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Biological Assessment of Impacts to Sea Turtle and Smalltooth Sawfish for St. Lucie Continued Operations
	ML19093A064
Person / Time
Site:	Saint Lucie
Issue date:	04/30/2019
From:	Briana Grange; Division of Materials and License Renewal
To:	;
	Briana Grange 301-415-1042
References
	Download: ML19093A064 (63)
	v • d • e

Biological Assessment of Impacts to Sea Turtles and Smalltooth Sawfish St. Lucie Plant, Unit Nos. 1 and 2 Continued Operations Under Renewed Facility Operating License Nos.

DPR-67 and NPF-16 April 2019 Docket Nos. 50-335 and 50-389 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Rockville, Maryland Prepared by:

Briana A. Grange Conservation Biologist Division of Materials and License Renewal Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

Table of Contents 1.0 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 1 2.0 Background/History ..................................................................................................... 1 3.0 Proposed Action .......................................................................................................... 2 4.0 Action Area.................................................................................................................. 3 5.0 Federally Listed Species ............................................................................................. 4 6.0 Federally Designated Critical Habitat .......................................................................... 4 7.0 Effects of the Proposed Action .................................................................................... 4 7.1 Injury or Mortality Associated with Travel through the Intake Pipes..................... 5 7.2 Injury or Mortality during Residence within the Intake Canal ............................. 10 7.3 Stress Associated with Capture and Release .................................................... 15 7.4 Reproductive Failure Associated with Sea Turtle Nesting on the Intake Canal Banks...................................................................................................... 15 7.5 Thermal Effects Associated with Cooling Water Discharge ............................... 17 7.6 Effects of Taprogge Condenser Cleaning System ............................................. 17 7.7 Transportation of Non-Causally Injured and Ill Sea Turtles to a Rehabilitation Facility ........................................................................................ 17 7.8 Research and Conservation Benefits to Sea Turtles from Data Gathered at St. Lucie ........................................................................................................ 18 7.9 Effects of the Proposed Action on Designated Critical Habitat .......................... 18 7.10 Interrelated and Interdependent Effects ........................................................... 18 8.0 Cumulative Effects .................................................................................................... 18 9.0 Conclusions............................................................................................................... 19 10.0 Literature Cited........................................................................................................ 20

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Appendices Appendix A. Tables Table A1. Federally Listed Marine Species in the St. Lucie Action Area ...................... A-2 Table A2. Live Sea Turtles Captured by Year and Scrape Severity, 2008-2018 ......... A-2 Table A3. Live Sea Turtles Sent to Rehabilitation by Year and Causality, 2001-2018............................................................................................. A-3 Table A4. Annual Percentage of Scrape Types Among All Captured Sea Turtles, 2012-2018............................................................................................. A-3 Table A5. Sea Turtle Mortalities by Year and Species, 2001-2018.............................. A-4 Table A6. Sea Turtle Mortalities by Year and Causality, 2001-2018 ............................ A-5 Table A7. All Sea Turtle Mortalities, 2001-2018 ........................................................... A-6 Table A8. Causal Sea Turtle Mortalities Associated with the St. Lucie Intake Pipes, 2001-2018.................................................................................. A-9 Table A9. Causal Sea Turtle Mortalities Associated with the St. Lucie Intake Wells, 2001-2018 ................................................................................ A-10 Table A10. St. Lucie Annual Environmental Operating Reports, 2001-2018 ............. A-11 Table A11. St. Lucie Marine Turtle Removal Monthly Summaries, 2008-2018.......... A-12 Table A12. St. Lucie Environmental Event Reports, 2001-2018 ................................ A-15 Appendix B. Figures Figure B1. St. Lucie Cooling System Overview ...................................................... B-2 Figure B2. St. Lucie Velocity Cap Configuration ..................................................... B-3 Figure B3. Velocity Cap and Vertical Transition Pipe Sections for 12-ft Intake Pipes...................................................................................................... B-4 Figure B4. Velocity Cap and Vertical Transition Pipe Sections for 16-ft Intake Pipe ....................................................................................................... B-5 Figure B5. Sea Turtles with Severe Scrapes by Year, 2008-2018 ......................... B-5 Figure B6. Sea Turtles with Moderate Scrapes by Year, 2008-2018 ..................... B-6 Figure B7. Sea Turtles with Minor Scrapes by Year, 2008-2018 ........................... B-6 Figure B8. Percentage of All Sea Turtles with Fresh Scrapes (All Severities) by Year, 2008-2018 .............................................................................. B-7 Figure B9. Sea Turtles with Causal Injuries Sent to a Rehabilitation Facility by Year, 2001-2018 ................................................................................... B-8 Figure B10. Percentage of All Sea Turtles with Causal Injuries Requiring Rehabilitation by Year, 2001-2018 ....................................................... B-9 Figure B11. All Sea Turtle Mortalities by Year and Species, 2001-2018 ............... B-10

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Figure B12. Sea Turtle Mortalities by Year and Causality, 2001-2018 .................. B-11 Figure B13. Sea Turtle Mortalities by Year, Species, and Causality, 2001-2018..................................................................................................... B-12 Figure B14. Causal Sea Turtle Mortalities by Year and Associated Plant Structure, 2001-2018 .......................................................................... B-13 Figure B15. All Sea Turtle Mortalities by Associated Plant Structure, 2001-2018..................................................................................................... B-14 Figure B16. Female Sea Turtles Observed Nesting within One Month of Capture and Release from the St. Lucie Intake Canal, 1984-2017 .... B-15 Figure B17. Female Sea Turtles Observed Nesting Days, Months, and Years after Capture and Release from the St. Lucie Intake Canal, 2002-2017..................................................................................................... B-16 Figure B18. Green Turtles Sent to Rehabilitation and Released, 2006-2017 ........ B-17 Figure B19. Loggerhead Turtles Sent to Rehabilitation and Released, 2006-2017..................................................................................................... B-18 Figure B20. Kemps Ridley Turtles Sent to Rehabilitation and Released, 2006-2017..................................................................................................... B-19

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Abbreviations, Acronyms, and Symbols ADAMS Agencywide Documents Access and Management System CFR Code of Federal Regulations cm centimeter(s)

ESA Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended FPL Florida Power and Light Company fps foot (feet) per second ft foot (feet) in. inch(es) km kilometer(s) m meter(s) mi mile(s) m/s meter(s) per second NMFS National Marine Fisheries Service NRC U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission PIT passive integrated transponder RPM reasonable and prudent measure St. Lucie St. Lucie Plant, Unit Nos. 1 and 2 T&C term and condition

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1.0 Introduction The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff prepared this biological assessment to comply with the provisions of Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA), in support of the NRCs request to reinitiate formal consultation with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) under Section 7 of the ESA for continued operations of the St. Lucie Plant, Unit Nos. 1 and 2 (St. Lucie) in St. Lucie County, Florida. The NRC staff provided Florida Power and Light Company (FPL) the opportunity to review this biological assessment and to affirm the accuracy of the information presented herein.

2.0 Background/History The NMFS (2016) issued a biological opinion for the continued operations of St. Lucie on March 24, 2016. The incidental take statement of the opinion exempts from the prohibitions of ESA Section 9 the capture of smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata) and five species of sea turtles 1 subject to compliance with the applicable reasonable and prudent measures (RPMs) and terms and conditions (T&Cs). The NMFSs biological opinion applies to the continued operations of St. Lucie under the terms of NRC-issued renewed facility operating licenses, which authorize FPL to operate St. Lucie until March 2036 (Unit No. 1), and April 2043 (Unit No. 2).

In February 2018, the NRC (2018a) requested to reinitiate formal consultation with the NMFS for St. Lucie under the provisions of ESA Section 7. The NRC (2018b) subsequently amended its request in April 2018. The NRCs reinitiation request, as amended, requested that the NMFS revise the incidental take statement of the St. Lucie biological opinion to address (1) the level of allowable captures of smalltooth sawfish, Kemps ridley sea turtles, and green sea turtles, and (2) the terms and conditions related to the testing and implementation of physical barriers designed to prevent sea turtles of certain sizes from entering the St. Lucie intake pipes and, subsequently, the intake canal. The NMFS opened this consultation under Public Consultation Tracking System No. SER-2018-19124.

In March 2018, NRC and NMFS staff met to discuss the reinitiated consultation. During the meeting, participants discussed the events that precipitated the NRCs reinitiation request; the status of FPLs excluder device design testing; and additional information the NMFS required to support reinitiated consultation (NRC 2018c).

In May 2018, NRC, NMFS, and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission staff met to discuss preliminary results of FPLs excluder device design testing (FPL 2018).

As an outcome of this meeting, FPL agreed to finalize and submit an excluder device test report to the agencies. The NRC staff agreed that, following FPLs issuance of this report, it would provide the NMFS with a detailed description of the proposed action subject to consultation (i.e., continued operations with excluder devices, continued operations without excluder devices, or some other option).

1 The five species of sea turtles are: loggerhead (Caretta caretta), green (Chelonia mydas),

leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata), and Kemps ridley (Lepidochelys kempii).

In November 2018, the NMFS requested that the NRC withdraw its request for reinitiated consultation. The NMFS informed the NRC that the agencies could open a new reinitiated consultation at a later date once the NRC could provide the NMFS with a clearly defined proposed action. By email dated December 18, 2018, the NRC (2018d) withdrew its reinitiated consultation request.

By letter dated December 28, 2018 (FPL 2018b), FPL submitted to the NRC the final excluder device test report entitled, Test Evaluation Report: Test Failure of Fixed Barrier Device for St. Lucie Nuclear Plant (SLNPP) Intake Pipe Velocity Caps (FPL 2018c). In the report, FPL describes the excluder device design that it constructed and tested, explains and analyzes the results of the 2016-2017 testing, and evaluates options for minimizing sea turtle take in light of the test results.

Most recently, on April 15, 2019, FPL (2019a) notified the NMFS, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and the NRC that it has again exceeded the level of allowable captures of Kemps ridley sea turtles specified in the incidental take statement of the biological opinion for the 2019 calendar year. FPL captured the ninth Kemps ridley of year on April 14, 2019, and the tenth Kemps ridley on April 15, 2019. All ten of the captured turtles were alive and healthy, and FPL released each individual back to the Atlantic Ocean in accordance with the terms and conditions of the biological opinion.

3.0 Proposed Action For the present request to reinitiate consultation, the proposed action is the continued operations of St. Lucie and its ocean intake system under the terms of NRC Renewed Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-67 and NPF-16, which authorize operations through March 1, 2036 (Unit No. 1) and April 6, 2043 (Unit No. 2), assuming FPLs implementation of Option 2, Maintain Programs and Identify and Minimize Negative Impacts Associated with Entrainment and Travel through the Intake Piping, as described in FPLs December 6, 2018, final excluder device test report (FPL 2018c).

In Section 2 of its biological opinion, the NMFS (2016) includes a detailed discussion of St. Lucie operations. This discussion remains relevant to the present reinitiated consultation. In addition to operations as described in the biological opinion, FPL proposes to implement the following actions to reduce or minimize the take of and harm to listed species:

1. Perform initial detailed inspection of interior of intake pipes and velocity caps to identify conditions that may cause injury to large marine animals that may travel through the pipes.

2. Perform maintenance and modifications to address adverse conditions, to include creation of a smooth transition at the base of the Unit No. 1 velocity caps where the horizontal pipe enters the vertical section of the velocity cap.

3. Perform periodic inspections of interior of intake pipes and velocity caps to identify potential conditions that may cause injury to large marine animals.

4. Require biologists to inspect and record observations of the intake canal banks for potential turtle nesting and document inspection results in the Annual Environmental Report.

FPLs implementation of these additional actions would allow FPL to continue to transport sick and previously injured sea turtles to a qualified rehabilitation facility and would allow researchers to continue to gather data on sea turtle biology for recovery plans and other conservation uses. Complications with redesigning and installing the barriers and the potential adverse effects of such devices would be avoided because FPL would not install physical barriers on the intake pipe velocity caps under the proposed action (see Section 6.0 of FPLs (2018c) final excluder device test report for detailed information).

4.0 Action Area The implementing regulations for ESA Section 7 define action area to mean all areas to be affected directly or indirectly by the Federal action and not merely the immediate area involved in the action (50 CFR 402.02). The action area effectively bounds the analysis of federally listed species and critical habitats because only species and habitats that occur within the action area may be affected by the Federal action.

