Department of the Interior October 27, 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, invite the public to comment on the following applications to conduct certain activities with endangered species. With some exceptions, the Endangered Species Act (Act) prohibits activities with endangered and threatened species unless a Federal permit allows such activity. The Act also requires that we invite public comment before issuing these permits.

On July 8, 2008 (FR39039), the National Park Service, in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, announced the availability of, and solicited comments on, the draft FLAG Phase I ReportREVISED. The purpose of this notice is to announce the availability of the final revised FLAG report, and the accompanying Response to Public Comments document. The Federal Land Managers' Air Quality Related Values Work Group (FLAG) was formed (1) to develop a more consistent and objective approach for the Federal Land Managers (FLMs), i.e., National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service (the Agencies), to evaluate air pollution effects on their air quality related values (AQRVs); and (2) to provide State permitting authorities and potential permit applicants consistency on how to assess the impacts of new and existing sources on AQRVs. The FLAG effort focuses on the effects of the air pollutants that could affect the health and status of resources in areas managed by the three agencies, primarily such pollutants as ozone, particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrates, and sulfates. FLAG formed subgroups that concentrated on four issues: (1) Terrestrial effects of ozone; (2) aquatic and terrestrial effects of wet and dry pollutant deposition; (3) visibility; and (4) process and policy issues. In December 2000, after undergoing a public review and comment process that included a 90-day public comment period announced in the Federal Register and a public meeting, the FLMs published a final Phase I report (FLAG 2000), along with an accompanying ``Response to Public Comments'' document. FLAG 2000 has been a useful tool to the FLMs, State permitting authorities, and permit applicants. It was intended to be a working document that would be revised as necessary as the FLMs learn more about how to better assess the health and status of AQRVs. Based on knowledge gained and regulatory developments since FLAG 2000, the FLMs believe certain revisions to FLAG 2000 are now appropriate. The final revised report reflects those changes. During the 60-day public comment period on the draft report, the Agencies received 22 comment letters from various constituencies (e.g., State air regulatory agencies, concerned citizens, environmental groups, industry representatives, Tribal representatives). These commenters raised specific concerns, and many supported the proposed revisions in general and thought that the changes were warranted and helpful. The Agencies considered all comments received and revised the draft FLAG report accordingly. The Agencies also prepared an accompanying ``Response to Public Comments'' document that discusses the public comments and provides the Agencies' rationale for accepting or rejecting the comment. The Agencies did not make any major technical or policy changes from the draft revised report. However, we made some editorial changes and inserted clarifying language as a result of comments received, and reformatted the report to make it more reader friendly.

We (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) will ask the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to approve the information collection (IC) described below. As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and as part of our continuing efforts to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, we invite the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on this IC. This IC is scheduled to expire on May 31, 2011. We may not conduct or sponsor and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

Pursuant to the Federal Land Policy and Management Act and the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center (NHOTIC) Advisory Board will meet as indicated below:

The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department (NHFGD) has applied to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) for an Enhancement of Survival Permit under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA), as amended. The requested permit would authorize take of the New England cottontail (Sylvilagus transitionalis; hereafter, NEC) resulting from certain habitat improvement and land use activities should the species be listed as endangered or threatened in the future. The permit application includes a proposed Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances (CCAA) between the NHFGD and the Service. In accordance with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), we have prepared a draft categorical exclusion of the impacts of the requested permit. We are accepting comments on the permit application, proposed CCAA, and draft NEPA document.