31592 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 97 / Thursday, May 18, 2000 / Notices

[FR Doc. 00–12586 Filed 5–15–00; 4:58 pm]

BILLING CODE 4210–33–C

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

Endangered and Threatened Species

Permit Application

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service,

Interior.

ACTION: Notice of receipt of application.

The following applicant has applied

for a permit to conduct certain activities

with endangered species. This notice is

provided pursuant to section 10(c) of

the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as

amended (16 U.S.C. 1531, et seq.).

Permit Number TE805269–6

Applicant: Daniel A. Soluk, Illinois

Natural History Survey, Champaign,

Illinois.

The applicant requests a permit

amendment to take Hine’s Emerald

Dragonfly (Somatochlora hineana) in the

states of Alabama, Michigan, Missouri

and Ohio. The applicant is currently

authorized to conduct take in Illinois

and Wisconsin. Activities are proposed

for the enhancement of survival of the

species in the wild.

Written data or comments should be

submitted to the Regional Director, U.S.

Fish and Wildlife Service, Ecological

Services Operations, 1 Federal Drive,

Fort Snelling, Minnesota 55111–4056,

and must be received within 30 days of

the date of this publication.

Documents and other information

submitted with this application are

available for review by any party who

submits a written request for a copy of

such documents to the following office

within 30 days of the date of publication

of this notice: U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service, Ecological Services Operations,

1 Federal Drive, Fort Snelling,

Minnesota 55111–4056. Telephone:

(612/713–5343); FAX: (612/713–5292).

Dated: May 12, 2000.

Charles M. Wooley,

Assistant Regional Director, Ecological

Services, Region 3, Fort Snelling, Minnesota.

[FR Doc. 00–12573 Filed 5–17–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

Availability of a Draft Environmental

Assessment and Receipt of an

Application for an Incidental Take

Permit for the Atlantic Coast Piping

Plover in Massachusetts

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service,

Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: The Massachusetts Division

of Fisheries and Wildlife has applied to

the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

(Service) for an incidental take permit

pursuant to Section 10(a)(1)(B) of the

Endangered Species Act (Act). The

requested permit, which is for a period

of three years, would authorize the

incidental take of the threatened piping

plover (Charadrius melodus) in

Massachusetts. The proposed take

would occur as a result of specific

actions relating to the management of

recreational use of beaches where

breeding piping plovers are found.

The Massachusetts Division of

Fisheries and Wildlife has prepared a

draft environmental assessment (EA) for

the incidental take application. This

notice is provided pursuant to Section

10(c) of the Act and National

Environmental Policy Act regulations

(40 CFR 1506.6).

DATES: Written comments on the

application and draft EA should be

received on or before June 19, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Written comments

regarding the application and requests

for copies of the draft EA and the

conservation plan should be addressed

to Field Supervisor, New England Field

Office, 22 Bridge St., Unit 1, Concord,

New Hampshire 03301–4986, telephone

(603) 225–1411. Please refer to permit

TE813653 when submitting comments.

Comments regarding the conservation

plan will be forwarded to the

Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and

Wildlife for review and response.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Susanna L. von Oettingen at the above

address.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The Atlantic Coast piping plover was

listed as a threatened species on January

10, 1986. Because of its listing as

threatened, the piping plover is

protected by the Act’s prohibitions

against ‘‘take’’. However, the Service

may issue permits to carry out otherwise

prohibited activities involving

endangered and threatened wildlife

under certain circumstances.

Regulations governing permits are at 50

CFR 17.22, 17.23 and 17.32. For

threatened species, such permits are

available for scientific purposes,

incidental take, or special purposes

consistent with the purposes of the Act.

The Massachusetts Division of

Fisheries and Wildlife (Division) has

applied to the Service for an incidental

take permit pursuant to Section

10(a)(1)(B) of the Act. This permit

would authorize the incidental take of

piping plovers through otherwise lawful

activities occurring on plover breeding

beaches. Included in the application is

a conservation plan prepared by the

Division detailing the activities that

would result in incidental take and

describing measures that mitigate,

minimize and monitor the amount of

take. In 1996, the Division was granted

a Section 10(a)(1)(B) permit for the

incidental take of piping plovers. The

permit expired in 1998. The

conservation plan included in the

current application under review is an

updated document and will replace the

earlier conservation plan.

The revised recovery plan for the

Atlantic Coast piping plover (U.S. Fish

and Wildlife Service, 1996. Piping

Plover (Charadrius melodus), Atlantic

Coast Population, Revised Recovery

Plan. Hadley, MA. 258 pp) identified

New England (which includes

Massachusetts) as a recovery unit.

Guidelines in the recovery plan state

that permits for incidental take that will

reduce the productivity of breeding

piping plovers should only be allowed

in recovery units where the

subpopulation has achieved at least

70% of its portion of the recovery goal.

The 1999 preliminary estimate of 634

pairs of piping plovers in the New

England recovery unit indicate that the

population has exceeded the recovery

goal of 627 pairs specified in the

recovery plan. Furthermore, under an

intensive management program, the

Massachusetts piping plover population

has increased more than four-fold over

the last ten years, from 140 pairs in 1990

to 505 pairs in 1999.

The purpose of the proposed

incidental take permit is to provide

increased flexibility in managing

Massachusetts beaches for use by

recreationists and homeowners, while

assuring continued progress toward the

recovery of the Massachusetts and

Atlantic Coast populations of the piping

plover. The additional flexibility in

managing beaches will prevent a

disproportionate expenditure of

resources directed at the protection of a

few nests or broods in areas where they

may significantly disrupt beach access

by large numbers of people and be

highly vulnerable to disturbance and/or

mortality. Management flexibility also

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 97 / Thursday, May 18, 2000 / Notices 31593

will create incentives for the continued

participation by beach management

agencies and organizations involved in

protecting piping plovers.