In Section 2.2 of its biological opinion, the NMFS (2016) states, in part, that:

The action area consists of [St. Lucie], located on an 1130-acre (457-hectare) site on Hutchinson Island on Floridas east coast, including associated intake and discharge pipelines that terminate in the Atlantic Ocean. The plant and associated cooling water intake structures and canals, are approximately midway between Fort Pierce and St. Lucie Inlets. Indian River Lagoon bounds the

[St. Lucie] site to the west, and the Atlantic Ocean is the eastern boundary. The action area extends into the Atlantic Ocean on the eastern side out to the mouth of the intake and discharge pipes and on the western side into the Indian River Lagoon where some additional thermal discharges occur. The islands eastern shoreline is a beach of sand and shell hash and has occasional rocky promontories on the southern portion. Coastal substrate near [St. Lucie] is sandy with shell pieces, and coquinoid rock formations occur farther offshore and parallel to the beach.

This characterization of the action area remains relevant to the present reinitiated consultation. The NRC describes the St. Lucie site in further detail in several documents, including previous biological assessments (NRC 2006, 2007) and the supplemental environmental impact statement for the license renewal of St. Lucie (NRC 2003). FPL (2018c) describes the cooling system configuration and operation in detail in its excluder device test report. Section 2.1 of the NMFSs (2016) biological opinion also describes the cooling water intake and discharge. Additionally, several figures in Appendix B of this assessment depict the St. Lucie site and components of the ocean intake system. Figure B1 is an aerial photograph of the St. Lucie site with labels indicating the major components of the cooling intake and discharge systems. Figure B2 depicts the configuration of the three velocity caps. Figure B3 and Figure B4 are engineering diagrams of the velocity caps and vertical transition pipe sections for the Unit No. 1 12-ft (3.7-m) intake pipes and Unit No. 2 16-ft (4.9-m) intake pipe, respectively. FPL proposes to create a smooth transition for Unit No. 1s two 12-ft (3.7-m) intake pipes to reduce adverse conditions under the proposed action, as described above in Section 3.0.

5.0 Federally Listed Species The six federally listed species of concern in the action area are: smalltooth sawfish, loggerhead sea turtle, green sea turtle, leatherback sea turtle, hawksbill sea turtle, and Kemps ridley sea turtle. Table A1 identifies the scientific names, relevant distinct population segments, and federally listed status of each species. The NMFS (2016) describes the life histories, habitat requirements, status and trends, distribution of, and threats to each of these species in detail in Sections 4.1 through 4.6 of the biological opinion. This information continues to accurately describe these species, and the NRC staff did not identify any new or additional information related to these species and relevant to this review.

6.0 Federally Designated Critical Habitat Designated critical habitat for the Northwest Atlantic distinct population segment of loggerheads occurs in the action area. In the vicinity of St. Lucie, nearshore reproductive critical habitat extends from the shoreline seaward about 1.0 mi (1.6 km),

and constricted migratory critical habitat overlaps completely with the nearshore reproductive critical habitat and extends further seaward to about 15.2 mi (24.5 km) from the shoreline and to a water depth of approximately 656 ft (200 m) (79 FR 39856).

Section 4.5.2 of the biological opinion (NMFS 2016) describes loggerhead designated critical habitat in more detail. This information continues to accurately describe the designated critical habitat, and the NRC staff did not identify any new or additional information related to designated critical habitat and relevant to this review.

7.0 Effects of the Proposed Action This section describes the potential effects of the proposed action on federally listed species and designated critical habitats. The potential stressors that the listed sea turtles and smalltooth sawfish could experience from the continued operations of St. Lucie are:

Injury or mortality associated with travel through the intake pipes;

Injury or mortality during residence within the intake canal;

Stress associated with capture and release;

Reproductive failure associated with sea turtle nesting on the intake canal banks;

Thermal effects associated with cooling water discharge; and

Effects of Taprogge condenser cleaning system.

The listed sea turtles could experience the following beneficial effects under the proposed action:

Transportation of non-causally injured and ill sea turtles to a rehabilitation facility and

Research and conservation benefits from data gathered at St. Lucie.

Designated critical habitat could also experience effects as a result of the proposed action.

Each of these effects, as well as interrelated and interdependent effects, are evaluated in detail below. 2 7.1 Injury or Mortality Associated with Travel through the Intake Pipes The St. Lucie ocean intake system provides cooling water to the St. Lucie condensers and auxiliary cooling systems. The system consists of three velocity cap structures, three ocean intake pipelines, two headwall structures, and an intake canal. Ocean water enters the system from three reinforced concrete velocity cap structures located approximately 1,200 ft (365 m) offshore and 6.75 ft (2.1 m) below the water surface at Mean Low Water. A vertical sheet pile section minimizes intake of sand and small debris, but no screens or grates prevent sea turtles, fish, and other marine organisms from accessing the intake pipes. Water enters the velocity caps at approximately 1 foot per second (fps) (0.3 meters per second (m/s)) under typical conditions and travels through one of three intake pipelines (two 12-ft (3.7-m) diameter pipes and one 16-ft (4.9-m) diameter pipe). The intake pipes change angles from horizontal to vertical, and at these transition points, water velocity increases to approximately 4.2 fps (1.3 m/s) in the 12-ft (3.7-m) diameter pipes and 6.8 fps (2.1 m/s) in the 16-ft (4.9-m) diameter pipe.

Following travel through the intake pipes, water passes through two headwall structures and into a single intake canal where water velocity returns to 1 fps (0.3 m/s)

(FPL 2018c).

Sea turtles, fish, and other marine organisms that enter the intake structure may be capable of initially escaping entrainment due to the low water flow velocity. However, as organisms approach the vertical pipe transition where water velocity increases, escape likely becomes increasingly difficult. The change in pipe angle may also cause disorientation and further prevent individuals from exiting the pipe (FPL 2018c). During travel through the pipes, organisms may sustain injuries of varying degrees of severity.

Severe injuries can result in death.

Sea Turtle Injury During travel through the intake pipes, sea turtles may experience blunt force injury from collisions with the intake pipe itself, other intake structure components, or debris within the pipes. Such injuries may range from minor to severe. In clean, straight sections of the intake pipes, the potential for sea turtle injury associated travel through the pipes is minimal. Injury becomes more likely if the pipes exhibit biofouling or are clogged with other marine debris. During a previous ESA Section 7 consultation for St. Lucie operations, FPL personnel, in coordination with the NRC and the NMFS, determined that biofouling could be associated with an observed increase in fresh scrapes. In 2011, FPL (2007, 2018c) cleaned the inside of the velocity caps and 375 ft (114 m) of pipe and 2

The NRC staff compiled the sea turtle and smalltooth sawfish data presented in this assessment from FPLs annual environmental operating reports for the period of 2001-2018, FPLs marine turtle removal monthly summaries for the period of 2008-2018, and FPLs unusual or important environmental event reports for the period of 2001-2018. All data in this assessment are derived from a combination of these reports unless otherwise noted. Tables A9, A10, and A11 in Appendix A list each of these reports and provide corresponding NRC Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) accession numbers.

removed marine debris from all three pipes during a scheduled refueling outage.

Following cleaning, FPL (2018c) personnel observed reduced numbers of sea turtles with fresh scrapes entering the intake canal. In 2016, the NMFS included as a term and condition of the biological opinion a requirement for FPL to develop a monitoring and maintenance plan to inspect and remove debris and biofouling organisms from the intake pipes (see T&C 2 of RPM 2 in NMFS 2016). Additionally, the biological opinion requires FPL to inspect the intake pipes and initiate corrective actions if the number of turtles with severe or moderate fresh scrapes (as defined below) reach certain percentages of the total number of turtles captured in the intake canal over a consecutive two-year period (see T&C 3 of RPM 2 in NMFS 2016).

In 2008, FPL biologists 3 began categorizing sea turtle injuries as severe, moderate, or minor. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and qualified sea turtle veterinarians assisted FPL biologists in creating criteria for how scrapes should be classified into these three categories using protocol similar to those implemented at other coastal projects throughout the State of Florida. FPL categorizes scrapes as follows.

Severe scrapes: Scrapes that could potentially affect a turtles ability to survive. These include scrapes that penetrate the carapace through the bone, or affect the skull, eyes, or plastron. Turtles with severe scrapes are transported to a rehabilitation facility.

Moderate scrapes: Deeper or longer scrapes (>1/6 in. (>4 cm)) than those considered minor, combined with multiple minor scrapes.

Moderate scrapes do not affect the health of the turtle.

Turtles with moderate scrapes are released back to the ocean.

Minor scrapes: Fresh, superficial nicks and dings. Such scrapes typically appear as white marks on the carapace. Turtles with minor scrapes are released back to the ocean.

Table A2, Figure B5, Figure B6, and Figure B7 depict the number of sea turtles captured in the intake canal with severe, moderate, and minor scrapes by year over the period 2008-2018. Figure B8 depicts the percentage of sea turtles with fresh scrapes of all severities by year.

Severe scrapes are relatively rare. During the 2008-2018 period, eight sea turtles exhibited severe scrapes (see Figure B5). Prior to the intake pipe cleaning in 2011, an average of 1.75 turtles per year (2008-2011) sustained severe scrapes during travel through the intake pipes. Following the cleaning of the intake pipes, severe scrapes were practically eliminated; only one causally related severe scrape occurred post-cleaning for an average of 0.14 turtles per year (2012-2018). This severe scrape was of an adult female loggerhead on August 5, 2013. The turtle exhibited a 1.2 x 1.4 in. (3 x 3.5 cm) circular puncture wound through its carapace, which FPL (2013b) determined in consultation with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to be causal to St. Lucie operations. Following retrieval from the intake canal, FPL biologists 3

The use of the term FPL biologists in this assessment includes FPL staff and FPL-contracted personnel, including biologists employed by Inwater Research Group, Inc.

transported the turtle to the Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach, Florida, for rehabilitation. The rehabilitation facility treated the turtle and released it back to the ocean on August 14, 2013 (FPL 2013b).

The number of moderate scrapes drastically decreased following the intake pipe cleaning and have continued to trend downward (see Figure B6). From 2012 through 2018, 7.2% of sea turtles (227 of 3,162) captured in the intake canal exhibited moderate scrapes compared to 21.9% (531 of 2,420) of sea turtles captured from 2008 through 2011.

The intake pipe cleaning did not appear to affect the number of minor scrapes (see Figure B7). While the minor scrape numbers initially decreased in 2012, the numbers increased to within the previous range the following year with no clear correlation to the cleaning or an overall trend. From 2012 through 2018, 75.5% of sea turtles (2,386 of 3,162) collected in the intake canal exhibited minor scrapes.

FPL typically transports turtles with severe scrape injuries associated with St. Lucie operations to one of several local sea turtle rehabilitation facilities. Such injuries are termed causal and count against the allowable take limit in the incidental take statement of the biological opinion. Causal injuries are fresh injuries associated with a turtles interaction with the St. Lucie cooling water intake structure and that do not show signs of injuries from, for example, a boat strike, shark bite, fishing gear interaction, or a cold stunning event (NMFS 2016). FPL also transports turtles to rehabilitation if individuals exhibit serious injury or illness unassociated with St. Lucie operations. These injuries are termed non-causal. Non-causal injuries are injuries associated with non-plant-related activities and that occur before turtles enter the St. Lucie intake pipes and intake canal (NMFS 2016). In some instances, turtles may exhibit both moderate scrapes related to St. Lucie operations in addition to pre-existing non-causal injury or illness. FPL may transport these turtles to rehabilitation, as well. Thus, while the determination of causal injury is connected to scrape severity (e.g., severe, moderate, or minor), the two sets of terms are not synonymous.

In examining the number of turtles sent to rehabilitation, a longer time period can be assessed because the criteria for causal injuries have been well-defined in current and past biological opinions (NMFS 2001, 2016). Table A3, Figure B9, and Figure B10 depict the number of sea turtles with causal injuries sent to a rehabilitation facility by year from 2001 (the year that the NMFS issued the previous biological opinion) through 2018 with injuries related to travel through the intake pipes. Over the time period, FPL transported 344 turtles to rehabilitation for causal and non-causal injuries. Of the 344 injuries, 323 were non-causal and 21 were causal. Of the 21 causal injuries, 20 were attributable to travel through the intake pipes. 4 Prior to the intake pipe cleaning, FPL transported 1 to 2 sea turtles per year (1.64 turtles on average) to rehabilitation with causal injuries related to the intake pipes. Following the cleaning, the number of turtles requiring rehabilitation due to intake pipe-related injuries significantly decreased to roughly 1 turtle every three years (0.29 turtles per year).

