Fish and Wildlife Service August 2016 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are initiating 5-year status reviews of 22 species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). A 5-year review is an assessment of the best scientific and commercial data available at the time of the review. Therefore, we are requesting submission of information that has become available since the last review of each of these species.

The City of Phoenix (applicant) has applied to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) for an amendment to their enhancement of survival permit pursuant to the Endangered Species Act (Act), as amended. The requested amendment would authorize incidental take of the yellow-billed cuckoo as a result of operation and maintenance activities associated with the Rio Salado Project. We invite the public to review and comment on the permit application and the associated draft safe harbor agreement amendment (amendment).

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), have issued the following permits to conduct certain activities with endangered species, marine mammals, or both. We issue these permits under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA).

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), designate critical habitat for the Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog (Rana sierrae), the northern distinct population segment (DPS) of the mountain yellow-legged frog (Rana muscosa), and the Yosemite toad (Anaxyrus canorus) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). There is significant overlap in the critical habitat designations for these three species. The designated area, taking into account overlap in the critical habitat designations for these three species, is in total approximately 733,357 hectares (ha) (1,812,164 acres (ac)) in Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado, Fresno, Inyo, Lassen, Madera, Mariposa, Mono, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sierra, Tulare, and Tuolumne Counties, California. All critical habitat units and subunits are occupied by the respective species. The effect of this rule is to designate critical habitat under the Act for the conservation of the Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog, the northern DPS of the mountain yellow-legged frog, and the Yosemite toad.

The Secretary of the Interior (Secretary), after consultation with the Co-Chairs of the Presidential Task Force on Wildlife Trafficking (Task Force), is seeking nominations for individuals to serve on the Advisory Council on Wildlife Trafficking (Council).

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), make available the final environmental impact statement (EIS) on regulations governing the exercise of non-Federal oil and gas rights outside of Alaska in order to improve our ability to protect refuge resources, visitors, and the general public's health and safety from potential impacts associated with non-Federal oil and gas operations located within refuges.

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 (ESA) prohibits activities with listed species unless Federal authorization is acquired that allows such activities.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), determine threatened status under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended, for Lepidium papilliferum (slickspot peppergrass), a plant species from the State of Idaho. Lepidium papilliferum was added to the List of Endangered and Threatened Plants as a threatened species through the publication of a final rule on October 8, 2009. The Idaho District Court subsequently vacated the listing of L. papilliferum and remanded the final rule to the Service for the purpose of reconsidering the definition of the ``foreseeable future'' in regard to this particular species. The Court did not question the science underlying the Service's determination of threatened status for the species. We have reconsidered the definition of ``foreseeable future'' for L. papilliferum in this final rule; therefore, it addresses the Court's remand. The effect of this regulation is to reinstate threatened species status of L. papilliferum on the List of Endangered and Threatened Plants.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, invite the public to comment on the following applications for a permit to conduct activities intended to enhance the survival of endangered species. Federal law prohibits certain activities with endangered species unless a permit is obtained.

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 (Service), are removing the San Miguel Island fox (Urocyon littoralis littoralis), Santa Rosa Island fox (U. l. santarosae), and Santa Cruz Island fox (U. l. santacruzae) from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and are reclassifying the Santa Catalina Island fox (U. l. catalinae) from an endangered species to a threatened species. This action is based on a thorough review of the best available scientific and commercial information, which indicates that the threats to the San Miguel Island fox, Santa Rosa Island fox, and Santa Cruz Island fox have been eliminated or reduced to the point that each of the subspecies no longer meets the definition of an endangered species or a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), and that the threats to the Santa Catalina Island fox have been reduced to the point that the subspecies can be reclassified as a threatened species. We also announce the availability of a final post- delisting monitoring plan for the San Miguel Island fox, Santa Rosa Island fox, and Santa Cruz Island fox.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to list the Texas hornshell (Popenaias popeii), a freshwater mussel species from New Mexico and Texas, as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act (Act). If we finalize this rulemaking as proposed, it would extend the Act's protections to this species.

This final rule establishes regulations for seasons, harvest limits, and methods and means related to the taking of wildlife for subsistence uses in Alaska for the 2016-17 and 2017-18 regulatory years. The Federal Subsistence Board (Board) completes the biennial process of revising subsistence hunting and trapping regulations in even-numbered years and subsistence fishing and shellfish regulations in odd-numbered years; public proposal and review processes take place during the preceding year. The Board also addresses customary and traditional use determinations during the applicable biennial cycle. This rule also revises wildlife customary and traditional use determinations.

In accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, as amended, and its implementing regulations, we, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, finalize incidental take regulations (ITR) that authorize the nonlethal, incidental, unintentional take of small numbers of Pacific walruses and polar bears during oil and gas industry activities in the Beaufort Sea and adjacent northern coast of Alaska. Industry operations include similar types of activities covered by the previous 5-year Beaufort Sea ITRs effective from August 3, 2011, through August 3, 2016. This rule is also effective for 5 years from the date of issuance.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), determine the critical habitat for the marbled murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus), as designated in 1996 and revised in 2011, meets the statutory definition of critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). The current designation includes approximately 3,698,100 acres (1,497,000 hectares) of critical habitat in the States of Washington, Oregon, and California.

Under the Endangered Species Act, as amended (Act), we, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, invite the public to comment on incidental take permit applications 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 permits would be issued under the approved Amended 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, are initiating a 5- year status review under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), of the orangutan. A 5-year status review is based on the best scientific and commercial data available at the time of the review; therefore, we are requesting submission of any such information that has become available since the last review of the species.