Fish and Wildlife Service 2021 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to list four of six distinct population segments (DPSs) of the foothill yellow-legged frog (Rana boylii), a stream dwelling amphibian from Oregon and California, under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (Act), as amended. This determination also serves as our 12-month finding on a petition to list the foothill yellow-legged frog. After a review of the best scientific and commercial information available, we find that listing the South Sierra and South Coast DPSs as endangered and the North Feather and Central Coast DPSs as threatened is warranted. Accordingly, we propose to list these four DPSs under the Act, with the South Sierra and South Coast DPSs listed as endangered species, and the North Feather and Central Coast DPSs listed as threatened species. Our proposal to list the North Feather and Central Coast DPSs as threatened species also includes a rule issued under section 4(d) of the Act for each of these two DPSs. If we finalize this proposed rule for these four DPSs, we will then add them to the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and extend the Act's protections to them. We have determined that designation of critical habitat for these four DPSs is not determinable at this time. We have also determined that the North Coast DPS (in Oregon and northern California) and the North Sierra DPS (in Yuba, Sierra, Nevada, and Placer Counties, California) of the foothill yellow-legged frog do not warrant listing at this time.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to list the cactus ferruginous pygmy-owl (Glaucidium brasilianum cactorum), a subspecies found in Mexico, southern Arizona, and southern Texas, as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). This determination also serves as our 12-month finding on a petition to list the cactus ferruginous pygmy-owl. After a review of the best available scientific and commercial information, we find that listing the subspecies is warranted. Accordingly, we propose to list the cactus ferruginous pygmy-owl as a threatened species with a rule issued under section 4(d) of the Act (``4(d) rule''). If we finalize this rule as proposed, it would add this subspecies to the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and extend the Act's protections to the subspecies. The finalization of this rule as proposed would include the issuance of a 4(d) rule. Designation of critical habitat was found to be prudent, but not determinable at this time. We also are notifying the public that we have scheduled an informational meeting followed by a public hearing on the proposed rule.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), as co-leads, announce their intention to prepare a Monument Management Plan (MMP) for the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument (Monument). NOAA and USFWS are updating their original notice of intent to draft the MMP to include information about the expansion of the Monument in 2014, and to announce that NOAA and USFWS are co-leads in drafting the MMP. NOAA and USFWS are seeking input on issues, concerns, ideas, and suggestions for the future management of the Monument. NOAA and USFWS will also prepare a draft environmental assessment, concurrent with the management plan, to evaluate potential effects of implementing the proposed management alternatives for the Monument. Following the completion of the MMP, USFWS will prepare new individual Comprehensive Conservation Plans (CCPs) and revise existing CCPs for National Wildlife Refuges within the Monument, as appropriate.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announce the availability of a draft recovery plan for Parachute beardtongue, a plant species listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. We are requesting review and comment from the public on this draft plan.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announce the availability of a draft recovery plan for meltwater lednian stonefly and western glacier stonefly, two insect species listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. We request review and comment on this draft recovery plan from Federal, State, Tribal, and local agencies and the public.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have received an application from Aitkin and Carlton Counties for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act for the proposed Aitkin- Carlton Counties Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP). If approved, the ITP would authorize the incidental take of three bat species for a 25-year period. The applicant has prepared an HCP to cover a suite of activities associated with continued forest and habitat management. We request public comment on the application, which includes the applicant's proposed HCP, and on the Service's preliminary determination that this HCP qualifies as ``low-effect,'' categorically excluded under the National Environmental Policy Act. To make this determination, we used our environmental action statement and low- effect screening form, both of which are also available for public review.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the availability of documents related to an application to amend an existing incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act. Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation has applied for an amendment to their existing ITP, which, if granted, would add lands for coverage under their Forest Management Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP), and which would effectively extend the permit take coverage to these lands for three federally listed species, the grizzly bear, Canada lynx, and bull trout, and two unlisted species, the westslope cutthroat trout and Columbia redband trout. We invite comments from the public and Federal, Tribal, State, and local governments.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the revised taxonomy of nine wildlife and nine plant species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA). We are revising the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and the List of Endangered and Threatened Plants (``the Lists'') to reflect the current scientifically accepted taxonomy and nomenclature for these species that occur in the southwestern United States. We are also correcting errors in the Lists made in previous publications. The taxonomic revisions and correction of publication errors are editorial in nature and involve no substantive changes to the Lists or any applicable regulations.