Department of the Interior November 10, 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

WL Homes, LLC, doing business as John Laing Homes (Applicant), has applied to the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) for an incidental take permit pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered Species Act (Act) of 1973, as amended. The requested permit amendment would authorize the incidental take of the federally threatened Preble's meadow jumping mouse, Zapus hudsonius preblei (Preble's), through loss and modification of its habitat associated with the expansion and amendment of the Struthers Ranch Property Environmental Assessment/Habitat Conservation Plan (EA/HCP) in El Paso County, Colorado. The EA/HCP is available for public review and comment. It fully describes the proposed project and the measures the Applicant would undertake to minimize and mitigate project impacts to the Preble's. The Service requests comments on the EA/HCP and associated documents for the proposed issuance of the incidental take permit. All comments on the EA and permit amendment application will become part of the administrative record and will be available to the public.

As required by the Federal Advisory Committee Act, Public Law 92-463, the Department of the Interior, Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration Program Office gives notice of the first meeting of the Department's Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration Advisory Committee. The Advisory Committee will meet at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Conservation and Training Center, 698 Conservation Way, Shepherdstown, WV 25443 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on December 1. Members of the public are invited to attend the Committee Meeting to listen to the committee proceedings and to provide public input. The Committee Meeting will be preceded on November 30 by a half-day administrative business meeting that will deal with non- substantive administrative matters such as logistics and travel reimbursement. The administrative business meeting is not open to the public. Maps and directions to the training center are available online at https://training.fws.gov/mapdir.html. Anyone without Internet access can call the Training Center at 304-876-1600 to request a map and directions. Public Input: Any member of the public interested in providing public input at the Committee Meeting should contact Ms. Barbara Schmalz, whose contact information is listed under the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this notice. Each individual providing oral input is requested to limit those comments to three minutes. This time frame may be adjusted to accommodate all those who would like to speak. Requests to be added to the public speaker list must be received in writing (letter, e-mail, or fax) by noon eastern standard time on November 21, 2005. Anyone wishing to submit written comments should provide a copy of those comments to Ms. Schmalz in the following formats: one hard copy with original signature, and one electronic copy via e-mail (acceptable file formats are: Adobe Acrobat, WordPerfect, Word, or Rich Text files) by noon eastern standard time on November 21, 2005. Document Availability: Interested individuals may view the draft agenda for the meeting online at https://restoration.doi.gov/faca or may request the draft agenda from Ms. Schmalz. In preparation for the first meeting of the Advisory Committee, the Committee and the public can find helpful background information at the Restoration Program website https://restoration.doi.gov. The site provides a good introduction to the program for those who are relatively new to the damage assessment and restoration arena and a useful reference for seasoned practitioners and policy leaders. Links to the statutory and regulatory framework for the program are found at https://restoration.doi.gov/laws.htm. DOI Program policies are found at https://restoration.doi.gov/policy.htm.

Pursuant to section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), the BLM is making available for public review and comment a draft national programmatic EIS and environmental report on vegetation treatments involving the use of chemical herbicides and other methods on the public lands administered by BLM in 17 western states, including Alaska.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to designate critical habitat for Astralagus brauntonii (Braunton's milk- vetch) and Pentachaeta lyonii (Lyon's pentachaeta) pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). For A. brauntonii, approximately 3,638 acres (ac) (1,471 hectares (ha)) fall within the boundaries of the proposed critical habitat designation. The proposed critical habitat for A. brauntonii is located in Ventura, Los Angeles, and Orange Counties, California. For P. lyonii, approximately 4,212 acres (ac) (1,703 hectares (ha)) fall within the boundaries of the proposed critical habitat designation. The proposed critical habitat for P. lyonii is located in Ventura and Los Angeles Counties, California.