The available sea turtle injury data suggest that under current operating conditions, sea turtles are most likely to sustain minor scrapes as a result of traveling through the intake pipes. Occasionally, turtles could suffer moderate or severe scrapes, but such injuries 4

The remaining causal injury during the 2001-2018 time period related to the traveling screen and trash rake system and is described below in Section 7.2.

occur at relatively low (moderate scrapes) to extremely low (severe scrapes) rates.

Causal injuries requiring rehabilitation are rare. Table A4 lists the anticipated percentages of scrape types based on observed numbers over the 2012-2018 period.

The NRC staff assumes that the described data on sea turtle scrapes and causal injuries related to travel of individuals through the intake pipes represent the baseline under current operating conditions at St. Lucie. Under these baseline conditions, the NRC staff assumes that similar percentages of sea turtles captured in the intake canal as those identified in Table A4 would exhibit severe, moderate, and minor scrapes as a result of travel through the intake pipes and may require rehabilitation each year for the remainder of the renewed license terms (i.e., from the present through 2036 (Unit No. 1) and 2043 (Unit No. 2)). Minor and moderate scrapes generally do not affect long-term health, susceptibility to predation, reproduction, or otherwise affect sea turtles ability to perform essential life history functions. Severe scrapes result in short-term fitness reductions that can affect individuals ability to feed, migrate, reproduce, and perform other life history functions. However, treatment of these turtles at rehabilitation facilities increases the likelihood of recovery with little to no long-term effects. In some cases, severe injuries can result in immediate or delayed death. The next section below discusses sea turtle mortalities.

Under the proposed action, FPL would undertake modifications to the intake pipes that would further reduce the likelihood of injury to sea turtles associated with travel from the ocean through the intake pipes and into the intake canal. As described in Section 3.0 of this assessment, FPL proposes to create a smooth transition at the base of the Unit No.

1 velocity caps where the horizontal pipe enters the vertical section of the velocity cap.

FPL (2018c) biologists believe that these modifications would reduce the likelihood of sea turtles experiencing fresh scrape injuries during intake pipe travel. Periodic inspections and cleaning of the intake pipes would also continue under the proposed action. The extent to which these actions would decrease fresh scrape injuries to sea turtles is unknown at this time, but the NRC staff assumes that these actions would decrease scrapes of all severities to some degree and may also decrease the number of turtles with causal injuries requiring rehabilitation. Severe fresh scrapes are rare, so a measurable decrease from the currently observed average of such scrapes on 0.03% of all turtles is unlikely. However, a measurable decrease in minor and moderate fresh scrapes, which are currently observed on 75.5% and 7.2% of sea turtles, respectively, would likely be observed following FPLs completion of the proposed intake pipe modifications.

Sea Turtle Mortality During travel through the intake pipes, sea turtles may die from injury or forced submergence. Sea turtles that experience severe blunt force injuries may die immediately. Sea turtles may also die later of intake pipe-related injuries if they are transported to a rehabilitation facility but are unable to recover. Sea turtles may also drown through forced submergence if an individual spends too much time within the intake pipe and reaches the end of its breath cycle.

Like injuries, FPL biologists categorize sea turtle mortalities as causal or non-causal depending on the condition of each specimen at the time of retrieval and necropsy results (if performed). Because the criteria for causal and non-causal mortalities are well-defined in current and past biological opinions (NMFS 2001, 2016), this section examines sea turtle mortalities over the period of 2001-2018. Over this time period, less than 1% of all turtles (98 of 10,592) captured in the intake canal were dead upon retrieval or died of injuries following capture. Causal and non-causal mortalities were roughly similar during the time period: 40% of mortalities (39) were causal, and 60% of mortalities (59) were non-causal. Causal mortalities occurred in all but two years (2009 and 2014), and non-causal mortalities occurred in all but one year (2001). Table A5 and Figure B11 show sea turtle mortalities by year and species. Table A6 and Figure B12 show sea turtle mortalities by year and causality. Figure B13 depicts mortalities by year, species, and causality. Table A7 provides a detailed listing of each sea turtle mortality over the 2001-2018 period.

Mortalities associated with travel of sea turtles through the intake pipes are fairly uncommon. Over the 2001-2018 period, FPL reported six intake pipe-related mortalities. These accounted for 15.4% of causal mortalities and 6.1% of all mortalities (causal and non-causal) (see Figure B14 and Figure B15). Table A8 identifies the date, species, age class, gender, and description of the cause of death for each of the six mortalities. Intake pipe-related mortality appears more likely in cases where a pre-existing injury, disease, or other condition has already weakened the turtle. Three of the intake pipe-related mortalities were adults. Larger sea turtles may be more susceptible to sustaining serious or fatal injuries as they travel through the intake pipes, especially if debris or biofouling is present. The risk of a turtle becoming disoriented and drowning is very low and would only occur under extremely low flow conditions, such as in the 2004 event when a hurricane storm surge resulted in a loss of offsite power and the temporary shut down of the St. Lucie units (see Table A8). When both St. Lucie units are operating, turtles travel through the intake pipes and into the intake canal in less than 5 minutes, which is too short of a duration to drown a sea turtle (NMFS 2016).

The NRC staff assumes that the described data on sea turtle mortalities associated with travel through the intake pipes represent the baseline under current operating conditions at St. Lucie. Under these baseline conditions, the NRC staff assumes that a similar number of sea turtles (0.33 turtles per year or one turtle every three years) would die as a result of travel through the intake pipes for the remainder of the renewed license terms. Thus, the NRC staff estimates that up to 9 sea turtles would die between 2018 and 2043 of causally related injuries associated with travel through the intake pipes.

Under the proposed action, however, FPL would undertake modifications to the intake pipes, as previously described, and perform periodic inspections and cleaning of the intake pipes. As explained in the previous section, these operational changes would likely decrease fresh scrape injuries to sea turtles (FPL 2018c). Such changes may also reduce the number of turtles that sustain blunt injuries resulting in death. The extent to which these actions would affect the rate of intake pipe-related sea turtle mortalities is unknown at this time.

Smalltooth Sawfish Injury or Mortality Since St. Lucie began operating in 1976 (Unit No. 1) and 1983 (Unit No. 2), FPL biologists have collected three smalltooth sawfish in the intake canal. The three individuals were captured in May 2005, September 2017, and November 2017, and all were alive, in good health, and released back to the ocean unharmed (FPL 2005a, 2017a, 2017b).

In its recovery plan for smalltooth sawfish, the NMFS (2009) identifies several types of injurious threats to the species. The primary source of human-induced injury is through fisheries interactions, which includes hooking or entanglement with fishing equipment.

The NMFS rates the severity of these threats as low to high depending on the specific type of interaction. Another potential source of injury is when smalltooth sawfish interact with or become entangled in marine debris (e.g., discarded fishing gear, PVC pipe, coffee cans, plastic, etc.). The NMFS (2009) identifies this as a medium threat. Injury, mortality, or stress of the type that smalltooth sawfish would experience through interactions with power plant cooling water intake systems is not described in the recovery plan, and the NRC staff identified no sources of information on impingement/entrainment of the species at any power plants beyond the three occurrences at St. Lucie described above. Smalltooth sawfish interactions with cooling systems are likely rare because of the limited number of power plants within the species range, its large size, and its advanced swimming capabilities.

Based on past captures of the smalltooth sawfish in the St. Lucie intake canal, individuals in the action area are likely to occasionally interact with the St. Lucie cooling water intake structure. In its biological opinion, the NMFS (2016) finds that smalltooth sawfish may experience minor or moderate injury from travel through the intake pipes.

Mortality associated with travel through the intake pipes, however, is unlikely. The smalltooth sawfish is a hardy species, and all individuals collected to date at St. Lucie have been in good condition.

The NRC staff assumes that the described data on smalltooth sawfish captures represent the baseline under current operating conditions at St. Lucie. Under these baseline conditions, the NRC staff assumes that smalltooth sawfish may occasionally enter the intake velocity caps, travel through the intake pipes, and become entrapped in the intake canal. Smalltooth sawfish may experience minor or moderate injury, but such effects would be short-term and would not affect long-term health, susceptibility to predation, reproduction, or otherwise affect the ability to perform essential life history functions. Although smalltooth sawfish would generally arrive in the intake canal unharmed, the intake pipe modifications that FPL proposes to undertake could further reduce the likelihood of smalltooth sawfish injury over the remainder of the St. Lucie renewed license terms.

7.2 Injury or Mortality during Residence within the Intake Canal Following travel through the intake pipes, marine organisms enter the intake canal. The intake canal is a 4,920-ft (1,500-m)-long trapezoidal channel within which water occupies an area of 180 ft (55 m) wide by 30 ft (9.1 m) deep at typical water levels (NRC 2003).

Sea turtles and smalltooth sawfish in the canal may encounter one of several barriers designed to prevent marine organisms from entering the intake wells, which pump water to the main turbine condensers. In encountering these barriers, live, uninjured individuals may become injured or die through entanglement. Occasionally, such as during storm surges that heighten intake canal water levels, individuals may also travel beyond these barriers and into the intake wells where they can become entrapped and die.

The first permanent barrier that sea turtles and smalltooth sawfish may encounter is a taut, sloped 5-in. (12.7-cm) mesh barrier net that spans the width of the intake canal midway between the headwall structures and the State Road A1A bridge (see Figure B1). This net is referred to as the primary barrier net in this assessment. FPL biologists monitor this net, as well as the canal area between the headwall structures and this net, hourly from a boat during daylight hours and rescue any entangled sea turtles. In good visibility conditions, FPL biologists capture sighted turtles by hand while free diving or with a dip net.

Turtles and smalltooth sawfish in the intake canal may also encounter tangle nets, which are temporary barriers. FPL biologists deploy two tangle nets in daylight hours when hand capture and dip-net capture cannot be performed due to low or poor visibility.

Tangle nets consist of unweighted, 18-in. (56-cm) stretched mesh and are each about 100 ft (30.5 m) long. The nets float at the waters surface and move with water flow.

When deployed, biologists inspect the nets at least hourly by boat.

The second permanent barrier that sea turtles and smalltooth sawfish may encounter is an 8-in. (20-cm) mesh net that spans the width of the canal immediately east of the A1A Bridge. This net is referred to as the secondary barrier net in this assessment, and it prevents sea turtles that have passed the primary barrier net from entering the intake wells. Sea turtles would typically only encounter this net if the primary barrier net fails due to mesh damage, storm surge, or other events that reduce the integrity of the net.

Finally, if marine organisms pass both the primary and secondary barrier nets, individuals may enter the intake wells and become entrapped. Although such occurrences are rare, FPL personnel have discovered small juvenile sea turtles in the intake wells on several occasions, all of which were associated with significant hurricane storm surges that compromised the integrity of the permanent barrier nets. 5 The biological opinion requires FPL biologists to monitor the intake canal 5 days a week for 8 hours9.259259e-5 days 0.00222 hours 1.322751e-5 weeks 3.044e-6 months a day under normal conditions (see T&C 7 of RPM 2 in NMFS 2016) and 4 hours4.62963e-5 days 0.00111 hours 6.613757e-6 weeks 1.522e-6 months a day on holidays. However, FPL biologists currently monitor the intake canal 7 days a week during daylight hours. FPL also extends its monitoring hours to 12 hours1.388889e-4 days 0.00333 hours 1.984127e-5 weeks 4.566e-6 months a day for 7 days a week if biologists identify an adult sea turtle in the canal during nesting or mating season (March 1-October 31); if an individual turtle has remained in the canal for 7 or more days; or if a sick or injured turtle is discovered in the canal. Additionally, FPL biologists extend monitoring during algae, jellyfish, or cold-stunning events and place divers in the water to monitor the integrity of barrier nets. FPL personnel also visually inspect the grating at each intake well for sea turtles and smalltooth sawfish every 6 hours6.944444e-5 days 0.00167 hours 9.920635e-6 weeks 2.283e-6 months in accordance with T&C 12 of RPM 2 of the biological opinion (NMFS 2016). Sea turtles and smalltooth sawfish are rescued and released to the ocean if healthy; transported to a rehabilitation facility if sick or injured; or transferred to a qualified veterinarian for necropsy (as appropriate) if dead in accordance with the terms and conditions of the biological opinion and FPLs Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission-issued Marine Turtle Permit.

5 In addition, in October 2006, FPL personnel discovered 24 hatchling loggerheads in the intake wells that had hatched from an undetected nest on the banks of the intake canal. Section 7.4 of this assessment describes this event and assesses the potential for St. Lucie operations to contribute to reproductive failure of sea turtles. This section focuses on juvenile, sub-adult, and adult sea turtles that enter the intake canal through the intake pipes and may become injured or die through encounters with the various barriers in the canal.

