82324 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 225 / Friday, November 24, 2023 / Notices 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XD547] 

Endangered and Threatened Species; 

Take of Anadromous Fish 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of availability of a draft 

environmental assessment; request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that 

NMFS has prepared a draft 

Environmental Assessment under the 

National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA) describing the potential effects 

of the continued operation of one 

hatchery program in the San Joaquin 

River Basin of California. The Hatchery 

and Genetic Management Plan (HGMP) 

for the program was prepared and 

submitted by the United States Fish and 

Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the 

California Department of Fish and 

Wildlife (CDFW). All comments and 

other information received will become 

part of the public record and will be 

available for review. 

DATES: Comments or requests for a 

public hearing on the applications must 

be received at the appropriate address or 

fax number (see ADDRESSES) no later 

than 5 p.m. Pacific standard time on 

December 26, 2023. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments on the 

application should be addressed to the 

NMFS California Central Valley Office, 

650 Capitol Mall, Suite 5–100, 

Sacramento, CA 95814. Comments may 

also be submitted via email to 

Meiling.Colombano@noaa.gov. Include 

in the subject line of the email comment 

the following identifier: Comments on 

SJRRP 10(a)(1)(A) Enhancement Permit 

EA. When commenting on the draft 

environmental assessment, please refer 

to the specific page number and line 

number of the subject of your comment. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Meiling Colombano, Sacramento, CA, at 

phone number: (916) 930–3695, or via 

email: Meiling.Colombano@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

ESA-Listed Species Covered in This 

Notice 

Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus 

tshawytscha): threatened, naturally 

produced and artificially propagated 

Central Valley spring-run (CVSR). 

Steelhead (O. mykiss): threatened, 

naturally produced and artificially 

propagated California Central Valley 

(CCV). 

Green sturgeon (Acipenser 

medirostris): threatened, naturally 

produced southern distinct population 

segment (sDPS). 

Background 

The USFWS and CDFW, under the 

auspices of the San Joaquin River 

Restoration Program (SJRRP), are 

working to restore a CVSR Chinook 

salmon population in the San Joaquin 

River. The reintroduced CVSR Chinook 

salmon, taken from one or more out-ofbasin stocks, are designated as a nonessential, experimental population 

under Section 10(j) of the ESA, and have 

associated 4(d) take provisions (78 FR 

79622; December 31, 2013). The SJRRP 

determined that a conservation hatchery 

would be the preferred and primary 

strategy for reintroducing CVSR 

Chinook salmon to the San Joaquin 

River. The San Joaquin River Salmon 

Conservation and Research Program 

(Conservation Program) involves the 

operation of two facilities: the Salmon 

Conservation and Research Facility 

(SCARF) currently under construction, 

with completion expected in 2024, and 

an interim SCARF (Interim Facility) 

currently in operation. The 

Conservation Program is operated as an 

Integrated-Recovery hatchery program, 

intended to help meet fisheries 

management objectives while achieving 

restoration and recovery goals. 

This CVSR Chinook salmon HGMP 

submitted by the USFWS and CDFW, 

pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(A) of the 

ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and 

regulations governing listed fish and 

wildlife permits (50 CFR 222), provides 

guidance on the management and 

operation of the SCARF and Interim 

Facility in the San Joaquin River Basin. 

The HGMP and the associated Section 

10(a)(1)(A) enhancement permit 

application (20571–2R) were made 

available for public review and 

comment on March 7, 2023 (88 FR 

14147). On June 26, 2023, NMFS 

determined that the submitted HGMP 

was sufficient for consideration under 

Section 10(a)(1)(A) of the ESA. The draft 

environmental assessment available for 

comment evaluates the potential effects 

of approving the CVSR Chinook salmon 

HGMP and issuing Section 10(a)(1)(A) 

Permit 20571–2R to the USFWS and 

CDFW. 

Authority 

NEPA requires Federal agencies to 

conduct an environmental analysis of 

their proposed actions to determine if 

the actions may affect the human 

environment. Therefore, NMFS is 

seeking public input on the scope of the 

required NEPA analysis, including the 

range of reasonable alternatives and 

associated impacts of any alternatives. 

Dated: November 17, 2023. 

Angela Somma, 

Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office 

of Protected Resources, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2023–25878 Filed 11–22–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XD548] 

Endangered Species; File No. 21516 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Issuance of permit modification. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that 

NMFS has issued a modification to 

Incidental Take Permit (ITP; No. 21516) 

to Virginia Electric and Power 

Company, d.b.a. Dominion Virginia 

Power (Dominion) pursuant to the 

Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA), 

as amended, for the incidental take of 

Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus 

oxyrinchus) associated with the 

otherwise lawful operation of the 

Dominion Chesterfield Power Station 

(CPS) in Chesterfield, VA. 

ADDRESSES: The modified incidental 

take permit and other related documents 

are available on the NMFS Office of 

Protected Resources website at https://

www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/ 

endangered-species-conservation/ 

incidental-take-permits. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Lynn Lankshear, (978) 282–8473, 

Lynn.Lankshear@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 9 

of the ESA and Federal regulations 

prohibits the ‘‘taking’’ of a species listed 

as endangered or threatened. The ESA 

defines ‘‘take’’ to mean harass, harm, 

pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, 

capture, or collect, or to attempt to 

engage in any such conduct. NMFS may 

issue permits, under limited 

circumstances to take listed species 

when the take is incidental to, and not 

the purpose of, otherwise lawful 

activities. Section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA 

provides for authorizing incidental take 

of listed species. The regulations for 

modifying permits and issuing 

incidental take permits for threatened 

and endangered species are 


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