9374 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 34 / Friday, February 18, 2022 / Notices 

spillway improvement project. The 

Service prepared a draft low-effect 

screening form and environmental 

action statement in accordance with the 

National Environmental Policy Act of 

1969 (NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) to 

evaluate the potential effects to the 

natural and human environment 

resulting from issuing an ITP to the 

applicant. We invite public comment on 

these documents. 

Background 

The Service listed the arroyo toad as 

endangered on December 16, 1994 (59 

FR 64859), and published a revised final 

rule designating critical habitat on 

February 7, 2001 (66 FR 9414). The 

Service listed the southwestern willow 

flycatcher as endangered on February 

27, 1995 (60 FR 10695), and published 

a revised final rule designating critical 

habitat on January 3, 2013 (78 FR 

344534). The Service listed the least 

Bell’s vireo as endangered on May 2, 

1986 (51 FR 16474), and published a 

final rule designating critical habitat on 

February 2, 1994 (59 FR 4845). The 

Service listed the Santa Ana sucker as 

threatened on April 12, 2000 (65 FR 

19686), and published a revised final 

rule designating critical habitat on 

December 14, 2010 (75 FR 77962). The 

Service listed the yellow-billed cuckoo 

as threatened on October 3, 2014 (79 FR 

59992), and published a final rule 

designating critical habitat on April 21, 

2021 (86 FR 20798). 

Section 9 of the ESA prohibits take of 

fish and wildlife species listed as 

endangered (16 U.S.C. 1538). Under the 

ESA, ‘‘take’’ is defined to include the 

following activities: ‘‘to harass, harm, 

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

capture, or collect, or to attempt to 

engage in any such conduct’’ (16 U.S.C. 

1532). Section 4(d) of the ESA allows 

the Secretary to extend protections for 

endangered species to those listed as 

threatened. Under section 10(a)(1)(B) of 

the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1539(a)(1)(B)), we 

may issue permits to authorize take of 

listed fish and wildlife species that is 

incidental to, and not the purpose of, 

carrying out an otherwise lawful 

activity. Regulations governing 

incidental take permits for endangered 

and threatened species are in the Code 

of Federal Regulations (CFR) at 50 CFR 

17.22 and 17.32. Issuance of an ITP also 

must not be likely to jeopardize the 

continued existence of federally listed 

fish, wildlife, or plant species, pursuant 

to section 7 of the ESA and 50 CFR part 

402. The permittee would receive 

assurances under our ‘‘No Surprises’’ 

regulations (50 CFR 17.22(b)(5) and 

17.32(b)(5)). 

Project 

Big Tujunga Dam is a 244-foot high 

dam located on Big Tujunga River in the 

Angeles National Forest, Los Angeles 

County, California. The applicant 

requests a 30-year incidental take permit 

for operation and maintenance of Big 

Tujunga Dam, which regulates stream 

flows in the Big Tujunga River from Big 

Tujunga Dam downstream to Hansen 

Dam, a distance of approximately 14 

miles. The incidental take permit would 

also address a spillway improvement 

project at Big Tujunga Dam. 

The applicant proposes to mitigate or 

minimize impacts through ramping of 

water conservation releases during the 

spawning season of fish, providing up to 

1,500 acre-feet of water in supplemental 

flows during the dry season, monitoring 

and adaptive management to benefit 

covered species, funding of nonnative 

species removal or other recovery 

measures, and best management 

practices. The proposed plan also 

allows for the potential translocation of 

Santa Ana sucker upstream of Big 

Tujunga Dam to expand the range of this 

species. 

Our Preliminary Determination 

The Service has made a preliminary 

determination that issuance of the ITP 

and implementation of the project is not 

a major Federal action that will 

significantly affect the quality of the 

human environment within the meaning 

of section 102(2)(C) of the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA; 42 

U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). Moreover, issuance 

of the ITP and implementation of the 

project individually and cumulatively 

will not have more than a minor or 

negligible effect on federally listed or 

covered species and the environment. 

