National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration June 22, 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This document announces the availability of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the applications from the Fruit Growers Supply Company (FGS) for Incidental Take Permits (ITPs) and a multi-species Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) for take of endangered and threatened species in accordance with the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA). The National Marine Fisheries Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service (Services) and FGS have also developed an Implementing Agreement (IA) which details how the Services and FGS will work together to implement the HCP. The applicant seeks the ITPs to authorize incidental take of the covered species during forest management and timber harvest in Siskiyou County, CA, where FGS owns lands, during the term of the proposed 50-year ITPs and HCP. This document is provided under National Environmental Policy Act regulations to inform the public that the Final EIS and multi-species HCP, and the Services' responses to public comments are available for review, and that we have filed the Final EIS with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for public notice. The Services will not make a decision on issuing ITPs to FGS sooner than 45 days after publication of EPA's notice.

NMFS announces a sixth public hearing to be held in Miami, FL on July 6, 2012, to answer questions and receive public comments on the proposed rule to withdraw the alternative tow time restriction and require all skimmer trawls, pusher-head trawls, and wing nets (butterfly trawls) rigged for fishing to use turtle excluder devices (TEDs) in their nets, which was published in the Federal Register on May 10, 2012. In the proposed rule, we announced five public hearings to be held in Morehead City, NC, Larose, LA, Belle Chasse, LA, D'Iberville, MS, and Bayou La Batre, AL.