Notice of Availability of a Draft Safe Harbor Agreement and Draft Environmental Assessment for Activities Within Austin, Bastrop, Burleson, Colorado, Lavaca, Lee, Leon, Milam, and Robertson Counties, Texas, 59241-59243 [2016-20714]
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Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 167 / Monday, August 29, 2016 / Notices
Applicant: Out of Africa Wildlife Park,
LLC, Camp Verde, AZ; PRT–760354
environmental assessment, and permit
application.
The applicant requests renewal of
their captive-bred wildlife registration
under 50 CFR 17.21(g) for the following
species to enhance species propagation
or survival: Leopard (Panthera pardus)
and snow leopard (Uncia uncia). This
notification covers activities to be
conducted by the applicant over a 5year period.
SUMMARY:
Applicant: James Mercer, Carbondale,
KS; PRT–98881B
The applicant requests a permit to
import a sport-hunted trophy of two
male bontebok (Damaliscus pygargus
pygargus) culled from a captive herd
maintained under the management
program of the Republic of South Africa,
for the purpose of enhancement of the
survival of the species.
Multiple Applicants
The following applicants each request
a permit to import the sport-hunted
trophy of one male bontebok
(Damaliscus pygargus pygargus) culled
from a captive herd maintained under
the management program of the
Republic of South Africa, for the
purpose of enhancement of the survival
of the species.
Applicant: Marion Searle, Lake Forest,
IL; PRT–99186B
Applicant: Kristian O’Meara, Powell,
OH; PRT–99852B
Applicant: David Robertson, Lewistown,
MT; PRT–94807B
Brenda Tapia,
Program Analyst/Data Administrator, Branch
of Permits, Division of Management
Authority.
[FR Doc. 2016–20553 Filed 8–26–16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333–15–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
jstallworth on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
[FWS–R2–ES–2016–N059;
FXES11130200000–167–FF02ENEH00]
Notice of Availability of a Draft Safe
Harbor Agreement and Draft
Environmental Assessment for
Activities Within Austin, Bastrop,
Burleson, Colorado, Lavaca, Lee,
Leon, Milam, and Robertson Counties,
Texas
Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability: Draft safe
harbor agreement with assurances, draft
AGENCY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
15:27 Aug 26, 2016
Jkt 238001
This notice advises the public
that the Texas Parks and Wildlife
Department (TPWD; applicant) has
applied to the Fish and Wildlife Service
(Service) for an enhancement of survival
permit pursuant to the Endangered
Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act).
The permit application includes a
proposed programmatic safe harbor
agreement (agreement) between the
applicant and the Service that would
authorize incidental take resulting from
voluntary activities to restore, maintain,
enhance, or create habitat for the
endangered Houston toad. The Service
also announces the availability of a draft
environmental assessment (EA) that has
been prepared to evaluate the permit
application in accordance with the
requirements of the National
Environmental Policy Act. We are
making the permit application package,
including the draft safe harbor
agreement, and draft environmental
assessment available for public review
and comment.
DATES: We will accept comments
received or postmarked on or before
October 28, 2016. Any comments we
receive after the closing date or not
postmarked by the closing date may not
be considered in the final decision on
this action.
ADDRESSES: Persons wishing to review
the application may obtain a copy by
writing to the Regional Director, U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, P.O. Box
1306, Room 4012, Albuquerque, NM
87103, or send a request by email to
fw2_hcp_permits@fws.gov.
Obtaining Documents
• Internet: You may obtain copies of
the EA and draft Safe Harbor Agreement
on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s
(Service) Web site at https://
www.fws.gov/southwest/es/
AustinTexas/.
• U.S. Mail: A limited number of CD–
ROM and printed copies of the EA and
draft Safe Harbor Agreement are
available, by request, from the Field
Supervisor, by mail at the Austin
Ecological Services Field Office, 1071
Burnet Road, Suite 200, Austin, TX
78758; by phone at 512–490–0057; or by
fax at 512–490–0974. Please note that
your request is in reference to the draft
Safe Harbor Agreement for the Houston
toad.
