Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Draft Recovery Plan for the Topeka Shiner, 3073-3074 [2020-00718]
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Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 12 / Friday, January 17, 2020 / Notices
comment, be aware that your entire
comment, including your personal
identifying information, may be made
available to the public. While you may
request that we withhold your personal
identifying information, we cannot
guarantee that we will be able to do so.
Our Preliminary Determination
The Service has made a preliminary
determination that the applicant’s
project, including land clearing,
infrastructure building, landscaping,
and the proposed minimization and
mitigation measures, would
individually and cumulatively have a
minor or negligible effect on the
Alabama beach mouse and the
environment. Therefore, we have
preliminarily determined that the ITP
for this project would qualify for
categorical exclusion and that the HCP
is low effect under our NEPA
regulations at 43 CFR 46.205 and
46.210. A low-effect HCP is one that
would result in (1) minor or negligible
effects on federally listed, proposed, and
candidate species and their habitats; (2)
minor or negligible effects on other
environmental values or resources; and
(3) impacts that, when considered
together with the impacts of other past,
present, and reasonably foreseeable
similarly situated projects, would not
result in significant cumulative effects
to environmental values or resources
over time.
Next Steps
The Service will evaluate the
application and comments to determine
whether to issue the requested permit.
We will also conduct an intra-Service
consultation pursuant to section 7 of the
ESA to evaluate the effects of the
proposed take. After considering the
preceding findings, we will determine
whether the permit issuance criteria of
section 10(a)(l)(B) of the ESA have been
met. If met, the Service will issue ITP
number TE48280D–0 to Brett Real Estate
Robinson Development Company, Inc.
Authority
lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with NOTICES
The Service provides this notice
under section 10(c) (16 U.S.C. 1539(c))
of the ESA and NEPA regulation 40 CFR
1506.6.
William Pearson,
Field Supervisor, Alabama Ecological
Services Field Office.
[FR Doc. 2020–00672 Filed 1–16–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333–15–P
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:20 Jan 16, 2020
Jkt 250001
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS–R6–ES–2019–N056;
FXES11130600000–189–FF06E00000]
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife
and Plants; Draft Recovery Plan for the
Topeka Shiner
Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of document availability
for review and comment.
AGENCY:
We, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, announce the
availability of a draft recovery plan for
Topeka shiner, a fish species listed as
endangered under the Endangered
Species Act. We are requesting review
and comment from the public on this
draft plan.
DATES: Comments on the draft recovery
plan must be received on or before
March 17, 2020.
ADDRESSES:
Obtaining documents: Copies of the
draft recovery plan are available at
https://www.fws.gov/endangered/
species/recovery-plans.html.
Alternatively, you may request a copy
by U.S. mail from the Kansas Ecological
Services Field Office, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, 2609 Anderson
Avenue, Manhattan, KS 66502; or via
telephone at 785–539–3474.
Submitting comments: Submit
comments on the draft recovery plan via
email to kansases@fws.gov, or to the
Field Supervisor at the address above.
Viewing public comments: Comments
and materials the Service receives will
be available for public inspection by
appointment during normal business
hours at the address above.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jason Luginbill, Field Supervisor,
Kansas Ecological Services Field Office,
at the above U.S. mail address, or by
telephone at 785–539–3474.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We, the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service),
announce the availability of a draft
recovery plan for Topeka shiner
(Notropis topeka), a fish species listed
as endangered under the Endangered
Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA;
16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). We are
requesting review and comment from
the public on this draft plan.
SUMMARY:
Background
Restoring an endangered or
threatened animal or plant to the point
where it is again a secure, selfsustaining member of its ecosystem is a
primary goal of the Service’s
PO 00000
Frm 00063
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
3073
endangered species program. In
furtherance of this goal, we prepare
recovery plans to help guide recovery
efforts and to promote the conservation
of the species. Recovery plans describe
site-specific actions necessary for the
conservation of the species, establish
objective, measurable criteria that, when
met, would result in a determination
that the species no longer needs the
protection of the ESA, and provide
estimates of the time and cost for
implementing the needed recovery
actions.
The ESA requires recovery plans for
listed species unless such a plan would
not promote the conservation of a
particular species. Section 4(f) of the
ESA, as amended in 1988, requires that
public notice and opportunity for public
review and comment be provided
during recovery plan development. We
will consider all information we receive
during a public comment period when
preparing the recovery plan for
approval. The Service and other Federal
agencies will take these comments into
consideration in the course of
implementing an approved recovery
plan.
