Fish and Wildlife Service August 2021 – 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 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 as well as northern sea otters in Cook Inlet, Alaska, in 2019 and 2020. This notice announces a list of the Letters of Authorizations that were issued in calendar years 2019 and 2020. The Letters of Authorization stipulate conditions and methods that minimize impacts to polar bears, Pacific walruses, and northern sea otters from these activities.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), determine threatened species status under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (Act), as amended, for Bartram's stonecrop (Graptopetalum bartramii), a plant known from Arizona and Mexico. We also issue a final rule under the authority of section 4(d) (a ``4(d) rule'') of the Act that provides measures that are necessary and advisable to provide for the conservation of Bartram's stonecrop. We have determined that designation of critical habitat for Bartram's stonecrop is not prudent.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), open, for the first time, seven National Wildlife Refuges (NWRs) that are currently closed to hunting and sport fishing. In addition, we open or expand hunting and sport fishing at 81 other NWRs, and add pertinent station-specific regulations for other NWRs that pertain to migratory game bird hunting, upland game hunting, big game hunting, and sport fishing for the 2021-2022 season. We also open hunting or sport fishing on one unit of the National Fish Hatchery System (NFH). We add pertinent station-specific regulations that pertain to migratory game bird hunting, upland game hunting, big game hunting, and sport fishing at this NFH for the 2021-2022 season. Finally, we make regulatory changes to existing station-specific regulations in order to reduce the regulatory burden on the public, increase access for hunters and anglers on Service lands and waters, and comply with a Presidential mandate for plain language standards.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the availability of a draft environmental assessment (dEA) under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and application for an incidental take permit (ITP) supported by a habitat conservation plan (HCP) for the operation of an existing wind facility, the Wildhorse Mountain Wind project (project), in Pushmataha County, Oklahoma. Wildhorse Wind Energy, LLC (Applicant) has applied for an ITP under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended. The requested ITP, which would be in effect for a period of 30 years, if granted, would cover incidental take of the federally endangered Indiana bat and threatened northern long-eared bat. The potential incidental take would be associated with activities associated with the operation of the existing wind project. We invite public comments on the permit application, proposed HCP, and dEA.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are revising the regulations governing the annual Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp Contest (also known as the Federal Duck Stamp Contest (Contest)). We are removing the previously specified permanent theme and the mandatory inclusion of an appropriate hunting element within all Contest entries and revising the qualifications of the judging panel to reflect this change beginning with the 2022 Contest.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service or USFWS), propose to list six Central Texas mussel species: The Guadalupe fatmucket (Lampsilis bergmanni), Texas fatmucket (Lampsilis bracteata), Texas fawnsfoot (Truncilla macrodon), Guadalupe orb (Cyclonaias necki), Texas pimpleback (Cyclonaias (=Quadrula) petrina), and false spike (Fusconaia (=Quincuncina) mitchelli) as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). After review of the best available scientific and commercial information, we find that listing Guadalupe fatmucket, Texas fatmucket, Guadalupe orb, Texas pimpleback, and false spike as endangered species is warranted, and listing Texas fawnsfoot as a threatened species is warranted. We propose a rule issued under section 4(d) of the Act (``4(d) rule'') for the Texas fawnsfoot. If we finalize this rule as proposed, it would add these species to the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and extend the Act's protections to the species. We also propose to designate critical habitat for all six species under the Act. In total, approximately 1,944 river miles (3,129 river kilometers) in Texas fall within the boundaries of the proposed critical habitat designations. We also announce the availability of a draft economic analysis (DEA) of the proposed designation of critical habitat. We also are notifying the public that we have scheduled two informational meetings followed by public hearings on the proposed rule.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are listing the Franklin's bumble bee (Bombus franklini), an invertebrate species from Douglas, Jackson, and Josephine Counties in Oregon, and Siskiyou and Trinity Counties in California, as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). This rule adds this species to the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and applies the protections of the Act to this species. We are not designating critical habitat for the Franklin's bumble bee because we determined that such a designation would not be beneficial to the species.

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.

The Wildlands Conservancy (applicant) has submitted a safe harbor agreement (SHA) and applied to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) for an enhancement of survival permit pursuant to the Endangered Species Act. The Service is considering issuance to the applicant of a 30-year permit that would authorize take of the federally endangered mountain yellow-legged frog and unarmored threespine stickleback (a fish species). We have prepared a draft environmental action statement (EAS) for our preliminary determination that the SHA and permit decision may be eligible for categorical exclusion under the National Environmental Policy Act. We invite comments from the public on the aforementioned documents.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the receipt of an enhancement of survival (EOS) permit application from the Service's Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office that includes a proposed safe harbor agreement (SHA) in southern California for the federally threatened California red-legged frog. If granted, the SHA would provide for California red-legged frog recovery by providing a framework to reestablish frogs within their historical range. The EOS permit would be in effect for a 30-year period and would authorize take of the California red-legged frog incidental to the implementation of the Programmatic Safe Harbor Agreement in Orange, Riverside, and San Diego Counties, California. The documents available for review and comment are the SHA and National Environmental Policy Act documentation that supports a categorical exclusion. We invite comments from the public and Federal, Tribal, State, and local governments.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), designate critical habitat for the Georgetown salamander (Eurycea naufragia) and Salado salamander (Eurycea chisholmensis) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). We designate a total of approximately 1,315 acres (538 hectares) of critical habitat for these species in Bell and Williamson Counties, Texas. This rule extends the Act's protections to the Georgetown salamander's and Salado salamander's designated critical habitat.

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 recover and enhance endangered species survival. With some exceptions, the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA), prohibits certain activities that may impact endangered species unless a Federal permit allows such activity. The ESA also requires that we invite public comment before issuing these permits.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are proposing a new information collection in use without Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval.

In this candidate notice of review (CNOR), we, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), present an updated list of foreign plant and animal species that we regard as candidates for or have proposed for addition to the Lists of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants (Lists) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended. This document also includes our findings on resubmitted petitions and describes our progress in revising the Lists during the period October 1, 2018, through September 30, 2020. Combined with other decisions for individual species that were published separately from this CNOR in the past 2 years, the current number of foreign species that are candidates for listing is 19. Identification of candidate species can assist environmental planning efforts by providing advance notice of potential listings, and by allowing landowners, resource managers, range countries, and other stakeholders to take actions to alleviate threats and thereby possibly remove the need to list species as endangered or threatened. Even if we subsequently list a candidate species, the early notification provided here could result in more options for species management and recovery by prompting earlier candidate conservation measures to alleviate threats to the species.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are removing Trifolium stoloniferum (running buffalo clover) from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Plants on the basis of recovery. This determination is based on a thorough review of the best available scientific and commercial data, including comments received, which indicate that the threats to running buffalo clover have been eliminated or reduced to the point that the species no longer meets the definition of an endangered species or a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act).

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to list the emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri), a flightless bird species from Antarctica, as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). This proposal also serves as our 12-month finding on a petition to list the emperor penguin. 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 emperor penguin 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 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 (Service), determine endangered species status under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (Act), as amended, for the Sierra Nevada Distinct Population Segment (DPS) of the Sierra Nevada red fox (Vulpes vulpes necator) (hereafter referred to in this rule as the Sierra Nevada DPS). The Sierra Nevada red fox is a small mammal occurring in California and Oregon, with the Sierra Nevada DPS of this broader taxon inhabiting the highest elevations of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in California. This rule adds the Sierra Nevada DPS of Sierra Nevada red fox to the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife.