Farm Service Agency August 17, 2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Consistent with the regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), BOEM is announcing its intent to prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for proposed Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Central Planning Area (CPA) Oil and Gas Lease Sale 247 (CPA 247 Supplemental EIS). The CPA 247 Supplemental EIS will expand or update the environmental and socioeconomic analyses in: Gulf of Mexico OCS Oil and Gas Lease Sales: 2012-2017; Western Planning Area Lease Sales 229, 233, 238, 246, and 248; Central Planning Area Lease Sales 227, 231, 235, 241, and 247, Final Environmental Impact Statement (2012-2017 WPA/CPA Multisale EIS); Gulf of Mexico OCS Oil and Gas Lease Sales: 2013-2014; Western Planning Area Lease Sale 233; Central Planning Area Lease Sale 231, Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (WPA 233/CPA 231 Supplemental EIS); Gulf of Mexico OCS Oil and Gas Lease Sales: 2015-2017; Central Planning Area Lease Sales 235, 241, and 247, Final Supplemental EIS (CPA 235/241/247 Supplemental EIS); and Central Planning Area Lease Sales 241 and 247 and Eastern Planning Area Lease Sale 226, Final Supplemental EIS (CPA 241/247 and EPA 226 Supplemental EIS). The CPA 247 Supplemental EIS will supplement the NEPA documents cited above in order to consider new circumstances and information arising from, among other things, the Deepwater Horizon explosion, oil spill, and response. It will focus on updating the baseline conditions and any new information on the potential environmental effects of oil and natural gas leasing, exploration, development, and production in the CPA identified through the Area Identification procedure as the proposed lease sale area. In addition to the no action alternative (i.e., canceling a proposed lease sale), other alternatives may be considered for the proposed CPA lease sales, such as deferring certain areas from the proposed lease sale area.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) is announcing its intention to seek approval to continue the collection of information for the contractor eligibility, and the Abandoned Mine Land (AML) Contractor Information form. This information collection activity was previously approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and assigned clearance number 1029-0119.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), designate critical habitat for Brickellia mosieri (Florida brickell-bush) and Linum carteri var. carteri (Carter's small-flowered flax) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). We designate as critical habitat approximately 1,062 hectares (ha) (2,624 acres (ac)) for B. mosieri and approximately 1,072 ha (2,649 ac) for L. c. var. carteri. The critical habitat areas for these plants, located entirely in Miami-Dade County, Florida, largely overlap, for a combined total of approximately 1,095 ha (2,706 ac). Critical habitat for both plants includes both occupied and unoccupied habitat. The Service determined that the unoccupied units are essential for the conservation of the plants, to provide for the necessary expansion of current Brickellia mosieri and Linum carteri var. carteri populations, and for reestablishment of populations into areas where these plants previously occurred. The effect of this regulation is to extend the Act's protections to these plants' critical habitats.