Fish and Wildlife Service April 9, 2019 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, as amended, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has issued Letters of Authorization (LOA) for the nonlethal take of polar bears and Pacific walruses incidental to oil and gas industry exploration, development, and production activities in the Beaufort Sea and the adjacent northern coast of Alaska. This notice announces a list of the LOAs that were issued just prior to and during 2018. The LOAs stipulate conditions and methods that minimize impacts to polar bears and Pacific walruses from these activities. No LOAs were requested or issued in 2018 for the nonlethal take of polar bears and Pacific walruses incidental to oil and gas industry exploration activities in the Chukchi Sea and adjacent western coast of Alaska.

On March 18, 2019, we, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announced via a Federal Register notice the availability of a draft environmental assessment (dEA) and habitat conservation plan (HCP) for development in Bexar County, Texas. Under the Endangered Species Act, the Davis McCrary Property Trust applied for an incidental take permit (ITP) that would authorize incidental take of the golden-cheeked warbler. Our Federal Register notice inadvertently did not give the correct permit number and did not specifically state how the public can submit comments. In this notice, we correct those errors.