Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 201 / Thursday, October 17, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 83629 

SUMMARY: This document corrects an 

error by deleting an incorrect sentence 

in the Final Regulatory Flexibility 

Analysis section of a final rule that 

appeared in the Federal Register on 

September 24, 2024, regarding the 

implementation of Next Generation 911. 

DATES: This correction is effective 

October 17, 2024. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

further information, contact John 

Evanoff of the Public Safety and 

Homeland Security Bureau, Policy and 

Licensing Division, at John.Evanoff@

fcc.gov or 202–418–0848. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Federal Communications Commission 

(the Commission) is correcting an error 

in the Facilitating Implementation of 

Next Generation 911 Services (NG911); 

Location-Based Routing for Wireless 911 

Calls; Report and Order, published as a 

final rule in the Federal Register on 

September 24, 2024, at 89 FR 78066. In 

the Final Regulatory Flexibility 

Analysis, an incorrect sentence was 

inadvertently included that created an 

inconsistency with the rest of the 

document. The Commission released a 

Second Erratum on October 1, 2024 that 

deleted the corresponding incorrect 

sentence in the Report and Order. 

Correction 

In FR Doc. No. 2024–18603, in the 

Federal Register of September 24, 2024, 

on page 78118, in the first and second 

column, the following sentence is 

removed: 

‘‘For all OSPs, the initial compliance 

date will be extended based on the 

effective date of the rules—i.e. no OSP 

must comply with a 911 Authority 

Phase 1 request sooner than one year 

after the effective date of these rules, 

regardless of the timing of the 911 

Authority’s request.’’. 

Federal Communications Commission. 

Debra Jordan, 

Chief, Public Safety and Homeland Security 

Bureau. 

[FR Doc. 2024–23894 Filed 10–16–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

50 CFR Parts 13 and 22 

[Docket No. FWS–HQ–MB–2020–0023; 

FF09M30000–245–FXMB12320900000] 

RIN 1018–BE70 

Permits for Incidental Take of Eagles 

and Eagle Nests; Correction and 

Technical Amendment 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Final rule; correction and 

technical amendment. 

SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service, correct and amend a 

final rule that revised the regulations for 

the issuance of permits for eagle 

incidental take and eagle nest take. A 

provision of the regulations in the final 

rule specifies eligibility criteria for 

general permits for wind energy projects 

based on eagle relative abundance and 

proximity to eagle nests. We have 

become aware of confusion on the part 

of some general permit applicants 

regarding this provision in the 

regulations. Accordingly, this document 

revises the regulatory text of the final 

rule to ensure clarity. In addition, the 

final rule inadvertently resulted in 

errors regarding footnotes to a table. 

This document corrects those errors. For 

the convenience of the public, we also 

provide information to access the 

Service’s online mapping tool for 

general permit eligibility. 

DATES: This rule is effective October 17, 

2024. 

ADDRESSES: The final rule and 

supplemental documents, including an 

environmental assessment, list of 

references cited, technical appendices, 

and public comments received, are 

available at https://www.regulations.gov 

in Docket No. FWS–HQ–MB–2020– 

0023. Documents and additional 

information can also be found at: 

https://www.fws.gov/regulations/eagle. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Jerome Ford, Assistant Director— 

Migratory Birds Program, U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service, telephone: (703) 358– 

2606, email: jerome_ford@fws.gov. 

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. 

Individuals outside the United States 

should use the relay services offered 

within their country to make 

international calls to the point of 

contact in the United States. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

On February 12, 2024, under the 

authority of the Bald and Golden Eagle 

Protection Act (16 U.S.C. 668–668d; 

hereafter, the ‘‘Eagle Act’’), the U.S. Fish 

and Wildlife Service published a final 

rule to revise the regulations in title 50 

of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 

that govern the issuance of permits for 

eagle incidental take and eagle nest take 

(89 FR 9920). That rule created general 

permits for certain activities under 

prescribed conditions, including general 

permit options for qualifying wind 

energy generation projects. While the 

rule primarily pertained to the 

regulations in 50 CFR part 22, Eagle 

Permits, the rule also included revisions 

to 50 CFR part 13, General Permit 

Procedures. 

Correction 

The February 12, 2024, final rule (89 

FR 9920) resulted in improper 

codification of the footnotes to a table at 

50 CFR 13.11(d)(4). This rule corrects 

the errors described below. 

Prior to the rule becoming effective on 

April 12, 2024, the table at 50 CFR 

13.11(d)(4) had four footnotes, the first 

of which was indicated by a superscript 

1 in a column heading: ‘‘Administration 

fee.1 ’’ 

In the February 12, 2024, final rule, 

the amendatory instruction for revising 

the table at 50 CFR 13.11(d)(4) 

(appearing at 89 FR 9956 as amendatory 

instruction 3) was written erroneously. 

