. Transportation and StagingPreamble · 797 words
  16. Surveys and StudiesPreamble · 1,060 words
  17. Well Drilling and ProductionPreamble · 357 words
  18. PipelinesPreamble · 119 words
  19. Support Facilities, Infrastructure and FunctionsPreamble · 480 words
  20. Anticipated Future ProjectsPreamble · 137 words
  21. Mitigation MeasuresPreamble · 1,138 words
  22. Description of Marine Mammals in the Specified Geographic RegionPreamble · 67 words
  23. Potential Impacts of the Specified Activities on Marine MammalsPreamble · 9 words
  24. Impacts of Surface Activities on Polar BearsPreamble · 171 words
  25. Human-Polar Bear InteractionsPreamble · 411 words
  26. Effects of Aircraft Activities on Polar BearsPreamble · 411 words
  27. Effects of In-Water Activities on Polar BearsPreamble · 482 words
  28. Effects to Denning Polar BearsPreamble · 347 words
  29. Impacts of Surface Activities on WalrusesPreamble · 344 words
  30. Effects of Aircraft Activities on WalrusesPreamble · 167 words
  31. Effects of In-Water Activities on WalrusesPreamble · 268 words
  32. Impacts of the Specified Activities on Polar Bear and Walrus Prey SpeciesPreamble · 62 words
  33. Potential Impacts of Oil Spills on Polar Bears and WalrusesPreamble · 346 words
  34. Take EstimatesPreamble · 2 words
  35. Incidental Take Under the Marine Mammal Protection ActPreamble · 51 words
  36. Lethal TakePreamble · 174 words
  37. Level A HarassmentPreamble · 189 words
  38. Level B HarassmentPreamble · 313 words
  39. Estimating TakePreamble · 436 words
  40. Request's Critique of FWS's Methodology for Estimating TakePreamble · 71 words
  41. The Request's Take Estimation MethodsPreamble · 1,295 words
  42. AOGA Estimates: Surface Polar Bears During All ActivitiesPreamble · 303 words
  43. AOGA Estimates: Denning Polar BearsPreamble · 204 words
  44. AOGA Estimates: Total TakePreamble · 98 words
  45. Consideration of Model ResultsPreamble · 111 words
  46. UncertaintiesPreamble · 525 words
  47. Legislative IntentPreamble · 416 words
  48. The FWS's Predictive Model ResultsPreamble · 831 words
  49. FWS Predictive Model Estimates: Surface ActivitiesPreamble · 178 words
  50. FWS Predictive Model Estimates: Aircraft ActivitiesPreamble · 224 words
  51. FWS Predictive Model Estimates: Denning Polar BearsPreamble · 254 words
  52. FWS Predictive Model Estimates: Vessel ActivitiesPreamble · 128 words
  53. Pacific Walrus: All Interactions Estimated Harassment of WalrusesPreamble · 195 words
  54. Critical AssumptionsPreamble · 40 words
  55. FWS Predictive Model Estimates: Sum of Harassment From All SourcesPreamble · 247 words
  56. Determinations and FindingsPreamble · 3 words
  57. Small NumbersPreamble · 916 words
  58. Small Numbers ConclusionPreamble · 33 words
  59. Negligible ImpactPreamble · 2,299 words
  60. Impact on Subsistence UsePreamble · 415 words
  61. Least Practicable Adverse ImpactPreamble · 1,849 words
  62. Monitoring and ReportingPreamble · 230 words
  63. Summary of and Response to Comments and RecommendationsPreamble · 8 words
  64. Response to CommentsPreamble · 25,123 words
  65. Energy EffectsPreamble · 123 words
  66. ReferencesPreamble · 18 words
  67. List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 18Regulatory text · 26 words
  68. Signing AuthorityRegulatory text · 58 words
  69. Regulation PromulgationRegulatory text · 4,019 words

The Rest of the Text

This rule runs to 52,411 words. The rest of it is set out over 4 pages, split at the rule's own headings so that no heading is parted from the words printed under it.

How to cite this
  1. The rule itself

    Interior Department, Fish and Wildlife Service, “Marine Mammals; Incidental Take of Polar Bears and Pacific Walruses in the Beaufort Sea and North Slope of Alaska,” 91 FR 66204 (October 19, 2026). Effective October 19, 2026.
    https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/10/19/2026-21371/marine-mammals-incidental-take-of-polar-bears-and-pacific-walruses-in-the-beaufort-sea-and-north

  2. This page

    “Marine Mammals; Incidental Take of Polar Bears and Pacific Walruses in the Beaufort Sea and North Slope of Alaska,” a final rule naming an order indexed here. Read the Mandate, https://readthemandate.org/rules/rule-2026-21371/ (retrieved October 17, 2026).

Cite the document when the claim is about what the document says. Cite this page when the indexing, the wording or the record of what has happened is what is being relied on.

How This Rule Is Set Out

Federal Register documents are United States government works and are not under copyright, so the rule is here whole rather than cut to an excerpt. It is split at the headings the Register itself prints: the line it is filed under, the captioned fields on its face, the preamble where the agency says what it is doing and why, and the amendments to the Code of Federal Regulations. No passage is shortened. This rule is long enough that its text is set out over 4 pages rather than one.

Two things the Register prints are not reproduced: the running head it repeats at every page break, and the tables it sets as pictures rather than as words. Its own marker for one of those tables, [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED], is left standing where the table was, so a reader can see that something is there and follow the link to the page it is on.

A heading with nothing quoted under it is one the rule prints on its own, with the words that follow it set under the headings beneath.