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

We, the Fish and Wildlife Service, announce the availability of a proposed HCP, 13 accompanying ITP applications, and an EA related to proposed development that would effect three fish species in a covered area encompassing 3,773 square kilometers (km\2\) (932,000 ac). Each county and municipality seeking incidental take authorization has prepared a separate application in conjunction with the one HCP and EA. The HCP analyzes the take of the Federally endangered fish species amber darter (Percina antesella) and Etowah darter (Etheostoma etowahae), and the Federally threatened Cherokee darter (Etheostoma scotti), incidental to the applicants' regulation of development and construction in their respective jurisdictions. The applicants request ITPs under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (Act), as amended. The Applicants' HCP

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce a 90-day finding on a petition to remove the Lost River sucker (Deltistes luxatus) and the shortnose sucker (Chasmistes brevirostris) from the Federal List of Threatened and Endangered Wildlife (List) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). We find that the petition does not present substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that removing the Lost River sucker or shortnose sucker from the List may be warranted. Therefore, we will not initiate a status review for either species in response to this petition. We ask the public to submit to us any new information that becomes available concerning the status of, or threats to, the Lost River and shortnose suckers or their habitat at any time.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), intend to prepare a comprehensive conservation plan (CCP) for Malheur National Wildlife Refuge (refuge). We will also prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) to evaluate the potential effects of various CCP alternatives. We provide this notice in compliance with our CCP policy to advise the public, other Federal and State agencies, and Tribes of our intentions, and to obtain suggestions and information on the scope of issues to consider during the planning process.

This notice advises the public that the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC), on behalf of the State of Montana, has submitted an incidental take permit (ITP) application to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service, US) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA). As the ESA requires, DNRC has also prepared a proposed habitat conservation plan (HCP) designed to minimize and mitigate any such take of endangered or threatened species. The ITP application includes the proposed HCP and draft Implementation Agreement (IA). We also announce the availability of a draft environmental impact statement (draft EIS) for the proposed

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the availability of the Final Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) and Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for Sacramento, Delevan, Colusa, and Sutter National Wildlife Refuges (Refuges). The CCP, prepared pursuant to the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997, and in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, describes how the Service will manage the Refuges for the next 15 years.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), announce a 90- day finding on a petition to revise critical habitat for Eriogonum pelinophilum (clay-loving wild buckwheat) under the Endangered Species Act (Act) of 1973, as amended. Following a review of the petition, we find that the petition presents substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that revision of the critical habitat for E. pelinophilum may be warranted. Therefore, with the publication of this notice, we are initiating a review of the critical habitat for the species, and will subsequently issue a 12-month finding to determine if revisions to the species' critical habitat are warranted. To ensure that the review is comprehensive, we are soliciting scientific and commercial data and other information regarding this species.

We (NMFS and USFWS, collectively referred to as the Services) have determined that naturally spawned and conservation hatchery populations of anadromous Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) whose freshwater range occurs in the watersheds from the Androscoggin River northward along the Maine coast to the Dennys River, including those that were already listed in November 2000, constitute a distinct population segment (DPS) and hence a ``species'' for listing. We have determined that the Gulf of Maine (GOM) DPS warrants listing as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Critical habitat for the GOM DPS will be designated in a subsequent Federal Register notice.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), intend to prepare a comprehensive conservation plan (CCP) and associated National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) document for Great Bay National Wildlife Refuge (NWR). We provide this notice in compliance with our CCP policy to advise other Federal and State agencies, Tribes, and the public of our intentions, and to obtain suggestions and information on the scope of issues to consider in the planning process.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), advise the public that we intend to conduct public scoping under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) to gather information necessary to help develop a NEPA document in connection with a proposed Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) for the Beacon Solar Energy Project (Beacon HCP), currently under development by Beacon Solar LLC (the applicant). To be implemented near California City, in Kern County, California, the proposed Beacon HCP forms part of an incidental take permit application under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). The requested permit term is 45 years. We provide this notice to obtain suggestions, comments, and useful information from other agencies and the public on the scope of the document, including the significant issues deserving of study, the range of alternatives, and the range of impacts to be considered.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), have issued the following permits to conduct certain activities with endangered species and/or marine mammals.

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. OMB approval for this information collection is scheduled to expire on June 30, 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 the availability of a draft comprehensive conservation plan (CCP) and environmental assessment (EA) for Modoc National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) for public review and comment. In these documents, we describe alternatives, including our preferred alternative, to manage this refuge for the 15 years following approval of the final CCP. Draft compatibility determinations for several public uses are also available for review and public comment in the Draft CCP/EA.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to revise designated critical habitat for Navarretia fossalis (spreading navarretia). Approximately 6,872 acres (ac) (2,781 hectares (ha)) of habitat fall within the boundaries of the proposed revised critical habitat designation. This proposed revised designation of critical habitat is located in Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Diego Counties in southern California.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce a 90-day finding on a petition to list Oenothera acutissima (narrowleaf evening-primrose) as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). We find that the petition does not present substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that listing O. acutissima may be warranted. Therefore, we will not initiate a further status review in response to this petition. We ask the public to submit to us any new information that becomes available concerning the status of O. acutissima or threats to its habitat at any time. This information will help us monitor and encourage the conservation of the species.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, intend to prepare a comprehensive conservation plan (CCP) and associated National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) documents for Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge (NWR). We provide this notice in compliance with our CCP policy to advise other Federal and State agencies, Tribes, and the public of our intentions, and to obtain suggestions and information on the scope of issues to consider in the planning process.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the availability of a draft comprehensive conservation plan and environmental assessment (Draft CCP/EA) for Banks Lake National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) for public review and comment. In this Draft CCP/ EA, we describe the alternative we propose to use to manage this refuge for the 15 years following approval of the final CCP.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), will host a Wind Turbine Guidelines Advisory Committee (Committee) meeting June 30 through July 2, 2009. The meeting is open to the public. The meeting agenda will include reports from the Legal, Science Tools & Procedures, and Synthesis Subcommittees, and discussion of the current draft Recommendations to the Secretary.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), designate critical habitat for the Alabama sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus suttkusi) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). In total, approximately 524 kilometers (326 miles) of river fall within the boundaries of the critical habitat designation. The critical habitat includes portions of the Alabama and Cahaba Rivers in Autauga, Baldwin, Bibb, Clarke, Dallas, Lowndes, Monroe, Perry, and Wilcox Counties, in Alabama.