It is our policy to request peer review
of recovery plans. We will summarize
and respond to the issues raised by the
public and peer reviewers in an
appendix to the approved recovery plan.
We will revise the plan between draft
and final stages as appropriate,
including using information gathered
from peer and public review.
Species Information
The Topeka shiner is a small minnow
that lives and breeds in low-order
prairie streams in the Great Plains States
of South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska,
Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri. It was
listed as endangered under the ESA in
1998 (effective in January 1999) because
of significant population declines due
primarily to alteration of prairie stream
hydrology and habitat degradation (63
FR 69008, December 15, 1998). Postlisting, increased survey efforts revealed
additional populations not known at the
time of listing, particularly in South
Dakota and Minnesota, while losses
and/or reductions appeared to continue
in other States. Since 1999, the Topeka
shiner has been documented as
occupying over 200 small to mid-size
streams. In 2004, the Service also
designated critical habitat for the
Topeka shiner in Minnesota, Nebraska,
and Iowa; areas in South Dakota,
Missouri, and Kansas were exempt from
the designation due to the existence of
management plans (69 FR 44736, July
27, 2004).
E:\FR\FM\17JAN1.SGM
17JAN1
lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with NOTICES
3074
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 12 / Friday, January 17, 2020 / Notices
Recovery Strategy
The recovery vision for the Topeka
Shiner is to have multiple resilient
groups of populations, distributed
across the species’ range, that
encompass adequate geographic and
genetic diversity of the species to shield
it from extirpation by catastrophic
events and preserve adaptive potential.
To summarize, the recovery criteria are
designed to: (1) Maintain the species in
currently known occupied habitats
across a broad portion of its current
ecological settings to preserve future
adaptive capacity and potential; (2)
maintain, increase, and expand
populations in currently known
occupied habitats to ensure species
persistence by mitigating catastrophic
events; (3) increase the ability of
populations in currently known
occupied habitats to resist impacts of
stochastic events and persist long-term;
(4) and ensure management plans are in
place for each of nine population
complexes or by state, to ensure future
maintenance of those complexes, as
well as that of the populations/subpopulations within them. To
accomplish conservation and recovery
of the Topeka shiner, recovery actions
need to be implemented that include the
following general categories: Habitat
protection, management, and
restoration; population management,
augmentation, translocations, and
reintroductions; monitoring; research;
collaboration with stakeholders; and
education and outreach.
—Are the draft recovery criteria both
objective and measurable given the
information available for this species
now and into the future? Please
provide suggestions to improve the
objectivity and measurability of
criteria.
—Understanding that specific, detailed,
and area-specific recovery actions will
be developed in the localized
recovery implementation strategies,
do the draft recovery actions
presented in the draft recovery plan
generally cover the types of actions
necessary to meet the recovery
criteria? If not, what general actions
are missing? Are any of the draft
recovery actions unnecessary for
achieving recovery? Are the draft
recovery actions prioritized
appropriately?
Request for Public Comments
The Service solicits public comments
on the draft recovery plan. All
comments we receive by the date
specified (see DATES) will be considered
prior to approval of the plan. Written
comments and materials regarding the
plan should be sent via the means in the
ADDRESSES section.
We are specifically seeking comments
and suggestions on the following
questions:
—Understanding that the time and cost
presented in the draft recovery plan
will be revised when localized
recovery implementation strategies
are developed, are the estimated time
and cost to recovery realistic? Is the
estimate reflective of the time and
cost of similar previous actions that
have already been implemented?
Please provide suggestions or
methods for determining a more
accurate estimation of time and cost.
—Do the draft recovery criteria provide
clear direction to partners on what is
needed to recover the species? How
could they be improved for clarity?
Dated: September 19, 2019.
Noreen Walsh,
Regional Director, Lakewood, Colorado.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:20 Jan 16, 2020
Jkt 250001
Public Availability of Comments
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.
You may request at the top of your
comment that we withhold this
information from public review;
however, we cannot guarantee that we
will be able to do so.
Authority
The authority for this action is section
4(f) of the Endangered Species Act, 16
U.S.C. 1533(f).
Editorial note: This document was
received for publication by the Office of the
Federal Register on January 14, 2020.
