[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 165 (Wednesday, August 26, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51834-51835]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-20960]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R4-ES-2015-N139; FF04E00000-1115-0000 156]
Proposed Joint Programmatic Candidate Conservation Agreement With
Assurances and Safe Harbor Agreement in the Saline, Caddo, and Ouachita
River (Headwaters) Watersheds, Arkansas
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service's Arkansas Ecological Services Field Office (ARFO), the
Arkansas Game and Fish Commission (AGFC), the U.S. Department of
Agriculture--Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and The
Nature Conservancy (TNC) have applied for enhancement of survival
permits (permits) pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (Act).
The permit application includes a proposal (referred to as the
``agreement'') that combines a safe harbor agreement (SHA) for 5
endangered and threatened species and a candidate conservation
agreement with assurances (CCAA) for 20 State species of concern. The
term of the agreement would be 30 years. If approved, the agreement
would allow the applicants to issue certificates of inclusion (CI) to
eligible non-Federal landowners throughout the Saline, Caddo, and
Ouachita River (Headwaters) Watersheds in Arkansas whose property owner
management agreements (POMA) are approved. We invite public comments on
these documents.
DATES: We must receive any written comments at our Regional Office (see
ADDRESSES) on or before September 25, 2015.
ADDRESSES: You may obtain a copy of the information available by
contacting Melvin Tobin, Field Supervisor, Fish and Wildlife Service,
Arkansas Ecological Services Field Office, 110 South Amity Road, Suite
300, Conway, AR 72032. Documents are also available for public
inspection by appointment during normal business hours at the Fish and
Wildlife Service's Regional Office, 1875 Century Boulevard, Suite 200,
Atlanta, GA 30345; or at the Arkansas Ecological Services Field Office,
Fish and Wildlife Service, 110 Amity Road, Suite 300, Conway, AR 72032.
Note that requests for any documents must be in writing to be
processed. When you are requesting or commenting on the information
provided in this notice, please reference ``Programmatic CCAA and SHA
in the Saline, Caddo, and Ouachita Rivers'' in any correspondence.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Michael Harris, At-Risk Species
Coordinator, at the Regional Office (see ADDRESSES), telephone: 404-
679-7066; or Mr. Chris Davidson, Endangered Species Program Supervisor,
at the Arkansas Field Office (see ADDRESSES), telephone: 501-513-4481.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
We announce the availability of the agreement, which covers the
Arkansas fatmucket (Lampsilis powellii), pink mucket (Lampsilis
abrupta), spectaclecase (Cumberlandia monodonta), and rabbitsfoot
(Quadrula cylindrica cylindrica) mussels, and Harperella (Ptilmnium
nodosum), a plant, and a candidate conservation agreement with
assurances (CCAA) for 20 State species of concern (collectively
``covered species'').
CCAAs and SHAs
Under a CCAA, participating property owners voluntarily undertake
management activities on their property to enhance, restore, or
maintain habitat benefiting species that may warrant listing under the
Act. CCAAs encourage private and other non-Federal property owners to
implement conservation efforts for candidate and at-risk species by
assuring property owners they will not be subjected to increased
property use restrictions should the species become listed as
threatened or endangered under the Act. Under a SHA, participating
property owners voluntarily undertake management activities on their
property to enhance, restore, or maintain habitat benefiting federally
listed species under the Act. SHAs encourage private and other non-
Federal property owners to implement conservation efforts for federally
listed species by assuring property owners they will not be subjected
to increased property use restrictions under the Act. Application
requirements and issuance criteria for SHAs and CCAAs are found in 50
CFR 17.22(d) and 50 CFR 17.32(d), respectively. Because of the
significant overlap between the covered species' habitat requirements
and the anticipated beneficial effects from implementation of the
voluntary conservation measures, we believe that it is appropriate to
combine the CCAA/SHA components in a single agreement for consideration
in this notice.
Parties' Agreement
The Agreement describes conservation practices designed to protect
and enhance streambed and bankside habitats for the benefit of the
covered species on private or non-Federal public lands enrolled under
the agreement. Enrolled landowners who implement these measures would
receive assurances against take liability for the federally listed
species, as well as for the covered species that might become federally
listed in the future. Conservation land use practices will vary
according to the needs of a particular enrolled landowner. Typical
measures include controlling livestock access to streams; protection,
enhancement, or restoration of streamside or in-stream habitats;
species reintroduction to unoccupied suitable habitat; and other
conservation measures that may be developed in the future.
We specifically request information, views, and opinions from the
public via this notice on our proposed Federal action, including our
determination that the agreement, including its proposed conservation
measures, would have minor or negligible effects on the covered
species. Therefore, we have determined that the agreement is a ``low-
effect'' project and qualifies for categorical exclusion under the
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA; 42
[[Page 51835]]
U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) as provided by the Department of the Interior
Manual (516 DM 2 Appendix 1 and 516 DM 6 Appendix 1). A low-effect
project involves (1) minor or negligible effects on federally-listed or
candidate species or their habitats, and (2) minor or negligible
effects on other environmental values or resources. Further, we
specifically solicit information regarding the adequacy of the
agreement per 50 CFR parts 13 and 17.
Public Comments
Before including your address, phone 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 wish to comment, you may submit comments by any one of
several methods. Please reference TE 71956B or TE 71959B in such
comments. You may mail comments to the Fish and Wildlife Service's
Regional Office (see ADDRESSES). You may also comment via the internet
to david_dell@fws.gov or michael_harris@fws.gov. Please include your
name and return address in your email message. If you do not receive a
confirmation from us that we have received your email message, contact
us directly at either telephone number listed under FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT.
Finally, you may hand-deliver comments to either of our offices
listed under ADDRESSES.
Covered Area
The agreement covers approximately 439,792 acres of potentially
eligible lands in the upper Saline River watershed; 412,556 acres of
potentially eligible lands in the upper Ouachita River watershed; and
235,010 acres of potentially eligible lands in the upper Caddo River
watershed. Lands eligible to enroll in the agreement include any non-
Federal properties within the watershed of the upper Saline, Caddo, and
Ouachita Rivers.
Next Steps
We will evaluate the enhancement of survival permit application,
including the agreement and any comments we receive, to determine
whether the applications meet the requirements of section 10(a)(1)(A)
of the Act. We will also evaluate whether the section 10(a)(1)(A)
enhancement of survival permits would comply with section 7 of the Act
by conducting an intra-Service section 7 consultation. If we determine
that the requirements are met, we will issue a permit under section
10(a)(1)(A) of the Act to the Applicants in accordance with the
applicable regulatory requirements. We will not make our final decision
until after the end of the 30-day comment period and will fully
consider all comments received during the comment period.
Authority
We provide this notice under section 10 of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531
et seq.) and NEPA regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).
Dated: July 29, 2015.
Mike Oetker,
Deputy Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 2015-20960 Filed 8-25-15; 8:45 am]
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