Therefore, we have preliminarily 

concluded that the ITP for this project 

would qualify for categorical exclusion 

as provided by our NEPA regulations at 

43 CFR 46.205 and 46.215. 

Next Steps 

We will evaluate the proposed HCP 

and any comments received to 

determine whether to issue the 

requested permit. We will also conduct 

an intra-Service consultation pursuant 

to section 7 of the ESA to evaluate the 

effects of our proposed action. After 

considering the above findings, we will 

determine whether the permit issuance 

criteria of section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA 

have been met. If the criteria are met, we 

will issue the permit to the applicant for 

incidental take. 

Public Availability of Comments 

Before including your address, phone 

number, email 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 any time. 

While you may 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. 

Authority 

We provide this notice under section 

10(c) of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1539 et seq.) 

and NEPA regulations (40 CFR 1506.6). 

Kristine Petersen, 

Acting Field Supervisor, Carlsbad Fish and 

Wildlife Office, Carlsbad, California. 

[FR Doc. 2022–03528 Filed 2–17–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4333–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

[FWS–HQ–R–2021–N217; 

FXGO1664091HCC0–FF09D00000–190] 

Hunting and Wildlife Conservation 

Council Charter Renewal; Request for 

Nominations 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of the 

Interior (DOI) and Department of 

Agriculture (USDA) are renewing the 

charter for and seeking member 

nominations to the Hunting and 

Wildlife Conservation Council 

(Council). The renewed Council 

replaces and changes the name of the 

previous Hunting and Shooting Sports 

Conservation Council. The Secretary of 

the Interior and Secretary of Agriculture 

(Secretaries), after consultation with the 

General Services Administration, have 

renewed the Council charter for 2 years. 

The Council will provide 

recommendations to the Federal 

Government, through the Secretary of 

the Interior (Secretary) and the Secretary 

of Agriculture, regarding the 

establishment and implementation of 

existing and proposed policies and 

authorities with regard to wildlife and 

habitat conservation endeavors that 

benefit wildlife resources; encourage 

partnership among the public, sporting 

conservation organizations, and Federal, 

State, Tribal, and territorial 

governments; and benefit recreational 

hunting and recreational shooting 

sports. 

DATES: Comments regarding the 

establishment of this Council must be 


jspears on DSK121TN23PROD with NOTICES1
Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 34 / Friday, February 18, 2022 / Notices 9375 

submitted no later than March 7, 2022. 

Nominations for the Council must be 

submitted by March 21, 2022. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

and nominations via email to doug_

hobbs@fws.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Douglas Hobbs, by telephone at (703) 

358–2336, or by email at doug_hobbs@

fws.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Council is established under the 

authority of the Secretary and regulated 

by the Federal Advisory Committee Act 

(FACA), as amended (5 U.S.C. appendix 

2). The Council’s duties are strictly 

advisory and consist of, but are not 

limited to, providing recommendations 

for implementation of Executive Order 

13443, Facilitation of Hunting Heritage 

and Wildlife Conservation; Executive 

Order 14008, Tackling the Climate 

Crisis at Home and Abroad; and 

Secretarial Order 3362, Improving 

Habitat Quality in Western Big Game 

Winter Range and Migration Corridors. 

Duties include, but are not limited to: 

A. Assessing and quantifying 

implementation of Executive Order 

13443, Executive Order 14008, and 

Secretarial Order 3362 across relevant 

departments, agencies, and offices and 

making recommendations to enhance 

and expand their implementation as 

identified; 

B. Making recommendations 

regarding policies and programs that 

accomplish the following objectives: 

1. Conserve and restore wetlands, 

grasslands, forests, and other important 

wildlife habitats, and improve 

management of rangelands and 

agricultural lands to benefit wildlife; 

2. Promote opportunities for fair chase 

hunting and safe recreational shooting 

sports and wildlife-associated recreation 

on public and private lands; encourage 

hunting and recreational shooting sports 

safety, including by developing 

sighting-in ranges on public lands; 

recruit and retain hunters; increase 

public awareness of the importance of 

wildlife conservation and the social and 

economic benefits of fair chase hunting, 

safe recreational shooting sports, and 

wildlife-associated recreation; and 

3. Encourage coordination among the 

public; the hunting and shooting sports 

communities; wildlife conservation 

groups; wildlife-associated recreation 

interests; and Federal, State, Tribal, and 

territorial governments. 

