Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 28 / Friday, February 9, 2024 / Notices 9171 

Common name Scientific name 

Panamanian golden frog .......................................................................... Atelopus varius zeteki. 

Fiji banded iguana .................................................................................... Brachylophus fasciatus. 

False gharial (Tomistoma) ........................................................................ Tomistoma schlegelii. 

Komodo dragon ........................................................................................ Varanus komodoensis. 

Amur leopard ............................................................................................ Panthera pardus. 

African wild dog ........................................................................................ Lycaon pictus. 

Sumatran orangutan ................................................................................. Pongo abelii. 

Asian elephant .......................................................................................... Elephas maximus. 

North Sulawesi babirusa .......................................................................... Babyrousa celebensis. 

Swamp deer (barasingha) ........................................................................ Cervus duvauceli. 

Bali myna (Rothschild’s [myna]) starling .................................................. Leucopsar rothschildi. 

Blue-throated macaw ................................................................................ Ara glaucogularis. 

Mandrill ..................................................................................................... Mandrillus (=Papio) sphinx. 

Applicant: Louisiana State University, 

Baton Rouge, LA; Permit No. 

PER6612201 

The applicant requests the renewal of 

their permit to export and re-import 

non-living museum/herbarium 

specimens of endangered and 

threatened species (excluding animals) 

previously legally accessioned into the 

permittee’s collection for scientific 

research. This notification covers 

activities to be conducted by the 

applicant over a 5-year period. 

IV. Next Steps

After the comment period closes, we

will make decisions regarding permit 

issuance. If we issue permits to any of 

the applicants listed in this notice, we 

will publish a notice in the Federal 

Register. You may locate the notice 

announcing the permit issuance by 

searching https://www.regulations.gov 

for the permit number listed above in 

this document. For example, to find 

information about the potential issuance 

of Permit No. 12345A, you would go to 

regulations.gov and search for 

‘‘12345A’’. 

V. Authority

We issue this notice under the

authority of the Endangered Species Act 

of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et 

seq.), and its implementing regulations. 

Brenda Tapia, 

Supervisory Program Analyst/Data 

Administrator, Branch of Permits, Division 

of Management Authority. 

[FR Doc. 2024–02668 Filed 2–8–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4333–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

[Docket No. FWS–R6–ES–2014–0048; 

[FXES11140600000–245–FF06E22000] 

R-Project Transmission Line,

Nebraska; Revised Proposed Habitat

Conservation Plan for the American

Burying Beetle and Draft Supplemental

Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of availability; request 

for comments. 

SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service (Service), announce the 

availability of documents related to an 

application for an incidental take permit 

(ITP) under the Endangered Species Act. 

The Nebraska Public Power District 

(NPPD) is applying for a permit 

associated with incidental take of the 

American burying beetle (Nicrophorus 

americanus; ABB) during construction, 

operation, and maintenance of a new 

transmission line in central Nebraska 

(known as the R-Project). NPPD has 

submitted a new application for a 50- 

year ITP, including a revised proposed 

habitat conservation plan (revised HCP) 

and associated documents. We 

previously issued an ITP for the 

R-Project and the applicant’s earlier

HCP to NPPD in 2019. However, that

ITP was remanded by a Court. In

response to the Court remand, NPPD has

prepared the revised HCP as part of the

new ITP application. In accordance with

the National Environmental Policy Act,

we now announce the availability of the

draft supplemental EIS (draft SEIS)

associated with the revised HCP. We

invite comment from the public and

local, State, Tribal, and Federal

agencies.

DATES: Submitting Comments: We must 

receive your written comments on or 

before April 9, 2024. Comments 

submitted online at https://

www.regulations.gov/ must be received 

by 11:59 p.m. eastern time on April 9, 

2024. 

Public Meetings: During the public 

comment period, the Service will hold 

two in-person public meetings in 

Nebraska, weather permitting, and one 

virtual public meeting. 

• In-person meetings:

Æ Tuesday, February 27, 2024, from

5:00 to 7:00 p.m. CST; North Platte, 

Nebraska, The Prairie Arts Center. 

Æ Thursday, February 29, 2024, from 

1:00 to 3:00 p.m. CST; Broken Bow, 

Nebraska, Mid Plains Community 

College. 

• Virtual meeting: Thursday, March

7, 2024, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. CST. 

Additional information on the public 

meetings will be posted at least one 

week prior on our website, at https://

fws.gov/office/nebraska-ecologicalservices. Following the virtual public 

meeting, an on demand recording of the 

virtual public meeting will be available 

for viewing by the public online, at 

https://fws.gov/office/nebraskaecological-services, and at the following 

locations: 

• North Platte Public Library, 120 W

4th St., North Platte, NE 69101. 

