Department of the Interior January 2018 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Notice is hereby given of contractual actions that have been proposed to the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) and are new, discontinued, or completed since the last publication of this notice. This notice is one of a variety of means used to inform the public about proposed contractual actions for capital recovery and management of project resources and facilities consistent with the Reclamation Project Act of 1939, as amended and supplemented. Additional announcements of individual contract actions may be published in the Federal Register and in newspapers of general circulation in the areas determined by Reclamation to be affected by the proposed action.

BOEM is announcing the availability of, and requests comments on, the Draft Proposed Program (DPP) for the 2019-2024 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program (2019-2024 Program or Program). BOEM is also announcing its decision to prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for the 2019-2024 Program (Programmatic EIS) and the initiation of the formal scoping process.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, invite the public to comment on applications to conduct certain activities with foreign endangered species, marine mammals, or both. With some exceptions, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) prohibit activities with listed species unless Federal authorization is acquired that allows such activities. The ESA also requires that we invite public comment before issuing these permits.

Graysmarsh, LLC, hereafter referred to as the applicant, has applied to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service, us) for an enhancement of survival permit (permit) pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended. The permit application includes a draft safe harbor agreement (SHA). The permit would authorize incidental take of the endangered Taylor's checkerspot butterfly. We have prepared a draft environmental action statement (EAS) for our preliminary determination that the SHA and permit decision may be eligible for categorical exclusion under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). We invite the public to review and comment on the permit application, draft SHA, and the draft EAS.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service or USFWS), propose to remove the Foskett speckled dace (Rhinichthys osculus ssp.), a fish native to Oregon, from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife on the basis of recovery. This determination is based on a review of the best available scientific and commercial information, which indicates that the threats to the Foskett speckled dace have been eliminated or reduced to the point where it no longer meets the definition of an endangered or threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). We are seeking information and comments from the public regarding this proposed rule and the draft post-delisting monitoring plan for the Foskett speckled dace.

In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) has prepared a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Western Energy Company's Rosebud Mine Area F (Project) in southeastern Montana and by this notice is announcing the opening of the comment period. The Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is a co-lead on this EIS process.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have issued permits to conduct activities with endangered and threatened species under the authority of the Endangered Species Act, as amended (ESA). With some exceptions, the ESA prohibits activities involving listed species unless a Federal permit is issued that allows such activity.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have received an application for a 30-year right-of-way (ROW) permit under the Migratory Bird Conservation Act from Lavaca Pipeline Company. The applicant wishes to install, own, and operate a natural gas pipeline within an existing ROW easement crossing 203 feet on San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge in Brazoria County, Texas. We request public comment on the permit application.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce a 12-month finding on a petition to list the Panama City crayfish (Procambarus econfinae), a semi-terrestrial crayfish species native to Bay County, Florida, as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (Act). After review of the best available scientific and commercial information, we find that listing this species is warranted. Accordingly, we propose to list the Panama City crayfish as a threatened species under the Act. If we finalize this rule as proposed, it would extend the Act's protections to this species and add this species to the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife (List).

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are initiating a 5-year status review of the Alaska-breeding population of Steller's eider under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA). A 5-year status review is based on the best scientific and commercial data available at the time of the review; therefore, we are requesting submission of any new information on the species that has become available since the last review of the species.