Sea Turtle Injury or Mortality FPL estimates that the average residency time for turtles in the intake canal is three days (NMFS 2016). During this entrapment period, sea turtles may become injured or die through encounters with the various barriers described above. The largest risk a sea turtle faces during entrapment is the potential for entanglement in one of the barrier nets and subsequent drowning prior to discovery and retrieval.

When the primary barrier net is functioning properly, the risk of sea turtles becoming entangled is low. The net is taut and slopes upward such that if a sea turtle continues to swim against the net in a horizontal direction, the individual would progressively be forced to move upward towards the waters surface. The primary net prevents juvenile, sub-adult, and adult sea turtles present in the intake canal from moving past the net and accessing either the secondary barrier net or the intake wells.

If a sea turtle becomes entangled in a barrier or tangle net and is not promptly discovered, it may drown through forced submergence. Such occurrences are most likely to happen when net integrity is compromised, water clarity is low, or both. These conditions are most often associated with hurricanes and other significant storm surges when large amounts of seaweed and other marine debris wash into the intake canal and create excessive load and tension on the barrier nets and subsequent net damage or failure. Storms also create hazardous conditions that may require FPL biologists to temporarily suspend intake canal monitoring for human safety reasons. FPL has also experienced several algae and jelly fish events at St. Lucie that have complicated sea turtle discovery and retrieval.

The various permanent and temporary intake canal barriers do not appear to cause injury to sea turtles. FPL did not report any instances of sea turtles sustaining causal injuries requiring rehabilitation from interactions with intake canal barriers over the period of 2001-2018. Additionally, FPL reported no sea turtle scrape injuries attributable to intake canal barriers and distinguishable from scrape injuries associated with travel through the intake pipes since FPL biologists began classifying scrape injuries as severe, moderate, or minor in 2008. This information suggests that live sea turtles are generally unlikely to be retrieved from the intake canal with injuries associated with intake canal barriers. Sea turtles that drown in the intake canal may sustain injuries through entanglement with nets or entrapment in intake wells; however, because such entanglement or entrapment typically leads to death, these turtles are counted as causal mortalities rather than causal injuries.

Sea turtle mortality associated with barrier net entanglement and subsequent drowning poses the largest mortality risk to turtles entrapped in the St. Lucie intake canal. Over the period of 2001-2018, FPL reported 27 of the 39 causal sea turtle mortalities (69.2%)

to be associated with barrier net entanglement (see Figure B15). Annually, barrier net entanglement resulted in an average of 1.5 sea turtle mortalities over this period (see Figure B14). Most of these mortalities (24) were of juvenile green turtles. The remaining were of loggerhead sub-adults (2) and loggerhead adults (1). Table A7 is a detailed listing of all reported sea turtle mortalities (causal and non-causal) over the 2001-2018 period.

The majority of entanglement deaths have occurred during periods when a storm surge compromised the integrity of the primary barrier net, the secondary barrier net, or both.

For instance, in September 2017, Hurricane Irma caused severe damage to Floridas coast. Following the storm, FPL discovered damage to both permanent barrier nets.

FPL notified the NMFS, the NRC, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission of the net damage and began repairs immediately upon safe work conditions. FPL first worked to fix the secondary barrier net, which was severely damaged. During repairs, FPL overlaid the damaged net with a temporary 5-in.

(12.7-cm) net to prevent sea turtles from gaining access to the intake wells. Following repairs of the secondary barrier net, FPL dredged east and west of the primary barrier net in order to relieve high tension and loading on the primary barrier net that had created elongated holes in the mesh through which smaller turtles could pass. Finally, FPL biologists increased monitoring efforts throughout all areas of the intake canal during repair activities to minimize sea turtle residency time and potential adverse impacts. FPL completed the repairs in mid-December 2017. Despite FPLs identification and response to the net damage, FPL biologists reported several causal sea turtle mortalities between the initial hurricane storm surge and the completion of net repairs. These mortalities included a juvenile green turtle and loggerhead sub-adult that drowned from entanglement on the primary barrier net in September 2017 and two juvenile green turtles that passed both barrier nets and died in the intake wells in October 2017 (FPL 2017a, 2017c). Following completion of the initial barrier net repairs, FPL (2018d, 2018e) biologists retrieved four juvenile green turtles that had passed the primary barrier net and became entangled and drowned in the secondary barrier net in January 2018 and a fifth dead juvenile green turtle on the secondary barrier net in February 2018. These mortalities indicated that despite the repairs FPL had already undertaken, the integrity of the primary barrier net remained compromised. FPL (2018f) completed a wholesale replacement of the primary barrier net in February 2018. In total, FPL reported nine causal sea turtle mortalities associated with St. Lucie operations and in connection with Hurricane Irma damage between September 2017 and February 2018 (see Table A7). These mortalities were, in part, the impetus for the NRCs (2018a, 2018b) request to reinitiate ESA section 7 consultation with the NMFS in February 2018, as described previously in Section 2.0 of this assessment. Since the replacement of the primary barrier net in February 2018, FPL has reported reduced sea turtle mortality rates associated with barrier net entanglement, and the new net appears to be performing better that the previous net. FPL has reported only two causal sea turtle mortalities associated with the new primary barrier net since its replacement. Both mortalities were of juvenile green turtles during a period of low ocean temperatures and an extreme influx of Sargassum seaweed in the intake canal in February 2019 (FPL 2019b).

Sea turtle mortality associated with tangle nets is rare. FPL has reported only one such mortality since St. Lucie began operating. In June 2002, FPL (2002) biologists retrieved a juvenile green turtle that had drowned in a tangle net. FPL biologists reported that the tangle net had been functioning properly prior to discovering the turtle and that the biologists had checked the net for turtles 30 minutes prior to finding the dead individual.

The necropsy did not reveal any significant physical abnormalities or other causes of death and, therefore, FPL attributed the death to drowning and reported it as a causal mortality.

Sea turtle injury or mortality associated with entrapment in the intake wells is fairly uncommon because sea turtles cannot normally access the intake wells. Over the 2001-2018 period, FPL (2017d) reported only one intake well-related injury. On October 7, 2017, FPL personnel retrieved a juvenile green turtle from the intake wells with a puncture wound in its carapace that the individual had sustained through interactions with the traveling screens and trash rake system prior to discovery. Over the same period, FPL reported five intake well-related mortalities, which accounted for 12.8% of causal mortalities and 5.1% of all mortalities (causal and non-causal) (see Figure B14 and Figure B15). Table A9 identifies the date, species, age class, gender, and description of the cause of death for each of the five mortalities. All mortalities were of juvenile green turtles, and all were directly related to barrier net failures caused by significant hurricane storm surges. In the case of each injury and mortality, net failures allowed smaller sea turtles to pass the primary and secondary barrier nets and gain access to the intake wells. Since the replacement of the primary barrier net in February 2018, FPL has not reported any sea turtle injuries or mortalities associated with the intake wells.

The NRC staff assumes that the described data on sea turtle injuries and mortalities associated with temporary and permanent barriers in the intake canal represent the baseline under current operating conditions at St. Lucie. Under these baseline conditions, the NRC staff assumes that live sea turtles that are captured and released to the ocean would not sustain injuries during residency in the intake canal. The NRC staff assumes some level of sea turtle mortality associated with the barrier nets would continue over the remainder of the St. Lucie renewed license terms because the nets are an entanglement hazard. However, the NRC staff expects that the future mortality rate would be significantly less than the rate of 1.5 turtles per year observed from 2001 through 2018 due to the improved performance of the new primary barrier net. The degree to which the new net would decrease causal sea turtle mortalities is unclear because the new net has only been in place for a little over one year. Future barrier net-related mortalities would continue to be most likely during significant storm surges, and juveniles would continue to be the most likely age class to die of entanglement because their smaller size makes them more likely to become entangled in the barrier nets mesh.

The new primary barrier net should also prevent sea turtles from gaining access to the intake wells and dying of entrapment. Nonetheless, severe storm surges could occasionally damage barrier nets or raise water levels above the nets and allow sea turtles to pass the nets. For these reasons, sea turtle injury or mortality associated with the intake wells remains possible. The NRC staff believes the one tangle net death to be an anomaly and that it is reasonable to expect no further sea turtle deaths attributable to tangle nets during the remainder of the renewed license terms.

FPLs continued monitoring of the intake canal, as described previously in this section and as required by T&C 7 of RPM 2 of the biological opinion (NMFS 2016), will continue to minimize sea turtle residency time and increase the likelihood of discovery prior to a sea turtle becoming entangled and drowning. FPL biologists also undertake immediate direct capture efforts if a sea turtle is observed in the intake canal west of the secondary barrier net to prevent the turtle from entering the intake wells in accordance with T&C 11 of RPM 2 of the biological opinion (NMFS 2016).

Smalltooth Sawfish Injury or Mortality As described previously in Section 7.1, which assesses the potential for injury or mortality of smalltooth sawfish associated with travel through the intake pipes, FPL has only collected three smalltooth sawfish at St. Lucie since the plant began operating. All three individuals were alive, in good health, and released back to the ocean unharmed.

In its biological opinion, the NMFS (2016) stated that although smalltooth sawfish may be injured or killed through encounters with tangle or barrier nets in the intake canal, individuals within the action area are expected to be large sub-adults (>4 m (>13 ft) in length) or adults and, therefore, human observation of such individuals would be expected. The NMFS (2016) concluded that any smalltooth sawfish that enter the intake canal could be captured and released alive based on the past successful capture of a smalltooth sawfish in 2005. The two additional captures of live, healthy smalltooth sawfish individuals in 2017 further support this conclusion. Based on these data, which represent baseline conditions, the NRC staff assumes that any smalltooth sawfish that become entrapped in the intake canal during the remainder of the renewed license terms would not sustain injuries or die as a result of entrapment and would not experience effects during entrapment that would otherwise affect long-term health, susceptibility to predation, reproduction, or the ability to perform other essential life history functions.

7.3 Stress Associated with Capture and Release Marine organisms entrapped in the intake canal cannot return to the ocean without human interaction. Sea turtles and smalltooth sawfish may experience stress from handling, tagging, and transporting associated with capture and release.

FPL biologists perform measurements and gather basic biological data on all captured sea turtles in accordance with T&C 14 of RPM 2 of the biological opinion (NMFS 2016).

Biologists also tag captured sea turtles with passive integrated transponders (PIT) and flipper tags unless turtles exhibit signs of flipper scarring or damage. FPL biologists receive training on proper sea turtle handling techniques, and sea turtle handling time, including tagging and data collection, is limited to 30 minutes when possible to minimize stress (NMFS 2016).

Each of the three smalltooth sawfish that FPL biologists have captured in the St. Lucie intake canal were discovered when the individuals became entangled in sea turtle tangle nets (FPL 2005a, 2017a, 2017b). Following the first event in 2005, FPL biologists underwent sawfish handling training at the Mote Marine Laboratory in 2006, and FPL and the NMFS jointly created smalltooth sawfish handling, transportation, and release protocols, which FPL adopted in 2007 to minimize the effects on any captured smalltooth sawfish. Based on the successful capture and release of smalltooth sawfish to date, the NMFS (2016) expects that any sawfish discovered in the intake canal could be captured and released alive and unharmed.

The NRC staff finds that stress to sea turtles and smalltooth sawfish associated with capture and release activities during the remainder of the St. Lucie renewed license terms would not result in measurable or detectable impacts on these species because FPL biologists are appropriately trained and follow safe handling protocols that have been developed in coordination with species experts to minimize stress to sea turtles and smalltooth sawfish. Such effects would, therefore, be discountable.

7.4 Reproductive Failure Associated with Sea Turtle Nesting on the Intake Canal Banks Female sea turtles that become entrapped in the intake canal could experience reproductive failure if they are gravid when they enter the intake canal and nest or attempt to nest on the canal banks in the period between entering the intake canal and being captured and released back to the ocean. If nests hatch, emerging hatchlings would seek water and enter the intake canal where they would be carried by the intake current, swept through the barrier net system due to their small size, and enter the intake wells or other intake system components. Such an event has only happened once in the history of St. Lucie operations. A gravid female could also experience reproductive failure if its handling during capture and release causes stress or injury that results in failed nesting attempts following its release back to the ocean. Both of these potential effects are evaluated in this section.

Intake Canal Nesting During the 2006 sea turtle nesting season, an entrapped female loggerhead emerged from the intake canal and nested on the canal banks. At that time, the top half of the canal banks consisted of sand and gravel substrate with sparse vegetation, which camouflaged the nest, and the nest went undetected by FPL personnel. In October, the newly hatched sea turtles entered the intake canal water and were carried by the current into the intake wells. FPL (2006a) personnel discovered and retrieved the hatchlings over a two-day period on October 25 and October 26, 2006. Twenty-one hatchlings drowned in the intake wells prior to retrieval. These counted as causal mortalities against the allowable take set forth in the incidental take statement of the biological opinion. Three live hatchlings were sent to the Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach, Florida, for rehabilitation.

