Fish and Wildlife Service July 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, invite the public to comment on the following applications to conduct certain activities with endangered species. With some exceptions, the Endangered Species Act (Act) prohibits activities with endangered and threatened species unless a Federal permit allows such activity. The Act also requires that we invite public comment before issuing recovery permits to conduct certain activities with endangered species.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, invite the public to comment on the following applications to conduct certain activities with endangered species. With some exceptions, the Endangered Species Act (Act) prohibits activities with endangered and threatened species unless a Federal permit allows such activity. The Act also requires that we invite public comment before issuing recovery permits to conduct certain activities with endangered species.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (hereinafter Service or we) is proposing to establish the 2014-15 early-season hunting regulations for certain migratory game birds. We annually prescribe frameworks, or outer limits, for dates and times when hunting may occur and the maximum number of birds that may be taken and possessed in early seasons. Early seasons may open as early as September 1, and include seasons in Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. These frameworks are necessary to allow State selections of specific final seasons and limits and to allow recreational harvest at levels compatible with population status and habitat conditions. This proposed rule also provides the final regulatory alternatives for the 2014-15 duck hunting seasons.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are updating the addresses of our headquarters offices in our regulations. The Service will relocate its headquarters offices on July 28, 2014. We are taking this action to ensure regulated entities and the general public have accurate contact information for the Service's offices.

We (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, FWS) will ask the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to approve the information collection (IC) described below. As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and as part of our continuing efforts to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, we invite the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on this IC. This IC is scheduled to expire on September 30, 2014. 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.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, make available the final Environmental Assessment (EA), Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI), Response to Comments, and the final Oil and Gas Industry Conservation Plan Associated With Issuance of Endangered Species Act Section 10(a)(1)(B) Permits for the American Burying Beetle in Oklahoma (ICP). We also invite the public to comment on an application from Canyon Creek Energy Operating, for incidental take of the federally listed American burying beetle resulting from activities associated with the construction, operation, maintenance, repair, and decommissioning of oil and gas pipelines and related well field activities in Oklahoma, under the ICP. The final ICP, final EA, FONSI, and Response to Comments are available for review; however, we are not accepting comments on these final, approved documents. We are only accepting comments on the applicant's incidental take application.

This notice advises the public and other agencies of the availability of the Finding of No Significant Impact for the Final Southeast Missouri Ozarks Regional Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment. The chosen alternative, Alternative D, provides a project selection process for natural resource-based restoration, using a tiered project selection process that evaluates the feasibility of primary restoration, compensatory restoration, and acquisition of equivalent resources. The Plan was written to facilitate the expenditure of restoration funds in the southeast Missouri Ozarks resulting from the release of mining-related hazardous substances. The restoration plan complies with statutory requirement under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, enabling the expenditures of recovered restoration funds to benefit natural resources. This notice is provided pursuant to Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration regulations and National Environmental Policy Act regulations.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), determine endangered species status under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (Act), as amended, for the Zuni bluehead sucker (Catostomus discobolus yarrowi), a fish species from Arizona and New Mexico. The effect of this regulation will be to add this species to the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are amending the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife (List) by adding several marine taxa, removing one species, and revising the entries of many more in accordance with the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). These amendments are based on previously published determinations by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce, which has jurisdiction for these species.

We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), advise the public that we are reopening the public scoping period for the preparation of a comprehensive conservation plan (CCP) revision and associated National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) documents for Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), located in Collier County in southwest Florida. If you have previously submitted comments, please do not resubmit them. We have already incorporated them in the public record and will fully consider them in the development of the draft plan.