[FR Doc. 2020–00718 Filed 1–16–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333–15–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS–R4–ES–2020–N007;
FXES11130400000EA–123–FF04EF1000]
Receipt of Incidental Take Permit
Application and Proposed Habitat
Conservation Plan for the Perdido Key
Beach Mouse, Baldwin County, AL;
Categorical Exclusion
Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request
for comment and information.
AGENCY:
We, the Fish and Wildlife
Service (Service), announce receipt of
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
Frm 00064
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
an application from the city of Orange
Beach (applicant) for an incidental take
permit (ITP) under the Endangered
Species Act. The applicant requests the
ITP to take the federally listed Perdido
Key beach mouse incidental to
construction in Baldwin County,
Alabama. We request public comment
on the application, which includes the
applicant’s proposed habitat
conservation plan (HCP), and the
Service’s preliminary determination that
this HCP qualifies as ‘‘low-effect,’’
categorically excluded under the
National Environmental Policy Act. To
make this determination, we used our
low-effect screening form, which is also
available for public review.
DATES: We must receive your written
comments on or before February 18,
2020.
ADDRESSES:
Obtaining Documents: Documents are
available for public inspection by
appointment during regular business
hours at either of the following
locations:
• Atlanta Regional Office, Ecological
Services, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
1875 Century Boulevard, Atlanta, GA
30345.
• Panama City Ecological Services
Field Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, 1601 Balboa Ave., Panama City,
Florida.
Submitting Comments: If you wish to
submit comments on any of the
documents, you may do so by any one
of the following methods. Please
reference TE48931D–0 in all comments.
For additional guidance on submitting
comments, please see Public Comments
under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.
• U.S. mail: You may mail comments
to the Fish and Wildlife Service’s
Atlanta Regional Office.
• Hand-delivery: You may handdeliver comments to the Atlanta or the
Florida offices.
• Email: You may email comments to
Christine_Willis@fws.gov. Please
include your name and email address in
your message. If you do not receive an
email confirmation from us that we have
received your email message, contact us
directly at either telephone number in
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Christine Willis, Assistant Regional HCP
Coordinator, at the Atlanta Regional
Office (see ADDRESSES) or by telephone
at 404–679–7310 or Kristi Yanchis,
Project Manager, at the Panama City
Ecological Services Field Office (see
ADDRESSES) or by telephone at 850–769–
0552. If you use a telecommunications
device for the deaf (TDD), please call the
Federal Relay Service at 800–877–8339.
E:\FR\FM\17JAN1.SGM
17JAN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 12 (Friday, January 17, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3073-3074]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-00718]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R6-ES-2019-N056; FXES11130600000-189-FF06E00000]
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Draft Recovery
Plan for the Topeka Shiner
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of document availability for review and comment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announce the
availability of a draft recovery plan for Topeka shiner, a fish species
listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. We are
requesting review and comment from the public on this draft plan.
DATES: Comments on the draft recovery plan must be received on or
before March 17, 2020.
ADDRESSES:
Obtaining documents: Copies of the draft recovery plan are
available at https://www.fws.gov/endangered/species/recovery-plans.html.
Alternatively, you may request a copy by U.S. mail from the Kansas
Ecological Services Field Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2609
Anderson Avenue, Manhattan, KS 66502; or via telephone at 785-539-3474.
Submitting comments: Submit comments on the draft recovery plan via
email to [email protected], or to the Field Supervisor at the address
above.
Viewing public comments: Comments and materials the Service
receives will be available for public inspection by appointment during
normal business hours at the address above.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jason Luginbill, Field Supervisor,
Kansas Ecological Services Field Office, at the above U.S. mail
address, or by telephone at 785-539-3474.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(Service), announce the availability of a draft recovery plan for
Topeka shiner (Notropis topeka), a fish species listed as endangered
under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C.
1531 et seq.). We are requesting review and comment from the public on
this draft plan.
Background
Restoring an endangered or threatened animal or plant to the point
where it is again a secure, self-sustaining member of its ecosystem is
a primary goal of the Service's endangered species program. In
furtherance of this goal, we prepare recovery plans to help guide
recovery efforts and to promote the conservation of the species.
Recovery plans describe site-specific actions necessary for the
conservation of the species, establish objective, measurable criteria
that, when met, would result in a determination that the species no
longer needs the protection of the ESA, and provide estimates of the
time and cost for implementing the needed recovery actions.
