Fish and Wildlife Service 2017 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service or USFWS), with the support of the State of Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD), will reestablish the Oregon silverspot butterfly (Speyeria zerene hippolyta)a threatened species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, as amended (Act)within its historical range at two sites in northwestern Oregon: Saddle Mountain State Natural Area (SNA) in Clatsop County, and Nestucca Bay National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in Tillamook County. This final rule classifies the reintroduced populations as a nonessential experimental population (NEP) under the authority of section 10(j) of the Act and provides for allowable legal incidental taking of the Oregon silverspot butterfly within the defined NEP areas.

In accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, as amended and its implementing regulations, we, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have developed draft revised marine mammal stock assessment reports for each of the two polar bear (Ursus maritimus) stocks in Alaska: The Southern Beaufort Sea polar bear stock and the Chukchi/Bering Seas polar bear stock. These two draft stock assessment reports are available for public review and comment.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, invite the public to comment on 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 (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 June 30, 2017. 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 (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 June 30, 2017. 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), 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, invite the public to comment on the following applications for a permit to conduct activities intended to enhance the survival of endangered or threatened 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 for a permit to conduct activities intended to enhance the survival of endangered species. With some exceptions, the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), prohibits certain activities that may impact endangered species unless a Federal permit allows such activity. The Act also requires that we invite public comment before issuing these permits.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce that we are reopening the comment periods for our proposed rules to list Festuca ligulata (Guadalupe fescue) as an endangered species; to designate Festuca ligulata critical habitat; to reclassify Sclerocactus brevihamatus ssp. tobuschii (Tobusch fishhook cactus) from endangered to threatened; to reclassify Echinocereus fendleri var. kuenzleri (Kuenzler hedgehog cactus) from endangered to threatened; and to remove Eriogonum gypsophilum (gypsum wild-buckwheat) from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Plants. We are reopening the comment period for each of these proposed rules for 30 days in order to publish a legal notice and to give all interested parties further opportunity to comment on the proposed rules. Comments previously submitted need not be resubmitted, as they will be fully considered in preparing the final listing determinations.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announce the availability of a draft environmental impact statement and draft environmental impact report (EIS/EIR), which evaluates the impacts of, and alternatives to, the proposed South Sacramento Habitat Conservation Plan (SSHCP). The SSHCP was submitted by six permit applicants in support of permit applications under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 as amended (ESA), for the incidental take of federally listed and other covered species resulting from the implementation or approval of future SSHCP covered activities, including urban development projects, within a 317,656-acre planning area. We request review and comment on the draft SSHCP and the draft EIS/EIR from local, State, and Federal agencies; Tribes; and the public.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the availability of our draft Texas Coastal Bend Shortgrass Prairie Multi- Species Recovery Plan that includes the slender rush-pea (Hoffmannseggia tenella) and South Texas ambrosia (Ambrosia cheiranthifolia). Both species are listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). Slender rush-pea and South Texas ambrosia are currently found in remnant patches of shortgrass prairie within the Texas Coastal Bend in Nueces and Kleberg Counties, Texas. The draft recovery plan includes specific recovery objectives and criteria that, when achieved, will enable us to remove both species from the list of endangered and threatened 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 slender rush-pea and South Texas ambrosia throughout their ranges to assist in finalizing the recovery plan.

We (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 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 October 31, 2017. We may not conduct or sponsor and you are not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

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 May 31, 2017. 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, invite the public to comment on 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.