• In-Person: Copies of the EA and
draft Safe Harbor Agreement are also
available for public inspection and
review at the following locations, by
appointment and written request only, 8
a.m. to 4:30 p.m.:
PO 00000
Frm 00064
Fmt 4703
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59241
Æ U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 500
Gold Avenue SW., Room 6034,
Albuquerque, NM 87102.
Æ U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
1071 Burnet Road, Suite 200, Austin,
TX 78758.
Comment submission: You may
submit comments by one of the
following methods.
Æ U.S. Mail: U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, Austin Ecological Services
Field Office, 1071 Burnet Road, Suite
200, Austin, TX 78758; by phone at
512–490–0057; or by fax at 512–490–
0974.
Æ Electronically: fw2_hcp_permits@
fws.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Adam Zerrenner, Field Supervisor, U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, Austin
Ecological Services Field Office, 10711
Burnet Rd, Suite 200, Austin, TX 78758;
by telephone 512–490–0057; or by
facsimile 512–490–0974. Persons who
use a telecommunications device for the
deaf (TDD) may call the Federal
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at
800–877–8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This
notice advises the public that the TPWD
has applied to the Service for an
enhancement of survival permit
pursuant to the Endangered Species Act
of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et
seq.; Act). The permit application
includes a proposed programmatic safe
harbor agreement (agreement) between
the applicant and the Service for a
period of 30 years. The proposed
agreement will authorize incidental take
during voluntary activities to restore,
maintain, enhance, or create habitat for
the endangered Houston toad (Anaxyrus
[=Bufo] houstonensis). The Service also
announces the availability of a draft
environmental assessment that has been
prepared to evaluate the permit
application in accordance with the
requirements of the National
Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C.
4321 et seq.; NEPA). We are making the
permit application package, including
the draft safe harbor agreement, and
draft Environmental Assessment
available for public review and
comment.
Background
Under a safe harbor agreement,
participating property owners
voluntarily undertake management
activities on their property to enhance,
restore, or maintain habitat benefiting
species listed under the Endangered
Species Act. Safe harbor agreements
encourage private and other non-Federal
property owners to implement
conservation efforts for listed species by
E:\FR\FM\29AUN1.SGM
29AUN1
59242
Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 167 / Monday, August 29, 2016 / Notices
jstallworth on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
assuring property owners they will not
be subjected to increased property use
restrictions as a result of increased
target species abundance due to their
efforts to improve conditions for listed
species on their property. Application
requirements and issuance criteria for
enhancement of survival permits
through safe harbor agreements are
found in 50 CFR 17.22 and 17.32.
Proposed Action
The proposed action involves the
issuance of a section 10(a)(1)(A)
enhancement of survival permit (permit)
by the Service to the applicant and
approval of the proposed programmatic
safe harbor agreement to facilitate
recovery activities for the benefit of the
federally listed endangered Houston
toad on non-Federal lands within the
current known range of the species. The
requested term of the permit is 30 years.
Landowners enrolled under the
Agreement would implement
conservation activities to benefit the
endangered Houston toad and in turn
receive assurances consistent with the
Safe Harbor Agreement Policy, as
amended (64 FR 32717 and 69 FR
24084) and related implementing
regulations (50 CFR 13 and 17). NonFederal landowners within Austin,
Bastrop, Burleson, Colorado, Lavaca,
Lee, Leon, Milam, and Robertson
Counties, Texas, could be enrolled
under the agreement, if finalized, by
entering into a cooperative agreement
with the applicant.
The cooperative agreement would
include: (1) A map of the property and
its legal location; (2) the portion of the
property to be enrolled and its acreage;
(3) a description of the existing
structures and habitat types that occur
on the portion of the property to be
enrolled, including accurate
descriptions of vegetation, water
features, and soil types; and (4) a
detailed account of conservation
activities to be undertaken on the
portion of the property to be enrolled.
After signing a cooperative agreement,
landowners would receive a certificate
of inclusion to document the
landowners’ participation in the
agreement and convey incidental take
authorization from the applicant to
certificate recipients. The applicant
would be responsible for annual
monitoring and reporting related to
implementation of the agreement and
cooperative agreements, and fulfillment
of their provisions.
