Department of the Interior June 2021 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of the Interior (DOI) is issuing a public notice of its intent to rescind one Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) Privacy Act system of records notice, INTERIOR/WBR-45, Equipment, Supply, and Service Contracts. This system was superseded by two Department-wide system of records notices; however, it was never formally rescinded. This rescindment will eliminate an unnecessary duplicate notice and promote the overall streamlining and management of DOI Privacy Act systems of records.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) New Mexico State Office (NMSO), Santa Fe, New Mexico (NM), intends to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to analyze the environmental impacts associated with SunZia's application seeking to amend its right-of-way grant for the SunZia Southwest Transmission Project. Proposed amendments to SunZia's right-of-way grant may require plan amendments to the Socorro Field Office Resource Management Plan, the Las Cruces District Mimbres Resource Management Plan, the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge Comprehensive Conservation Plan, and the Cibola National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan, which the agencies will analyze in the EIS. BLM NMSO is the lead agency for purposes of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analysis with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS), U.S. Forest Service (FS), National Park Service (NPS), and other agencies serving as cooperating agencies. This Notice initiates the scoping process and opens a 30-day public comment period to solicit public comments and identify issues.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce a 12-month finding on a petition to list Tiehm's buckwheat (Eriogonum tiehmii) as an endangered or threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). The Service has determined, after a review of the best available scientific and commercial information, that the petitioned action to list Tiehm's buckwheat, a plant species native to Nevada in the United States, is warranted. The Service, therefore, will promptly publish a proposed rule to list Tiehm's buckwheat under the Act.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have received an application from California Ridge Wind Energy, LLC (applicant), for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), for its California Ridge Wind Farm (project). If approved, the ITP would authorize the incidental take of four bat species. The applicant has prepared a habitat conservation plan, which is also available for review. We also announce the availability of a draft environmental assessment, which has been prepared in response to the permit application in accordance with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act. We request public comment on the application and associated documents.

The National Park Service is soliciting electronic comments on the significance of properties nominated before May 22, 2021, for listing or related actions in the National Register of Historic Places.

The National Park Service is hereby giving notice that the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Review Committee (Committee) will hold six virtual meetings as indicated below.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), invite the public to comment on an applications to conduct certain activities with foreign species that are listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and foreign or native species for which the Service has jurisdiction under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). With some exceptions, the ESA and the MMPA prohibit activities with listed species unless Federal authorization is issued that allows such activities. The ESA and MMPA also require that we invite public comment before issuing permits for any activity otherwise prohibited by the ESA or MMPA with respect to any endangered species or marine mammals.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to list two Distinct Population Segments (DPSs) of the lesser prairie- chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus), a grassland bird known from southeastern Colorado, western Kansas, eastern New Mexico, western Oklahoma, and the Texas Panhandle under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). This determination also serves as our 12-month finding on a petition to list the lesser prairie-chicken. After a review of the best available scientific and commercial information, we find that listing the Southern DPS as endangered is warranted, and that listing the Northern DPS as threatened is warranted. Accordingly, we propose to list the Southern DPS as an endangered species under the Act and the Northern DPS as a threatened species with a rule issued under section 4(d) of the Act (``4(d) rule''). If we finalize this rule as proposed, it will add these two DPSs to the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and extend the Act's protections to them. We also are notifying the public that we have scheduled informational meetings followed by public hearings on the proposed rule.

We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce receipt of an application from PMDW Ventures, LLC (applicant) for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act. The applicant requests the ITP to take the federally listed sand skink incidental to construction in Lake County, Florida. We request public comment on the application, which includes the applicant's proposed habitat conservation plan (HCP), and the Service's preliminary determination that this HCP qualifies as ``low-effect,'' categorically excluded, under the National Environmental Policy Act. To make this determination, we used our environmental action statement and low-effect screening form, both of which are also available for public review.