• Thomas County Library, 501 Main

St., Thedford, NE 69166. 

• Taylor Public Library, 106 William

St., Taylor, NE 68879. 

ADDRESSES: Obtaining Documents: The 

draft SEIS and revised HCP, as well as 

any comments and other materials that 

we receive, will be available for public 

inspection online in Docket No. FWS– 

R6–ES–2014–0048 at https://

www.regulations.gov. Copies of the 

documents will be available for viewing 

at the three libraries with the recording 

of the virtual public meeting (see 

DATES). 

Submitting Comments: You may 

submit comments by one of the 

following methods: 

• Online: https://

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments to 

Docket No. FWS–R6–ES–2014–0048. 


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9172 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 28 / Friday, February 9, 2024 / Notices 

• U.S. Mail: Public Comments 

Processing, Attn: Docket No. FWS–R6– 

ES–2014–0048; U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service Headquarters, MS: PRB/3W; 

5275 Leesburg Pike; Falls Church, VA 

22041–3803. 

• Public Meetings: Comments will 

also be accepted at the in-person and 

virtual public meetings (see DATES). 

Reasonable Accommodations 

Persons needing reasonable 

accommodations to attend and 

participate in the public meetings 

should contact the Service’s Nebraska 

Ecological Services Field Office (see FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT) as soon 

as possible. To allow sufficient time to 

process requests, please make contact 

no later than 1 week before the desired 

public meeting. Information and 

documents are available in alternative 

formats upon request. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeff 

Runge, by phone at (308) 382–6468 or 

by email at jeff_runge@fws.gov. 

Individuals in the United States who are 

deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have 

a speech disability may dial 711 (TTY, 

TTD, or TeleBraille) to access 

telecommunications relay services. 

Individuals outside the United States 

should use the relay services offered 

within their country to make 

international calls to the point-ofcontact in the United States. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We, the 

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

announce the availability of documents 

related to an application for an 

incidental take permit (ITP) under 

section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered 

Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA; 

16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). The Nebraska 

Public Power District (NPPD) is 

applying for a 50-year permit associated 

with incidental take of the American 

burying beetle (Nicrophorus 

americanus; ABB) during construction, 

operation, and maintenance of a new 

transmission line in central Nebraska 

(known as the R-Project). NPPD 

submitted an application for an ITP 

covering the take of ABB to the Service. 

If granted, the ITP would authorize 

incidental take of ABB resulting from 

the revised HCP’s covered activities, as 

well as incidental take resulting from 

activities carried out as part of the 

revised HCP’s conservation strategy. We 

invite comment on the documents from 

the public and local, State, Tribal, and 

Federal agencies. 

Background 

Section 9 of the ESA and Federal 

regulations prohibit the taking of a 

species listed as endangered or 

threatened. The ESA defines ‘‘take’’ to 

mean to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, 

shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or 

collect, or to attempt to engage in any 

such conduct. We may issue permits, 

under limited circumstances, to take 

listed species incidental to, and not the 

purpose of, otherwise lawful activities. 

Section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA and its 

implementing regulations (50 CFR 

17.22(b) and 17.32(b)) provide for 

authorizing incidental take of listed 

species. Issuance of an ITP also must 

not jeopardize the existence of federally 

listed fish, wildlife, or plant species, 

pursuant to section 7 of the ESA and 50 

CFR 402.02. The permittee would 

receive assurances under our ‘‘No 

Surprises’’ regulations (50 CFR 

17.22(b)(5) and 17.32(b)(5)). 

The Service issued a Federal Register 

notice of availability for the original ITP 

application, final habitat conservation 

plan (final HCP), and final 

environmental impact statement (final 

EIS) for the R-Project on February 8, 

2019 (84 FR 2900) and issued the ITP 

on June 12, 2019. However, on June 17, 

2020, the U.S. District Court for the 

District of Colorado issued a decision on 

a lawsuit challenging the Service’s 

decision to issue this ITP under the 

ESA, the National Environmental Policy 

Act (NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), and 

the National Historic Preservation Act 

(16 U.S.C. 470) (Oregon-California 

Trails Association v. Walsh, 

1:19 cv 01945–WJM, D. Colo 2020). In its 

ruling, the Court vacated and remanded 

the ITP to the Service for further 

proceedings consistent with the Court’s 

order. In response to the Court vacating 

the ITP, NPPD prepared the R-Project 

Transmission Line Revised Habitat 

Conservation Plan (revised HCP) and 

submitted the ITP application. We 

published a Federal Register notice of 

intent to prepare a SEIS for the R-Project 

revised HCP on November 18, 2022 (87 

FR 69294). 