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS; hereafter collectively referred to as the ``Services'' or ``we''), are extending the comment period on our October 27, 2021, proposed rule to rescind the final rule titled ``Regulations for Listing Endangered and Threatened Species and Designating Critical Habitat'' that was published on December 16, 2020, and established a regulatory definition of the term ``habitat.'' We are extending the comment period by 15 days.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the availability of a draft habitat conservation plan (HCP) and draft categorical exclusion for activities associated with an application for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended. The ITP would authorize take of the Central California distinct population segment of the California tiger salamander incidental to activities associated with construction adjacent to the City of Hollister in San Benito County, California. The applicant developed the draft HCP as part of their application for an ITP. The Service prepared a draft low-effect screening form and environmental action statement (CatEx) in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act to evaluate the potential effects to the natural and human environment resulting from issuing an ITP to the applicant. We invite public comment on these documents.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to remove the Okaloosa darter (Etheostoma okaloosae) from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife (List) due to recovery. Our review of the best available scientific and commercial data indicates that the threats to the species have been eliminated or reduced to the point that the species no longer meets the definition of a threatened or endangered species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). We request information and comments from the public regarding this proposed rule and the draft post-delisting monitoring (PDM) plan for Okaloosa darters. If this proposal is finalized, Okaloosa darters will be removed from the List and the prohibitions and conservation measures provided by the Act, particularly through sections 7 and 9, would no longer apply to the species.

We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce receipt of an application from PKY Clermont Owner, LLC (applicant) for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act. The applicant requests the ITP to take the federally listed sand skink incidental to construction in Lake County, Florida. We request public comment on the application, which includes the applicant's proposed habitat conservation plan (HCP), and the Service's preliminary determination that this HCP qualifies as ``low-effect,'' categorically excluded, under the National Environmental Policy Act. To make this determination, we used our environmental action statement and low- effect screening form, both of which are also available for public review.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), list the Atlantic pigtoe, (Fusconaia masoni), a freshwater mussel species from Virginia and North Carolina, as a threatened species with a rule issued under section 4(d) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (Act), as amended. We also designate critical habitat for the species under the Act. In total, approximately 563 river miles (906 river kilometers) fall within 17 units of critical habitat in Bath, Botetourt, Brunswick, Craig, Dinwiddie, Greensville, Halifax, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, Nottoway, Pittsylvania, and Sussex Counties, Virginia, and in Durham, Edgecombe, Franklin, Granville, Halifax, Johnston, Montgomery, Nash, Orange, Person, Pitt, Randolph, Rockingham, Vance, Wake, Warren, and Wilson Counties, North Carolina. This rule extends the Act's protections to the species and its designated critical habitat.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), have received an application from Green River Wind Farm Phase 1, LLC (applicant), for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), for its Green River Wind Farm (project). The applicant requests the ITP, which would be for a 30-year period, for the take of the federally listed endangered Indiana bat and threatened northern long-eared bat incidental to the otherwise lawful activities associated with the project. The applicant proposes a conservation program to minimize and mitigate for the unavoidable incidental take as described in their habitat conservation plan (HCP). The Service requests public comment on the application including the submission of written data, views or arguments with respect to the application, which includes the applicant's proposed HCP, and the Service's draft environmental assessment, prepared pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act. The Service provides this notice to seek comments from the public and Federal, Tribal, State, and local governments.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), revise the designation of critical habitat for the northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA or Act), by withdrawing the January 15, 2021, final rule that would have been effective December 15, 2021, and which would have excluded approximately 3.4 million acres (1.4 million hectares) of designated critical habitat for the northern spotted owl (January Exclusions Rule); and instead as we proposed on July 20, 2021, we now exclude approximately 204,294 acres (82,675 hectares) in Benton, Clackamas, Coos, Curry, Douglas, Jackson, Josephine, Klamath, Lane, Lincoln, Multnomah, Polk, Tillamook, Washington, and Yamhill Counties, Oregon, under section 4(b)(2) of the Act.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce our 12-month finding on a petition to list the alligator snapping turtle (Macrochelys temminckii), North America's largest freshwater turtle species, as an endangered or threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). After a review of the best available scientific and commercial information, we find that listing the species is warranted. Accordingly, we propose to list the alligator snapping turtle as a threatened species with a rule issued under section 4(d) of the Act (``4(d) rule''). If we finalize this rule as proposed, it will add the species to the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and extend the Act's protections to the species.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announce the availability of a draft recovery plan for desert yellowhead, a plant listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. We request review and comment on this draft recovery plan from Federal, State, Tribal, and local agencies and the public.

