Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 241 / Tuesday, December 15, 2020 / Notices 81215 

Place: National Institutes of Health, One 

Democracy Plaza, 9th Floor, Conference 

Rooms 987/989, 6701 Democracy Boulevard, 

Bethesda, MD 20892 (Virtual Meeting). 

Contact Person: Anna L. Ramsey-Ewing, 

Ph.D., Executive Secretary, National Center 

for Advancing Translational Sciences, One 

Democracy Plaza, Room 1072, Bethesda, MD 

20892, (301) 435–0809, anna.ramseyewing@

nih.gov. 

Attendees and interested parties may 

submit questions and comments through 

written Q&A during the meeting, and for 15 

days after the meeting, to 

NCATSCouncilInput@mail.nih.gov. 

Any interested person may file written 

comments with the committee by forwarding 

the statement to the Contact Person listed on 

this notice no later than 15 days after the 

meeting. The statement should include the 

name, address, telephone number and when 

applicable, the business or professional 

affiliation of the interested person. 

(Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance 

Program Nos. 93.859, Pharmacology, 

Physiology, and Biological Chemistry 

Research; 93.350, B—Cooperative 

Agreements; 93.859, Biomedical Research 

and Research Training, National Institutes of 

Health, HHS). 

Dated: December 10, 2020. 

Miguelina Perez, 

Program Analyst, Office of Federal Advisory 

Committee Policy. 

[FR Doc. 2020–27547 Filed 12–14–20; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4140–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

[FWS–R2–ES–2020–N126; 

FXES11140200000–201–FF02ENEH00] 

Draft Amendment to the Environmental 

Assessment/Habitat Conservation Plan 

Previously Associated With the 440- 

acre Schlumberger Property for 

Concordia University, Texas 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of availability; request 

for public comments. 

SUMMARY: Concordia University has 

applied to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service for an amended incidental take 

permit (ITP) under the Endangered 

Species Act. The requested amended 

ITP, if granted, would authorize 

incidental take of the Jollyville Plateau 

salamander, in addition to the already 

existing ITP for golden-cheeked warbler. 

The proposed incidental take would 

result from activities associated with 

otherwise lawful activities, including 

construction, operation, and 

maintenance of Concordia University, 

that result in water quality and habitat 

degradation. Under the National 

Environmental Policy Act, we invite 

public comment on the draft 

environmental assessment on the 

proposed amended habitat conservation 

plan and application. 

DATES: To ensure consideration, written 

comments must be received or 

postmarked on or before January 14, 

2021. We may not consider any 

comments we receive after the closing 

date in the final decision on this action. 

ADDRESSES: Accessing Documents: 

Internet: The dEA and HCP: You may 

obtain electronic copies of these 

documents at http://www.fws.gov/ 

southwest/es/AustinTexas/. 

U.S. Mail: You may obtain the 

documents by writing to the following 

addresses. In your request for 

documents, please reference Concordia 

University HCP and ITP Amendment 

(TE827597–4). 

• DEA and HCP: A limited number of 

CD–ROM and printed copies of the dEA 

and HCP are available, by request, from 

Mr. Jacob Ogdee; Austin Ecological 

Services Field Office; U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service; 10711 Burnet Road, 

Suite 200; Austin, TX 78758; telephone 

512–490–0057; fax 512–490–0974. 

• ITP application: The ITP 

application is available from the 

Assistant Regional Director—Ecological 

Services; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; 

P.O. Box 1306, Room 6034; 

Albuquerque, NM 87103; Attention: 

Environmental Review Branch. 

Submitting Comments: Regarding any 

of the three documents available for 

review, you may submit written 

comments by one of the following 

methods. In your comments, please 

reference Concordia University HCP and 

ITP Amendment (TE–827597–4). 

Email: FW2_AUES_Consult@fws.gov. 

U.S. Mail: Mr. Adam Zerrenner, 

Austin Ecological Services Field Office, 

10711 Burnet Road, Suite 200, Austin, 

TX 78758–4460; telephone 512–490– 

0057; fax 512–490–0974. 

