[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 14 (Wednesday, January 22, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Page 3612]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-01144]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Office of the Secretary
[Docket No. FWS-HQ-FAC-2013-0118; FXFR13360900000-134-FF09F14000]
National Environmental Policy Act: Implementing Procedures;
Addition to Categorical Exclusions for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
AGENCY: Department of the Interior.
ACTION: Notice; reopening of comment period.
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SUMMARY: This notice announces a reopening of the public comment period
on the proposed categorical exclusion under the National Environmental
Policy Act (NEPA) for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The proposed
categorical exclusion pertains to adding species to the injurious
wildlife list under the Lacey Act. The addition of this categorical
exclusion to the Department of the Interior's Departmental Manual will
improve conservation activities by making the NEPA process for listing
injurious species more efficient. If you have previously submitted
comments, please do not resubmit them because we have already
incorporated them in the public record and will fully consider them in
our final decision.
DATES: We will consider comments we receive on or before February 21,
2014.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted by one of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the instructions for submitting comments to Docket No. FWS-HQ-
FAC-2013-0118.
U.S. mail or hand-delivery: Public Comments Processing,
Attn: Docket No. FWS-HQ-FAC-2013-0118; Division of Policy and
Directives Management; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; 4401 N. Fairfax
Drive, MS-2042-PDM; Arlington, VA 22203.
Comments will not be accepted by email or fax. All comments will be
posted on http://www.regulations.gov. This generally means that any
personal information provided will be posted (see the Public Comments
section below for more information). All comments that were submitted
previously to prevent_invasives@fws.gov that were specified in the
subject heading as ``Categorical Exclusion'' or that were submitted by
mail or hand-delivered to the address specified in the notices for the
previous public comments will also be posted on http://www.regulations.gov.
Document availability: You may view the proposed categorical
exclusion to the Departmental Manual and supporting documents at http://www.regulations.gov at Docket No. FWS-HQ-FAC-2013-0118 (78 FR 39307;
July 1, 2013).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Susan Jewell, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, 4401 N. Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203; telephone 703-358-
2416. If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf, please call
the Federal Information Relay Service at 800-877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On July 1, 2013, the Department of the Interior published a notice
in the Federal Register (78 FR 39307) proposing to add a categorical
exclusion under NEPA to the Departmental Manual for the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service (Service). The 30-day comment period for the notice
ended on July 31, 2013. We received requests to allow more time for
public comments. Therefore, on August 16, 2013, the Department of the
Interior published a notice in the Federal Register (78 FR 50079)
reopening the public comment period for an additional 60 days. That
comment period ended on October 15, 2013. On October 30, 2013, the
Service notified the public via its Web site that it would accept
public comments until November 8, 2013.
With this notice, the Department of the Interior is reopening the
comment period again, but this time directing comments to http://www.regulations.gov. The previous notices instructed the public, if
choosing to submit comments electronically, to submit their comments to
a Service email address (prevent_invasives@fws.gov). Although this
method is acceptable, we utilized different forums to announce comment
period extensions and experienced some unanticipated technical
difficulties posting the public comments on our Web site. Therefore,
the Service is reopening the comment period to allow interested members
of the public an additional opportunity to provide meaningful comment
on this proposal.
Public Comments
We request that you provide comments specifically on our proposed
categorical exclusion and related documents available on http://www.regulations.gov under Docket No. FWS-HQ-FAC-2013-0118. The notice
for the proposed categorical exclusion, the notice for the first
reopening period, this notice, and previous public comments received
are available under Docket No. FWS-HQ-FAC-2013-0118.
Any comments to be considered on this proposed addition to the list
of categorical exclusions in the Departmental Manual must be received
by the date listed in DATES at the location listed in ADDRESSES.
Comments received after that date will not be considered. Comments,
including names and addresses of respondents, will be posted at http://www.regulations.gov. Before including your address, telephone number,
email address, or other personal identifying information in your
comment, you should be aware that your entire comment, including your
personal identifying information, may be made publicly available at any
time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your personal
identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we
will be able to do so.
If you have previously submitted comments on this proposed
categorical exclusion, please do not resubmit them, because we have
already incorporated them in the public record and will fully consider
them in our final decision. Comments we received on this proposal after
the close of the second comment period (ending October 15, 2013) and by
midnight (Eastern Time) of the day before the opening of this third
comment period January 22, 2014 at the locations listed in ADDRESSES
for the second comment period (78 FR 50079; August 16, 2013) will still
be accepted and considered.
Dated: January 13, 2014.
Willie R. Taylor,
Director, Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2014-01144 Filed 1-21-14; 8:45 am]
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