Following this event, FPL (2018a, 2018c) removed all vegetation from the intake canal banks east of the primary barrier net and replaced it with raked gravel near the headwall area and stone pavers interspersed with raked gravel closer to the primary barrier net.

FPL biologists also began actively searching the canal banks east of the primary barrier net for turtle tracks and other signs of nesting each morning during nesting season. In 2016, the NMFS formalized canal bank monitoring as a term and condition of the biological opinion (see T&C 6 of RPM 2 in NMFS 2016).

The singular sea turtle nesting event in 2006 suggests that the likelihood of such events is extremely low. FPL biologists have not observed any nesting attempts since the 2006 event, and FPLs daily monitoring of the canal banks during sea turtle nesting season will continue to ensure that any nest or nesting attempt is quickly identified and appropriately addressed. The conversion of the canal banks to gravel and pavers, which provides no camouflage or cover, further discourages females from nesting on the canal banks. Based on this information, reproductive failure in the form of nesting on the intake canal banks is extremely unlikely to occur during the remainder of the St. Lucie renewed license terms. Therefore, the NRC staff finds this potential impact to be discountable.

Stress or Injury to Gravid Females During the March 2018 and May 2018 consultation meetings described in Section 2.0 of this assessment, the NMFS staff expressed concerns that gravid females could experience stress or injury during entrapment in the intake canal, capture, and handling that may contribute to reproductive failure once females are released back to the ocean.

Following these meetings, FPL compiled data on tagged females that have been captured in the St. Lucie intake canal, released to the ocean, and were subsequently observed nesting during FPLs annual sea turtle nest surveys (see Figure B16 and Figure B17), which are required, among other conservation activities, as a term and condition of the biological opinion (see T&C 8 of RPM 2 in NMFS 2016). While these data represent only those released females that have been observed nesting on beaches near St. Lucie and not all released females that nest, consistent observations of some of these females successfully nesting over time suggests that reproductive potential is largely unaffected by intake canal entrapment, capture, and release. The NRC staff did not identify any scientific literature or other information that would indicate that sea turtle handling and release activities induce stress or cause injury that could lead to reproductive failure of gravid females. The NRC staff finds this potential impact to be insignificant because it cannot be meaningfully measured, detected, or evaluated and would never reach the scale where take would occur.

7.5 Thermal Effects Associated with Cooling Water Discharge Section 6.1.4 of the NMFSs (2016) biological opinion addresses effects of the St. Lucie discharge system on sea turtles and smalltooth sawfish and determines that all potential effects would be insignificant. The information in the biological opinion continues to accurately describe these effects, and the NRC staff did not identify any new or additional information related to this impact and relevant to this review.

7.6 Effects of Taprogge Condenser Cleaning System Section 6.1.5 of the NMFSs (2016) biological opinion addresses effects of the Taprogge condenser cleaning system on sea turtles and smalltooth sawfish and determines that all potential effects would be discountable. The information in the biological opinion continues to accurately describe these effects, and the NRC staff did not identify any new or additional information related to this impact and relevant to this review.

7.7 Transportation of Non-Causally Injured and Ill Sea Turtles to a Rehabilitation Facility Sea turtles retrieved from the intake canal with serious injuries (regardless of causality) or illness are transported to a rehabilitation facility within the Florida Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network. FPL biologists consult with members of this network and with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, in accordance with FPLs Marine Turtle Permit issued by the Commission and T&C 13 of RPM 2 of the biological opinion (NMFS 2016), to determine how to handle each injured or ill turtle. Typical non-causal injuries include boat strike injuries, entanglement with and wounds associated with fishing gear, and shark bites. Ill or diseased turtles typically exhibit a combination of papillomas, buoyancy issues, lethargy, and may be underweight or emaciated.

Non-causal injury and illness accounts for the vast majority of sea turtles that enter the St. Lucie intake canal requiring rehabilitation. From 2001 through 2018, FPL sent 323 sea turtles with non-causal injury and illness to rehabilitation, which accounted for 94% of all sea turtles transported to rehabilitation over this time period (see Table A3).

In its excluder device test evaluation report, FPL (2018c) examined rehabilitation data for the period 2006-2017, during which FPL transported 216 turtles to rehabilitation facilities. Of the 216 individuals, 203 (94%) exhibited injury or illness that was not causally related to St. Lucie operations. Following treatment, the rehabilitation facilities successfully released 72% of the turtles (155) transferred for care. Of the remaining turtles, 22% (48 turtles) died or were euthanized while in rehabilitation, 4% (9 turtles) were continuing rehabilitation at the time of reporting, and the remainder (4 turtles) were deemed non-releasable and transferred to aquariums for long-term care. Figure B18, Figure B19, and Figure B20 depict numbers of turtles sent to rehabilitation and released by species and cause. FPL (2018c) reports that many rehabilitated turtles were in conditions when retrieved from the intake canal that would have likely resulted in death without intervention and care.

The NRC staff finds that the continued transportation of non-causally injured and ill sea turtles to rehabilitation facilities during the remainder of the St. Lucie renewed license terms would result in beneficial effects to sea turtles.

7.8 Research and Conservation Benefits to Sea Turtles from Data Gathered at St. Lucie Since St. Lucie began operating in 1976, FPL (2018c) has captured over 16,000 sea turtles of five species (in order of abundance: loggerhead, green, hawksbill, Kemps ridley, and leatherback) in the plants intake canal. Information gathered on these sea turtles constitutes the largest database of its kind in the world. St. Lucie sea turtle data appear in more than 23 scientific publications; 17 conference presentations, workshops, and meetings; and numerous agency documents, including the NMFSs (1991, 2008) recovery plans for the green and loggerhead turtles (FPL 2018c). Several Masters and Doctoral students have used St. Lucie data to complete theses on sea turtle health, growth rates, sex ratios, and site fidelity (FPL 2018c). Under the proposed action, FPL biologists would continue to gather data on sea turtles that enter the St. Lucie intake canal, and these data would continue to contribute to the scientific communitys understanding of sea turtle biology and conservation.

The NRC staff finds that the continued gathering and use of sea turtle data would result in beneficial effects to all sea turtle populations.

7.9 Effects of the Proposed Action on Designated Critical Habitat Section 6.3.3 of the NMFSs (2016) biological opinion evaluates effects on designated critical habitat of the Northwest Atlantic distinct population segment of loggerhead sea turtles and determines that the continued operations of St. Lucie would not alter any physical or biological features of or reduce the conservation value of the critical habitat.

In that section, the NMFS concludes that the proposed action would not destroy or adversely modify designated critical habitat. The information in the biological opinion continues to accurately describe these effects, and the NRC staff did not identify any new or additional information related to designated critical habitat and relevant to this review.

7.10 Interrelated and Interdependent Effects Interrelated actions are those actions that are part of a larger action and depend on the larger action for their justification (50 CFR 402.02). Interdependent actions are those actions that have no independent utility apart from the proposed action (50 CFR 402.02).

The NMFS (2016) identifies no interrelated or interdependent actions in its biological opinion. The NRC staff did not identify any new or additional information related to interrelated or interdependent actions and relevant to this review.

8.0 Cumulative Effects Cumulative effects are those effects of future State or private activities, not involving Federal activities, that are reasonably certain to occur within the action area of the Federal action subject to consultation (50 CFR 402.02). When formulating biological opinions during formal ESA Section 7 consultation, the NMFS and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service consider cumulative effects when determining the likelihood of jeopardy or adverse modification.

In Section 6.2 of its biological opinion, the NMFS (2016) states, in part, that:

Current activities in the action area, such as recreational boating and fishing, are expected to continue at present levels of intensity. Anticipated effects on sea turtles and smalltooth sawfish include incidental capture by fishermen, vessel strikes, interaction with marine debris, chemical discharges, and anthropogenic noise. If boating and fishing activities increase, possible effects may increase as well.

Some shore-based activities may affect sea turtle nesting habitat and related behaviors. For example, beachfront development, lighting, and erosion control could degrade sea turtle nesting habitat or hinder hatchlings from crawling to the ocean after emerging from nests. Conservation efforts, including FPLs turtle walks, are reducing potential effects to sea turtle nesting habitat, nesting turtles, eggs, and hatchlings.

This characterization of cumulative effects remains relevant for this review, and the NRC staff did not identify any new or additional information related to cumulative effects and relevant to this review.

9.0 Conclusions Based on the NRC staffs analysis presented in this biological assessment, the staff makes the following conclusions.

Sea Turtles The proposed action is likely to adversely affect the loggerhead sea turtle, green sea turtle, leatherback sea turtle, hawksbill sea turtle, and Kemps ridley sea turtle. Most sea turtles that travel through the intake pipes and enter the intake canal would be alive and healthy. These individuals would experience take in the form of capture for purposes of being released back to the ocean. Loggerhead turtles would be captured most often followed by green turtles, Kemps ridley turtles, hawksbill turtles, and leatherback turtles.

Some of these sea turtles would suffer injurious or lethal take as a result of blunt trauma injuries sustained during travel through the intake pipes, from entanglement in barrier nets during residency in the intake canal, or from entrapment in the intake wells. All other effects to these species associated with the proposed action would be insignificant, discountable, or beneficial.

Smalltooth Sawfish The proposed action is likely to adversely affect the smalltooth sawfish. Occasional smalltooth sawfish individuals are likely to travel through the intake pipes and enter the intake canal where they would experience take in the form of capture for purposes of being released back to the ocean. All smalltooth sawfish are expected to be live, healthy, and uninjured. All other effects to this species associated with the proposed action would be insignificant or discountable.

Designated Critical Habitat The proposed action would not destroy or adversely modify designated critical habitat for the Northwest Atlantic distinct population segment of loggerhead sea turtle. The proposed action would not alter any physical or biological features of or reduce the conservation value of the critical habitat.

10.0 Literature Cited References with Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) accession numbers can be accessed through the NRCs web-based ADAMS search engine at http://adams.nrc.gov/wba/. To retrieve a document, click on the Advanced Search tab and choose the following criteria under Document Properties: Accession Number in the Property box, is equal to in the Operator box, and the ADAMS accession number of the document in the Value box.

50 CFR Part 17. Code of Federal Regulations, Title 50, Wildlife and Fisheries, Part 17, Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants.

50 CFR Part 402. Code of Federal Regulations, Title 50, Wildlife and Fisheries, Part 402, Interagency CooperationEndangered Species Act of 1973, as Amended.

79 FR 39856. National Marine Fisheries Service. Endangered and Threatened Species: Critical Habitat for the Northwest Atlantic Ocean Loggerhead Sea Turtle Distinct Population Segment (DPS) and Determination Regarding Critical Habitat for the North Pacific Ocean Loggerhead DPS. July 10, 2014. Federal Register 79(132): 39856-39912.

[ESA] Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended. 16 U.S.C. § 1531 et seq.

[FPL] Florida Power and Light Company. 2019a. Email from J. Eldridge, FPL, to A. Livergood, NMFS, and M. Koperski, FWC. Kemps Ridley Sea Turtles at PSL. April 15, 2019. ADAMS Accession No. ML19107A028.

[FPL] Florida Power and Light Company. 2019b. St. Lucie Marine Turtle Removal Summary, February 2019. March 26, 2019. 9 p. ADAMS Accession No. ML19086A104.

[FPL] Florida Power and Light Company. 2018a. St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant, FPL, NMFS, and NRC Meeting, St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plants Biological Opinion, May 14, 2018. ADAMS Accession No. ML18183A257.

[FPL] Florida Power and Light Company. 2018b. Letter from M. Snyder, FPL, to NRC Document Control Desk. Transmittal of Test Evaluation Report: Test Failure of Fixed Barrier Device for St. Lucie Nuclear Plant (SLNPP) Intake Pipe Velocity Caps.

December 28, 2018. ADAMS Accession No. ML18362A104.

[FPL] Florida Power and Light Company. 2018c. Test Evaluation Report: Test Failure of Fixed Barrier Device for St. Lucie Nuclear Plant (SLNPP) Intake Pipe Velocity Caps.

December 6, 2018. 131 p. ADAMS Accession No. ML18362A104.

[FPL] Florida Power and Light Company. 2018d. St. Lucie, Units 1 and 2, Environmental Protection Plan Report, January 18, 2018, January 20, 2018, and February 10, 2018, Unusual or Important Environmental Event - Turtle Mortalities.