Under the Endangered Species Act, as amended (Act), we, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, invite the public to comment on federally listed American burying beetle incidental take permit applications. The applicants anticipate American burying beetle take as a result of impacts to habitat the species uses for breeding, feeding, and sheltering in Oklahoma. The take would be incidental to the applicants' activities associated with oil and gas well field and pipeline infrastructure (gathering, transmission, and distribution), including geophysical exploration (seismic), construction, maintenance, operation, repair, decommissioning, and reclamation. If approved, the permit would be issued under the approved American Burying Beetle Amended Oil and Gas Industry Conservation Plan (ICP) Endangered Species Act Section 10(a)(1)(B) Permit Issuance in Oklahoma.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are revising a previously published notice of intent to prepare a draft Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) for the National Bison Range (NBR), with headquarters in Moiese, Montana. We are revising the original January 2017 Federal Register notice to provide an additional opportunity for input and to share with the public that we intend to move in a different direction than that indicated by the earlier notice. Specifically, due to the variety of information and perspectives received during the comment period and a change in policy direction, we will not proceed with evaluating a preferred alternative of legislative transfer of the NBR. With this notice, we request comments in order to obtain suggestions and information on a revised scope of issues to be considered in the planning process.

The Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD) has applied for an incidental take permit under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) for the R-Project transmission line in north-central Nebraska. If issued, the permit would authorize the take of the federally endangered American burying beetle incidental to the construction, operation, and maintenance of the transmission line. We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the availability of the following documents related to the NPPD incidental take permit application for review and comment by the public and Federal, Tribal, State, and local governments: Draft Habitat Conservation Plan for the R-Project Transmission Line in Nebraska (HCP); Draft Environment Impact Statement of the R-Project HCP (DEIS); Draft Migratory Bird Conservation Plan (MBCP); and Draft Restoration Management Plan.

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 (i.e., ``delist'' the species) 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. 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.

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 or threatened species. Federal law prohibits certain activities with endangered species unless a permit is obtained.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have issued the following permits to conduct activities with endangered and threatened species under the authority of the Endangered Species Act (Act), as amended. With some exceptions, the Act prohibits activities involving listed species unless a Federal permit is issued that allows such activity. We provide this list for the convenience of the public as a summary of our permit issuances for the second half of calendar year 2016.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are initiating 5-year status reviews for 138 species in Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, and California under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). 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 new information on these species that has become available since the last review.

Under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (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 activities associated with the construction of the Suncoast Parkway 2, a four-lane limited-access toll facility (project) in Citrus and Hernando Counties, Florida. If issued, the permit would authorize take of the federally threatened eastern indigo snake (indigo snake) and the Federal candidate gopher tortoise incidental to project construction. We invite the public to comment on these documents.

On November 18, 2016, the U.S.-Russia Polar Bear Commission (Commission), established under the Agreement Between the Government of the United States and the Government of the Russian Federation on the Conservation and Management of the Alaska-Chukotka Polar Bear Population (2000 Agreement), unanimously agreed to maintain the annual taking limit adopted in 2010 for the Alaska-Chukotka polar bear population. In 2010, the Commission established an annual taking limit of the number of bears that may be removed from this population as a result of human activities, such as bears taken for subsistence purposes and in defense of human life. This annual taking limit, which corresponds with the annual sustainable harvest level for this population, is 58 polar bears per year, of which no more than one-third will be females. Under the 2000 Agreement, the annual taking limit is to be shared equally between the United States of America and the Russian Federation.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), withdraw the proposed rule to list the headwater chub (Gila nigra) and a distinct population segment (DPS) of the roundtail chub (Gila robusta) from the lower Colorado River basin as threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (Act). This withdrawal is based on a thorough review of the best scientific and commercial data available, which indicate that the headwater chub and the roundtail chub DPS are not discrete taxonomic entities and do not meet the definition of a species under the Act. These fish are now recognized as a part of a single taxonomic speciesthe roundtail chub (Gila robusta). Because the entities previously proposed for listing are no longer recognized as species, as defined by the Act, we have determined that they are not listable entities and we are withdrawing our proposed rule to add them to the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife. Section 4(b)(6) of the Act and implementing regulations at 50 CFR 424.17 provide that the Service must, within 1 year of a proposed rule to list, delist, or reclassify species, or to designate or revise critical habitat, withdraw the proposal if the available evidence does not justify the proposed action. The document withdrawing the rule must set forth the basis upon which the proposed rule has been found not to be supported by available evidence. Once withdrawn, the action may not be re-proposed unless sufficient new information is available.