Department of the Interior April 6, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This order revokes a Bureau of Reclamation Order and 3 Secretarial Orders in their entireties, as they affect approximately 7,955 acres of lands withdrawn for the Bureau of Reclamation's Carlsbad and Rio Grande Projects. The lands have either been conveyed out of Federal ownership or are no longer needed for project purposes. This order also opens 0.106 acre to sale or exchange.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has prepared, and proposes to make available for use by the public for a term of seven years, a combined Habitat Conservation Plan and Environmental Assessment (HCP/ EA) that addresses incidental take of the threatened Florida scrub-jay (Aphelocoma coerulescens) (scrub-jay) that would result from residential, commercial, industrial, and similar development activities on properties one acre or smaller in size located in urban areas. The Service anticipates that the HCP/EA will act as an ``umbrella'' document for qualifying landowners who might need an incidental take permit (ITP) pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered Species Act (Act) on an estimated total of 14,928 acres of scrub-jay foraging, sheltering, and nesting habitat throughout 34 counties. The HCP portion of this document identifies minimization and mitigation measures that will be required of individual landowners wishing to participate under the umbrella HCP/EA. A more detailed description of the mitigation and minimization measures required pursuant to section 10 of the Act is provided in the HCP/EA and in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below.

The following permit was issued.

Small Family Investments, Ltd. (Applicant) has applied to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) for an enhancement of survival permit pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(A) of the Endangered Species Act (Act) of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). The requested permit, which is for a period of 12 years, includes a draft Safe Harbor Agreement (SHA) for the endangered Houston toad (Bufo houstonensis) in Bastrop County, Texas. We invite the public to review and comment on the permit application and the associated SHA.

The County of Volusia, Environmental Management Division (Applicant) requests an incidental take permit (ITP) pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). The Applicant anticipates taking two families of Florida scrub- jays (Aphelocoma coerulescens) (scrub-jay) over the requested 30-year permit term as a result of the destruction of 1.9 acres of foraging, sheltering, and possible nesting habitat, incidental to land clearing for the expansion of the Deltona Regional Library and supporting infrastructure in Volusia County, Florida (Project). The Applicant's Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) describes the mitigation and minimization measures proposed to address the effects of the Project to the Florida scrub-jay. These measures are outlined in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. We announce the availability of the ITP application and HCP and an environmental assessment.

This notice publishes the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation Tribal Liquor Code (Code). The Code regulates and controls the possession, sale and consumption of liquor within the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. The Reservation is located on trust land and this Code allows for the possession and sale of alcoholic beverages within the exterior boundaries of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. This Code will increase the ability of the tribal government to control the community's liquor distribution and possession, and at the same time will provide an important source of revenue for the continued operation and strengthening of the tribal government and the delivery of tribal services.