The ESA requires recovery plans for listed species unless such a
plan would not promote the conservation of a particular species.
Section 4(f) of the ESA, as amended in 1988, requires that public
notice and opportunity for public review and comment be provided during
recovery plan development. We will consider all information we receive
during a public comment period when preparing the recovery plan for
approval. The Service and other Federal agencies will take these
comments into consideration in the course of implementing an approved
recovery plan.
It is our policy to request peer review of recovery plans. We will
summarize and respond to the issues raised by the public and peer
reviewers in an appendix to the approved recovery plan. We will revise
the plan between draft and final stages as appropriate, including using
information gathered from peer and public review.
Species Information
The Topeka shiner is a small minnow that lives and breeds in low-
order prairie streams in the Great Plains States of South Dakota,
Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri. It was listed as
endangered under the ESA in 1998 (effective in January 1999) because of
significant population declines due primarily to alteration of prairie
stream hydrology and habitat degradation (63 FR 69008, December 15,
1998). Post-listing, increased survey efforts revealed additional
populations not known at the time of listing, particularly in South
Dakota and Minnesota, while losses and/or reductions appeared to
continue in other States. Since 1999, the Topeka shiner has been
documented as occupying over 200 small to mid-size streams. In 2004,
the Service also designated critical habitat for the Topeka shiner in
Minnesota, Nebraska, and Iowa; areas in South Dakota, Missouri, and
Kansas were exempt from the designation due to the existence of
management plans (69 FR 44736, July 27, 2004).
[[Page 3074]]
Recovery Strategy
The recovery vision for the Topeka Shiner is to have multiple
resilient groups of populations, distributed across the species' range,
that encompass adequate geographic and genetic diversity of the species
to shield it from extirpation by catastrophic events and preserve
adaptive potential. To summarize, the recovery criteria are designed
to: (1) Maintain the species in currently known occupied habitats
across a broad portion of its current ecological settings to preserve
future adaptive capacity and potential; (2) maintain, increase, and
expand populations in currently known occupied habitats to ensure
species persistence by mitigating catastrophic events; (3) increase the
ability of populations in currently known occupied habitats to resist
impacts of stochastic events and persist long-term; (4) and ensure
management plans are in place for each of nine population complexes or
by state, to ensure future maintenance of those complexes, as well as
that of the populations/sub-populations within them. To accomplish
conservation and recovery of the Topeka shiner, recovery actions need
to be implemented that include the following general categories:
Habitat protection, management, and restoration; population management,
augmentation, translocations, and reintroductions; monitoring;
research; collaboration with stakeholders; and education and outreach.
Request for Public Comments
The Service solicits public comments on the draft recovery plan.
All comments we receive by the date specified (see DATES) will be
considered prior to approval of the plan. Written comments and
materials regarding the plan should be sent via the means in the
ADDRESSES section.
We are specifically seeking comments and suggestions on the
following questions:
--Understanding that the time and cost presented in the draft recovery
plan will be revised when localized recovery implementation strategies
are developed, are the estimated time and cost to recovery realistic?
Is the estimate reflective of the time and cost of similar previous
actions that have already been implemented? Please provide suggestions
or methods for determining a more accurate estimation of time and cost.
--Do the draft recovery criteria provide clear direction to partners on
what is needed to recover the species? How could they be improved for
clarity?
--Are the draft recovery criteria both objective and measurable given
the information available for this species now and into the future?
Please provide suggestions to improve the objectivity and measurability
of criteria.
--Understanding that specific, detailed, and area-specific recovery
actions will be developed in the localized recovery implementation
strategies, do the draft recovery actions presented in the draft
recovery plan generally cover the types of actions necessary to meet
the recovery criteria? If not, what general actions are missing? Are
any of the draft recovery actions unnecessary for achieving recovery?
Are the draft recovery actions prioritized appropriately?
Public Availability of Comments
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. You may
request at the top of your comment that we withhold this information
from public review; however, we cannot guarantee that we will be able
to do so.
Authority
The authority for this action is section 4(f) of the Endangered
Species Act, 16 U.S.C. 1533(f).
Dated: September 19, 2019.
Noreen Walsh,
Regional Director, Lakewood, Colorado.
Editorial note: This document was received for publication by
the Office of the Federal Register on January 14, 2020.
[FR Doc. 2020-00718 Filed 1-16-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P