February 16, 2018. 3 p. ADAMS Accession No. ML18047A020.

[FPL] Florida Power and Light Company. 2018e. St. Lucie, Units 1 and 2, Environmental Protection Plan Report, January 4, 2018, Unusual or Important Environmental Event - Turtle Mortality. January 18, 2018. 2 p. ADAMS Accession No. ML18018A379.

[FPL] Florida Power and Light Company. 2018f. St. Lucie Marine Turtle Removal Summary, March 2018. April 12, 2018. 9 p. ADAMS Accession No. ML18102B096.

[FPL] Florida Power and Light Company. 2018g. St. Lucie, Units 1 and 2, Environmental Protection Plan Report, May 29, 2018, Unusual or Important Environmental Event - Turtle Mortality. June 14, 2018. 2 p. ADAMS Accession No. ML18165A429.

[FPL] Florida Power and Light Company. 2017a. St. Lucie Marine Turtle Removal Summary, September 2017. October 10, 2017. 12 p. ADAMS Accession No. ML17285A204.

[FPL] Florida Power and Light Company. 2017b. St. Lucie, Units 1 and 2, Environmental Protection Plan Report, November 2, 2017, Unusual or Important Environmental Event - Capture of a Smalltooth Sawfish. November 28, 2017. 2 p.

ADAMS Accession No. ML17340A340.

[FPL] Florida Power and Light Company. 2017c. St. Lucie, Units 1 and 2, Environmental Protection Plan Report, October 3, 2017, and October 7, 2017, Unusual or Important Environmental Event - Turtle Mortality. October 26, 2017. 2 p. ADAMS Accession No. ML17304A068.

[FPL] Florida Power and Light Company. 2017d. St. Lucie Marine Turtle Removal Summary, October 2017. November 13, 2017. 19 p. ADAMS Accession No. ML17317B104.

[FPL] Florida Power and Light Company. 2016. St. Lucie Marine Turtle Removal Summary, October 2016. November 2, 2016. 9 p. ADAMS Accession No. ML16308A093.

[FPL] Florida Power and Light Company. 2015. St. Lucie Marine Turtle Removal Summary, October 2015. November 5, 2015. 8 p. ADAMS Accession No. ML15323A076.

[FPL] Florida Power and Light Company. 2007. Memorandum from S. Foster, FPL, to D. Logan, NRC, et al. Minutes from August 24th, 2007, Conference Call. August 24, 2007. ADAMS Accession No. ML072630242.

[FPL] Florida Power and Light Company. 2006a. St. Lucie, Units 1 and 2, Environmental Protection Plan Report, October 25-26, 2006, Unusual or Important Environmental Event. ADAMS Accession No. ML063410233.

[FPL] Florida Power and Light Company. 2006b. St. Lucie, Units 1 and 2, Environmental Protection Plan Report, January 22, 2006, Unusual or Important Environmental Event. February 14, 2006. 3 p. ADAMS Accession No. ML060670270.

[FPL] Florida Power and Light Company. 2005a. St. Lucie, Units 1 and 2, Environmental Protection Plan Report, May 16, 2005, Unusual or Important Environmental Event - Smalltooth Sawfish. ADAMS Accession No. ML051940435.

[FPL] Florida Power and Light Company. 2005b. St. Lucie, Units 1 and 2, Environmental Protection Plan Report, July 10, 2005, Unusual or Important Environmental Event. August 9, 2005. 2 p. ADAMS Accession No. ML052280203.

[FPL] Florida Power and Light Company. 2004. St. Lucie, Units 1 and 2, Environmental Protection Plan Report, September 25, 2004, and September 30, 2004, Non-Routine Environmental Events - Sea Turtle Mortalities Causal to Plant Operations Related to Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne. October 25, 2004. 3 p. ADAMS Accession No. ML043080427.

[FPL] Florida Power and Light Company. 2003. St. Lucie, Units 1 and 2, Environmental Protection Plan Report, June 25, 2003, Non-Routine Environmental Event - Sea Turtle Mortality. July 23, 2003. 3 p. ADAMS Accession No. ML032090209.

[FPL] Florida Power and Light Company. 2002. St. Lucie, Units 1 and 2, Environmental Protection Plan Report, May 27, 2002, and June 2, 2002, Non-Routine Environmental Report. June 21, 2002. 3 p. ADAMS Accession No. ML021770235.

[FPL] Florida Power and Light Company. 2001. St. Lucie, Units 1 and 2, Environmental Protection Plan Report, November 23, 2001, Non-Routine Environmental Event Report.

December 21, 2001. 2 p. ADAMS Accession No. ML013620054.

[NMFS] National Marine Fisheries Service. 2016. Biological Opinion for Continued Operation of St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant, Units 1 and 2 in St. Lucie County, Florida.

March 24, 2016. 98 p. ADAMS Accession No. ML16084A616.

[NMFS] National Marine Fisheries Service. 2009. Smalltooth Sawfish Recovery Plan (Pristis pectinata). January 2009. 102 p. Available at <https://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/

protected_resources/sawfish/documents/smalltoothsawfish_recovery_plan.pdf>

(accessed February 21, 2019).

[NMFS] National Marine Fisheries Service. 2008. Recovery Plan for the Northwest Atlantic Population of the Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Caretta caretta). December 8, 2008.

325 p. Available at <https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/3720> (accessed February 28, 2019).

[NMFS] National Marine Fisheries Service. 2001. Biological Opinion for Continued Operation of the St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plants Circulating Seawater Cooling System, Jensen Beach, Hutchinson Island, Florida. May 4, 2001. 55 p. ADAMS Accession No. ML011430173 as clarified by ML011590621 and ML013020208.

[NMFS] National Marine Fisheries Service. 1991. Recovery Plan for U.S. Population of Atlantic Green Turtle (Chelonia mydas). October 29, 1991. 59 p. Available at

<https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/15995> (accessed February 28, 2019).

[NRC] U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 2018a. Letter from B. Beasley, NRC, to D. Bernhart, NMFS. Request to Reinitiate Endangered Species Act Section 7 Formal Consultation for St. Lucie Plant, Units 1 and 2. February 9, 2018. ADAMS Accession No. ML18029A143.

[NRC] U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 2018b. Email from B. Grange, NRC, to A. Livergood, NMFS. Reply to Request for Additional Information. April 3, 2018.

ADAMS Accession No. ML18093A076.

[NRC] U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 2018c. Memorandum from B. Grange, NRC, to B. Beasley, NRC. Summary of March 22, 2018, Meeting with the National Marine Fisheries Service Related to St. Lucie Plant, Units 1 and 2, Endangered Species Act Section 7 Consultation. May 2, 2018. ADAMS Accession No. ML18093B552.

[NRC] U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 2018d. Email from B. Grange, NRC, to A. Livergood, NMFS. Withdrawal of ESA Section 7 Consultation SER-2018-19124 for St. Lucie Plant. December 18, 2018. ML18352A943.

[NRC] U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 2007. Biological Assessment, St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant Units 1 and 2, Reinitiation of Section 7 Consultation to Include Sea Turtles. August 2007. 35 p. ADAMS Accession No. ML071700161.

[NRC] U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 2006. Biological Assessment, St. Lucie Units 1 and 2, Reinitiation of Section 7 Consultation. February 2006. 15 p. ADAMS Accession No. ML060580303.

[NRC] U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 2003. Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants: Regarding St. Lucie Units 1 and 2.

NUREG-1437, Supplement 11. May 2003. ADAMS Accession No. ML031360709.

Appendix A. Tables A-1

Table A1. Federally Listed Marine Species in the St. Lucie Action Area Distinct Federal Species Common Name Population Status(b)

Segment(a)

Fish Pristis pectinata smalltooth sawfish United States FE Sea Turtles Caretta caretta loggerhead FT Chelonia mydas green Northwest Atlantic FT Dermochelys leatherback FE coriacea Eretmochelys leatherback FE imbricata Lepidochelys kempii Kemps ridley FE (a)

Under the Endangered Species Act, a distinct population segment is a vertebrate population or group of populations that is discrete from other populations of the species and significant in relation to the entire species.

indicates that no identified distinct population segments exist for the given species.

(b)

FE = federally listed as endangered and FT = federally listed as threatened at 50 CFR Part 17 under the provisions of the Endangered Species Act.

Table A2. Live Sea Turtles Captured by Year and Scrape Severity, 2008-2018 No. of Sea Turtles(a)

No Minor Moderate Severe Total Scrapes Scrapes Scrapes Scrapes 2008 92 399 225 3 719 2009 2 301 116 3 422 2010 59 548 134 1 742 2011 35 421 56 - 512 2012 59 263 37 - 359 2013 93 357 47 1 498 2014 65 311 34 - 410 2015 130 298 28 - 456 2016 64 370 43 - 477 2017 51 353 23 - 427 2018 39 434 15 - 488 Total 689 4,055 758 8 5510 (a)

Numbers represent captured numbers of live sea turtles only. Sea turtle mortalities are omitted from this table. -

indicates zero.

A-2

Table A3. Live Sea Turtles Sent to Rehabilitation by Year and Causality, 2001-2018 No. of Sea Turtles Sent to Rehabilitation(a)

Causal Non-causal Total 2001 - 13 13 2002 - 18 18 2003 2 18 20 2004 - 14 14 2005 4 25 29 2006 7 40 47 2007 - 15 15 2008 1 20 21 2009 3 17 20 2010 1 26 27 2011 - 8 8 2012 1 7 8 2013 1 12 13 2014 - 15 15 2015 - 17 17 2016 - 26 26 2017 1 18 19 2018 - 14 14 Total 21 323 344 (a)

- indicates zero.

Table A4. Annual Percentage of Scrape Types Among All Captured Sea Turtles, 2012-2018 Percentage of All Scrape Type Typical Handling Sea Turtles(a)

None Release to ocean 15.8%

Minor Release to ocean 75.5%

Moderate Release to ocean 7.2%

Severe Transport to rehabilitation(b) 0.03%

(a)

The remainder of sea turtles (1.47%) are captured dead or die as a result of injury either causal or non-causal to St. Lucie operations.

(b)

Severe fresh scrapes are causal injuries that count against the allowable take limit in the incidental take statement to the biological opinion.

A-3

Table A5. Sea Turtle Mortalities by Year and Species, 2001-2018 No. Sea Turtle Mortalities(a)(b)

Green Loggerhead Hawksbill Total 2001 5 1 - 6 2002 3 - - 3 2003 3 - - 3 2004 1 2 - 3 2005 2 2 - 4 2006 2 1 - 3 2007 1 3 - 4 2008 4 2 - 6 2009 1 1 - 2 2010 6 2 - 8 2011 8 1 - 9 2012 2 1 - 3 2013 3 2 - 5 2014 2 1 1 4 2015 8 1 - 9 2016 8 1 - 9 2017 5 3 - 8 2018 9 - - 9 Total 73 24 1 98 Average 4 1 0 5.4 (a)

No. of sea turtles = combined causal and non-causal mortalities for the given year and species. - indicates zero.

(b)

This table represents numbers of juvenile, sub-adult, and adult sea turtles that were dead when they entered the intake canal or died through encounters with the intake pipes or the various barriers in the intake canal. This table does not include the October 2006 loggerhead hatchling event described in Section 7.4 of this assessment.

A-4

Table A6. Sea Turtle Mortalities by Year and Causality, 2001-2018 No. Sea Turtle Mortalities(a)(b)

Causal Non-causal Total 2001 5 1 6 2002 2 1 3 2003 1 2 3 2004 2 1 3 2005 1 3 4 2006 1 2 3 2007 1 3 4 2008 2 4 6 2009 - 2 2 2010 4 4 8 2011 1 8 9 2012 2 1 3 2013 2 3 5 2014 - 4 4 2015 4 5 9 2016 1 8 9 2017 4 4 8 2018 6 3 9 Total 39 59 98 Average 2.2 3.3 5.4 (a)

- indicates zero.

(b)

This table represents numbers of juvenile, sub-adult, and adult sea turtles that were dead when they entered the intake canal or died through encounters with the intake pipes or the various barriers in the intake canal. This table does not include the October 2006 loggerhead hatchling event described in Section 7.4 of this assessment.