We have worked with the applicant to
design conservation activities expected
to have a net conservation benefit to the
Houston toad within the nine Texas
counties to be covered under this
VerDate Sep<11>2014
15:27 Aug 26, 2016
Jkt 238001
proposed agreement; however,
landowners would not have to conduct
every activity in this list in order for
their actions to have a net conservation
benefit on Houston toads. These
conservation activities include: (1)
Brush management to create desired
understory conditions; (2) forest
enhancement/restoration to create
favorable canopy conditions; (3)
prescribed burning to restore, create,
and maintain desired understory and
ground cover conditions; (4) removal of
sod-forming grasses and restoration of
native ground cover; (5) enhancement of
existing breeding ponds to provide
habitat for breeding adults and emerging
toadlets; (6) removal of ponds, where it
would be beneficial to do so; (7) control
of red imported fire ants to maximize
successful toadlet emergence from
ponds; (8) creation of new breeding
ponds; (9) headstarting and/or
reintroduction of captively-bred
Houston toads; and (10) release and
translocation of wild-caught Houston
toads.
These conservation activities are
expected to: (1) Enhance Houston toad
foraging and hibernating habitat; (2)
create and enhance Houston toad
breeding and toadlet emergence habitat;
(3) facilitate Houston toad dispersal
through the creation and enhancement
of habitat linkages throughout the
species’ range; (4) increase Houston toad
population numbers through
headstarting and reintroduction; and (5)
facilitate viable, self-sustaining Houston
toad subpopulations.
Take, as defined by the Act, means
‘‘to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot,
wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or
to attempt to engage in any such
conduct. Incidental take is defined by
the Act as take that is ‘‘incidental to,
and not the purpose of, the carrying out
of an otherwise lawful activity.’’ The
incidental take of toads may occur from:
(1) Habitat management actions
conducted in accordance with the
conservation activities in the
Agreement, (2) ongoing land use
activities that may have an increased
chance of taking a toad if toad numbers
increase, as expected, and (3) cessation
of the conservation activities if enrolled
landowners exercise their option to
return the property to its baseline
condition, or pre-enrollment condition,
as provided for in the final Safe Harbor
Agreement Policy (64 FR 32717 and 69
FR 24084).
Alternative
We considered one alternative to the
proposed action as part of the
Environmental Assessment process—the
No Action Alternative. Under the No
PO 00000
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
Action Alternative, a coordinated effort
to conserve Houston toads on nonFederal properties using a single
programmatic safe harbor agreement
and enhancement of survival permit
would not occur. Houston toad
conservation efforts could take place
through the actions of individual
landowners without the assurances that
a safe harbor agreement would provide.
However, it is likely that many
landowners would not feel comfortable
participating in conservation activities
on their properties to enhance habitat
for a federally endangered species
without coverage for their activities
under the Act or assurances that they
could eventually take their properties
back to their baseline conditions.
Therefore, many landowners might not
undertake beneficial actions for the
Houston toad on their properties
because they would be fearful of
attracting an endangered species and
increasing their liability under the Act.
Conservation efforts for the species
would primarily occur within the areas
already being managed for the Houston
toad within Bastrop County, Texas, with
little participation of landowners in
other areas of the species’ range.
Next Steps
We will evaluate the proposed safe
harbor agreement, associated
documents, and comments we receive to
determine whether the requirements of
sections 10(a) and 10(c) of the
Endangered Species Act, the Act’s
implementing regulations at 50 CFR
17.22 (regulations that pertain to safe
harbor agreements and endangered
species), and NEPA have been met. If
we determine that the requirements
have been met, we will issue an
enhancement of survival permit under
section 10(a)(1)(A) of the Endangered
Species Act to the applicant in
accordance with the terms of the safe
harbor agreement and specific terms and
conditions of the authorizing permit.
We will not make our final decision
until after the end of the 60-day
comment period and will fully consider
all comments received during the
comment period.