The Council will meet at least two 

times per year. The Secretaries will 

appoint members and their alternates to 

the Council to serve up to a 3-year term. 

The Council will not exceed 18 

discretionary primary members, up to 

18 alternate members, and 4 ex officio 

members. Ex officio members will 

include: 

• Secretary of the Interior or 

designated DOI representatives; 

• Secretary of Agriculture or 

designated Department of Agriculture 

representatives; and 

• Executive Director, Association of 

Fish and Wildlife Agencies. 

The Secretaries will select remaining 

members from among, but not limited 

to, the organization/interests listed 

below. These members must be seniorlevel representatives of their 

organization and/or have the ability to 

represent their designated 

constituencies. 

• State fish and wildlife management 

agencies; 

• Wildlife and habitat conservation/ 

management organizations; 

• Upland bird hunting organizations; 

• Waterfowl hunting organizations; 

• Big game hunting organizations; 

• Shooting sports interests; 

• Archery interests; 

• Wildlife-associated recreation 

interests; 

• Tourism, outfitter, and/or guide 

industries related to hunting and/or 

wildlife conservation; 

• Tribal resource management 

organizations; 

• Agriculture interests; 

• Ranching interests; and 

• Veterans’ service organizations. 

Member Terms and Vacancies To Fill 

Each member is appointed to serve a 

3-year term. Nominations are sought to 

fill 10 primary member positions and at 

least 5 alternate member positions. We 

are requesting nominations to fill 

vacancies to represent the following 

organizations/interests: 

• Tribal resource management 

organizations; 

• State fish and wildlife management 

agencies; 

• Wildlife and habitat conservation/ 

management organizations; 

• Waterfowl hunting organizations; 

• Shooting sports interests; 

• Archery interests; 

• Wildlife-associated recreation 

interests; and 

• Big game hunting organizations. 

Nomination Method and Information 

Nominations should include a resume 

providing an adequate description of the 

nominee’s qualifications, including 

information that would enable DOI to 

make an informed decision regarding 

meeting the membership requirements 

of the Council and the national interest 

potentially represented, and to permit 

DOI to contact a potential member. 

Members of the Council serve without 

compensation. However, while away 

from their homes or regular places of 

business, Council and subcommittee 

members engaged in Council or 

subcommittee business that the 

designated Federal official (DFO) 

approves may be allowed travel 

expenses, including per diem in lieu of 

subsistence, as authorized by 5 U.S.C. 

5703, in the same manner as persons 

employed intermittently in Federal 

Government service. 

Public Disclosure of Comments: 

Before including your address, phone 

number, email 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 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. 

Certification Statement: I hereby 

certify that the Hunting and Wildlife 

Conservation Council is necessary, in 

the public interest, and is in connection 

with the performance of duties imposed 

on the Department of the Interior and 

the Department of Agriculture under 43 

U.S.C. 1457 and provisions of the Fish 

and Wildlife Act of 1956 (16 U.S.C. 

742a), the Federal Land Policy and 

Management Act of 1996 (43 U.S.C. 

1701 et seq.), the National Forest 

Management Act of 1976 (16 U.S.C. 

1600 et seq.), the National Wildlife 

Refuge System Improvement Act of 

1997 (16 U.S.C. 668dd–668ee), and 

Executive Order 13443, Facilitation of 

Hunting Heritage and Wildlife 

Conservation. 

Authority: 5 U.S.C. appendix 2. 

Dated: January 24, 2022. 

Deb Haaland, 

Secretary, Department of the Interior. 

[FR Doc. 2022–03498 Filed 2–17–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4333–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management 

[L19900000.PO0000.LLWO320.20X; OMB 

Control No. 1004–0121] 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Leasing of Solid Minerals 

Other Than Coal and Oil Shale 

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of information collection; 

request for comment. 


jspears on DSK121TN23PROD with NOTICES1