A-5

Table A7. All Sea Turtle Mortalities, 2001-2018 Associated Age Cause of Causality Date(a) Species Gender(b) Plant Class(b) Death(b) Determination(c)

Component 3/31/2001 green - - - n/a NC 11/07/2001 green juvenile - drowning barrier nets C 11/08/2001 green juvenile - drowning barrier nets C 11/08/2001 loggerhead adult - drowning barrier nets C 11/08/2001 green juvenile - drowning barrier nets C 11/23/2001 green juvenile - drowning intake wells C 5/02/2002 green juvenile - drowning barrier nets C 6/02/2002 green juvenile - drowning tangle nets C 7/18/2002 green - - - n/a NC 3/02/2003 green - - - n/a NC 3/15/2003 green juvenile - injury intake pipes C 10/07/2003 green - - - n/a NC 9/14/2004 loggerhead juvenile - genetic n/a NC abnormality 9/25/2004 green juvenile - drowning intake wells C 9/30/2004 loggerhead adult - drowning intake pipes C 5/19/2005 loggerhead adult female - n/a NC 6/09/2005 green juvenile - disease n/a NC 7/09/2005 green adult male injury intake pipes C 7/27/2005 loggerhead sub-adult - - n/a NC 1/22/2006 green juvenile - drowning intake wells C 4/26/2006 green juvenile - - n/a NC 6/02/2006 loggerhead sub-adult - - n/a NC 1/02/2007 loggerhead sub-adult - - n/a NC 6/06/2007 green juvenile - drowning barrier nets C 9/20/2007 loggerhead sub-adult - - n/a NC 10/10/2007 loggerhead sub-adult - - n/a NC 3/24/2008 loggerhead - - disease n/a NC 3/25/2008 loggerhead - - - n/a NC 8/29/2008 green juvenile - drowning barrier nets C 10/31/2008 green - - - n/a NC 11/29/2008 green - - injury n/a NC 12/09/2008 green juvenile - drowning barrier nets C 3/25/2009 loggerhead sub-adult - - n/a NC 11/18/2009 green juvenile - injury n/a NC 1/05/2010 loggerhead sub-adult - - n/a NC 1/18/2010 green juvenile - cold stunning n/a NC 1/27/2010 green juvenile - injury and n/a NC disease 3/01/2010 loggerhead sub-adult - drowning barrier nets C A-6

Associated Age Cause of Causality Date(a) Species Gender(b) Plant Class(b) Death(b) Determination(c)

Component 3/07/2010 green juvenile - drowning barrier nets C 3/10/2010 green juvenile - predation barrier nets C 3/12/2010 green juvenile - drowning barrier nets C 12/12/2010 green juvenile - - n/a NC 1/01/2011 green juvenile - - n/a NC 1/14/2011 green juvenile - - n/a NC 2/15/2011 green juvenile - - n/a NC 2/15/2011 green juvenile - - n/a NC 2/26/2011 green juvenile - - n/a NC 8/01/2011 green juvenile - disease n/a NC 8/20/2011 loggerhead juvenile - - n/a NC 10/23/2011 green juvenile - disease n/a NC 12/03/2011 green juvenile - drowning barrier nets C 9/11/2012 loggerhead juvenile - injury n/a NC 11/26/2012 green juvenile - drowning barrier nets C 12/09/2012 green juvenile - drowning barrier nets C 11/26/2013 green juvenile - drowning barrier nets C 12/27/2013 green juvenile - drowning barrier nets C 3/16/2013 green juvenile - - n/a NC 5/18/2013 loggerhead sub-adult - - n/a NC 11/14/2013 loggerhead sub-adult - - n/a NC 1/14/2014 hawksbill juvenile - - n/a NC 1/21/2014 green juvenile - - n/a NC 2/16/2014 loggerhead sub-adult - - n/a NC 4/25/2014 green juvenile - - n/a NC 2/28/2015 green juvenile - drowning barrier nets C 3/06/2015 green juvenile - injury n/a NC 3/17/2015 green juvenile - injury n/a NC 10/15/2015 green juvenile - drowning barrier nets C 10/19/2015 green juvenile - injury intake pipes C 11/25/2015 green juvenile - - n/a NC 11/29/2015 loggerhead sub-adult - disease n/a NC 12/12/2015 green juvenile - drowning barrier nets C 12/27/2015 green juvenile - - n/a NC 1/02/2016 green juvenile - injury n/a NC 1/13/2016 green juvenile - - n/a NC 1/29/2016 green juvenile - - n/a NC 2/06/2016 green juvenile - - n/a NC 2/06/2016 green juvenile - - n/a NC 2/07/2016 green juvenile - injury n/a NC A-7

Associated Age Cause of Causality Date(a) Species Gender(b) Plant Class(b) Death(b) Determination(c)

Component 3/05/2016 green juvenile - - n/a NC 3/05/2016 green juvenile - - n/a NC 10/09/2016 loggerhead adult female drowning intake pipes C 3/10/2017 green juvenile - - n/a NC 5/19/2017 green juvenile - - n/a NC 7/21/2017 loggerhead sub-adult - - n/a NC 9/11/2017 green juvenile - drowning barrier nets C 9/11/2017 loggerhead sub-adult - drowning barrier nets C 10/03/2017 green juvenile - injury intake wells C 10/07/2017 green juvenile - injury intake wells C 12/07/2017 loggerhead adult female drowning n/a NC 1/04/2018 green juvenile - drowning barrier nets C 1/18/2018 green juvenile - drowning barrier nets C 1/18/2018 green juvenile - drowning barrier nets C 1/20/2018 green juvenile - drowning barrier nets C 1/29/2018 green juvenile - - n/a NC 2/10/2018 green juvenile - drowning barrier nets C 3/19/2018 green juvenile - - n/a NC 5/07/2018 green juvenile - injury n/a NC 5/29/2018 green juvenile - drowning intake pipes C (a)

This table represents numbers of juvenile, sub-adult, and adult sea turtles that were dead when they entered the intake canal or died through encounters with the intake pipes or the various barriers in the intake canal. In addition to these mortalities, in October 2006, FPL personnel discovered 24 hatchling loggerheads in the St. Lucie intake wells. The hatchlings had hatched from an undetected nest on the banks of the intake canal. Twenty-one of the hatchlings drowned in the intake wells prior to retrieval, and three live hatchlings were transported to rehabilitation. Section 7.4 of this assessment describes this event and assesses the potential for St. Lucie operations to contribute to reproductive failure of sea turtles.

(b)

- indicates unknown or unreported.

(c)

C = mortality causal to St. Lucie operations and NC = mortality non-causal to St. Lucie operations.

A-8

Table A8. Causal Sea Turtle Mortalities Associated with the St. Lucie Intake Pipes, 2001-2018 Date Species, Age Cause of Description Class, and Death Gender May 15, 2003 juvenile green(a) injury Turtle retrieved alive from top of primary barrier net and transported to rehabilitation due to injuries on top and bottom of shell that suggested impact with a fixed structure. Individual died at rehabilitation facility a week later.

Sept 30, 2004 adult drowning Turtle retrieved dead and floating in headwall area loggerhead(a) of intake canal. Loss of offsite power during hurricane surge caused loss of circulating water pumps and created low flow conditions. Turtle likely became disoriented in the intakes pipes, was unable to escape, and drowned.

July 9, 2005 adult male green injury Turtle retrieved from tangle nets alive with severe lacerations to right eye incurred during transit through one of the intake pipes. Individual was transported to a rehabilitation facility but died the following day of subdermal hematoma associated with injuries.

Oct 19, 2015 juvenile green (a) injury Turtle retrieved dead from primary barrier net.

Necropsy determined that the turtle had died from internal bleeding and that a congenital deformity likely made the individual unable to withstand the physical stressors of entrainment.

Oct 9, 2016 adult female drowning Turtle retrieved alive in the intake canal with old loggerhead boat strike and partially healed impact wound injuries (missing 90% of left front flipper and 50% of right front flipper). Individual died in route to a rehabilitation facility. Necropsy determined that the turtle was unable to withstand the physical stressors of entrainment through the intake pipes and had died of forced submergence.

May 29, 2018 juvenile green (a) drowning Turtle retrieved from the east side of the primary barrier net. Necropsy determined that the turtle died of forced submersion and that it was likely entrained at the end of the breath cycle and the time required to traverse the intake pipe exceeded the turtles air reserve.

(a)

Gender unspecified in event report. The NMFS (2016) only requires FPL to report the gender of adult sea turtles.

Data sources: FPL 2003, 2004, 2005b, 2015, 2016, 2018g A-9

Table A9. Causal Sea Turtle Mortalities Associated with the St. Lucie Intake Wells, 2001-2018 Date(a) Species and Cause of Description Age Class(b) Death Nov 23, 2001 juvenile green drowning Turtle retrieved from the Unit No. 1 intake wells alive but died before it arrived at a rehabilitation facility.

A hurricane storm earlier that month brought large loads of drift algae and seagrass into the intake canal and compromised the barrier nets for a 4-day span. The turtle likely moved past the primary barrier net during this time and gained access to the intake well area.

Sept 25, 2004 juvenile green drowning Turtle retrieved from the Unit No. 1 intake wells in a severely decomposed state. A hurricane storm surge earlier that month had elevated the water levels above the barrier nets, which allowed the turtle to gain access to the intake well area.

Jan 22, 2006 juvenile green drowning Turtle found impinged on the Unit No. 2 intake well grating structure. Turtle likely passed through holes in the primary barrier net that had been discovered and repaired several weeks previous to the event, which allowed it to gain access to the intake well area.

Oct 3, 2017 juvenile green injury Turtle retrieved from intake wells alive but died before it arrived at a rehabilitation facility. Necropsy determined that the turtle had died from trauma related to the mechanisms of the plants intake cooling water cleaning system. A hurricane storm surge had damaged both barrier nets several weeks prior to the event, which allowed the turtle to gain access to the intake well area.

Oct 7, 2017 juvenile green injury Turtle retrieved from intake wells dead. Necropsy determined that the turtle had died from trauma related to the mechanisms of the plants intake cooling water cleaning system. A hurricane storm surge had damaged both barrier nets several weeks prior to the event, which allowed the turtle to gain access to the intake well area.

(a)

This table represents numbers of juvenile, sub-adult, and adult sea turtles that died in association with the St. Lucie intake wells. This table does not include the October 2006 loggerhead hatchling event described in Section 7.4 of this assessment.

(b)

Gender unspecified in event report. The NMFS (2016) only requires FPL to report the gender of adult sea turtles.

Data sources: FPL 2001, 2004, 2006b, 2017c A-10

Table A10. St. Lucie Annual Environmental Operating Reports, 2001-2018 Reporting Period Report Date ADAMS No.(a) 2001 Apr 30, 2002 ML021220236 2002 May 1, 2003 ML031250059 2003 Apr 14, 2004 ML041120158 2004 Apr 26, 2005 ML051250355 2005 Apr 27, 2006 ML061250164 2006 Apr 25, 2007 ML071240324 2007 Apr 30, 2008 ML081300736 2008 Apr 27, 2009 ML091260561 2009 Apr 30, 2010 ML101270127 2010 Apr 20, 2011 ML11117A182 2011 Apr 24, 2012 ML12122A198 2012 Apr 9, 2013 ML13142A118 2013 Apr 17, 2014 ML14129A281 2014 Apr 28, 2015 ML15126A097 2015 Apr 27, 2016 ML16126A221 2016 Apr 26, 2017 ML17132A212 2017 Apr 10, 2018 ML18106A036 2018 Mar 25, 2019 ML19085A287 (a)

References can be accessed through the NRCs web-based ADAMS search engine at http://adams.nrc.gov/wba/. Click on the Advanced Search tab and choose the following criteria under Document Properties: Accession Number in the Property box, is equal to in the Operator box, and the ADAMS accession number of the document in the Value box.