Public Availability of Comments
Written comments we receive become
part of the public record associated with
this action. Before including your
address, phone number, email address,
or other personal identifying
information in your comment, you
should be aware that your entire
comment, including your personal
identifying information, may be made
publicly available at any time. While
you can request in your comment that
E:\FR\FM\29AUN1.SGM
29AUN1
Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 167 / Monday, August 29, 2016 / Notices
we withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we
cannot guarantee that we will be able to
do so. We will not consider anonymous
comments. All submissions from
organizations or businesses, and from
individuals identifying themselves as
representative or officials of
organizations or businesses, will be
made available for public disclosure in
their entirety.
Authority
We provide this notice under section
10(c) of the Act and its implementing
regulations (50 CFR 17.22 and 17.32)
and NEPA and its implementing
regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).
[NPS–WASO–BSD–FEES–21785;
PX.XBSAD0096.00.1]
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[LLIDT000000.L11200000.DD0000.241A.00;
4500069133]
ACTION:
Interior.
Notice of public meetings.
ACTION:
In accordance with the
Federal Land Policy and Management
Act (FLPMA), the Federal Advisory
Committee Act of 1972 (FACA), and the
Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement
Act of 2004 (FLREA), the U.S.
Department of the Interior, Bureau of
Land Management (BLM) Twin Falls
District Resource Advisory Council
(RAC) will meet as indicated below.
DATES: The Twin Falls District RAC will
meet September 14, 2016 at the Twin
Falls District BLM Office, 2878 Addison
Ave. E., Twin Falls, Idaho, 83301. The
meeting will begin at 9:00 a.m. and end
no later than 3:45 p.m. The public
comment period will take place from
9:15 to 9:45 a.m.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Heather Tiel-Nelson, Twin Falls
District, Idaho, 2536 Kimberly Road,
Twin Falls, Idaho, 83301, (208) 736–
2352.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 15member RAC advises the Secretary of
the Interior, through the Bureau of Land
Management, on a variety of planning
and management issues associated with
public land management in Idaho.
Jkt 238001
National Park Service, Interior.
Notice; request for comments.
We (National Park Service,
NPS) will ask the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) to approve the
information collection (IC) described
below. As required by the Paperwork
Reduction Act 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. This information
collection is scheduled to expire on May
31, 2017. We may not conduct or
sponsor and a person is not required to
respond to a collection of information
unless it displays a currently valid OMB
Control Number.
DATES: You must submit comments on
or before October 28, 2016.
ADDRESSES: Send your comments on the
IC to Madonna L. Baucum, Information
Collection Clearance Officer, National
Park Service, 12201 Sunrise Valley
Drive (MS–242), Reston, VA 20192
(mail); or madonna_baucum@nps.gov
(email). Please reference OMB Control
Number 1024–0252 in the subject line of
your comments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To
request additional information about
this IC, contact Brooke Linford by email
at brooke_linford@nps.gov, or at (202)
513–7139 (telephone).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
SUMMARY:
Bureau of Land Management,
SUMMARY:
Proposed Information Collection; The
Interagency Access Pass and Senior
Pass Application Processes
AGENCY:
Notice of Public Meeting, Twin Falls
District Resource Advisory Council,
Idaho
jstallworth on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
[FR Doc. 2016–20719 Filed 8–26–16; 8:45 am]
National Park Service
BILLING CODE 4310–55–P
15:27 Aug 26, 2016
Michael C. Courtney,
BLM Twin Falls District Manager.
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
[FR Doc. 2016–20714 Filed 8–26–16; 8:45 am]
VerDate Sep<11>2014
Authority: 43 CFR 1784.4–1.
BILLING CODE 4310–GG–P
Benjamin N. Tuggle,
Regional Director, Southwest Region,
Albuquerque, New Mexico.
AGENCY:
During the September 14th meeting,
there will be travel management
planning training, an overview of the
2016 fire season and the 40th
anniversary of the Federal Land Policy
Management Act along with field office
updates. Additional topics may be
added and will be included in local
media announcements.
More information is available at
www.blm.gov/id/st/en/res/resource_
advisory.3.html. RAC meetings are open
to the public.