The Service has prepared a draft SEIS 

to address the issues identified by the 

Court and to address new information 

and changed circumstances, as relevant, 

to the R-Project revised HCP and ITP 

application proposed by NPPD. The ITP 

application submitted by NPPD 

addresses the potential take of ABB 

associated with the revised HCP’s 

covered activities associated with the 

R-Project. 

Project Information 

The R-Project is a proposed 226-mile 

transmission line that would start at 

NPPD’s Gerald Gentleman Substation 

near Sutherland, Nebraska; go north to 

a 345-kV substation located in Thomas 

County near Thedford; and then extend 

eastward to another 345-kV substation 

sited in Holt County, and interconnect 

with Western Area Power 

Administration’s existing Fort 

Thompson-to-Grand Island 345-kV line 

that is located on the eastern border of 

Holt County, Nebraska. 

The ITP, if issued, would authorize 

take of the ABB that may occur 

incidental to the covered activities, 

which include components of the 

construction, operation, and 

maintenance of the R-Project and 

implementation of the revised HCP’s 

conservation strategy. The revised HCP 

describes the covered activities, the 

anticipated impacts to ABB from the 

covered activities, and the measures that 

NPPD will implement to minimize and 

mitigate such impacts. The revised HCP 

also includes avoidance and 

minimization measures for ESA-listed 

species that are not covered species but 

may be present in the revised HCP 

Study Area (i.e., ESA-listed species for 

which incidental take is not being 

requested because take will be avoided). 

The revised HCP also describes the 

environmental setting and biological 

resources present in the study area, the 

biological goals and objectives of the 

revised HCP, monitoring, adaptive 

management, and funding assurances. 

National Environmental Policy Act 

Background 

The potential issuance of the ITP is 

considered a Federal action under 

NEPA, and we determined that 

preparation of a supplemental EIS to 

analyze the potential impacts on the 

human (biological, physical, social, and 

economic) environment caused by the 

R-Project and implementation of the 

revised HCP was appropriate. The Draft 

SEIS also addresses the issues identified 

in the court remand issued on June 17, 

2020. We prepared the Draft SEIS in 

accordance with the requirements of 

NEPA, with input from cooperating 

organizations and agencies, including 

History Nebraska, the Nebraska Game 

and Parks Commission, the National 

Park Service, the U.S. Army Corps of 

Engineers, and the U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency. We analyzed four 

alternatives in the draft SEIS, including 

the issuance of the ITP and 

implementation of the revised HCP 

(proposed action), a no action 

alternative, and two action alternatives. 

The action alternatives include 

construction of the R-Project and 

implementation of the HCP, with the 

following modifications: Alternative A 

reflects the proposed action from the 

final HCP and FEIS, and Alternative B 

reflects the use of steel monopole 

construction only. 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 28 / Friday, February 9, 2024 / Notices 9173 

We are seeking public input on the 

NEPA analysis in the Draft SEIS, 

including the associated impacts of the 

alternatives, as well as comments on the 

draft revised HCP submitted with the 

ITP application. We will respond to all 

substantive comments received during 

the comment period in the Final 

Supplemental EIS. No sooner than 30 

days after the Final SEIS publication, 

we will issue a NEPA Record of 

Decision (ROD). 

Public Availability of Comments 

You may submit your comments and 

materials by one of the methods listed 

in ADDRESSES. Before including your 

address, phone number, or other 

personal identifying information in your 

comment, you should be aware that 

your entire comment—including your 

personal identifying information—might 

be made publicly available at any time. 

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. 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. 

Comments and materials we receive, 

as well as supporting documentation we 

use in preparing the DEIS, will be 

available for public inspection online in 

Docket No. FWS–R6–ES–2014–0048, at 

https://www.regulations.gov/.) 

Next Steps and Decision To Be Made 

We will make a permit decision based 

on the statutory and regulatory criteria 

of the ESA. This decision will also be 

informed by the data, analyses, and 

findings in the EIS and public 

comments received on the Draft SEIS 

and HCP. We will document our 

determinations in an ESA section 10 

findings document, ESA section 7 

biological opinion, and NEPA ROD 

developed at the conclusion of the ESA 

and NEPA compliance processes. If we 

find that all requirements for issuance of 

the ITP are met, we will issue the 

requested permit, subject to terms and 

conditions deemed necessary or 

appropriate to carry out the purposes of 

ESA Section 10. 

