Fish and Wildlife Service September 22, 2017 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

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 the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA).

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), intend to prepare a joint environmental impact statement (EIS) with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). We are a cooperating agency with the BLM on the development of this EIS. The BLM will be analyzing potential impacts of their decision regarding Hycroft Resource and Development Incorporated's (Hycroft/applicant) proposed expansion as described in BLM's notice of intent published in December 2014. This EIS will also analyze impacts associated with the Service's eagle take permit decisions. The Service will evaluate the applicant's Eagle Conservation Plan (ECP), which describes their request to remove inactive golden eagle nests and their request for incidental take authorization for impacts resulting from removing eagle nests, mining operations, and expansion of the existing facility. We are considering the applicant's request, as allowed under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (Eagle Act), for nest removal for the purpose of resource development and recovery operations and incidental take. The BLM has already conducted public scoping regarding the proposed expansion of the Hycroft mine.