PO 00000
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59243
I. Abstract
The America the Beautiful—National
Parks and Federal Recreation Lands
Pass Program covers recreation
opportunities on public lands managed
by four Department of the Interior
agencies—the National Park Service,
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau
of Land Management, and the Bureau of
Reclamation—and by the Department of
Agriculture’s U.S. Forest Service. The
passes provide visitors an affordable
and convenient way to access Federal
recreation lands. The pass program’s
proceeds are used to improve and
enhance visitor recreation services. Two
of the available passes—Interagency
Access Pass and Interagency Senior
Pass—require documentation and are
the bases for this information collection.
The Interagency Access Pass is a free,
lifetime pass issued to citizens or
residents who are domiciled in the
United States, regardless of age, and
who have a medical determination and
documentation of permanent disability.
You can obtain an Access Pass in
person, with proper documentation,
from a participating Federal recreation
site or office. Access Passes may also be
obtained via mail order. Mail-order
applicants for the Access Pass must
submit a completed application, proof
of residency, and documentation of
permanent disability, and pay the
document processing fee of $10 to
obtain a pass through the mail.
If a person arrives at a recreation site
and claims eligibility for the Interagency
Access Pass, but cannot produce any
documentation, that person must read,
sign, and date a Statement of Disability
Form in the presence of the agency
officer issuing the Interagency Access
Pass. If the applicant cannot read and/
or sign the form, someone else may
read, date, and sign the statement on
his/her behalf in the applicant’s
presence and in the presence of the
agency officer issuing the Interagency
Access Pass.
The Interagency Senior Pass is a
lifetime pass issued to U.S. citizens or
permanent residents who are 62 years or
older. There is a $10 fee for the Senior
Pass. You can buy a Senior Pass in
person from a participating Federal
recreation site or office, online or by
mail order. There is an additional
document processing fee of $10 to
obtain a Senior Pass online or through
the mail. Online and mail-order
applicants must submit a completed
application and proof of residency and
age, and pay $20 for the pass fee and
processing fee.
Agency Web sites provide information
on the passes and acceptable
E:\FR\FM\29AUN1.SGM
29AUN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 167 (Monday, August 29, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59241-59243]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-20714]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R2-ES-2016-N059; FXES11130200000-167-FF02ENEH00]
Notice of Availability of a Draft Safe Harbor Agreement and Draft
Environmental Assessment for Activities Within Austin, Bastrop,
Burleson, Colorado, Lavaca, Lee, Leon, Milam, and Robertson Counties,
Texas
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability: Draft safe harbor agreement with
assurances, draft environmental assessment, and permit application.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that the Texas Parks and
Wildlife Department (TPWD; applicant) has applied to the Fish and
Wildlife Service (Service) for an enhancement of survival permit
pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). The
permit application includes a proposed programmatic safe harbor
agreement (agreement) between the applicant and the Service that would
authorize incidental take resulting from voluntary activities to
restore, maintain, enhance, or create habitat for the endangered
Houston toad. The Service also announces the availability of a draft
environmental assessment (EA) that has been prepared to evaluate the
permit application in accordance with the requirements of the National
Environmental Policy Act. We are making the permit application package,
including the draft safe harbor agreement, and draft environmental
assessment available for public review and comment.
DATES: We will accept comments received or postmarked on or before
October 28, 2016. Any comments we receive after the closing date or not
postmarked by the closing date may not be considered in the final
decision on this action.
ADDRESSES: Persons wishing to review the application may obtain a copy
by writing to the Regional Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
P.O. Box 1306, Room 4012, Albuquerque, NM 87103, or send a request by
email to fw2_hcp_permits@fws.gov.
Obtaining Documents
Internet: You may obtain copies of the EA and draft Safe
Harbor Agreement on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (Service) Web
site at https://www.fws.gov/southwest/es/AustinTexas/.
U.S. Mail: A limited number of CD-ROM and printed copies
of the EA and draft Safe Harbor Agreement are available, by request,
from the Field Supervisor, by mail at the Austin Ecological Services
Field Office, 1071 Burnet Road, Suite 200, Austin, TX 78758; by phone
at 512-490-0057; or by fax at 512-490-0974. Please note that your
request is in reference to the draft Safe Harbor Agreement for the
Houston toad.