We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce receipt of an application from Pulte Home Company, LLCNorth Florida Division (applicant) for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act. The applicant requests the ITP to take the federally listed sand skink incidental to construction in Lake County, Florida. We request public comment on the application, which includes the applicant's proposed habitat conservation plan (HCP), and the Service's preliminary determination that this HCP qualifies as ``low-effect,'' categorically excluded, under the National Environmental Policy Act. To make this determination, we used our environmental action statement and low-effect screening form, both of which are also available for public review.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, received a request under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 from JADE Energy, LLC, for authorization to take by Level B harassment a small number of polar bears from the Southern Beaufort Sea (SBS) stock incidental to oil and gas exploratory activities scheduled to occur between December 1, 2021, through November 30, 2022. These activities include mobilization, constructing ice roads and ice pads, drilling wells, and associated cleanup in the Prudhoe Bay Unit and Point Thomson Unit of the North Slope of Alaska. Mobilization would occur in December 2021, along a winter trail stretching east from Deadhorse, Alaska, to Point Thomson, Alaska. Prepacking of snow and construction of ice roads and pads would begin mid-December 2021, and drilling would begin at JADE #1 pad in late-January 2022. If conditions are favorable, drilling on JADE #2 pad would take place in mid-March 2022, preceding cleanup activities, which are proposed to be completed by July 15, 2022. We estimate these activities may result in the nonlethal incidental take of up to two SBS stock polar bears. This proposed authorization, if finalized, will be for take of two SBS stock polar bears by Level B harassment only. No lethal or Level A take of polar bears is likely or requested, and, therefore, such take is not included in this proposed authorization.

We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce receipt of an application from Florida Department of TransportationFlorida's Turnpike Enterprise (applicant) (Suncoast Parkway 2) for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act. The applicant requests the ITP to take the federally listed eastern indigo snake incidental to construction of the four-lane Suncoast Parkway 2 in Citrus County, Florida. We request public comment on the application, which includes the applicant's proposed habitat conservation plan (HCP), and the Service's preliminary determination that this HCP qualifies as ``low-effect,'' categorically excluded, under the National Environmental Policy Act. To make this determination, we used our environmental action statement and low-effect screening form, both of which are also available for public review.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announce the availability of our draft recovery plan for the Diamond Y invertebrates, including Diamond tryonia (Pseudotryonia adamantina), Gonzales tryonia (Tryonia circumstriata), and Pecos amphipod (Gammarus pecos). These endangered aquatic invertebrates occur in the Diamond Y Spring system of the Chihuahuan Desert of western Texas. We request review and comment on this draft recovery plan from local, State, and Federal agencies; nongovernmental organizations; and the public.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service gives notice of a teleconference/web meeting of the Aquatic Nuisance Species (ANS) Task Force, in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have received applications for permits to conduct activities intended to enhance the propagation or survival of endangered or threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. We invite the public and local, State, Tribal, and Federal agencies to comment on these applications. Before issuing any of the requested permits, we will take into consideration any information that we receive during the public comment period.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are proposing an existing collection in use without an Office of Management and Budget control number.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (``the Service'') proposes to rescind the final rule titled ``Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Regulations for Designating Critical Habitat'' that published on December 18, 2020, and became effective January 19, 2021 (``the Final Rule''). The proposed rescission, if finalized, would remove the regulations established by that rule.