Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Final Recovery Plan for Dusky Gopher Frog, 54308-54309 [2015-22733]
Download as PDF
54308
Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 174 / Wednesday, September 9, 2015 / Notices
require the submission of electronic
export manifest data before the cargo is
loaded onto the train for all
international shipments destined from
the United States. The results of the test
will help determine the relevant data
elements, the time frame within which
data should be submitted to permit CBP
to effectively target, identify, and
mitigate any risk with the least impact
practicable on trade operations, and any
other related procedures and policies.
Paperwork Reduction Act
Confidentiality
Dated: September 3, 2015.
Todd C. Owen,
Assistant Commissioner, Office of Field
Operations.
Regulatory and Statutory Requirements
Participation in the ACE Export
Manifest for Rail Cargo Test does not
alter the participant’s obligations to
comply with any other applicable
statutory and regulatory requirements
and participants will still be subject to
applicable penalties for noncompliance. In addition, submission of
data under the test does not exempt the
participant from any CBP or other U.S.
Government agency program
requirements or any statutory sanctions
in the event that a violation of U.S.
export laws or prohibited articles are
discovered within a shipment/container
presented for export destined from the
United States on a train owned and/or
operated by the participant.
Lhorne on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
• More real time accurate
transportation data, such as date and
port of export, when linked to the AES
EEI filing, thereby potentially reducing
the likelihood of penalties (issued to
exporters and/or carriers) pursuant to 15
CFR part 30 for incorrect information;
• Increases in security by leveraging
CBP threat model and other data to
employ a risk-based approach to
improve rail cargo security and to
ensure compliance with U.S. export
laws, rules and regulations through
targeted screening;
• The ability to provide input into
CBP efforts to establish, test, and refine
the interface between government and
industry communication systems for the
implementation of the electronic export
manifest system;
• Facilitation of corporate
preparedness for future mandatory
implementation of electronic export
manifest submission requirements; and
• Facilitation of the movement of
legitimate cargo being transported by
rail across U.S. borders with Canada and
Mexico.
If a test participant fails to abide by
the rules, procedures, or terms and
conditions of this and all other
applicable Federal Register Notices,
fails to exercise reasonable care in the
execution of participant obligations, or
otherwise fails to comply with all
applicable laws and regulations, then
the participant may be suspended from
participation in this test and/or
subjected to penalties, liquidated
damages, and/or other administrative or
judicial sanction. Additionally, CBP has
the right to suspend a test participant
based on a determination that an
unacceptable compliance risk exists.
If CBP determines that a suspension is
warranted, CBP will notify the
participant of this decision, the facts or
conduct warranting suspension, and the
date when the suspension will be
effective. In the case of willful
misconduct, or where public health
interests or safety are concerned, the
suspension may be effective
immediately. This decision may be
appealed in writing to the Assistant
Commissioner, Office of Field
Operations, within 15 days of
notification. The appeal should address
the facts or conduct charges contained
in the notice and state how the
participant has or will achieve
compliance. CBP will notify the
participant within 30 days of receipt of
an appeal whether the appeal is granted.
If the participant has already been
suspended, CBP will notify the
participant when their participation in
the test will be reinstated.
Duration and Evaluation of the ACE
Export Manifest for Rail Cargo Test
The test will be activated on a caseby-case basis with each participant and
may be limited to a single or small
number of ports until any operational,
training, or technical issues on either
the trade or government side are
established and/or resolved. The test
will run for approximately two years
from October 9, 2015. While the test is
ongoing, CBP will evaluate the results
and determine whether the test will be
extended, expanded to include
additional participants, or otherwise
modified. CBP will announce any such
modifications by notice in the Federal
Register. When sufficient test analysis
and evaluation has been conducted,
CBP intends to begin rulemaking to
VerDate Sep<11>2014
14:19 Sep 08, 2015
Jkt 235001
All data submitted and entered into
ACE is subject to the Trade Secrets Act
(18 U.S.C. 1905) and is considered
confidential, except to the extent as
otherwise provided by law. However,
participation in this or any ACE test is
not confidential and upon a written
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
request, the name(s) of an approved
participant(s) will be disclosed by CBP
in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552.
Misconduct Under the Test
PO 00000
Frm 00050
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
As noted above, CBP will be accepting
no more than nine participants in the
ACE Export Manifest for Rail Cargo
Test. This means that fewer than ten
persons will be subject to any
information collections under this test.
Accordingly, collections of information
within this notice are exempted from
the requirements of the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3502
and 3507).