Authority 

We provide this notice under section 

10(c) of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) 

and its implementing regulations (50 

CFR 17.22 and 17.32) and NEPA (42 

U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and its 

implementing regulations (40 CFR 

1506.6 and 43 CFR 46.305). 

Marjorie Nelson, 

Acting Assistant Regional Director, Ecological 

Services, Mountain-Prairie Region. 

[FR Doc. 2024–02490 Filed 2–8–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4333–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Indian Affairs 

[245A2100DD/AAKC001030/ 

A0A51010.999900] 

Notice of Deadline for Submitting 

Completed Applications To Begin 

Participation in the Tribal SelfGovernance Program in Fiscal Year 

2025 or Calendar Year 2025 

AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of application deadline. 

SUMMARY: In this notice, the Office of 

Self-Governance (OSG) establishes a 

deadline for Indian tribes/consortia to 

submit completed applications to begin 

participation in the tribal selfgovernance program in fiscal year 2025 

or calendar year 2025. 

DATES: Completed application packages 

must be received by the Director, Office 

of Self-Governance, by March 1, 2024. 

ADDRESSES: Application packages for 

inclusion in the applicant pool should 

be sent to Sharee M. Freeman, Director, 

Office of Self-Governance, Department 

of the Interior, Mail Stop 3624–MIB, 

1849 C Street NW, Washington, DC 

20240. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Vickie Hanvey, Office of Self 

Governance, Vickie.Hanvey@bia.gov; 

Telephone (918) 931–0745. Individuals 

in the United States who are deaf, 

deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a 

speech disability may dial 711 (TTY, 

TDD, or TeleBraille) to access 

telecommunications relay services. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the 

Tribal Self-Governance Act of 1994 

(Public Law 103–413), as amended by 

the Practical Reforms and Other Goals to 

Reinforce the Effectiveness of SelfGovernance and Self-Determination Act 

of 2019–2020 and section 402(b)(1)(A) 

of the Practical Reforms and Other Goals 

To Reinforce the Effectiveness of SelfGovernance and Self-Determination 

(PROGRESS Act), the Secretary, acting 

through the Director of the Office of 

Self-Governance, may select not more 

than 50 new Indian Tribes per year from 

those eligible tribes. The application 

deadline listed in the DATES section is 

predicated upon providing the parties 

enough time to complete funding 

agreement negotiations in advance of 

the FY or CY start date of the 2025 

funding agreement. The Act mandates 

that copies of the funding agreements be 

sent at least 90 days before the proposed 

effective date to each Tribe that is 

served by the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ 

agency that is serving the Tribe that is 

a party to the funding agreement. Initial 

negotiations with a Tribe/consortium 

located in a region and/or agency which 

has not previously been involved with 

self-governance negotiations will take 

approximately 2 months from start to 

finish. Agreements for an October 1 to 

September 30 funding year need to be 

signed and submitted by July 1. 

Agreements for a January 1 to December 

31 need to be signed and submitted by 

October 1. 

Purpose of Notice 

The regulations at 25 CFR 1000.10 

through 1000.31 have been modified by 

section 201 of the newly enacted 

PROGRESS Act as follows: 

Section 201. Definitions; reporting 

and audit requirements; application of 

programs. 

To be eligible to participate in selfgovernance, an Indian Tribe shall: 

(1) successfully complete the 

planning phase described in subsection 

(d); 

(2) request participation in selfgovernance by resolution or other 

official 

action by the Tribal governing body; 

and 

(3) demonstrate for the 3 fiscal years 

preceding the date on which the Tribe 

requests participation, fiscal stability 

and financial management capability as 

evidenced by the Indian Tribe having no 

uncorrected significant and internal 

audit exceptions in the required annual 

audit of its self-determination or selfgovernance agreements with any 

Federal agency. 

An Indian Tribe seeking to begin 

participation in self-governance shall 

complete the planning phase. The 

planning phase shall: 

(A) be conducted to the satisfaction of 

the Indian Tribe; and 

(B) include: 

(i) legal and budgetary research; and 

(ii) internal Tribal governing 

planning, training, and organizational 

preparation. 

Applicants should be guided by the 

referenced requirements in preparing 

their applications to begin participation 

in the tribal self-governance program in 

fiscal year 2025 and calendar year 2025. 

Copies of these requirements may be 

obtained from the information contact 

person identified in this notice. 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1