Department of the Interior November 2, 2016 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice corrects a notice that was published in the Federal Register on September 30, 2016 (81 FR 67377), which misidentified the Department of the Interior official who approved an amendment to a previously filed withdrawal application.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), in accordance with the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), are amending the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife (List) by adding: three foreign coral species (Cantharellus noumeae, Siderastrea glynni, and Tubastraea floreana), dusky sea snake (Aipysurus fuscus), Banggai cardinalfish (Pterapogon kauderni), the Tanzanian distinct population segment (DPS) of African coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnae), Nassau grouper (Epinephelus striatus), and three angelshark species (Squatina aculeata, S. oculata, and S. squatina). We are also updating the entries for Puget Sound-Georgia Basin canary rockfish (Sebastes pinniger), Puget Sound-Georgia Basin yelloweye rockfish (Sebastes ruberrimus), lower Columbia River coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch), and the Puget Sound steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) to reflect the designation of critical habitat, and we are updating the entry for the North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) to reflect an applicable rule citation. These amendments are based on previously published determinations by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce, which has jurisdiction for these species.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announce the availability of a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the final Environmental Assessment (FEA) under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for the issuance of a take permit for golden eagles pursuant to the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (Eagle Act), in association with the operation of the Alta East Wind Project (Alta East) in Kern County, California. The FEA was prepared in response to an application from Alta Wind X, LLC (applicant), an affiliate of NRG Yield, Inc., for a 5-year programmatic take permit for golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) under the Eagle Act. The applicant will implement a conservation program to avoid, minimize, and compensate for the project's impacts to eagles, as described in the applicant's Eagle Conservation Plan (ECP). We solicited comments on the draft Environmental Assessment (Draft EA) and have reviewed those comments in the course of preparing our findings for this project. Based on the FEA, the Service concludes that a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) is appropriate. Based on the FONSI and findings we prepared associated with the permit application, we intend to issue the permit after 30 days.