A-11

Table A11. St. Lucie Marine Turtle Removal Monthly Summaries, 2008-2018 Reporting Period Report Date ADAMS No.(a)

January 2008 Feb 11, 2008 ML093340319 February 2008 Mar 10, 2008 ML102380309 March 2008 Apr 7, 2008 ML102420107 April 2008 May 6, 2008 ML093340322 May 2008 Jun 11, 2008 ML102420111 June 2008 Jul 7, 2008 ML102420117 July 2008 Aug 4, 2008 ML093340323 August 2008 Sep 11, 2008 ML102380277 September 2008 Nov 7, 2008 ML093340329 October 2008 Nov 7, 2008 ML102420030 November 2008 Dec 5, 2008 ML102380341 December 2008 Jan 7, 2009 ML102380305 January 2009 Feb 12, 2009 ML102380322 February 2009 Mar 13, 2009 ML102380312 March 2009 Apr 8, 2009 ML102380332 April 2009 May 6, 2009 ML102380274 May 2009 Jun 10, 2009 ML102380337 June 2009 Jul 9, 2009 ML102380330 July 2009 Aug 14, 2009 ML102380326 August 2009 Sep 4, 2009 ML102640500 September 2009 Oct 12, 2009 ML102420141 October 2009 Nov 5, 2009 ML102420147 November 2009 Dec 3, 2009 ML102420159 December 2009 Jan 11, 2010 ML102420160 January 2010 Feb 12, 2010 ML102420161 February 2010 Aug 30, 2010 ML102640519 March 2010 Aug 30, 2010 ML102640528 April 2010 Aug 30, 2010 ML102640533 May 2010 Aug 30, 2010 ML102640540 June 2010 Aug 30, 2010 ML102640545 July 2010 Aug 30, 2010 ML102640550 August 2010 Sep 4, 2010 ML102640553 September 2010 Oct 10, 2010 ML102910548 October 2010 Nov 2, 2010 ML103070036 November 2010 Nov 30, 2010 ML103360097 December 2010 Dec 31, 2010 ML110120663 January 2011 Feb 11, 2011 ML19092A106 February 2011 Mar 3, 2011 ML110660655 March 2011 Apr 4, 2011 ML11095A007 A-12

Reporting Period Report Date ADAMS No.(a)

April 2011 May 12, 2011 ML11137A157 May 2011 Jun 5, 2011 ML11160A038 June 2011 Jul 3, 2011 ML11187A111 July 2011 Aug 1, 2011 ML11214A172 August 2011 Sep 4, 2011 ML11258A254 September 2011 Oct 6, 2011 ML11284A070 October 2011 Nov 4, 2011 ML11312A119 November 2011 Dec 9, 2011 ML11343A420 December 2011 Jan 2, 2012 ML12004A099 January 2012 Feb 3, 2012 ML12039A259 February 2012 Mar 2, 2012 ML12068A160 March 2012 Apr 6, 2012 ML12104A232 April 2012 May 4, 2012 ML12132A252 May 2012 Jun 4, 2012 ML12158A161 June 2012 Jul 6, 2012 ML12192A150 July 2012 Aug 2, 2012 ML12226A221 August 2012 Sep 1, 2012 ML12255A209 September 2012 Oct 1, 2012 ML12279A228 October 2012 Nov 1, 2012 ML12334A020 November 2012 Dec 2, 2012 ML12338A224 December 2012 Jan 5, 2013 ML13008A096 January 2013 Feb 3, 2013 ML13036A309 February 2013 Mar 1, 2013 ML13063A512 March 2013 Apr 4, 2013 ML13099A010 April 2013 May 5, 2013 ML13130A117 May 2013 Jun 6, 2013 ML13162A518 June 2013 Jul 5, 2013 ML13191A948 July 2013 Aug 3, 2013 ML13267A065 August 2013 Sep 8, 2013 ML13267A067 September 2013 Oct 6, 2013 ML13291A030 October 2013 Nov 3, 2013 ML13308B987 November 2013 Dec 5, 2013 ML13345A219 December 2013 Jan 9, 2014 ML14010A020 January 2014 Feb 4, 2014 ML14036A283 February 2014 Mar 4, 2014 ML14063A539 March 2014 Apr 5, 2014 ML14100A009 April 2014 May 2, 2014 ML14125A211 May 2014 Jun 5, 2014 ML14161A014 June 2014 Jul 6, 2014 ML14191B277 July 2014 Jul 31, 2014 ML14219A007 August 2014 Sep 4, 2014 ML14255A049 A-13

Reporting Period Report Date ADAMS No.(a)

September 2014 Oct 5, 2014 ML14279A249 October 2014 Nov 5, 2014 ML14310A399 November 2014 Dec 3, 2014 ML14339A627 December 2014 Jan 7, 2015 ML15008A269 January 2015 Feb 7, 2015 ML15040A471 February 2015 Mar 6, 2015 ML15068A022 March 2015 Apr 6, 2015 ML15096A257 April 2015 May 6, 2015 ML15126A424 May 2015 Jun 8, 2015 ML15159A362 June 2015 Jul 1, 2015 ML15189A243 July 2015 Aug 6, 2015 ML15257A114 August 2015 Sep 1, 2015 ML15257A116 September 2015 Oct 1, 2015 ML15287A358 October 2015 Nov 5, 2015 ML15323A076 November 2015 Dec 2, 2015 ML15341A241 December 2015 Jan 9, 2016 ML16015A005 January 2016 Feb 5, 2016 ML16036A192 February 2016 Mar 8, 2016 ML16068A347 March 2016 Apr 6, 2016 ML16098A019 April 2016 May 7, 2016 ML16130A639 May 2016 Jun 7, 2016 ML16160A061 June 2016 Jul 11, 2016 ML16195A066 July 2016 Aug 8, 2016 ML16224A018 August 2016 Sep 4, 2016 ML16250A235 September 2016 Oct 11, 2016 ML16285A377 October 2016 Nov 2, 2016 ML16308A093 November 2016 Dec 12, 2016 ML16347A597 December 2016 Jan 5, 2017 ML17009A346 January 2017 Feb 2, 2017 ML17037D112 February 2017 Mar 1, 2017 ML17061A147 March 2017 Apr 1, 2017 ML17094A286 April 2017 May 9, 2017 ML17135A051 May 2017 Jun 6, 2017 ML17163A345 June 2017 Jul 10, 2017 ML17192A786 July 2017 Aug 5, 2017 ML17219A439 August 2017 Sep 5, 2017 ML17249A073 September 2017 Oct 10, 2017 ML17285A204 October 2017 Nov 13, 2017 ML17317B104 November 2017 Dec 19, 2017 ML18024B368 December 2017 Jan 9, 2018 ML18024B360 January 2018 Feb 26, 2018 ML18059A108 A-14

Reporting Period Report Date ADAMS No.(a)

February 2018 Mar 14, 2018 ML18074A057 March 2018 Apr 12, 2018 ML18102B096 April 2018 May 8, 2018 ML18129A199 May 2018 Jun 6, 2018 ML18158A131 June 2018 Jul 17, 2018 ML18198A540 July 2018 Aug 16, 2018 ML18228A618 August 2018 Sep 20, 2018 ML18264A010 September 2018 Oct 12, 2018 ML18285A083 October 2018 Nov 15, 2018 ML18319A243 November 2018 Dec 14, 2018 ML18351A016 December 2018 Jan 18, 2019 ML19024A039 (a)

References can be accessed through the NRCs web-based ADAMS search engine at http://adams.nrc.gov/wba/. Click on the Advanced Search tab and choose the following criteria under Document Properties: Accession Number in the Property box, is equal to in the Operator box, and the ADAMS accession number of the document in the Value box.

Table A12. St. Lucie Environmental Event Reports, 2001-2018 Report Date Event Type ADAMS No.(a)

Dec 6, 2001 Sea turtle mortality (3 individuals) ML013460261 Dec 21, 2001 Sea turtle mortality ML013620054 Jun 21, 2002 Sea turtle mortality (2 individuals) ML021770235 Jul 23, 2003 Sea turtle mortality ML032090209 Oct 25, 2004 Sea turtle mortality ML043080427 Jul 1, 2005 Smalltooth sawfish capture ML051940435 Aug 9, 2005 Sea turtle mortality ML052280203 Feb 14, 2006 Sea turtle mortality ML060670270 Nov 21, 2006 Sea turtle mortality (21 hatchlings) ML063410233 Jul 31, 2007 Sea turtle mortality ML072250062 Feb 27, 2008 Manatee capture ML080660336 Sep 19, 2008 Sea turtle mortality ML082750045 Dec 16, 2008 Manatee capture ML083659357 Jan 7, 2009 Sea turtle mortality ML090220038 Feb 5, 2010 Manatee capture ML100490060 Mar 24, 2010 Sea turtle mortality ML100920095 Dec 20, 2011 Sea turtle mortality ML12003A211 Dec 21, 2012 Sea turtle mortality ML13002A051 Dec 4, 2013 Sea turtle mortality ML13360A192 A-15

Report Date Event Type ADAMS No.(a)

Jan 8, 2014 Sea turtle mortality ML14030A176 Mar 10, 2015 Sea turtle mortality ML15114A175 Oct 29, 2015 Sea turtle mortality (2 individuals) ML15322A156 Jan 7, 2016 Sea turtle mortality ML16015A322 Oct 24, 2016 Sea turtle mortality ML16307A117 Sep 28, 2017 Sea turtle mortality ML17275A172 Oct 31, 2017 Sea turtle mortality (2 individuals) ML17304A068 Nov 28, 2017 Smalltooth sawfish capture ML17340A340 Jan 18, 2018 Sea turtle mortality ML18018A379 Feb 16, 2018 Sea turtle mortality (4 individuals) ML18047A020 Jun 14, 2018 Sea turtle mortality ML18165A429 (a)

References can be accessed through the NRCs web-based ADAMS search engine at http://adams.nrc.gov/wba/. Click on the Advanced Search tab and choose the following criteria under Document Properties: Accession Number in the Property box, is equal to in the Operator box, and the ADAMS accession number of the document in the Value box.

A-16

Appendix B. Figures A-1

Figure B1. St. Lucie Cooling System Overview Figure Source: FPL 2018a B-2

Figure B2. St. Lucie Velocity Cap Configuration Figure Source: FPL 2018c B-3

Figure B3. Velocity Cap and Vertical Transition Pipe Sections for 12-ft Intake Pipes Figure Source: FPL 2018c B-4

Figure B4. Velocity Cap and Vertical Transition Pipe Sections for 16-ft Intake Pipe Figure Source: FPL 2018c Figure B5. Sea Turtles with Severe Scrapes by Year, 2008-2018 B-5

Figure B6. Sea Turtles with Moderate Scrapes by Year, 2008-2018 Figure B7. Sea Turtles with Minor Scrapes by Year, 2008-2018 B-6

Figure B8. Percentage of All Sea Turtles with Fresh Scrapes (All Severities) by Year, 2008-2018 B-7

Figure B9. Sea Turtles with Causal Injuries Sent to a Rehabilitation Facility by Year, 2001-2018

This figure does not include the October 2006 loggerhead hatchling event described in Section 7.4 of this assessment.

- The 2017 causal injury was related to a hurricane storm surge that allowed turtles to pass the barrier nets and gain access to the intake wells; all other causal injuries depicted in this figure were related to injuries sustained during travel through the intake pipes.

B-8

Figure B10. Percentage of All Sea Turtles with Causal Injuries Requiring Rehabilitation by Year, 2001-2018

This figure does not include the October 2006 loggerhead hatchling event described in Section 7.4 of this assessment.

- The 2017 causal injury was related to a hurricane storm surge that allowed turtles to pass the barrier nets and gain access to the intake wells; all other causal injuries depicted in this figure were related to injuries sustained during travel through the intake pipes.

B-9

Figure B11. All Sea Turtle Mortalities by Year and Species, 2001-2018

This figure does not include the October 2006 loggerhead hatchling event described in Section 7.4 of this assessment.

B-10

Figure B12. Sea Turtle Mortalities by Year and Causality, 2001-2018

This figure does not include the October 2006 loggerhead hatchling event described in Section 7.4 of this assessment.

B-11

Figure B13. Sea Turtle Mortalities by Year, Species, and Causality, 2001-2018

This figure does not include the October 2006 loggerhead hatchling event described in Section 7.4 of this assessment.

B-12

Figure B14. Causal Sea Turtle Mortalities by Year and Associated Plant Structure, 2001-2018

This figure does not include the October 2006 loggerhead hatchling event described in Section 7.4 of this assessment.

B-13

Figure B15. All Sea Turtle Mortalities by Associated Plant Structure, 2001-2018

This figure does not include the October 2006 loggerhead hatchling event described in Section 7.4 of this assessment.

B-14

Figure B16. Female Sea Turtles Observed Nesting within One Month of Capture and Release from the St. Lucie Intake Canal, 1984-2017 Source: FPL 2018a B-15

Figure B17. Female Sea Turtles Observed Nesting Days, Months, and Years after Capture and Release from the St. Lucie Intake Canal, 2002-2017 Source: FPL 2018a B-16

Figure B18. Green Turtles Sent to Rehabilitation and Released, 2006-2017 Source: Reproduced from FPL 2018c B-17

Figure B19. Loggerhead Turtles Sent to Rehabilitation and Released, 2006-2017

This figure does not include the October 2006 loggerhead hatchling event described in Section 7.4 of this assessment.

Source: Reproduced from FPL 2018c B-18

Figure B20. Kemps Ridley Turtles Sent to Rehabilitation and Released, 2006-2017 Source: Created with data from FPL 2018c B-19

ML19093A064

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