Proposed Safe Harbor Agreement and Candidate Conservation Agreement With Assurances for the Greene County Pennsylvania, Wharton Run Bat Hibernaculum; Draft Categorical Exclusion, 24851-24852 [2024-07482]
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<![CDATA[
24851
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 69 / Tuesday, April 9, 2024 / Notices
Number of
respondents
Information collection
Responses
per annum
Burden hour
per response
Annual
burden hours
Hourly cost
per
response
Annual cost
Appendix F: GRRP Scoping and Design
Consent Form and Interview .....................
Appendix G: GRRP Post-Construction Consent Form and Interview ............................
Appendix J: Energy Efficiency Survey ..........
40
1
40
1.3
52
80.96
4,210
40
2,347
1
1
40
2,347
1.3
0.33
52
775
80.96
80.96
4,210
62,744
Total .......................................................
........................
........................
........................
........................
2434
........................
197,057
B. Solicitation of Public Comment
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
This notice is soliciting comments
from members of the public and affected
parties concerning the collection of
information described in Section A on
the following:
(1) Whether the proposed collection
of information is necessary for the
proper performance of the functions of
the agency, including whether the
information will have practical utility;
(2) The accuracy of the agency’s
estimate of the burden of the proposed
collection of information;
(3) Ways to enhance the quality,
utility, and clarity of the information to
be collected; and
(4) Ways to minimize the burden of
the collection of information on those
who are to respond; including through
the use of appropriate automated
collection techniques or other forms of
information technology, e.g., permitting
electronic submission of responses.
(5) ways to minimize the burden of
the collection of information on those
who are to respond, including the use
of automated collection techniques or
other forms of information technology.
HUD encourages interested parties to
submit comments in response to these
questions.
Fish and Wildlife Service
C. Authority
Section 3507 of the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C.
Chapter 35.
Anna P. Guido,
Department Reports Management Office,
Office of Policy Development and Research,
Chief Data Officer.
[FR Doc. 2024–07484 Filed 4–8–24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210–67–P
ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
Frequency of
response
[FWS–R5–ES–2024–0021;
FXES11140500000–245–FF05E00000]
Proposed Safe Harbor Agreement and
Candidate Conservation Agreement
With Assurances for the Greene
County Pennsylvania, Wharton Run
Bat Hibernaculum; Draft Categorical
Exclusion
Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request
for comments.
AGENCY:
We, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service (Service), have received
an application from CNX Gas Company
LLC for an enhancement of survival
permit under the Endangered Species
Act. The applicant also submitted a
proposed safe harbor agreement and
candidate conservation agreement with
assurances (SHA/CCAA) in support of
the application. We request public
comment on the application, which
includes the applicant’s proposed SHA/
CCAA, and the Service’s preliminary
determination that the proposed
permitting action may be eligible for a
categorical exclusion pursuant to the
Council on Environmental Quality’s
National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA) regulations, the Department of
the Interior’s (DOI) NEPA regulations,
and the DOI Departmental Manual. To
make this preliminary determination,
we prepared a draft environmental
action statement and low-effect
screening form, both of which are also
available for public review. We invite
comment from the public and local,
State, Tribal, and Federal agencies.
DATES: We will accept comments
received or postmarked on or before
May 9, 2024. Comments submitted
online at https://www.regulations.gov
(see ADDRESSES) must be received by
11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on May 9,
2024.
SUMMARY:
ADDRESSES:
Obtaining documents: The documents
this notice announces, as well as any
comments and other materials that we
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19:57 Apr 08, 2024
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receive, will be available for public
inspection online in Docket No. FWS–
R5–ES–2024–0021 at https://
www.regulations.gov.
Submitting Comments: If you wish to
submit comments on any of the
documents, you may do so in writing by
one of the following methods:
• Online: https://
www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments
on Docket No. FWS–R5–ES–2024–0021.
• U.S. mail: Public Comments
Processing; Attn: Docket No. FWS–R5–
ES–2024–0021; U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service Headquarters, MS: PRB/3W;
5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA
22041–3803.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Pamela R. Shellenberger, by telephone
at 814–234–4090, extension 7459, or by
email at Pamela_Shellenberger@fws.gov.
Individuals in the United States who are
deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have
a speech disability may dial 711 (TTY,
TDD, or TeleBraille) to access
telecommunications relay services.
