Department of the Interior December 20, 2017 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announce the receipt and availability of a draft Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) and draft environmental assessment (EA), which evaluates the impacts of, and alternatives to, the proposed Hinkley Groundwater Remediation Project. The Hinkley HCP was submitted by Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) in support of an application under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended, for a permit authorizing the incidental take of covered species resulting from covered activities. PG&E's application is for a 50-year incidental take permit to cover groundwater remediation activities within a plan area of approximately 29,927 acres in and around Hinkley, California. We request review and comment on the Hinkley HCP and the draft EA from local, State, and Federal agencies; Tribes; and the public.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Royal Gorge Field Office is implementing supplementary rules to regulate certain activities on public lands within Guffey Gorge in Park County, Colorado. These supplementary rules are necessary to implement decisions found in the Guffey Gorge Management Plan approved on June 29, 2015, to provide for the protection of persons, property, and public lands and resources located within the 80-acre site. These supplementary rules will result in changes to some currently authorized activities related to the possession or use of alcohol, amplified music, vehicle parking, and visitors with dogs.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce 90- day findings on several petitions to list or reclassify wildlife or plants under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). Based on our review, we find that the petitions present substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that the petitioned actions may be warranted with respect to the species mentioned in this notification. Therefore, with the publication of this document, we announce that we plan to initiate a review of the status of each of these species to determine if the petitioned actions are warranted. To ensure that these status reviews are comprehensive, we are requesting scientific and commercial data and other information regarding these species. After completing the status reviews, we will issue 12-month findings on the petitions, which will address whether or not the petitioned action is warranted, in accordance with the Act. In addition, we announce a correction to information contained in the 90- day petition finding for the leopard (Panthera pardus), which clarifies the range and entity we are evaluating in our status review of the species.