[FR Doc. 2015–22671 Filed 9–8–15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9111–14–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS–R4–ES–2015–N148;
FXES1130400000C2–156–FF04E00000]
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife
and Plants; Final Recovery Plan for
Dusky Gopher Frog
Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
AGENCY:
We, the Fish and Wildlife
Service (Service), announce the
availability of the final recovery plan for
the endangered dusky gopher frog. The
recovery plan includes specific recovery
objectives and criteria that must be met
in order for us to downlist the frog to
threatened status under the Endangered
Species Act of 1973, as amended.
ADDRESSES: You may obtain a copy of
the recovery plan from our Web site at
https://www.fws.gov/endangered/
species/recovery-plans.html. You may
also request a copy of the recovery plan
by contacting Linda LaClaire at the
Mississippi Field Office, by U.S. mail at
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
Mississippi Field Office, 6578 Dogwood
View Pkwy, Jackson, MS 39213
(telephone 601–321–1126).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Linda LaClaire (see ADDRESSES, above).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
SUMMARY:
Background
Recovery of endangered or threatened
animals and plants to the point where
they are again secure, self-sustaining
members of their ecosystems is a
primary goal of our endangered species
program and the Endangered Species
Act of 1973, as amended (Act; 16 U.S.C.
1531 et seq.). Recovery means
E:\FR\FM\09SEN1.SGM
09SEN1
Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 174 / Wednesday, September 9, 2015 / Notices
improvement of the status of listed
species to the point at which listing is
no longer needed under any criteria
specified in section 4(a)(1) of the Act.
To help guide the recovery effort, we
prepare recovery plans for most listed
species. Recovery plans describe actions
considered necessary for conservation of
the species, establish criteria for
downlisting or delisting, and estimate
time and cost for implementing recovery
measures. The Act requires the
development of recovery plans for listed
species, unless such a plan would not
promote the conservation of a particular
species.
The Service listed the Mississippi
gopher frog (Rana capito sevosa) under
the Act, as an endangered distinct
vertebrate population segment (DPS) of
the gopher frog (Rana capito) on
December 4, 2001 (66 FR 62993). On
June 12, 2012, we published a final rule
(77 FR 35118) designating critical
habitat for this listed entity, changing its
status to ‘‘species,’’ and changing its
name to dusky gopher frog (Rana
sevosa) based on taxonomic changes
and the acceptance of these changes by
the herpetological scientific community.
The frog’s current distribution is
restricted to the State of Mississippi. At
the time of listing, only one population
of the species was known.
Subsequently, two other naturally
occurring populations were discovered.
One additional dusky gopher frog
population has been established in
Mississippi as a result of translocation
experiments. Presently, we estimate that
a minimum of 135 individual adult
frogs survive in the wild, the vast
majority of which occur in the original
population known at the time of listing.
Principal threats to the dusky gopher
frog include degradation and
destruction of breeding and
nonbreeding habitat, habitat
fragmentation, and alteration of
hydrological patterns due to
urbanization and climate change.
Additional threats include the restricted
range of the dusky gopher frog, its small
number of populations, and disease. All
these factors act to increase the
vulnerability of the species to a single
catastrophic event and to the deleterious
effects of genetic inbreeding.
Lhorne on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Recovery Plan
Section 4(f) of the Act requires us to
provide public notice and an
opportunity for public review and
comment prior to final approval of
recovery plans. We and other Federal
agencies will take these comments into
account in the course of implementing
approved recovery plans.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
14:19 Sep 08, 2015
Jkt 235001
The Technical/Agency Draft Recovery
Plan for the Dusky Gopher Frog was
developed by the Dusky Gopher Frog
Recovery Team and our Mississippi
Field Office. This draft plan was
published on September 10, 2014, and
made available for public comment
through November 10, 2014 (79 FR
53728).
We received public comments on our
draft recovery plan and incorporated
them into the final plan, as appropriate.
We also considered the information we
received from peer reviewers in our
preparation and approval of this final
recovery plan.
Recovery Plan Components
The Service’s recovery objectives are
to work to reduce threats so that the
dusky gopher frog may be downlisted to
threatened status. Defining reasonable
delisting criteria is not possible at this
time, given the current low number of
populations and individuals, lack of
information about the species’ biology,
and magnitude of threats. Therefore,
this recovery plan only establishes
downlisting criteria for the dusky
gopher frog.
