Fish and Wildlife Service February 6, 2023 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Receipt of Incidental Take Permit Application and Proposed Habitat Conservation Plan for the Great Pathfinder Wind Project, Hamilton and Boone Counties, Iowa; Categorical Exclusion
Document Number: 2023-02417
Type: Notice
Date: 2023-02-06
Agency: Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior
We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have received an application from Great Pathfinder Wind LLC (applicant), for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act. If approved, the ITP would be for a 6-year period and would authorize the incidental take of two endangered species, the Indiana bat and the northern long-eared bat. The applicant has prepared a habitat conservation plan (HCP) in support of their application. We have made a preliminary determination that the HCP and permit application are eligible for categorical exclusion under the National Environmental Policy Act. We invite comments from the public and Federal, Tribal, State, and local governments.
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 90-Day Findings for Three Petitions To Delist the Grizzly Bear in the Lower-48 States
Document Number: 2023-02467
Type: Proposed Rule
Date: 2023-02-06
Agency: Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior
We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce three 90-day findings on petitions to delist the grizzly bear in the lower-48 States (Ursus arctos horribilis) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). One petition requests delisting the grizzly bear in the lower-48 States, and the other two petitions request delisting populations in two specific ecosystems, the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (NCDE) and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE). Based on our review, we find that the petitions pertaining to the two ecosystems present substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that the petitioned actions may be warranted. Therefore, with the publication of this document, we announce that we plan to initiate a status review to determine whether the petitioned actions are warranted. To ensure that the status review is comprehensive, we are requesting new scientific and commercial data and other information regarding the grizzly bear in the NCDE and GYE and factors that may affect its status in those ecosystems, including the adequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms to address threats now and in the foreseeable future. Based on the status review, we will issue a 12-month petition finding, which will address whether or not the petitioned actions are warranted, in accordance with the Act. If we ultimately do find that one or more of the petitioned actions is warranted and proceed to propose to delist one or more distinct population segments (DPSs), we will consider the effects of any proposed delisting on the ongoing recovery of the larger listed entity of grizzly bears. We also found that a petition to delist the grizzly bear in the lower-48 states on the basis of it not being a valid listable entity did not present substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that the petitioned actions may be warranted; therefore, we will take no further action on that petition.
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