Fish and Wildlife Service February 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The following applicants have applied for scientific research permits to conduct certain activities with endangered species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act).

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), designate revised critical habitat for the contiguous United States distinct population segment of the Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) (lynx) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). In total, approximately 39,000 square miles (mi2) (101,010 square kilometers (km2)) fall within the boundaries of the revised critical habitat designation, in five units in the States of Maine, Minnesota, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, and Washington.

The following permits were denied.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) intend to prepare a Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) for the Kootenai National Wildlife Refuge (Refuge). We will also prepare an environmental assessment (EA) evaluating the potential effects of various CCP alternatives. The Refuge is located within Boundary County, Idaho. We are furnishing this notice to advise the public and other government agencies and Tribes of our intentions, and to obtain public comments, suggestions, and information on the scope of issues to be considered during the planning process.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the availability of our final comprehensive conservation plan (CCP) and finding of no significant impact (FONSI) for the environmental assessment (EA) for Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in Sussex County, New Jersey. In that final CCP, we describe how we will manage this refuge for the next 15 years.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is initiating 5- year reviews of Auerodendron pauciflorum (no common name), Daphnopsis hellerana (no common name), Gesneria pauciflora (no common name), Ilex sintenisi (no common name), Leptocereus grantianus (no common name), Schoepfia arenaria (no common name), palo de jazmin (Styrax portoricensis), palo colorado (Ternstroemia luquillensis), Ternstroemia subsessilis (no common name), and St. Thomas prickly ash (Zanthoxylum thomasianum) under section 4(c)(2) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). The purpose of reviews conducted under this section of the Act is to ensure that the classification of species as threatened or endangered on the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants (50 CFR 17.11 and 17.12) is accurate. A 5-year review is an assessment of the best scientific and commercial data available at the time of the review.

We (Fish and Wildlife Service) have sent an Information Collection Request (ICR) to OMB for review and approval. The ICR, which is summarized below, describes the nature of the collection and the estimated burden and cost. This ICR is scheduled to expire on March 31, 2009. We may not conduct or sponsor and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. However, under OMB regulations, we may continue to conduct or sponsor this information collection while it is pending at OMB.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce our intent to collect an entrance fee at Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge (Refuge), located in Oregon, as authorized by Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (REA). Under REA provisions, the Refuge will identify and post specific visitor fees. The Refuge's proposed fees include a $2.00 per day per person fee or a $4.00 per day per vehicle fee (see proposed Fee Schedule under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION).

Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended, the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) will serve as co-lead agencies in the preparation of a joint EIS/EIR for the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP). The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) will serve as the lead agency under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), which requires the preparation of the EIR component of the EIS/EIR. FWS will serve as the administrative lead for all actions related to this Federal Register Notice (Notice). The Federal co-lead agencies have requested that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) participate in the EIS/EIR as cooperating agencies for the purposes of their regulatory programs. The Corps and EPA have indicated that they will participate in such a role. This Notice revises and updates the Notices of April 15, 2008 and January 24, 2008. In these previous Notices the description of the proposed action and possible alternatives were preliminary in nature and relied upon initial BDCP planning documents which describe the overall intent and direction of potential actions. Following publication of these previous Notices, preliminary scoping comments were submitted in writing and provided at preliminary scoping meetings. Some of the scoping comments indicated that more detailed descriptions of the proposed actions and alternatives are needed to allow specific comments on the range of alternatives and issues and levels of detail to be considered in the analyses of environmental consequences. Public comments received during this scoping period plus the previous two preliminary scoping periods will be considered during the preparation of the EIS/EIR. Comments submitted in response to the previous notices will be considered and do not need to be resubmitted. The BDCP is a conservation plan being prepared to meet the requirements of the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA), the California Endangered Species Act (CESA), and the State of California's Natural Communities Conservation Planning Act (NCCPA). DWR (and potentially State and Federal water contractors) intends to apply for ESA and CESA incidental take permits (ITP) for water operations and management activities in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. These incidental take authorizations would allow the incidental take of threatened and endangered species resulting from covered activities and conservation measures that will be identified through the planning process, including those associated with water operations of the Federal Central Valley Project (CVP), as operated by Reclamation, the California State Water Project (SWP), as operated by DWR, as well as operations of certain Mirant Delta LLC (Mirant Delta) power plants. Additionally, if feasible, the BDCP will be used as the basis for ESA compliance by Reclamation, including compliance with Section 7 of ESA in coordination with FWS and NMFS. Ultimately, the BDCP is intended to secure authorizations that would allow projects that restore and protect water supplies, water quality, and ecosystem health to proceed within a stable regulatory framework.