Downlisting of the dusky gopher frog
will be considered when:
1. Six viable metapopulations* are
documented within blocks of recovery
focus areas (described in Section II of
the recovery plan) and are widely
distributed across the range of the
species. The six metapopulations would
include a minimum of 12 breeding
ponds and would be distributed as
follows:
a. One metapopulation in Block #1
(Louisiana: Portions of St. Tammany,
Tangipahoa, and Washington Parishes,
west to the Tangipahoa River);
b. Two metapopulations each in Block
#2 (South-Central Mississippi: North of
State Hwy. 26, between the Pearl and
Pascagoula Rivers; Forrest County and
portions of Lamar, Pearl River, Perry,
and Stone Counties) and Block #3
(South Mississippi: South of Hwy. 26,
between the Pearl and Pascagoula
Rivers; Hancock and Harrison Counties,
and portions of Jackson, George, Pearl
River, and Stone Counties); and
c. One metapopulation in either Block
#4 (Eastern Mississippi: East of
Pascagoula/Leaf Rivers; portions of
George, Greene, Jackson, and Wayne
Counties) or Block #5 (Alabama: West of
the Mobile River Delta; Mobile and
Washington Counties, small portion of
Choctaw County).
2. Long-term monitoring (at least 10
years) of each metapopulation is able to
document population viability (viability
standard to be defined through a
recovery task). The 10-year timeframe
PO 00000
Frm 00051
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
54309
will allow monitoring of recruitment
events and other population attributes
in a species that has been characterized
by highly variable reproductive and
survival rates. In each of at least two
annual breeding events within a 3-year
period, a total of 30 egg masses per
metapopulation must be documented
and recruitment must be verified.
3. Breeding and adjacent upland
habitats within the six metapopulations
are protected long term through
management agreements, public
ownership, or other means, in sufficient
quantity and quality (to be determined
by recovery task) to support growing
populations.
4. Studies of the dusky gopher frog’s
biological and ecological requirements
are completed, and any required
recovery measures discovered during
these studies are developed and
implemented.
* Information defining what
constitutes a viable metapopulation can
be found in the Service’s final recovery
plan.
Authority
The authority for this action is section
4(f) of the Endangered Species Act, 16
U.S.C. 1533 (f).
Dated: July 24, 2015.
Cynthia K. Dohner,
Regional Director, Southeast Region.
[FR Doc. 2015–22733 Filed 9–8–15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–55–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
U.S. Geological Survey
[GX155EE000101000]
Agency Information Collection
Activities: Request for Comments
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS),
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of a new information
collection, Doug D. Nebert NSDI
Champion of the Year Award.
AGENCY:
We (the U.S. Geological
Survey) will ask the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) to
approve the information collection (IC)
described below. As required by the
Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of
1995, and as part of our continuing
efforts to reduce paperwork and
respondent burden, we invite the
general public and other Federal
agencies to take this opportunity to
comment on this IC.
DATES: To ensure that your comments
are considered, we must receive them
on or before November 9, 2015.
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\09SEN1.SGM
09SEN1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 174 (Wednesday, September 9, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54308-54309]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-22733]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R4-ES-2015-N148; FXES1130400000C2-156-FF04E00000]
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Final Recovery
Plan for Dusky Gopher Frog
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the
availability of the final recovery plan for the endangered dusky gopher
frog. The recovery plan includes specific recovery objectives and
criteria that must be met in order for us to downlist the frog to
threatened status under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended.
ADDRESSES: You may obtain a copy of the recovery plan from our Web
site at https://www.fws.gov/endangered/species/recovery-plans.html. You
may also request a copy of the recovery plan by contacting Linda
LaClaire at the Mississippi Field Office, by U.S. mail at U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, Mississippi Field Office, 6578 Dogwood View Pkwy,
Jackson, MS 39213 (telephone 601-321-1126).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Linda LaClaire (see ADDRESSES,
above).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Recovery of endangered or threatened animals and plants to the
point where they are again secure, self-sustaining members of their
ecosystems is a primary goal of our endangered species program and the
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et
seq.). Recovery means
[[Page 54309]]
improvement of the status of listed species to the point at which
listing is no longer needed under any criteria specified in section
4(a)(1) of the Act. To help guide the recovery effort, we prepare
recovery plans for most listed species. Recovery plans describe actions
considered necessary for conservation of the species, establish
criteria for downlisting or delisting, and estimate time and cost for
implementing recovery measures. The Act requires the development of
recovery plans for listed species, unless such a plan would not promote
the conservation of a particular species.
