Fish and Wildlife Service 2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), proposed in an earlier document to establish annual hunting regulations for certain migratory game birds for the 2015-16 hunting season. This supplement to the proposed rule provides the regulatory schedule, announces the Service Migratory Bird Regulations Committee and Flyway Council meetings, and provides Flyway Council recommendations resulting from their March meetings.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the reopening of the comment period on our June 11, 2012 (77 FR 34464), proposal to designate or revise critical habitat for 135 plant and animal species on the Hawaiian Islands of Molokai, Lanai, Maui, and Kahoolawe under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). These 135 species include 2 plant species for which we reaffirmed their endangered listing status on May 28, 2013 (78 FR 32014); 37 plant and animal species we proposed for listing on June 11, 2012, and subsequently listed as endangered on May 28, 2013 (78 FR 32014); 11 plant and animal species that are also already listed as endangered but do not have critical habitat designations; and 85 plant species that are already listed as endangered or threatened and have designated critical habitat, but for which we proposed revisions to critical habitat. We are reopening the comment period to allow all interested parties further opportunity to comment on areas that we are considering for exclusion in the final rule. Comments previously submitted on the proposed rule do not need to be resubmitted, as they will be fully considered in preparation of the final rule.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the availability of six draft recovery unit implementation plans (RUIPs) that are part of the recovery plan we are developing for the coterminous United States population of bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus). On September 4, 2014, we announced the availability of the Revised Draft Recovery Plan for the Coterminous United States Population of Bull Trout, along with a 90-day comment period. While the revised draft recovery plan proposed the specific goals, objectives, and criteria that should be met to remove the species from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife, the principal conservation actions needed to advance the recovery of bull trout had not yet been developed. We have been working through an interagency collaboration of interested and knowledgeable Federal, Tribal, State, private, and other parties to develop individual draft RUIPs that propose site-specific conservation actions for each of six recovery units (Coastal, Klamath, Mid-Columbia, Columbia Headwaters, Upper Snake, and St. Mary). Based on comments received on the revised draft recovery plan, we are also proposing a modification to the recovery criteria for the Columbia Headwaters Recovery Unit. We consider this a substantive change to the current revised draft recovery plan. We request review and comment on the draft RUIPs and recovery criteria modifications from Federal, State and local agencies, Native American Tribes, and the public.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, invite the public to comment on the following applications to conduct certain activities with endangered or threatened species. The Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), prohibits activities with endangered and threatened species unless a Federal permit allows such activities. Both the Act and the National Environmental Policy Act require that we invite public comment before issuing these permits.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce a 90-day finding on a petition to remove the Bone Cave harvestman (Texella reyesi) from the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). Based on our review, we find that the petition does not present substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that the petitioned action may be warranted. Therefore, we are not initiating a status review in response to this petition. However, we ask the public to submit to us any new information that becomes available concerning the status of, or threats to, the Bone Cave harvestman or its habitat at any time.

Under the Endangered Species Act, as amended (Act), we, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, invite the public to comment on an incidental take permit application for take of the federally listed American burying beetle resulting from activities associated with the geophysical exploration (seismic) and construction, maintenance, operation, repair, and decommissioning of oil and gas well field infrastructure within Oklahoma. If approved, the permit would be issued under the approved 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, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, invite the public to comment on the following applications to conduct certain activities with endangered species, marine mammals, or both. With some exceptions, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) prohibits activities with listed species unless Federal authorization is acquired that allows such activities.

The Fish and Wildlife Service (hereinafter Service) will conduct an open meeting on June 25, 2015, to identify and discuss preliminary issues concerning the 2016-17 migratory bird hunting regulations.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service, propose changes to the regulations concerning petitions, to improve the content and specificity of petitions and to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the petitions process to support species conservation. Our proposed revisions to the regulations would clarify and enhance the procedures by which the Services will evaluate petitions under section 4(b)(3) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended. These revisions would also maximize the efficiency with which the Services process petitions, making the best use of available resources.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to remove the Louisiana black bear (Ursus americanus luteolus) from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife (List) due to recovery. This proposed action is based on a thorough review of the best available scientific and commercial data, which indicate that this subspecies has recovered and no longer meets the definition of a threatened or endangered species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). Our review of the status of this subspecies shows that the threats to the subspecies have been eliminated or reduced, and adequate regulatory mechanisms exist. The subspecies is now viable over the next 100 years with sufficient protected habitat to support breeding and movement of individuals between subpopulations so that the subspecies is not currently, and is not likely to again become, a threatened species within the foreseeable future in all or a significant portion of its range. We also propose to remove from the List the American black bear, which is listed within the historic range of the Louisiana black bear due to similarity of appearance. Finally, we announce the availability of a draft post-delisting monitoring (PDM) plan for the Louisiana black bear. We seek information, data, and comments from the public regarding this proposal to delist this subspecies and on the draft PDM plan.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announce a public meeting of the Trinity River Adaptive Management Working Group (TAMWG). The TAMWG is a Federal advisory committee that affords stakeholders the opportunity to give policy, management, and technical input concerning Trinity River (California) restoration efforts to the Trinity Management Council (TMC). The TMC interprets and recommends policy, coordinates and reviews management actions, and provides organizational budget oversight.

