48284 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 182 / Tuesday, September 22, 2009 / Notices 

Type of Request: Extension of a 

currently approved collection. 

Respondent Obligation: Voluntary. 

Frequency of Collection: Annually. 

Affected Public: Businesses that 

explore for and produce nonfuel 

minerals. 

Estimated Number of Annual 

Responses: 719. 

Annual Burden Hours: 539 hours. We 

expect to receive 719 annual responses. 

We estimate an average of 45 minutes 

per response. This includes the time for 

reviewing instructions, gathering and 

maintaining data, and completing and 

reviewing the information. 

Estimated Reporting and 

Recordkeeping ‘‘Non-Hour Cost’’ 

Burden: We have not identified any 

‘‘non-hour cost’’ burdens associated 

with this collection of information. 

III. Request for Comments 

On May 27, 2009, we published a 

Federal Register notice (74 FR 25273) 

announcing that we would submit this 

ICR to OMB for approval and solicit 

comments. The comment period closed 

on July 27, 2009. We did not receive any 

comments in response to that notice. 

We again invite comments concerning 

this ICR on: (a) Whether the proposed 

collection of information is necessary 

for the agency to perform its duties, 

including whether the information is 

useful; (b) the accuracy of the agency’s 

estimate of the burden of the proposed 

collection of information; (c) ways to 

enhance the quality, usefulness, and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; and (d) ways to minimize the 

burden on the respondents, including 

the use of automated collection 

techniques or other forms of information 

technology. 

Comments that you submit in 

response to this notice are a matter of 

public record. Before including your 

address, phone number, e-mail 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 anytime. 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. 

USGS Information Collection 

Clearance Officer: Phadrea Ponds 970– 

226–9445. 

Dated: September 16, 2009. 

John H. DeYoung, Jr., 

Chief Scientist, Minerals Information Team. 

[FR Doc. E9–22741 Filed 9–21–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4311–AM–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

[FWS–R1–ES–2009–N0096; 10120–1113– 

0000–C2] 

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife 

and Plants; Revised Recovery Plan for 

the Laysan Duck (Anas laysanensis) 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of document availability; 

revised recovery plan. 

SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service, announce the 

availability of the Revised Recovery 

Plan for the Laysan Duck (Anas 

laysanensis). This species, found only 

on Laysan Island and Midway Atoll in 

the northwestern Hawaiian Islands, was 

federally listed as endangered in 1967. 

ADDRESSES: An electronic copy of the 

recovery plan is available at http:// 

endangered.fws.gov/recovery/ 

index.html#plans. The recovery plan is 

also available by request from the U.S. 

Fish and Wildlife Service, Pacific 

Islands Fish and Wildlife Office, 300 

Ala Moana Boulevard, Room 3–122, Box 

50088, Honolulu, HI 96850 (phone: 808/ 

792–9400). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Holly Freifeld, Fish and Wildlife 

Biologist, at the above Pacific Islands 

Fish and Wildlife Office address and 

phone number. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Recovery of endangered or threatened 

animals and plants is a primary goal of 

the Endangered Species Act (Act) (16 

U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and our endangered 

species program. Recovery means 

improvement of the status of listed 

species to the point at which listing is 

no longer required under the criteria in 

section 4(a)(1) of the Act. 

The Act requires the development of 

recovery plans for endangered or 

threatened species unless such a plan 

would not promote the conservation of 

the species. Recovery plans help guide 

the recovery effort by describing actions 

considered necessary for the 

conservation of the species, and 

estimating time and cost for 

implementing the measures needed for 

recovery. We originally completed a 

recovery plan for the Laysan duck in 

1982, but the recommendations 

contained in that plan are outdated 

given the species’ current status. 

Section 4(f) of the Act requires that 

public notice and an opportunity for 

public review and comment be provided 

during recovery plan development. In 

fulfillment of this requirement, we made 

the Draft Revised Recovery Plan for the 

Laysan Duck (Anas laysanensis) 

available for public comment from 

November 4, 2004, to January 3, 2005 

(69 FR 64317; November 4, 2004). 

Information provided during the public 

comment period was considered in our 

preparation of this recovery plan, and is 

summarized in an appendix to the plan. 