We request that you send comments 

by only one of the methods described 

above. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Adam Zerrenner Field Supervisor, by 

mail at U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 

10711 Burnet Road, Suite 200, Austin, 

TX 78758; via phone at 512–490–0057 

or via the Federal Relay Service at 800– 

877–8339. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We, the 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), 

make available a draft environmental 

assessment (dEA) under the National 

Environmental Policy Act for the 

Habitat Conservation Plan for an 

Endangered Species Act Section 

10(a)(1)(B) Incidental Take Permit for 

the Golden-cheeked Warbler Previously 

Associated with the 440-acre 

Schlumberger Property to Include 

Incidental Take of the Jollyville Plateau 

Salamander Due to Activities 

Associated with the Construction, 

Operation, and Maintenance of 

Concordia University Texas, in Travis 

County, Texas. Concordia University 

applied for an amendment to their 

existing HCP and incidental take permit 

(ITP) under the Endangered Species Act 

(16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) that would add 

authorization for incidental take of the 

Jollyville Plateau salamander (Eurycea 

tonkawae) to the already permitted 

incidental take of golden-cheeked 

warbler (Setophaga chrysoparia). The 

dEA evaluates the impacts of, and 

alternatives to, implementation of the 

proposed HCP. 

Background 

Section 9 of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531 

et seq.) and its implementing 

regulations prohibit the ‘‘take’’ of 

animal species listed as endangered or 

threatened. Take is defined under the 

ESA as to ‘‘harass, harm, pursue, hunt, 

shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or 

collect listed animal species, or to 

attempt to engage in such conduct’’ (16 

U.S.C. 1538). However, under section 

10(a) of the ESA, we may issue permits 

to authorize incidental take of listed 

species. ‘‘Incidental take’’ is defined by 

the ESA as take that is incidental to, and 

not the purpose of, carrying out an 

otherwise lawful activity. Regulations 

governing such take of endangered and 

threatened species, respectively, are 

found in the Code of Federal 

Regulations at 50 CFR 17.22 and 50 CFR 

17.32. 

Alternatives 

Proposed Action 

The proposed action involves the 

issuance of an amended ITP by the 

Service for the covered activities in the 

permit area, under section 10(a)(1)(B) of 

the ESA. The ITP would cover ‘‘take’’ of 

the covered species associated with 

construction, operation, and 

maintenance of Concordia University 

within the permit area. An application 

for an ITP must include a HCP that 

describes the conservation measures the 

applicant has agreed to undertake to 

minimize and mitigate for the impacts 

of the proposed taking of covered 

species to the maximum extent 

practicable. The applicant will fully 

implement the HCP if approved by the 

Service. The terms of the HCP and ITP 

will also ensure that incidental take will 

not appreciably reduce the likelihood of 

81216 Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 241 / Tuesday, December 15, 2020 / Notices 

the survival and recovery of the species 

in the wild. 

No Action Alternative 

We have considered one alternative to 

the proposed action as part of this 

process: No Action. Under a No Action 

alternative, the Service would not issue 

the requested amended ITP, and 

applicant either would not continue 

with the construction, operation, and 

maintenance of Concordia University or 

would conduct those activities in a 

manner that avoids incidental take. 

Therefore, the applicant would not 

implement the conservation measures 

described in the HCP. 

Next Steps 

We will evaluate the EA, HCP, and 

comments we receive, to determine 

whether the ITP application meets the 

requirements of section 10(a) of the ESA 

(16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). We will also 

evaluate whether issuance of an ESA 

section 10(a)(1)(B) permit would comply 

with section 7 of the ESA by conducting 

an intra-Service section 7 consultation. 

We will use the results of this 

consultation, in combination with the 

above findings, in our final analysis to 

determine whether to issue an ITP. If all 

necessary requirements are met, we will 

issue the ITP to the applicant. 

Public Availability of Comments 

Written comments we receive become 

part of the public record associated with 

this action. 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 request in your comment that 

we withhold your personal identifying 

information from public review, we 

cannot guarantee that we will be able to 

do so. All submissions from 

organizations or businesses, and from 

individuals identifying themselves as 

representatives or officials of 

organizations or businesses, will be 

made available for public disclosure in 

their entirety. 