The Service listed the Mississippi gopher frog (Rana capito sevosa)
under the Act, as an endangered distinct vertebrate population segment
(DPS) of the gopher frog (Rana capito) on December 4, 2001 (66 FR
62993). On June 12, 2012, we published a final rule (77 FR 35118)
designating critical habitat for this listed entity, changing its
status to ``species,'' and changing its name to dusky gopher frog (Rana
sevosa) based on taxonomic changes and the acceptance of these changes
by the herpetological scientific community. The frog's current
distribution is restricted to the State of Mississippi. At the time of
listing, only one population of the species was known. Subsequently,
two other naturally occurring populations were discovered. One
additional dusky gopher frog population has been established in
Mississippi as a result of translocation experiments. Presently, we
estimate that a minimum of 135 individual adult frogs survive in the
wild, the vast majority of which occur in the original population known
at the time of listing.
Principal threats to the dusky gopher frog include degradation and
destruction of breeding and nonbreeding habitat, habitat fragmentation,
and alteration of hydrological patterns due to urbanization and climate
change. Additional threats include the restricted range of the dusky
gopher frog, its small number of populations, and disease. All these
factors act to increase the vulnerability of the species to a single
catastrophic event and to the deleterious effects of genetic
inbreeding.
Recovery Plan
Section 4(f) of the Act requires us to provide public notice and an
opportunity for public review and comment prior to final approval of
recovery plans. We and other Federal agencies will take these comments
into account in the course of implementing approved recovery plans.
The Technical/Agency Draft Recovery Plan for the Dusky Gopher Frog
was developed by the Dusky Gopher Frog Recovery Team and our
Mississippi Field Office. This draft plan was published on September
10, 2014, and made available for public comment through November 10,
2014 (79 FR 53728).
We received public comments on our draft recovery plan and
incorporated them into the final plan, as appropriate. We also
considered the information we received from peer reviewers in our
preparation and approval of this final recovery plan.
Recovery Plan Components
The Service's recovery objectives are to work to reduce threats so
that the dusky gopher frog may be downlisted to threatened status.
Defining reasonable delisting criteria is not possible at this time,
given the current low number of populations and individuals, lack of
information about the species' biology, and magnitude of threats.
Therefore, this recovery plan only establishes downlisting criteria for
the dusky gopher frog.
Downlisting of the dusky gopher frog will be considered when:
1. Six viable metapopulations* are documented within blocks of
recovery focus areas (described in Section II of the recovery plan) and
are widely distributed across the range of the species. The six
metapopulations would include a minimum of 12 breeding ponds and would
be distributed as follows:
a. One metapopulation in Block #1 (Louisiana: Portions of St.
Tammany, Tangipahoa, and Washington Parishes, west to the Tangipahoa
River);
b. Two metapopulations each in Block #2 (South-Central Mississippi:
North of State Hwy. 26, between the Pearl and Pascagoula Rivers;
Forrest County and portions of Lamar, Pearl River, Perry, and Stone
Counties) and Block #3 (South Mississippi: South of Hwy. 26, between
the Pearl and Pascagoula Rivers; Hancock and Harrison Counties, and
portions of Jackson, George, Pearl River, and Stone Counties); and
c. One metapopulation in either Block #4 (Eastern Mississippi: East
of Pascagoula/Leaf Rivers; portions of George, Greene, Jackson, and
Wayne Counties) or Block #5 (Alabama: West of the Mobile River Delta;
Mobile and Washington Counties, small portion of Choctaw County).
2. Long-term monitoring (at least 10 years) of each metapopulation
is able to document population viability (viability standard to be
defined through a recovery task). The 10-year timeframe will allow
monitoring of recruitment events and other population attributes in a
species that has been characterized by highly variable reproductive and
survival rates. In each of at least two annual breeding events within a
3-year period, a total of 30 egg masses per metapopulation must be
documented and recruitment must be verified.
3. Breeding and adjacent upland habitats within the six
metapopulations are protected long term through management agreements,
public ownership, or other means, in sufficient quantity and quality
(to be determined by recovery task) to support growing populations.
4. Studies of the dusky gopher frog's biological and ecological
requirements are completed, and any required recovery measures
discovered during these studies are developed and implemented.
* Information defining what constitutes a viable metapopulation can
be found in the Service's final recovery plan.
Authority
The authority for this action is section 4(f) of the Endangered
Species Act, 16 U.S.C. 1533 (f).
Dated: July 24, 2015.
Cynthia K. Dohner,
Regional Director, Southeast Region.
[FR Doc. 2015-22733 Filed 9-8-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P