In-Person: Copies of the EA and draft Safe Harbor
Agreement are also available for public inspection and review at the
following locations, by appointment and written request only, 8 a.m. to
4:30 p.m.:
[cir] U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 500 Gold Avenue SW., Room
6034, Albuquerque, NM 87102.
[cir] U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1071 Burnet Road, Suite 200,
Austin, TX 78758.
Comment submission: You may submit comments by one of the following
methods.
[cir] U.S. Mail: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Austin Ecological
Services Field Office, 1071 Burnet Road, Suite 200, Austin, TX 78758;
by phone at 512-490-0057; or by fax at 512-490-0974.
[cir] Electronically: fw2_hcp_permits@fws.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Adam Zerrenner, Field Supervisor, U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, Austin Ecological Services Field Office,
10711 Burnet Rd, Suite 200, Austin, TX 78758; by telephone 512-490-
0057; or by facsimile 512-490-0974. Persons who use a
telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 800-877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice advises the public that the TPWD
has applied to the Service for an enhancement of survival permit
pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C.
1531 et seq.; Act). The permit application includes a proposed
programmatic safe harbor agreement (agreement) between the applicant
and the Service for a period of 30 years. The proposed agreement will
authorize incidental take during voluntary activities to restore,
maintain, enhance, or create habitat for the endangered Houston toad
(Anaxyrus [=Bufo] houstonensis). The Service also announces the
availability of a draft environmental assessment that has been prepared
to evaluate the permit application in accordance with the requirements
of the National Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.;
NEPA). We are making the permit application package, including the
draft safe harbor agreement, and draft Environmental Assessment
available for public review and comment.
Background
Under a safe harbor agreement, participating property owners
voluntarily undertake management activities on their property to
enhance, restore, or maintain habitat benefiting species listed under
the Endangered Species Act. Safe harbor agreements encourage private
and other non-Federal property owners to implement conservation efforts
for listed species by
[[Page 59242]]
assuring property owners they will not be subjected to increased
property use restrictions as a result of increased target species
abundance due to their efforts to improve conditions for listed species
on their property. Application requirements and issuance criteria for
enhancement of survival permits through safe harbor agreements are
found in 50 CFR 17.22 and 17.32.
Proposed Action
The proposed action involves the issuance of a section 10(a)(1)(A)
enhancement of survival permit (permit) by the Service to the applicant
and approval of the proposed programmatic safe harbor agreement to
facilitate recovery activities for the benefit of the federally listed
endangered Houston toad on non-Federal lands within the current known
range of the species. The requested term of the permit is 30 years.
Landowners enrolled under the Agreement would implement conservation
activities to benefit the endangered Houston toad and in turn receive
assurances consistent with the Safe Harbor Agreement Policy, as amended
(64 FR 32717 and 69 FR 24084) and related implementing regulations (50
CFR 13 and 17). Non-Federal landowners within Austin, Bastrop,
Burleson, Colorado, Lavaca, Lee, Leon, Milam, and Robertson Counties,
Texas, could be enrolled under the agreement, if finalized, by entering
into a cooperative agreement with the applicant.
The cooperative agreement would include: (1) A map of the property
and its legal location; (2) the portion of the property to be enrolled
and its acreage; (3) a description of the existing structures and
habitat types that occur on the portion of the property to be enrolled,
including accurate descriptions of vegetation, water features, and soil
types; and (4) a detailed account of conservation activities to be
undertaken on the portion of the property to be enrolled. After signing
a cooperative agreement, landowners would receive a certificate of
inclusion to document the landowners' participation in the agreement
and convey incidental take authorization from the applicant to
certificate recipients. The applicant would be responsible for annual
monitoring and reporting related to implementation of the agreement and
cooperative agreements, and fulfillment of their provisions.