Authority 

We provide this notice under section 

10(c) of the ESA and its implementing 

regulations (50 CFR 17.22 and 17.32) 

and the National Environmental Policy 

Act (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and its 

implementing regulations (40 CFR 

1506.6). 

Amy L. Lueders, 

Regional Director, Southwest Region, 

Albuquerque, New Mexico. 

[FR Doc. 2020–27582 Filed 12–14–20; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4333–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

[FWS–R2–ES–2020–N079; 

FXES11130200000–201–FF02ENEH00] 

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife 

and Plants; Draft Recovery Plan for 

Texas Hornshell 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of availability; request 

for comment. 

SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service, announce the 

availability of our draft recovery plan 

for Texas hornshell, a medium sized 

freshwater mussel that is listed as 

endangered under the Endangered 

Species Act. This species is native to the 

Rio Grande drainage in Texas, New 

Mexico, and Mexico. We provide this 

notice to seek comments from the public 

and Federal, Tribal, State, and local 

governments. 

DATES: To ensure consideration, we 

must receive written comments on or 

before February 16, 2021. However, we 

will accept information about any 

species at any time. 

ADDRESSES: 

Reviewing document: You may obtain 

a copy of the draft recovery plan, the 

recovery implementation strategy, and 

the species status assessment by any one 

of the following methods: 

• Internet: Download a copy at 

https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp0/profile/ 

speciesProfile?sId=919 or https://

www.fws.gov/southwest/es/ 

TexasCoastal/. 

• U.S. mail: Send a request to U.S. 

Fish and Wildlife Service, Texas Coastal 

Ecological Services Field Office, 17629 

El Camino Real, #211, Houston, TX 

77058. 

• Telephone: 281–286–8282. 

Submitting comments: Submit your 

comments on the draft recovery plan in 

writing by any one of the following 

methods: 

• U.S. mail: Project Leader, at the 

above U.S. mail address; 

• Email: houstonesfo@fws.gov. 

For additional information about 

submitting comments, see Request for 

Public Comments and Public 

Availability of Comments under 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Chuck Ardizzone, Field Supervisor, at 

the above address and phone number, or 

by email at houstonesfo@fws.gov. 

Individuals who are hearing or speech 

impaired may call the Federal Relay 

Service at 1–800–877–8339 for TTY 

assistance. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We, the 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 

announce the availability of our draft 

recovery plan for Texas hornshell 

(Popenaias popeii), a freshwater mussel 

species listed as endangered under the 

Endangered Species Act, as amended 

(ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). We 

request review and comment on this 

plan from local, State, and Federal 

agencies; Tribes; and the public. We 

will also accept any new information on 

the status of Texas hornshell throughout 

the species’ range to assist in finalizing 

the recovery plan. 

Texas hornshell is a medium-sized 

freshwater mussel species native to the 

Rio Grande drainage in Texas, New 

Mexico, and Mexico. Currently, five 

known populations of Texas hornshell 

remain in the United States: Black River 

(Eddy County, New Mexico), Pecos 

River (Val Verde County, Texas), Devils 

River (Val Verde County, Texas), Lower 

Canyons of the Rio Grande (Brewster 

and Terrell Counties, Texas), and Lower 

Rio Grande near Laredo (Webb County, 

Texas). After the species was listed, a 

small population was discovered in the 

confluence of Rio San Diego in Mexico. 

The draft recovery plan includes 

specific recovery objectives and criteria 

that, when achieved, will enable us to 

consider removing the Texas hornshell 

from the Federal List of Endangered and 

Threatened Wildlife (List). 

Background 

Recovery of endangered or threatened 

animals and plants to the point at which 

they are again secure, self-sustaining 

members of their ecosystems is a 

primary goal of the ESA and our 

endangered species program. Recovery 

means improvement of the status of 

listed species to the point at which 

listing is no longer appropriate under 

the criteria set out in section 4(a)(1) of 

the ESA. The ESA requires the 

development of recovery plans for listed 

species, unless such a plan would not 

promote the conservation of a particular 

species. 

We used a streamlined approach to 

recovery planning and implementation 

by first conducting a species status 

assessment (SSA) of Texas hornshell 

(Service 2018). An SSA is a