The two alternatives presented by the

Division in the conservation plan and

the draft EA are limited to the proposed

action and the no-action alternative

(continuation of current management

recommendations without increased

flexibility for limited take).

The proposed action establishes strict

statewide and site-specific eligibility

criteria that must be met prior to the

implementation of the proposed Section

10 incidental take permit. Statewide

eligiblity requirements determine the

level of take that will be allowed for

each breeding season. Site-specific

eligibility requirements determine

whether a landowner may participate in

permitted activities, and requires that

these landowners make additional

plover protection commitments,

including the use of predator

exclosures, prohibition of dogs,

implementation of public outreach

programs (for heavily-used public

recreational beaches), and plover

monitoring and reporting. The proposed

permit would be effective during the

2000, 2001 and 2002 plover breeding

seasons. Authorized take would only

affect piping plovers; take of other

federally-listed species is specifically

excluded from the proposed action.

Incidental take likely to occur on

eligible sites may result from several

management activities outlined in the

conservation plan. Certain activities will

be automatically authorized statewide

and at particular sites. Statewide

activities automatically proposed to be

authorized include the taking of chicks

on paved or improved roads and in

parking lots and take caused by

fireworks located within one-half mile

or more from plover nests or chicks.

Additional proposed take automatically

permitted at three sites includes: (1)

Take from fireworks at Crane Beach,

Ipswich; (2) take from unescorted

essential vehicles on a specified portion

of Crane’s Beach; (3) take from

unescorted vehicles on a specified

portion of Plymouth Beach, Plymouth;

and (4) take of chicks by unescorted

vehicles on a specified portion of Sandy

Neck, Barnstable.

Additional discretionary take may

also be authorized at a limited number

of sites that meet specific eligibility

requirements. Landowners that choose

to undertake such actions may apply to

be included under the Division’s

proposed permit that will authorize the

incidental take. Proposed authorized

activities are: (1) Reduction of

symbolically-fenced buffer areas around

plover nests, applicable to one plover

nest per site per year; (2) moving eggs

from heavily-used pedestrian or vehicle

access points; (3) limited use of escorted

off-road vehicle caravans for

recreational access during periods when

unfledged chicks are present on the

beach; and (4) limited use of vehicles for

homeowner access after dark through

areas with unfledged chicks.

Take of piping plovers primarily will

occur either through direct mortality of

chicks, harassment of chicks or adults,

or mortality of eggs that occurs as the

result of nest abandonment or

inadequate incubation or nest defense.

As a result of these takings, overall

reproductive success will be reduced at

individual sites, and adverse effects may

occur to immediate habitats of

individuals pairs or broods. However,

the level of incidental take likely to

occur will not reduce productivity

enough to substantially slow progress

toward recovery. Take that occurs as a

result of a permit issued to the Division

will not include mortality of adults, nor

will actions undertaken within the

scope of such a permit permanently

degrade otherwise suitable habitat.

The Division has proposed to

minimize and monitor the level of

incidental take through a number of

measures. Continued population growth

over the duration of the permit should

be ensured by conditioning the

authorization of discretionary incidental

take on maintaining average

productivity of 1.5 chicks fledged per

pair for the entire state, individual

Management Units and individual sites.

If statewide productivity falls below 1.5

chicks fledged per pair, incidental take

authorized for the following year will be

limited. The conservation plan

encompasses a sufficiently large

geographic area that should some sites

experience adverse effects from

environmental or demographic

stochasticity, unsuccessful management,

or larger incidental take than predicted,

those set-backs may be balanced by

more favorable conditions or results of

management elsewhere in the planning

unit. Finally, the proposed permit

duration of three years will allow for a

relatively rapid evaluation of the

conservation plan in light of

management results and changes in the

overall status of the Massachusetts and

New England plover populations that

may occur in 2000, 2001 and 2002.

The 1996 Section 19(a)(1)(B)

incidental take permit granted to the

Division outlined eligibility

requirements similar to those proposed

in the current application. Due to a

decrease in piping plover productivity

in 1996, permit activities were not

allowed to occur the following year in

order to ensure the continued recovery

of piping plovers in Massachusetts.

Piping plover productivity also fell

below the established eligibility criteria

in 1997, again precluding the

implementation of measures permitted

in the 1996 Section 10 permit. The

eligibility criteria proposed in the

current Section 10(a)(1)(B) permit

application provide a greater range of

options than the previous permit. These

options will allow greater flexibility to

implement the portions of the proposed

permit that will have the least impact on

the recovery of the Massachusetts

population of the piping plover.

Dated: May 11, 2000.

Mamie Parker,

Deputy Regional Director, Region 5.

[FR Doc. 00–12492 Filed 5–17–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–M

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

Letters of Authorization To Take

Marine Mammals

AGENCY: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,

Interior.

ACTION: Notice of issuance of Letters of

Authorization to take marine mammals

incidental to oil and gas industry

activities.

SUMMARY: In accordance with section

101(a)(5)(A) of the Marine Mammal

Protection Act of 1972, as amended, and

the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

implementing regulations [50 CFR

18.27(f)(3)], notice is hereby given that

Letters of Authorization to take polar

bears and Pacific walrus incidental to

oil and gas industry exploration,

development, and production activities

have been issued to the following

companies:

Company Activity Date issued

BP Exploration (Prudhoe Bay Unit) ........................................................ Production ...................................... April 21, 2000.

BP Exploration (Kuparuk Unit) ................................................................ Production ...................................... April 21, 2000.

Western Geophysical (Anadarko) ........................................................... Exploration ..................................... April 21, 2000.