We have worked with the applicant to design conservation activities
expected to have a net conservation benefit to the Houston toad within
the nine Texas counties to be covered under this proposed agreement;
however, landowners would not have to conduct every activity in this
list in order for their actions to have a net conservation benefit on
Houston toads. These conservation activities include: (1) Brush
management to create desired understory conditions; (2) forest
enhancement/restoration to create favorable canopy conditions; (3)
prescribed burning to restore, create, and maintain desired understory
and ground cover conditions; (4) removal of sod-forming grasses and
restoration of native ground cover; (5) enhancement of existing
breeding ponds to provide habitat for breeding adults and emerging
toadlets; (6) removal of ponds, where it would be beneficial to do so;
(7) control of red imported fire ants to maximize successful toadlet
emergence from ponds; (8) creation of new breeding ponds; (9)
headstarting and/or reintroduction of captively-bred Houston toads; and
(10) release and translocation of wild-caught Houston toads.
These conservation activities are expected to: (1) Enhance Houston
toad foraging and hibernating habitat; (2) create and enhance Houston
toad breeding and toadlet emergence habitat; (3) facilitate Houston
toad dispersal through the creation and enhancement of habitat linkages
throughout the species' range; (4) increase Houston toad population
numbers through headstarting and reintroduction; and (5) facilitate
viable, self-sustaining Houston toad subpopulations.
Take, as defined by the Act, means ``to harass, harm, pursue, hunt,
shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or to attempt to engage
in any such conduct. Incidental take is defined by the Act as take that
is ``incidental to, and not the purpose of, the carrying out of an
otherwise lawful activity.'' The incidental take of toads may occur
from: (1) Habitat management actions conducted in accordance with the
conservation activities in the Agreement, (2) ongoing land use
activities that may have an increased chance of taking a toad if toad
numbers increase, as expected, and (3) cessation of the conservation
activities if enrolled landowners exercise their option to return the
property to its baseline condition, or pre-enrollment condition, as
provided for in the final Safe Harbor Agreement Policy (64 FR 32717 and
69 FR 24084).
Alternative
We considered one alternative to the proposed action as part of the
Environmental Assessment process--the No Action Alternative. Under the
No Action Alternative, a coordinated effort to conserve Houston toads
on non-Federal properties using a single programmatic safe harbor
agreement and enhancement of survival permit would not occur. Houston
toad conservation efforts could take place through the actions of
individual landowners without the assurances that a safe harbor
agreement would provide. However, it is likely that many landowners
would not feel comfortable participating in conservation activities on
their properties to enhance habitat for a federally endangered species
without coverage for their activities under the Act or assurances that
they could eventually take their properties back to their baseline
conditions. Therefore, many landowners might not undertake beneficial
actions for the Houston toad on their properties because they would be
fearful of attracting an endangered species and increasing their
liability under the Act. Conservation efforts for the species would
primarily occur within the areas already being managed for the Houston
toad within Bastrop County, Texas, with little participation of
landowners in other areas of the species' range.
Next Steps
We will evaluate the proposed safe harbor agreement, associated
documents, and comments we receive to determine whether the
requirements of sections 10(a) and 10(c) of the Endangered Species Act,
the Act's implementing regulations at 50 CFR 17.22 (regulations that
pertain to safe harbor agreements and endangered species), and NEPA
have been met. If we determine that the requirements have been met, we
will issue an enhancement of survival permit under section 10(a)(1)(A)
of the Endangered Species Act to the applicant in accordance with the
terms of the safe harbor agreement and specific terms and conditions of
the authorizing permit. We will not make our final decision until after
the end of the 60-day comment period and will fully consider all
comments received during the comment period.
Public Availability of Comments
Written comments we receive become part of the public record
associated with this action. Before including your address, phone
number, email address, or other personal identifying information in
your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment, including
your personal identifying information, may be made publicly available
at any time. While you can request in your comment that
[[Page 59243]]
we withhold your personal identifying information from public review,
we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. We will not consider
anonymous comments. All submissions from organizations or businesses,
and from individuals identifying themselves as representative or
officials of organizations or businesses, will be made available for
public disclosure in their entirety.
Authority
We provide this notice under section 10(c) of the Act and its
implementing regulations (50 CFR 17.22 and 17.32) and NEPA and its
implementing regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).
Benjamin N. Tuggle,
Regional Director, Southwest Region, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
[FR Doc. 2016-20714 Filed 8-26-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P