Individuals outside the United States
should use the relay services offered
within their country to make
international calls to the point-ofcontact in the United States.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We, the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service),
have received an application from CNX
Gas Company LLC (applicant, CNX) for
an enhancement of survival permit
under the Endangered Species Act of
1973, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531
et seq.). The applicant also submitted a
proposed safe harbor agreement and
candidate conservation agreement with
assurances (SHA/CCAA) in support of
the application. The applicant intends
to implement the agreement within the
boundaries of the State of Pennsylvania,
to actively manage the covered species
to benefit the recovery of federally listed
species and to prevent the need to list
candidate or otherwise sensitive
species. The Service has made a
preliminary determination that the
proposed agreement qualifies as low
effect, categorically excluded, under the
National Environmental Policy Act of
1969 (NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). To
make this determination, we used our
E:\FR\FM\09APN1.SGM
09APN1
24852
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 69 / Tuesday, April 9, 2024 / Notices
environmental action statement and
low-effect screening form, both of which
are also available for public review. We
provide this notice to seek comments
from the public and local, State, Tribal,
and Federal agencies.
Background
Safe Harbor Agreements and Candidate
Conservation Agreements With
Assurances
Section 9 of the Endangered Species
Act of 1973, as amended (ESA; 16
U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), and its
implementing regulations prohibit the
‘‘take’’ of animal species listed as
endangered or threatened. Take is
defined under the ESA as to ‘‘harass,
harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill,
trap, capture, or collect ‘‘listed animal
species’’, or to attempt to engage in such
conduct’’ (16 U.S.C. 1538). However,
under section 10(a) of the ESA, we may
issue permits to authorize incidental
take of listed species. ‘‘Incidental take’’
is defined by the ESA as take that is
incidental to, and not the purpose of,
carrying out an otherwise lawful
activity. Regulations governing
incidental take permits for endangered
A SHA is an agreement between the
Service, partners, and landowners, for
voluntary management of non-Federal
lands to contribute towards recovery of
an ESA-listed species in a manner that
is consistent with the Service’s policy
on SHAs (64 FR 32717, June 17, 1999)
and applicable regulations. A CCAA is
an agreement between the Service,
partners, and landowners for voluntary
management of non-Federal lands to
remove or reduce key threats to species
that may become listed under the ESA,
in a manner that is consistent with the
Service’s policy on CCAAs (81 FR
95164, December 27, 2016) and
applicable regulations. In return for
implementing conservation measures in
a SHA/CCAA, the Service gives
participants assurances that the Service
will not impose land, water, or resource
use restrictions or conservation
requirements on ESA-listed species, or
those that may become listed, beyond
those agreed to in the SHA/CCAA.
Applicant’s Proposed Safe Harbor
Agreement/Candidate Conservation
Agreement With Assurances
The purpose of this SHA/CCAA is to
support collaborative efforts between
the Service and CNX Gas Company LLC,
in cooperation with regional agencies
and universities, to implement
conservation measures that result in net
conservation benefits for six covered bat
species. These measures include the
installation of a human-made bat
hibernaculum and other artificial
roosting structures to provide a refuge to
bat species that exist within the enrolled
property.
Covered Species
The proposed SHA/CCAA covers the
following bat species.
Common name
Scientific name
Federal listing status
Indiana bat .....................................
Northern long-eared bat ................
Tricolored bat .................................
Little brown bat ..............................
Big brown bat .................................
Eastern small-footed bat ................
Myotis sodalis ...............................
Myotis septentrionalis ...................
Perimyotis subflavus .....................
Myotis lucifugus ............................
Eptesicus fuscus ...........................
Myotis leibii ...................................
Endangered ..................................
Endangered ..................................
Proposed endangered ..................
No .................................................
No .................................................
No .................................................
National Environmental Policy Act
Compliance
ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
and threatened species, respectively, are
found in the Code of Federal
Regulations at 50 CFR 17.22 and 50 CFR
17.32.
Issuance of the permit would be a
Federal action that would trigger the
need for compliance with NEPA. The
Service has made a preliminary
determination that the proposed permit
issuance is eligible for categorical
exclusion under NEPA, based on the
following criteria: (1) Implementation of
the SHA and CCAA would result in
minor or negligible adverse effects on
federally listed, proposed, and
candidate species and their habitats; (2)
implementation of the SHA and CCAA
would result in minor or negligible
adverse effects on other environmental
values or resources; and (3) impacts of
the SHA and CCAA, considered together
with the impacts of other past, present,
and reasonably foreseeable similarly
situated projects, would not result, over
time, in cumulative adverse effects to
environmental values or resources
which would be considered significant.
