[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 227 (Tuesday, November 25, 2014)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 70154-70155]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-27872]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
50 CFR Part 17
[Docket No. FWS-R2-ES-2013-0056; FXES11130900000C2-134-FF09E32000]
RIN 1018-AY46
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Proposed Revision
to the Regulations for the Nonessential Experimental Population of the
Mexican Wolf
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Proposed rule; availability of a final environmental impact
statement and a draft record of decision.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), make
available the final environmental impact statement (EIS) on the
proposed revisions to the regulations for the nonessential experimental
population designation of the Mexican wolf and our draft record of
decision (ROD), under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as
amended. Our intended action is to revise the regulations established
in our 1998 Final Rule for the nonessential experimental population of
the Mexican wolf. We also propose to extend the authority of the
Mexican Wolf Recovery Program's section 10(a)(1)(A) research and
recovery permit to areas that are outside of the Mexican Wolf
Experimental Population Area. In the EIS we analyzed the environmental
consequences of a range of alternatives, including the Proposed Action
and No Action alternative, for our proposed rule. The action would be
implemented through a final rule, a revised section 10(a)(1)(A)
research and recovery permit, and the provision of Federal funding.
DATES: We will consider comments received on or before December 27,
2014. Comments submitted electronically using the Federal eRulemaking
Portal (see ADDRESSES) must be received by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on
the closing date. We will issue a final ROD no sooner than December 27,
2014.
ADDRESSES: Document availability: The final EIS and draft ROD are
available electronically on http://www.regulations.gov in Docket No.
FWS-R2-ES-2013-0056, on the Mexican Wolf Recovery Program's Web site at
http://www.fws.gov/southwest/es/mexicanwolf/, or from the office listed
in FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
Document submission: You may submit written comments on the final
EIS and draft ROD by one of the following methods:
(1) Electronically: Go to the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Search for FWS-R2-ES-2013-0056, which is the
docket number for this rulemaking. You may submit a comment by clicking
on ``Comment Now!''. Please ensure that you have found the correct
rulemaking before submitting your comment.
(2) By hard copy: Submit by U.S. mail or hand delivery to: Public
Comments Processing, Attn: FWS-R2-ES-2013-0056; Division of Policy and
Directives Management; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Headquarters, MS:
BPHC, 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.
We request that you send comments on the final EIS and draft ROD
only by the methods described above. We will post all comments on
http://www.regulations.gov. This generally means that we will post any
personal information you provide us (see the Public Comments section
below for more information). To increase our efficiency in downloading
comments, groups providing mass submissions should submit their
comments in an Excel file.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sherry Barrett, Mexican Wolf Recovery
Coordinator, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, New Mexico Ecological
Services Field Office, 2105 Osuna Road, NE., Albuquerque, NM 87113; by
telephone 505-761-4704; or by facsimile 505-346-2542. If you use a
telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), call the Federal
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 800-877-8339. Further contact
information can be found on the Mexican Wolf Recovery Program's Web
site at http://www.fws.gov/southwest/es/mexicanwolf/.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: With this Federal Register document, we
announce the availability of the final EIS and our draft ROD for the
Proposed Revision to the Regulations for the Nonessential Experimental
Population of the Mexican Wolf (Canis lupus baileyi). We developed the
final EIS and our draft ROD in compliance with the agency decision
making requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969,
as amended.
We have described all alternatives in detail, and we have evaluated
them in our final EIS. Our draft decision is based on our review of the
alternatives and their environmental consequences as described in our
final EIS.
Reviewing Documents
You may obtain a copy of the final EIS and draft ROD by going to
the Mexican Wolf Recovery Program Web site at http://www.fws.gov/southwest/es/mexicanwolf/. Alternatively, you may obtain a compact disk
with an electronic copy of the final EIS by writing to Ms. Sherry
Barrett, Mexican Wolf Recovery Coordinator (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT). The final EIS and draft ROD will also be available for public
inspection, by appointment, during normal business hours (8 a.m. to
4:30 p.m.) at the New Mexico Ecological Services Field Office, 2105
Osuna Road NE., Albuquerque, NM 87113. In cooperation with the U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southwest Region, we have
also established information repositories at the Supervisor Offices for
the National Forests throughout Arizona and New Mexico. Links to the
National Forests with the addresses of the supervisor offices are
available at http://www.fs.usda.gov/r3.
Background
On June 13, 2013 (78 FR 35719), we published a proposed rule to
revise the existing nonessential experimental population designation of
the Mexican wolf. That proposal had a 90-day comment period ending
September 11, 2013. On August 5, 2013 (78 FR 47268), we published a
notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement in
conjunction with the proposed rule to revise the existing nonessential
experimental population designation of the Mexican wolf. That notice of
intent to prepare an environmental impact statement had a 45-day
comment period ending September 19, 2013. On September 5, 2013 (78 FR
54613), we extended the public comment period on the proposed rule to
revise the existing nonessential experimental population designation of
the Mexican wolf to end on October 28, 2013, and announced a public
hearing. On October 28, 2013 (78 FR 64192), we once again extended the
public comment period on the proposed rule to revise the existing
nonessential experimental population designation of the Mexican wolf to
end on December 17, 2013, and announced public hearings on the proposed
rule to revise the existing nonessential experimental population
designation of the Mexican wolf.
On July 25, 2014 (79 FR 43358), we published a revised proposed
rule to the
[[Page 70155]]
existing nonessential experimental population designation of the
Mexican wolf and announced the availability of a draft environmental
impact statement, the reopening of the public comment period, and the
holding of public hearings. That proposal had a 60-day comment period
ending September 23, 2014. We developed our final EIS after assessing
and considering all comments both individually and collectively. Our
response to the substantive comments that we received are provided as
an appendix to the final EIS.
Public Comments
You may submit your comments and materials concerning the final EIS
and the draft ROD by one of the methods listed in ADDRESSES. If you
submit a comment via http://www.regulations.gov, your entire comment--
including any personal identifying information--will be posted on the
Web site. We will post all hardcopy comments on http://www.regulations.gov as well. If you submit a hardcopy comment that
includes personal identifying information, you may request at the top
of your document that we withhold this information from public review.
However, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.
Comments and materials we receive, as well as some of the
supporting documentation we used, will be available for public
inspection on http://www.regulations.gov at Docket No. FWS-R2-ES-2013-
0056, or by appointment, during normal business hours, at the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, New Mexico Ecological Services Field Office (see
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
Authors
The primary authors of this notice are the staff members of the New
Mexico Ecological Services Field Office (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT).
Authority
The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act of 1973
(16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).
Dated: October 31, 2014.
Joy E. Nicholopoulos,
Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks.
[FR Doc. 2014-27872 Filed 11-24-14; 8:45 am]
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