We welcome continuing public 

comment on this recovery plan, and we 

will consider all substantive comments 

on an ongoing basis to inform the 

implementation of recovery activities 

and future updates to the recovery plan. 

The Laysan duck is endemic to the 

Hawaiian Islands, where subfossil 

remains of the species have been found 

throughout the archipelago. This species 

has been listed as an endangered species 

by the United States since the first 

Federal listing of endangered species in 

1967 (32 FR 4001; March 11, 1967). It 

is also listed as endangered by the State 

of Hawaii. Currently, the Laysan duck 

occurs in only two locations: the single 

remaining natural population on Laysan 

Island; and at Midway Atoll, where a 

population has become established 

through two translocations conducted in 

2004 and 2005. Laysan and Midway 

both are part of the National Wildlife 

Refuge System and the 

Papahanaumokuakea Marine National 

Monument. 

The Laysan duck was extirpated from 

the main Hawaiian Islands in 

prehistory, likely because of a 

combination of predation by introduced 

mammals and habitat loss and 

degradation. In recorded history, the 

Laysan duck occurred naturally on 

Laysan Island and on neighboring 

Lisianski. The species was lost from 

Lisianski during the 19th century, 

following the accidental introduction of 

mice and near-devegetation of the 

island. Similar habitat destruction took 

place on Laysan in the early 20th 

century, when rabbits were introduced 

to that island. The Laysan duck 

population dwindled to as few as a 

dozen individuals, and several other 

bird species endemic to the island 

became extinct. Although the duck 

population on Laysan eventually 

recovered to several hundred 

individuals, and the island is now 

substantially vegetated, the loss of some 

freshwater seeps and the slow infilling 

of the hypersaline lake in the island’s 

interior are enduring consequences of 

the island’s devegetation a century ago 

and continued erosion today. 

Forty-two fledged juvenile Laysan 

ducks were translocated to Midway 

Atoll during 2004 and 2005, following 


sroberts on DSKD5P82C1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 182 / Tuesday, September 22, 2009 / Notices 48285 

intensive habitat restoration and 

wetland creation in the atoll. 

Subsequently, the duck population at 

Midway Atoll has grown rapidly and 

currently comprises 200 to 300 

individuals despite mortality from an 

outbreak of avian botulism in 2008. 

This revised recovery plan replaces 

the original recovery plan for the Laysan 

duck, which was published in 1982. 

The strategy presented in this revised 

recovery plan includes (1) management 

to address threats to the species where 

it occurs now (Laysan Island and 

Midway Atoll) and (2) improvement of 

the species’ distribution and total 

population size through protection and 

enhancement of suitable habitat in the 

Northwestern and Main Hawaiian 

Islands and reduction or elimination of 

threats to allow reestablishment of 

additional wild populations. The 

recovery actions are designed to assess 

and address threats to the Laysan duck; 

create, monitor, and manage new selfsustaining populations; and fill critical 

gaps in our scientific knowledge of the 

species. The recovery goal is to downlist 

the Laysan duck to threatened status 

and eventually delist the species 

(remove it from the List of Endangered 

and Threatened Wildlife and Plants). 

Authority: The authority for this action is 

section 4(f) of the Endangered Species Act, 

16 U.S.C. 1533(f). 

Dated: July 7, 2009. 

David J. Wesley, 

Acting Regional Director, Region 1, U.S. Fish 

and Wildlife Service. 

[FR Doc. E9–22829 Filed 9–21–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

[FWS–R2–ES–2009–N159; 20124–1112– 

0000–F2] 

Environmental Impact Statement and 

Habitat Conservation Plan; Oncor 

Electric Delivery Company; Routine 

Maintenance and Repair of Facilities 

and Installation and Operation of New 

Facilities 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a 

draft environmental impact statement 

and draft habitat conservation plan; 

announcement of meetings; request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service (Service), advise the 

public that we intend to prepare a draft 

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) 

to evaluate the impacts of, and 

alternatives to, the proposed issuance of 

an Endangered Species Act permit to 

Oncor Electric Delivery Company 

(Oncor; Applicant) for incidental take of 

10 federally listed species from 

activities associated with maintenance 

and repair of existing facilities and 

installation and operation of new 

facilities within Oncor’s service area. 

