Fish and Wildlife Service March 2018 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service or we) is establishing migratory bird subsistence harvest regulations in Alaska for the 2018 season. These regulations allow for the continuation of customary and traditional subsistence uses of migratory birds in Alaska and prescribe regional information on when and where the harvesting of birds may occur. These regulations were developed under a co-management process involving the Service, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, and Alaska Native representatives. The rulemaking is necessary because the regulations governing the subsistence harvest of migratory birds in Alaska are subject to annual review. This rulemaking establishes region-specific regulations that go into effect on April 2, 2018.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, invite the public to comment on applications to conduct certain activities with foreign endangered species. With some exceptions, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) prohibits activities with listed species unless Federal authorization is acquired that allows such activities. The ESA also requires that we invite public comment before issuing these permits.

This proposed rule would establish regulations for fish and shellfish seasons, harvest limits, methods, and means related to taking of fish and shellfish for subsistence uses during the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 regulatory years. The Federal Subsistence Board (Board) is on a schedule of completing the process of revising subsistence taking of fish and shellfish regulations in odd-numbered years and subsistence taking of wildlife regulations in even-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 cycle; in addition, during the rulemaking cycle for the fish and shellfish regulations, the Board will accept proposals for nonrural determinations. When final, the resulting rulemaking will replace the existing subsistence fish and shellfish taking regulations. This proposed rule could also amend the general regulations on subsistence taking of fish and wildlife.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, invite the public to comment on applications for permits to conduct activities intended to enhance the propagation or 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 (FWS), announce receiving Arizona Electric Power Cooperative's (AEPCO; applicant) survival enhancement permit application, under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). The requested permit would authorize Sonoran desert tortoise incidental take resulting from conservation activities and ongoing lawful activities, should the species be listed as endangered or threatened in the future. The permit application includes a proposed candidate conservation agreement with assurances (CCAA) between AEPCO and the FWS for a 25-year period. In accordance with National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirements, we have determined that the proposed permit action qualifies under a categorical exclusion. We are accepting comments on the permit application, proposed CCAA, and draft NEPA screening form supporting using a categorical exclusion.

We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the availability for comment of two applications for incidental take permits (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). The City of Winter Haven and Savi Investments, LLC each request a separate ITP for take of the federally listed sand skink and blue- tailed mole skink, incidental to construction in Polk County, Florida. We request public comments on each of the applications and accompanying habitat conservation plans (HCPs), as well as on our preliminary determination that both HCPs qualify as low effect under the National Environmental Policy Act. To make these determinations, we used environmental action statements and low-effect screening forms, which are also available for review.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), withdraw our September 15, 2016, proposed rule to list Chorizanthe parryi var. fernandina (San Fernando Valley spineflower), a plant from southern California, as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). This withdrawal is based on our conclusion that the threats to this plant, as identified in the proposed rule, are no longer as significant as we believed them to be when we issued the proposed rule. We base this conclusion on our analysis of current and future threats and conservation efforts. We find the best scientific and commercial data available indicate that the threats to C. parryi var. fernandina and its habitat have been reduced below the level where this plant would meet the statutory definition of threatened or endangered. Therefore, we are withdrawing our proposal to list C. parryi var. fernandina as a threatened species.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the availability of our draft post-delisting monitoring (PDM) plan for the black-capped vireo (Vireo atricapilla). The draft PDM plan describes the methods we propose to monitor the status of the vireo and its habitat, in cooperation with the States of Texas and Oklahoma and other conservation partners, for a 12-year period if we remove this species from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife. The draft PDM plan also provides a strategy for identifying and responding to any future population declines or habitat loss. We are accepting comments on the draft PDM plan.

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 which species in international trade should be regulated and other aspects of the implementation of CITES. The 18th regular meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES (CoP18) is scheduled to be held in Sri Lanka from May 23, 2019, through June 3, 2019. With this notice, we invite the public to provide us with information and recommendations on resolutions, decisions, and agenda items that the United States might consider submitting for discussion at CoP18. 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.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are initiating 5-year status reviews of eight species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. 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 reviews of these species.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have received an application from Calvary Church Santee for a 3-year incidental take permit for the threatened coastal California gnatcatcher pursuant to the Endangered Species Act, as amended. We are requesting comments on the permit application and on our preliminary determination that the applicant's accompanying proposed habitat conservation plan (HCP) qualifies as low effect, eligible for a categorical exclusion under the National Environmental Policy Act. The basis for this determination is discussed in our environmental action statement (EAS) and associated low-effect screening form, which are also available for public review.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, invite the public to comment on applications for permits to conduct activities intended to enhance the propagation or survival of endangered species. With some exceptions, the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA), prohibits activities that constitute take of listed species unless a Federal permit is issued that allows such activity. The ESA also requires that we invite public comment before issuing these permits.

In accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announces a public meeting of the International Wildlife Conservation Council (Council).