Under the Endangered Species Act (Act), we, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announce the receipt and availability of a proposed habitat conservation plan (HCP) and accompanying documents for beachfront activities regulated by the Walton County Board of Commissioners (applicant), which would take the loggerhead sea turtle, green sea turtle, leatherback sea turtle, Kemp's ridley sea turtle, piping plover, and Choctawhatchee beach mouse, incidental to activities as conducted or permitted by the applicant in Walton County, Florida. We invite public comments on these documents.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), advise the public that we are extending the public review and comment period for the draft comprehensive conservation plan (CCP) and environmental impact statement (EIS) for Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) and Wallops Island NWR.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the reopening of the public comment period on the October 3, 2013, proposed designation of critical habitat for Brickellia mosieri (Florida brickell-bush) and Linum carteri var. carteri (Carter's small-flowered flax) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). We also announce the availability of a draft economic analysis (DEA) of the proposed designation and an amended required determinations section of the proposal. In addition, we have made minor amendments to the proposed critical habitat units based on information received from other Federal agencies and from the public during our initial public comment period. We are reopening the comment period to allow all interested parties an opportunity to comment simultaneously on the original proposed rule, the revisions to the proposal described in this document, the associated DEA, and the amended required determinations section. Comments previously submitted need not be resubmitted, as they will be fully considered in preparation of the final rule.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, invite the public to comment on the following applications for recovery permits to conduct activities with the purpose of enhancing the survival of endangered species. The Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), prohibits certain activities with endangered species unless a Federal permit allows such activity. The Act also requires that we invite public comment before issuing such permits.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), have issued the following permits to conduct certain activities with endangered species. We issue these permits under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, designate specific areas in the terrestrial environment of the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts as critical habitat for the Northwest Atlantic Ocean distinct population segment of the loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended. In total, approximately 1,102 kilometers (685 miles) fall within the boundaries of the critical habitat designation.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), determine threatened species status under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (Act), as amended, for the northern Mexican gartersnake (Thamnophis eques megalops) and the narrow-headed gartersnake (Thamnophis rufipunctatus), native species from Arizona and New Mexico in the United States. We also finalize a rule under authority of section 4(d) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), that provides measures that are necessary and advisable to provide for the conservation of the northern Mexican gartersnake. Both species are listed as threatened throughout their range, which, for the northern Mexican gartersnake, also includes the Mexican states of Sonora, Chihuahua, Durango, Coahuila, Zacatecas, Guanajuato, Nayarit, Hidalgo, Jalisco, San Luis Potos[iacute], Aguascalientes, Tlaxacala, Puebla, M[eacute]xico, Veracruz, and Quer[eacute]taro. The effect of this regulation will be to add these species to the lists of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants.

This notice advises the public that we, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), have received an application for an incidental take permit pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), from the City of Colton (City), San Bernardino County, California. The Service, in cooperation and coordination with the City, has prepared a draft environmental assessment (EA) under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for the City's permit application and proposed West Valley Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP). We have prepared the draft EA to analyze the impacts of the Service's proposed issuance of the requested permit for incidental take of the Delhi Sands flower-loving fly. The draft EA considers the environmental effects associated with the City's implementation of the proposed West Valley HCP, as well as the measures the City will undertake to minimize and mitigate the effects of incidental take to the maximum extent practicable. We provide the analysis in the draft EA to inform the public of the proposed action, alternatives, and associated impacts; and to disclose the direct, indirect, and cumulative environmental effects of the proposed action and each of the alternatives. We request public comment on the draft EA and proposed West Valley HCP for the City's proposed activities.

We (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) will ask the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to approve the information collection (IC) described below. As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and as part of our continuing efforts to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, we invite the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on this IC. This IC is scheduled to expire on December 31, 2014. 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.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service or USFWS), announce a 90-day finding on a petition to reclassify the West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus) as threatened under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). Based on our review, we find that the petition presents substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that the petitioned action may be warranted. Therefore, with the publication of this notice, we are initiating a review of the status of the species to determine if reclassification is warranted. Section 4(c)(2)(A) of the Act also requires a status review of listed species at least once every 5 years. We are, therefore, electing to conduct the 5-year review simultaneously with the status review. To ensure that this status review is comprehensive, we are requesting scientific and commercial data and other information regarding the West Indian manatee, including its subspecies the Florida manatee and Antillean manatee. Based on the status review, we will issue a 12-month finding on the petition, which will address whether the petitioned action is warranted, as provided in section 4(b)(3)(B) of the Act.

On June 25, 2014, we, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announced the availability of our draft recovery plan for the Texas ayenia, which is listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). However, we printed the incorrect Internet address for reviewers to use to download the draft recovery plan. This notice provides the correct Internet address.

We, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) (collectively, the Services), announce a policy to provide our interpretation of the phrase ``significant portion of its range'' in the Endangered Species Act's (Act's) definitions of ``endangered species'' and ``threatened species.'' The purpose of this final policy is to provide an interpretation and application of ``significant portion of its range'' that reflects a permissible reading of the law and minimizes undesirable policy outcomes, while fulfilling the conservation purposes of the Act. This final policy provides a consistent standard for interpretation of the phrase and its role in listing determinations.