We also announce plans for a series of 

public scoping meetings located 

throughout Oncor’s service area and a 

public comment period. 

DATES: Written comments on 

alternatives and issues to be addressed 

in the draft EIS must be received by 

close of business on December 1, 2009. 

Public scoping meetings will be held at 

nine locations throughout Oncor’s 

proposed 103-county permit area. 

Public meetings will be held between 

September 28, 2009, and October 28, 

2009. Exact meeting locations and times 

will be noticed in local newspapers and 

at the Austin Ecological Services Office 

Web site, http://www.fws.gov/ 

southwest/es/AustinTexas/, at least 2 

weeks prior to each event. 

ADDRESSES: Send written comments or 

requests for information by mail to the 

Field Supervisor, Austin Ecological 

Services Field Office, 10711 Burnett 

Road, Suite 200, Austin, TX 78758– 

4460; telephone 512/490–0057; 

facsimile 512/490–0974; or e-mail 

luela_roberts@fws.gov. Note that your 

information request or comments 

concern the Oncor draft EIS/HCP. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

notice is published in compliance with 

the National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA) of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 

4321 et seq.), and its implementing 

regulations (40 CFR 1506.6), and section 

10(c) of the Endangered Species Act of 

1973, as amended (Act; 16 U.S.C. 1531 

et seq.). The Service intends to gather 

the information necessary to determine 

impacts and alternatives to support a 

decision regarding the potential 

issuance of an incidental take permit to 

the Applicant, and the implementation 

of the supporting draft HCP. 

The Service intends to prepare a draft 

EIS to evaluate the impacts of, and 

alternatives to, the proposed issuance of 

an incidental take permit under the Act 

to the Applicant. The Applicant 

proposes to apply for an incidental take 

permit through development and 

implementation of an HCP. The 

proposed HCP will include measures 

necessary to minimize and mitigate the 

impacts to the maximum extent 

practicable of potential proposed taking 

of federally listed species and the 

habitats upon which they depend 

during routine maintenance and repair 

of existing Oncor facilities and 

installation and operation of new Oncor 

facilities within Oncor’s service area. 

Background 

Section 9 of the Act prohibits 

‘‘taking’’ of fish and wildlife species 

listed as endangered or threatened 

under section 4 of the Act. Under the 

Act, the term ‘‘take’’ means to harass, 

harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, 

trap, capture, or collect, or attempt to 

engage in any such conduct. The term 

‘‘harm’’ is defined in the regulations as 

significant habitat modification or 

degradation that results in death or 

injury to listed species by significantly 

impairing essential behavioral patterns, 

including breeding, feeding, or 

sheltering (50 CFR 17.3). The term 

‘‘harass’’ is defined in the regulations as 

actions that create the likelihood of 

injury to listed species to such an extent 

as to significantly disrupt normal 

behavioral patterns which include, but 

are not limited to, breeding, feeding, or 

sheltering (50 CFR 17.3). However, the 

Service may, under specified 

circumstances, issue permits that allow 

the take of federally listed species, 

provided that the take incidental to, but 

not the purpose of, otherwise lawful 

activity. Regulations governing permits 

for endangered and threatened species 

are at 50 CFR 17.22 and 17.32, 

respectively. 

Section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Act contains 

provisions for issuing such incidental 

take permits to non-Federal entities for 

the take of endangered and threatened 

species, provided the following criteria 

are met: (1) The taking will be 

incidental; (2) The applicant will, to the 

maximum extent practicable, minimize 

and mitigate the impact of such taking; 

(3) The applicant will develop a draft 

HCP and ensure that adequate funding 

for the plan will be provided; (4) The 

taking will not appreciably reduce the 

likelihood of the survival and recovery 

of the species in the wild; and (5) The 

applicant will carry out any other 

measures that we may require as being 

necessary or appropriate for the 

purposes of the habitat conservation 

plan. 

Thus, the purpose of issuing a permit 

is to allow Oncor to maintain the 

efficiency of its projects and operations, 

while preserving protected species and 

their habitat. Adoption of a multispecies 

habitat conservation approach, rather 

than a species-by-species/project-byproject approach, will reduce the costs 

of implementing species minimization 

and mitigation measures, and eliminate 

cost and time-consuming efforts 

associated with processing individual 

incidental take permits for each project 


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