To make this determination, we used
our EAS and low-effect screening form,
which are also available for public
review.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
19:57 Apr 08, 2024
Jkt 262001
Public Availability of Comments
All comments received, including
names and addresses, will become part
of the administrative 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
we withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we
cannot guarantee that we will be able to
do so. All submissions from
organizations or businesses, and from
individuals identifying themselves as
representatives or officials of
organizations or businesses, will be
made available for public disclosure in
their entirety.
State listing status
Pennsylvania—endangered.
Pennsylvania—endangered.
Pennsylvania—endangered.
Pennsylvania—endangered.
No.
Pennsylvania—threatened.
effects of the proposed take. After
considering the above findings, we will
determine whether the permit issuance
criteria of section 10(a)(1)(A) of the ESA
have been met. If met, the Service will
issue a permit to the applicant for the
incidental take of the covered species.
Authority
We provide this notice under section
10(c) of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.)
and its implementing regulations (50
CFR 17.22 and 17.32) and NEPA (42
U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and its
implementing regulations (40 CFR
1500–1508 and 43 CFR 46).
Sharon Marino,
Assistant Regional Director, Ecological
Services Northeast Region.
[FR Doc. 2024–07482 Filed 4–8–24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333–15–P
Next Steps
The Service will evaluate the
application and the comments received
to determine whether to issue the
requested permit. We also will conduct
an intra-Service consultation pursuant
to section 7 of the ESA to evaluate the
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 69 (Tuesday, April 9, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24851-24852]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-07482]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R5-ES-2024-0021; FXES11140500000-245-FF05E00000]
Proposed Safe Harbor Agreement and Candidate Conservation
Agreement With Assurances for the Greene County Pennsylvania, Wharton
Run Bat Hibernaculum; Draft Categorical Exclusion
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), have
received an application from CNX Gas Company LLC for an enhancement of
survival permit under the Endangered Species Act. The applicant also
submitted a proposed safe harbor agreement and candidate conservation
agreement with assurances (SHA/CCAA) in support of the application. We
request public comment on the application, which includes the
applicant's proposed SHA/CCAA, and the Service's preliminary
determination that the proposed permitting action may be eligible for a
categorical exclusion pursuant to the Council on Environmental
Quality's National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations, the
Department of the Interior's (DOI) NEPA regulations, and the DOI
Departmental Manual. To make this preliminary determination, we
prepared a draft environmental action statement and low-effect
screening form, both of which are also available for public review. We
invite comment from the public and local, State, Tribal, and Federal
agencies.
DATES: We will accept comments received or postmarked on or before May
9, 2024. Comments submitted online at https://www.regulations.gov (see
ADDRESSES) must be received by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on May 9, 2024.
ADDRESSES:
Obtaining documents: The documents this notice announces, as well
as any comments and other materials that we receive, will be available
for public inspection online in Docket No. FWS-R5-ES-2024-0021 at
https://www.regulations.gov.
Submitting Comments: If you wish to submit comments on any of the
documents, you may do so in writing by one of the following methods:
Online: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments on Docket No. FWS-R5-ES-2024-0021.
U.S. mail: Public Comments Processing; Attn: Docket No.
FWS-R5-ES-2024-0021; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Headquarters, MS:
PRB/3W; 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Pamela R. Shellenberger, by telephone
at 814-234-4090, extension 7459, or by email at
[email protected]. Individuals in the United States who are
deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability may dial
711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay
services. Individuals outside the United States should use the relay
services offered within their country to make international calls to
the point-of-contact in the United States.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(Service), have received an application from CNX Gas Company LLC
(applicant, CNX) for an enhancement of survival permit under the
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et
seq.). The applicant also submitted a proposed safe harbor agreement
and candidate conservation agreement with assurances (SHA/CCAA) in
support of the application. The applicant intends to implement the
agreement within the boundaries of the State of Pennsylvania, to
actively manage the covered species to benefit the recovery of
federally listed species and to prevent the need to list candidate or
otherwise sensitive species. The Service has made a preliminary
determination that the proposed agreement qualifies as low effect,
categorically excluded, under the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969 (NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). To make this determination, we
used our
[[Page 24852]]
environmental action statement and low-effect screening form, both of
which are also available for public review. We provide this notice to
seek comments from the public and local, State, Tribal, and Federal
agencies.