The amendatory instruction correctly 

included an instruction to revise 

footnote 1; however, it did not include 

an instruction to revise the column 

headings to add a superscript for 

footnote 1 to an additional column 

heading (i.e., ‘‘Permit application fee’’). 

Moreover, the corresponding text 

below the amendatory instruction 

erroneously displayed the headings for 

the table with these column headings: 

‘‘Permit application fee 1’’ and 

‘‘Administration fee 2’’ and included 

accompanying footnotes 1 and 2 at the 

end of the table. However, these 

indicated revisions were in error as 

footnote 2 already occurs in the table 

under the subheading ‘‘Endangered 

Species Act/CITES/Lacey Act’’ and 

should not have been revised via this 

final rule. 

In addition to these errors in the final 

rule, the codification of the final rule’s 

changes to the footnotes to the table at 

50 CFR 13.11(d)(4) resulted in errors. As 

codified in the e-CFR (https://

www.ecfr.gov/), the table as now 

displayed includes only footnotes 3 and 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with RULES1
83630 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 201 / Thursday, October 17, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 

4; footnotes 1 and 2 no longer appear 

below the table. 

Accordingly, this document revises 

the table at 50 CFR 13.11(d)(4) to 

indicate that both the column headings 

for ‘‘Permit application fee’’ and 

‘‘Administration fee’’ include a 

superscript for footnote 1. This 

document also sets forth correct text for 

footnote 1 and reinstates footnote 2, 

which was erroneously removed during 

the codification process for the final 

rule. These revisions are procedural in 

nature and not substantive. The 

sentences set forth in the rule portion of 

this document for footnote 1 are 

verbatim as had been set forth for 

footnotes 1 and 2 in the final rule; the 

only change is that, in this document, 

those sentences are now combined to 

form a single footnote. 

Technical Amendment 

Under the regulations set forth in the 

final rule at 50 CFR 22.250, the 

eligibility criteria for the Service to 

issue a general permit for wind energy 

generation projects include a 

combination of eagle relative abundance 

in the project area and proximity to 

eagle nests. Relative-abundance 

thresholds are the basis for our 

determination that general permits are 

compatible with the preservation of 

eagles, as required by the Eagle Act and 

our implementing regulations. The 

Service used the best available 

information to derive relativeabundance thresholds that determine 

whether wind energy projects are 

eligible for a general permit. That 

information consists of the Cornell Lab 

of Ornithology’s Status and Trends 

definition of ‘‘relative abundance’’ and 

relative-abundance products derived 

from eBird data (Cornell Lab of 

Ornithology, Ithaca, New York, 

available at: https://science.ebird.org/ 

en/status-and-trends). 

Eligibility for general permits must be 

determined as described in the 

environmental assessment (EA) that 

accompanied the final rule. The eagle 

relative-abundance threshold values 

published in the final rule were 

calculated based on the Cornell Lab of 

Ornithology’s eagle relative-abundance 

data and products. Thresholds are 

therefore applicable only to relativeabundance estimates from 2020 that 

consider detection rates, topography, 

and habitat and represent the 

coterminous United States at a 3-km2

resolution for the pre-breeding 

migration, breeding, post-breeding 

migration, and non-breeding seasons for 

bald eagles and golden eagles. This 

information and these data sources are 

described in detail in appendix A of the 

final EA for the rule, available at https:// 

www.regulations.gov/document/FWSHQ-MB-2020-0023-9352. 

To ensure that all general permits are 

consistent with the statute’s 

preservation standard, general permit 

eligibility must be determined using 

eagle relative-abundance data and 

products from 2020. While we view this 

requirement as the logical and clearly 

expressed intent in the final rule and 

accompanying EA, we have learned that 

some members of the public have not 

understood this requirement. 

Accordingly, in this rule we revise the 

regulatory text at § 22.250(c)(1)(ii) by 

adding text to explicitly communicate 

the requirement that eagle relativeabundance data and products from 2020 

must be used to determine general 

permit eligibility for wind projects. We 

are making no change to the second 

eligibility requirement, the proximity to 

eagle nests at the time of application, 

which appears at § 22.250(c)(1)(i). This 

determination must be based on recent 

nest survey(s). Project proponents are 

expected to survey for eagle nests with 

due diligence and in accordance with 

any Service guidance for nest surveys. 

We encourage applicants to determine 

project eligibility using a mapping tool 

produced by the Service. We created an 

online mapping tool to help project 

proponents quickly determine eagle 

relative abundance and permit 

eligibility. You may access the permiteligibility map at https://

www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/ 

6584c3ded34eff134d42da68. 

Administrative Procedure 

Generally, the Administrative 

Procedure Act (APA) requires a Federal 

agency to provide the public with notice 

and an opportunity to comment on 

agency rulemakings. 5 U.S.C. 553(b). 