We (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) have sent an Information Collection Request (ICR) to OMB for review and approval. We summarize the ICR below and describe the nature of the collection and the estimated burden and cost. This information collection is scheduled to expire on May 31, 2015. 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, invite the public to comment on the following applications to conduct certain activities with endangered species, marine mammals, or both. With some exceptions, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) prohibit activities with listed species unless Federal authorization is acquired that allows such activities.

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 Department of the Interior (DOI) is issuing public notice of its intent to revise a system of records in its current inventory, Migratory Bird Population and Harvest SurveysInterior, FWS-26, subject to the Privacy Act of 1974. This action is necessary to meet the requirements of the Privacy Act to publish in the Federal Register a notice of amended systems of records. This system of records was previously published in the Federal Register on March 24, 1981 (46 FR 18378). The agency is updating information on the system and adding new information on purposes, routine uses, and procedures.

To implement the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES or the Convention), the Parties to the Convention meet periodically to review what species in international trade should be regulated and other aspects of the implementation of CITES. The seventeenth regular meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES (CoP17) is tentatively scheduled to be held in September 2016 in South Africa. With this notice we are soliciting and invite you to provide us with information and recommendations on resolutions, decisions, and agenda items that the United States might consider submitting for discussion at CoP17. In addition, with this notice we provide preliminary information on how to request approved observer status for nongovernmental organizations that wish to attend the meeting.

On July 29, 2014, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (we) published a final rule to update the addresses of our headquarters offices in our regulations. We inadvertently omitted two necessary address changes. We make those changes in this document.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are reopening the comment period for an application from the Yamhill Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) for an incidental take permit (permit) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA). The permit application includes a draft Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) addressing private land management activities within upland prairie in Yamhill County, Oregon, that may result in the incidental take of the endangered Fender's blue butterfly. The Service also announces the availability of a draft environmental assessment (EA) addressing the proposed HCP and issuance of a permit that was prepared in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA). We invite comments from all interested parties on the permit application, including the HCP and the EA. We are reopening the comment period to correct a technical error with the electronic email box associated with the email address provided in our original Federal Register notice. The public could send comments to the Service's email address but we were not able to retrieve the comments for review; therefore, the comments could not be considered and recognized as part of the record. If you have previously submitted comments via email, please resubmit them to the new email address in order to be considered since they were unfortunately not retrievable for consideration.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are revising regulations governing the administration of the national Boating Infrastructure Grant Program (BIG). We published a proposed rule in the Federal Register on March 28, 2012. We received responses from the public during the 60-day comment period with recommendations for changes, support for certain parts of the proposed rule, and requests for more time to review the proposed rule. We published a second proposed rule in the Federal Register on April 25, 2014, with a 90-day comment period. The final rule simplifies and clarifies some sections, responds to comments on both proposed rules, and considers other approaches to carrying out this grant program.

The Coastal Barrier Resources Act (CBRA) requires the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) to review the maps of the John H. Chafee Coastal Barrier Resources System (CBRS) at least once every 5 years and make any minor and technical modifications to the boundaries of the CBRS as are necessary to reflect changes that have occurred in the size or location of any CBRS unit as a result of natural forces. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) has conducted this review and has prepared final revised maps for all of the CBRS units in Maine, all units in Maryland, all units in New Jersey, all units in Virginia, 1 unit in New York, and 13 units in North Carolina. The maps were produced by the Service in partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and in consultation with the appropriate Federal, State, and local officials. This notice announces the findings of the Service's review and the availability of final revised maps for 182 CBRS units. The final revised maps for these CBRS units, dated August 1, 2014, are the official controlling CBRS maps for these areas.

We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the availability of a ``Draft Comprehensive Conservation Plan and Environmental Assessment (Draft CCP/EA) for Cat Island National Wildlife Refuge in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, 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, invite the public to comment on the following applications to conduct certain activities with endangered species, marine mammals, or both. With some exceptions, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) prohibit activities with listed species unless Federal authorization is acquired that allows such activities.

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 an 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, announce a public meeting of the Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Conservation Council (Council). The Council provides advice about wildlife and habitat conservation endeavors that benefit wildlife resources; encourage partnership among the public, the sporting conservation organizations, the States, Native American tribes, and the Federal Government; and benefit recreational hunting.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announce the availability of the draft recovery plan for the Santa Barbara County Distinct Population Segment of the California tiger salamander (Ambystoma californiense). The recovery plan includes recovery objectives and criteria, and specific actions necessary to achieve downlisting and delisting from the Federal Lists of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants. We request review and comment on this plan from local, State, and Federal agencies; Tribes; and the public. We will also accept any new information on the status of the Santa Barbara County Distinct Population Segment of the California tiger salamander throughout its range to assist in finalizing the recovery plan.