Background
Section 9 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA;
16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), and its implementing regulations prohibit the
``take'' of animal species listed as endangered or threatened. Take is
defined under the ESA as to ``harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound,
kill, trap, capture, or collect ``listed animal species'', or to
attempt to engage in such conduct'' (16 U.S.C. 1538). However, under
section 10(a) of the ESA, we may issue permits to authorize incidental
take of listed species. ``Incidental take'' is defined by the ESA as
take that is incidental to, and not the purpose of, carrying out an
otherwise lawful activity. Regulations governing incidental take
permits for endangered and threatened species, respectively, are found
in the Code of Federal Regulations at 50 CFR 17.22 and 50 CFR 17.32.
Safe Harbor Agreements and Candidate Conservation Agreements With
Assurances
A SHA is an agreement between the Service, partners, and
landowners, for voluntary management of non-Federal lands to contribute
towards recovery of an ESA-listed species in a manner that is
consistent with the Service's policy on SHAs (64 FR 32717, June 17,
1999) and applicable regulations. A CCAA is an agreement between the
Service, partners, and landowners for voluntary management of non-
Federal lands to remove or reduce key threats to species that may
become listed under the ESA, in a manner that is consistent with the
Service's policy on CCAAs (81 FR 95164, December 27, 2016) and
applicable regulations. In return for implementing conservation
measures in a SHA/CCAA, the Service gives participants assurances that
the Service will not impose land, water, or resource use restrictions
or conservation requirements on ESA-listed species, or those that may
become listed, beyond those agreed to in the SHA/CCAA.
Applicant's Proposed Safe Harbor Agreement/Candidate Conservation
Agreement With Assurances
The purpose of this SHA/CCAA is to support collaborative efforts
between the Service and CNX Gas Company LLC, in cooperation with
regional agencies and universities, to implement conservation measures
that result in net conservation benefits for six covered bat species.
These measures include the installation of a human-made bat
hibernaculum and other artificial roosting structures to provide a
refuge to bat species that exist within the enrolled property.
Covered Species
The proposed SHA/CCAA covers the following bat species.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Common name Scientific name Federal listing status State listing status
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Indiana bat.......................... Myotis sodalis......... Endangered............. Pennsylvania--endangere
d.
Northern long-eared bat.............. Myotis septentrionalis. Endangered............. Pennsylvania--endangere
d.
Tricolored bat....................... Perimyotis subflavus... Proposed endangered.... Pennsylvania--endangere
d.
Little brown bat..................... Myotis lucifugus....... No..................... Pennsylvania--endangere
d.
Big brown bat........................ Eptesicus fuscus....... No..................... No.
Eastern small-footed bat............. Myotis leibii.......... No..................... Pennsylvania--threatene
d.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
National Environmental Policy Act Compliance
Issuance of the permit would be a Federal action that would trigger
the need for compliance with NEPA. The Service has made a preliminary
determination that the proposed permit issuance is eligible for
categorical exclusion under NEPA, based on the following criteria: (1)
Implementation of the SHA and CCAA would result in minor or negligible
adverse effects on federally listed, proposed, and candidate species
and their habitats; (2) implementation of the SHA and CCAA would result
in minor or negligible adverse effects on other environmental values or
resources; and (3) impacts of the SHA and CCAA, considered together
with the impacts of other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable
similarly situated projects, would not result, over time, in cumulative
adverse effects to environmental values or resources which would be
considered significant. To make this determination, we used our EAS and
low-effect screening form, which are also available for public review.
Public Availability of Comments
All comments received, including names and addresses, will become
part of the administrative 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 we withhold your personal identifying information from
public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. All
submissions from organizations or businesses, and from individuals
identifying themselves as representatives or officials of organizations
or businesses, will be made available for public disclosure in their
entirety.
Next Steps
The Service will evaluate the application and the comments received
to determine whether to issue the requested permit. We also will
conduct an intra-Service consultation pursuant to section 7 of the ESA
to evaluate the effects of the proposed take. After considering the
above findings, we will determine whether the permit issuance criteria
of section 10(a)(1)(A) of the ESA have been met. If met, the Service
will issue a permit to the applicant for the incidental take of the
covered species.
Authority
We provide this notice under section 10(c) of the ESA (16 U.S.C.
1531 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (50 CFR 17.22 and 17.32)
and NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (40
CFR 1500-1508 and 43 CFR 46).
Sharon Marino,
Assistant Regional Director, Ecological Services Northeast Region.
[FR Doc. 2024-07482 Filed 4-8-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P