The following applicants have applied for permits to conduct certain activities with endangered species.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the availability of the draft post-delisting monitoring plan (draft PDM Plan) for the Hawaiian hawk (Buteo solitarius) and the reopening of the public comment period for the proposed rule to remove (delist) the Hawaiian hawk from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife. If the proposed rule to delist the Hawaiian hawk is made final, we intend to monitor the hawk, in cooperation with the State of Hawaii and other conservation partners, through island-wide surveys every 5 years for a period of 20 years, from 2012 to 2032. We are soliciting review and comment on this draft PDM plan from local, State, and Federal agencies, and the public. We are also reopening the comment period on the proposed rule to ensure that the public has full access to the draft PDM Plan while commenting on the proposed rule.

The following applicants have applied for scientific research permits to conduct certain activities with endangered species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act).

We (Fish and Wildlife Service) have sent an Information Collection Request (ICR) to OMB for review and approval. The ICR, which is summarized below, describes the nature of the collection and the estimated burden and cost. This ICR is scheduled to expire on February 28, 2009. We may not conduct or sponsor and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. However, under OMB regulations, we may continue to conduct or sponsor this information collection while it is pending at OMB.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), finalize the listing under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), of the currently threatened flatwoods salamander (Ambystoma cingulatum) into two distinct species: Frosted flatwoods salamander (Ambystoma cingulatum) and reticulated flatwoods salamander (Ambystoma bishopi) due to a recognized taxonomic reclassification; determine endangered status for the reticulated flatwoods salamander; retain threatened status for the frosted flatwoods salamander; and designate critical habitat for the frosted flatwoods salamander and the reticulated flatwoods salamander. In total, approximately 27,423 acres (ac) (11,100 hectares (ha)) in 35 units or subunits fall within the boundaries of the critical habitat designation; 22,970 ac (9,297 ha) of critical habitat is designated for the frosted flatwoods salamander and 4,453 ac (1,803 ha) for the reticulated flatwoods salamander. This area is a reduction of 3,205 ac (977 ha) from the proposed designation; 162 ac (66 ha) less for the frosted flatwoods salamander and 3,043 ac (928 ha) less for the reticulated flatwoods salamander. The critical habitat is located in Baker, Calhoun, Franklin, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Liberty, Santa Rosa, Wakulla, Walton, and Washington Counties in Florida; Baker and Miller Counties in Georgia; and Berkeley, Charleston, and Jasper Counties in South Carolina.

In accordance with the January 20, 2009, memorandum ``Regulatory Review,'' signed by Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, we, the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, withdraw our proposed rule published January 29, 2009, to establish regulations for hunting and trapping seasons, harvest limits, methods, and means related to taking of wildlife for subsistence uses in Alaska during the 2010-11 and 2011-12 regulatory years.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announces that the Final Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) for nine Wetland Management Districts (Districts) is available. This final CCP describes how the Service intends to manage the Districts for the next 15 years.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce a 90-day finding on 165 species from a petition to list 206 species in the mountain-prairie region of the United States as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). We find that, for these 165 species, the petition does not present substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that listing may be warranted. Therefore, for these 165 species, we will not initiate a further status review in response to this petition; however, we are making no determination at this time on whether substantial information has been presented on the remaining 39 species included in the petition. A finding (or findings) will be made on the remaining 39 species at a later date. We ask the public to submit to us any new information that becomes available concerning the status of these 165 species, or threats to them or their habitat, at any time. This information will help us monitor and encourage the conservation of these species. An additional 2 species of the 206 were reviewed in a concurrent 90-day finding and, therefore, were not considered in this finding (see Petition).

The public is invited to comment on the following applications to conduct certain activities with endangered species.

This notice announces the availability of the draft Tehachapi Uplands Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan (MSHCP), draft Implementing Agreement (IA), and draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for public review and comment. We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are considering the issuance of a 50-year incidental take permit (permit) for 27 species in response to receipt of an application prepared by Tejon Ranch Corporation (Tejon or Applicant) pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). The permit is needed because take of species could occur within 141,886 acres of covered lands on the Tejon Ranch as the result of on- going ranch activities and approximately 5,533 acres of mountain resort and other development within and adjacent to the Interstate 5 corridor and Lebec community in Kern County, California. The MSHCP proposes a conservation strategy to minimize and mitigate to the maximum extent practicable any impacts that could occur to covered species as the result of the covered activities.

The North American Wetlands Conservation Council (Council) will meet to select North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) grant proposals for recommendation to the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission (Commission). This meeting is open to the public, and interested persons may present oral or written statements.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the availability of final comprehensive conservation plans (CCP) and finding of no significant impact (FONSI) for the Leopold and St. Croix Wetland Management Districts (WMD). In the CCP, we describe how we will manage these districts for the next 15 years.