Department of the Interior September 17, 2024 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents
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Receipt of Incidental Take Permit Application and Proposed Habitat Conservation Plan for Olympia Pocket Gopher; Tumwater Operations and Maintenance Facility, Thurston County, WA; Categorical Exclusion
We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have received an application from the City of Tumwater Transportation and Engineering Department (applicant) for an incidental take permit (ITP) pursuant to the Endangered Species Act. The ITP would authorize the applicant's take of the federally threatened Olympia subspecies of the Mazama pocket gopher (Thomomys mazama pugetensis) ("covered species"), incidental to their otherwise lawful construction and infrastructure improvements at two locations in the City of Tumwater, Thurston County, Washington. We request public comment on the application, which includes the applicant's proposed habitat conservation plan (HCP), and on the Service's preliminary determination that the proposed permitting action may be eligible for a categorical exclusion pursuant to the Council on Environmental Quality's National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations, the Department of the Interior's (DOI) NEPA regulations, and the DOI Departmental Manual. To make this preliminary determination, we prepared a draft environmental action statement and categorical exclusion screening form, both of which are also available for public review. We invite comment from the public and local, State, Tribal, and Federal agencies.
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Endangered Species Status for Kentucky Creekshell and Designation of Critical Habitat
We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to list the Kentucky creekshell (Leaunio ortmanni [=Villosa ortmanni]), a freshwater mussel species from Kentucky and Tennessee, as an endangered species and designate critical habitat 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 Kentucky creekshell. After a review of the best available scientific and commercial information, we find that listing the species is warranted. Accordingly, we propose to list the Kentucky creekshell as an endangered species under the Act. Finalizing this rule as proposed would add this species to the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and extend the Act's protections to the species. We also propose to designate critical habitat for the Kentucky creekshell under the Act. In total, approximately 545 river miles (877 river kilometers) in Kentucky and Tennessee fall within the boundaries of the proposed critical habitat designation. We also announce the availability of an economic analysis of the proposed designation of critical habitat for the Kentucky creekshell.
Atlantic Wind Lease Sale 11 for Commercial Leasing for Wind Power Development on the U.S. Gulf of Maine Outer Continental Shelf-Final Sale Notice
This Final Sale Notice (FSN) contains information pertaining to the areas available for commercial wind power leasing during Atlantic Wind Lease Sale 11 (ATLW-11) on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) in the Gulf of Maine. Specifically, this FSN details certain provisions and conditions of the leases, auction details, the lease form, criteria for evaluating competing bids, and procedures for award, appeal, and lease execution. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will offer eight leases for sale using an ascending clock auction with multiple-factor bidding: Lease OCS-A 0562, OCS-A 0563, OCS-A 0564, OCS-A 0565, OCS-A 0566, OCS-A 0567, OCS-A 0568, and OCS-A 0569 (lease areas). The first two lease areas (lease areas OCS-A 0562 and OCS-A 0563) comprise the North Region, and the remaining six lease areas comprise the South Region. Bidders are limited to bidding on no more than two lease areas at a time, and may not include in their bid more than one lease area in the North Region at a time. BOEM will use the BOEM Auction System for the lease sale. The lease areas are in the previously identified wind energy areas located in the Gulf of Maine offshore the States of Maine and New Hampshire and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The issuance of any lease resulting from this sale will not constitute approval of project-specific plans to develop offshore wind energy. Such plans, if submitted by the lessee, will be subject to environmental, technical, and public reviews prior to a BOEM decision on whether the proposed activity should be authorized.
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