The APA, however, creates an exception 

in case where an agency for good cause 

determines ‘‘that notice and public 

procedure thereon are impracticable, 

unnecessary, or contrary to the public 

interest.’’ Id. at 553(b)(3)(B). Pursuant to 

5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(B), we find good 

cause that prior notice and opportunity 

for public comment are unnecessary for 

this rule because it serves merely to 

correct errors and better communicate 

existing requirements in the original 

rule. This rule amendment will help to 

ensure efficient and accurate permit 

processing and does not alter existing 

rights or change existing requirements 

in the rule that it modifies; therefore, 

public comment would not inform this 

process in any meaningful way. 

Furthermore, the APA generally 

provides that a final rule may not 

become effective until at least 30 days 

after its publication in the Federal 

Register unless the agency determines 

that good cause exists to dispense with 

this requirement under 5 U.S.C. 

553(d)(3). Here, we have good cause to 

make this rule effective upon 

publication. Because some members of 

the public have failed to understand the 

correct eligibility criteria, it is important 

for the proper administration of our 

programs that we clarify the correct 

requirements in the Code of Federal 

Regulations as soon as possible so that 

the regulations clearly and accurately 

inform permit applicants how they can 

properly determine compliance with 

eligibility criteria. Therefore, a 30-day 

waiting period until this rule becomes 

effective would serve no purpose for the 

Service or the regulated community and 

would only extend any potential 

confusion over the existing rule’s 

eligibility criteria. 

List of Subjects 

50 CFR Part 13 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Exports, Fish, Imports, 

Plants, Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Transportation, Wildlife. 

50 CFR Part 22 

Exports, Imports, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements, 

Transportation, Wildlife. 

Accordingly, we hereby amend parts 

13 and 22 of subchapter B of chapter I, 

title 50 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations, as set forth below: 

PART 13—GENERAL PERMIT 

PROCEDURES 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 13 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 668a, 704, 712, 742j– 

l, 1374(g), 1382, 1538(d), 1539, 1540(f), 3374, 

4901–4916; 18 U.S.C. 42; 19 U.S.C. 1202; 31 

U.S.C. 9701. 

■ 2. In § 13.11, amend the table in 

paragraph (d)(4) by revising the column 

headings and the four table footnotes to 

read as follows: 

§ 13.11 Application procedures. 

* * * * * 

(d) * * * 

(4) * * * 

* * * * * 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with RULES1
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 201 / Thursday, October 17, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 83631 

Type of 

permit CFR citation Permit application fee 1 Administration fee 1 Amendment fee 

*******

1A reimbursable agreement may be required for specific eagle permits to cover the costs above estimated staff-hours. An administration fee 

will be assessed at the time of application, in addition to the application fee. 2Each. 

3Per animal. 

4Per species. 

* * * * * 

PART 22—EAGLE PERMITS 

■ 3. The authority citation for part 22 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 668–668d; 703–712; 

1531–1544. 

■ 4. Amend § 22.250 by revising and 

republishing paragraph (c)(1)(ii) to read 

as follows: 

§ 22.250 Permits for incidental take of 

eagles by wind energy projects. 

* * * * * 

(c) * * * 

(1) * * * 

(ii) Located in areas characterized by 

seasonal relative-abundance values that 

are less than the relative-abundance 

values for the date range for each 

species in tables 1 and 2, as determined 

by using relative-abundance data from 

2020. Eligibility determinations must be 

based on 2020 relative-abundance 

estimates that consider detection rates, 

topography, and habitat and represent 

the coterminous United States at a 

3-km2 resolution for the pre-breeding 

migration, breeding, post-breeding 

migration, and non-breeding seasons for 

bald eagles and golden eagles. Use of the 

following data and products satisfy the 

requirements of this paragraph (c)(1)(ii): 

(A) Cornell Lab of Ornithology 

relative-abundance data and products 

for bald eagles and golden eagles from 

2020, published in 2021. 

(B) [Reserved] 

TABLE 1 TO PARAGRAPH (c)(1)(ii)—RELATIVE-ABUNDANCE VALUE THRESHOLDS FOR BALD EAGLES THROUGHOUT THE

YEAR

Date range Bald eagle relative abundance 

1. February 15–May 23 ....................................................................................................................................... 0.821 

2. May 24–July 19 ............................................................................................................................................... 0.686 

3. July 20–December 20 ..................................................................................................................................... 0.705 

4. December 21–February 14 ............................................................................................................................. 1.357 

TABLE 2 TO PARAGRAPH (c)(1)(ii)—RELATIVE-ABUNDANCE VALUE THRESHOLDS FOR GOLDEN EAGLES THROUGHOUT THE

YEAR

Date range Golden eagle relative abundance 

1. February 8–June 6 .......................................................................................................................................... 0.081 

2. June 7–August 30 ........................................................................................................................................... 0.065 

3. August 31–December 6 ................................................................................................................................... 0.091 

4. December 7–February 7 ................................................................................................................................. 0.091 

* * * * * 

Shannon A. Estenoz, 

Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and 

Parks. 

[FR Doc. 2024–23973 Filed 10–16–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4333–15–P 


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