Fish and Wildlife Service 2020 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, are initiating a 5- year status review of Grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) in the conterminous United States under the Endangered Species 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 this species that has become available since the last review of the species in 2011.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have received an application for an incidental permit to take the federally listed coastal California gnatcatcher, a bird species, under the Endangered Species Act. The permit application includes a proposed low-effect habitat conservation plan (HCP). In accordance with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), we have prepared a draft low-effect screening form and environmental action statement supporting our preliminary determination that the proposed action qualifies as a categorical exclusion under NEPA. We are accepting comments on the permit application, proposed low-effect HCP, and draft NEPA compliance documentation.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to list the Hermes copper butterfly (Lycaena [Hermelycaena] hermes), a butterfly species from San Diego County, California, and Baja California, Mexico, as a threatened species and propose to designate critical habitat for the species under the Endangered Species Act (Act). If we finalize this rule as proposed, it would extend the Act's protections to this species as described in the proposed rule provisions issued under section 4(d) of the Act, and designate approximately 14,249 hectares (35,211 acres) of critical habitat in San Diego County, California. We also announce the availability of a draft economic analysis (DEA) of the proposed designation of critical habitat for the Hermes copper butterfly.

Under the authority of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), we, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are removing the Hawaiian hawk (io) (Buteo solitarius) from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife. This determination is based on a thorough review of the best available scientific and commercial data, including comments received, which indicates the Hawaiian hawk no longer meets the definition of an endangered species or a threatened species under the Act. Our review of the status of this species shows that the rangewide population estimates have been stable for at least 30 years, and that the species is not currently, nor is likely to become again, an endangered species within the foreseeable future in all or a significant portion of its range.