Department of the Interior July 3, 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This document is the Final Sale Notice (FSN) for the sale of two commercial wind energy leases on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) offshore Maryland, pursuant to BOEM's regulations at 30 CFR 585.216. BOEM is offering Lease OCS-A 0489 (North Lease Area) and Lease OCS-A 0490 (South Lease Area) for sale using a multiple factor auction format. The two lease areas (LAs) together comprise the Maryland Wind Energy Area (WEA) described in the Call for Information and Nominations (Call) published on February 3, 2012 (see ``Area Offered for Leasing'' below for a description of the WEA and LAs) (77 FR 5552). The two LAs are identical to those announced in the Proposed Sale Notice (PSN) for Commercial Leasing for Wind Power on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Offshore Maryland, which was published on December 18, 2013, in the Federal Register with a 60-day public comment period (78 FR 76643). This FSN contains information pertaining to the areas available for leasing, lease provisions and conditions, auction details, the lease form, criteria for evaluating competing bids, award procedures, appeal procedures, and lease execution. The issuance of the leases resulting from this lease sale would not constitute an approval of project- specific plans to develop offshore wind energy. Such plans, expected to be submitted by successful lessees, will be subject to subsequent environmental and public review prior to a decision to proceed with development.

This notice advises the public that we, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), have received an application for an incidental take permit pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), from the City of Colton (City), San Bernardino County, California. The Service, in cooperation and coordination with the City, has prepared a draft environmental assessment (EA) under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for the City's permit application and proposed West Valley Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP). We have prepared the draft EA to analyze the impacts of the Service's proposed issuance of the requested permit for incidental take of the Delhi Sands flower-loving fly. The draft EA considers the environmental effects associated with the City's implementation of the proposed West Valley HCP, as well as the measures the City will undertake to minimize and mitigate the effects of incidental take to the maximum extent practicable. We provide the analysis in the draft EA to inform the public of the proposed action, alternatives, and associated impacts; and to disclose the direct, indirect, and cumulative environmental effects of the proposed action and each of the alternatives. We request public comment on the draft EA and proposed West Valley HCP for the City's proposed activities.

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 December 31, 2014. 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.