2174 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 10 / Wednesday, January 15, 1997 / Notices

Management and Budget (OMB) for

review, as required by the Paperwork

Reduction Act. The Department is

soliciting public comments on the

subject proposal.

DATES: Comments due date: February

14, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are

invited to submit comments regarding

this proposal. Comments must be

received within thirty (30) days from the

date of this Notice. Comments should

refer to the proposal by name and/or

OMB approval number should be sent

to: Joseph F. Lackey, Jr., OMB Desk

Officer, Office of Management and

Budget, Room 10235, New Executive

Office Building, Washington, DC 20503.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kay

F. Weaver, Reports Management Officer,

Department of Housing and Urban

Development, 451 7th Street,

Southwest, Washington, DC 20410,

telephone (202) 708–0050. This is not a

toll-free number. Copies of the proposed

forms and other available documents

submitted to OMB may be obtained

from Ms. Weaver.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

Department has submitted the proposal

for the collection of information, as

described below, to OMB for review, as

required by the Paperwork Reduction

Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35).

The Notice lists the following

information: (1) The title of the

information collection proposal; (2) the

office of the agency to collect the

information; (3) the OMB approval

number, if applicable; (4) the

description of the need for the

information and its proposed use; (5)

the agency form number, if applicable;

(6) what members of the public will be

affected by the proposal; (7) how

frequently information submissions will

be required; (8) an estimate of the total

number of hours needed to prepare the

information submission including

number of respondents, frequency of

response, and hours of response; (9)

whether the proposal is new, an

extension, reinstatement, or revision of

an information collection requirement;

and (10) the names and telephone

numbers of an agency official familiar

with the proposal and of the OMB Desk

Officer for the Department.

Authority: Section 3507 of the Paperwork

Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 35, as

amended.

Dated: January 8, 1997.

David S. Cristy,

Acting Director, Information Resources

Management Policy and Management

Division.

Notice of Submission of Proposed

Information Collection to OMB

Title of Proposal: HUD Systems for

Approval of Single Family Housing in

New Subdivisions (FR–3095).

Office: Housing.

OMB Approval Number: 2502–0496.

Description of the Need for the

Information and Its Proposed Use: HUD

requires the builder to complete a

certification (HUD–92541) that notes

any adverse site/location factors on the

property. HUD needs this information

so that they will not insure a mortgage

on a property where site/location

conditions will pose a health or safety

risk to the occupant or will adversely

affect the continued marketability of the

property.

Form Number: HUD–92541.

Respondents: Business or Other-ForProfit.

Frequency of Submission: On

Occasion.

Reporting Burden:

Number of Respondents × Frequency of

Response × Hours per Response = Burden Hours

Information Collection ............................................................... 800 82 .25 16,400

Total Estimated Burden Hours:

16,400.

Status: Reinstatement, without

changes.

Contact: Ken Crandall, HUD, (202)

708–2121; Joseph F. Lackey, Jr., OMB,

(202) 395–7316.

Dated: January 8, 1997.

[FR Doc. 97–949 Filed 1–14–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4210–01–M

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

Availability of an Environmental

Assessment and Receipt of an

Application for an Incidental Take

Permit for the Natomas Basin Habitat

Conservation Plan, Sacramento and

Sutter Counties, CA

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

SUMMARY: This notice advises the public

that the City of Sacramento has applied

to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for

an incidental take permit pursuant to

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

Species Act of 1973, as amended. The

application has been assigned permit

number PRT–823773. The proposed

permit would authorize the incidental

take of the federally threatened giant

garter snake (Thamnophis gigas),

Aleutian Canada goose (Branta

canadensis leucopareia), valley

elderberry longhorn beetle (Desmocerus

californicus dimorphus), and vernal

pool fairy shrimp (Branchinecta lynchi);

the federally endangered peregrine

falcon (Falco peregrinus anatum),

conservancy fairy shrimp (Branchinecta

conservatio), longhorn fairy shrimp

(Branchinecta longiantenna), vernal

pool tadpole shrimp (Lepidurus

packardi), and palmate bird’s beak

(Cordylanthus palmatus); the proposed

threatened slender orcutt grass (Orcuttia

tenuis) and hairy orcutt grass (Orcuttia

pilosa); and the proposed endangered

Sacramento orcutt grass (Orcuttia

viscida). The proposed taking of these

species would be incidental to

development for urban uses within the

55,000-acre Natomas Basin in

Sacramento and Sutter Counties. The

proposed permit also would authorize

future incidental take of the currently

unlisted California tiger salamander

(Ambystoma tigrinum californiense),

Swainson’s hawk (Buteo swainsoni),

greater sandhill crane (Grus canadensis

tubida), bank swallow (Riparia riparia),

Boggs Lake hedge-hyssop (Gratiaola

heterosepala) and Ahart’s dwarf flax

(Juncus leiospermus var ahartii), should

any of these species become listed

under the Endangered Species Act in

the future. The permit would be in

effect for 50 years.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

also announces the availability of an

Environmental Assessment for the

incidental take permit application,

which includes the proposed Habitat

Conservation Plan fully describing the

proposed project and mitigation, and

the accompanying Implementing

Agreement. This notice is provided

pursuant to section 10(a) of the

Endangered Species Act and National

Environmental Policy Act regulations

(40 CFR 1506.6). All comments,

including names and addresses,

received will become part of the official

administrative record and may be made

available to the public.
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 10 / Wednesday, January 15, 1997 / Notices 2175

DATES: Written comments on the permit

application, Environmental Assessment

and Implementing Agreement should be

received on or before March 3, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Comments regarding the

application or adequacy of the

Environmental Assessment and

Implementing Agreement should be

addressed to, U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service, Sacramento Field Office, 3310

El Camino, Suite 130, Sacramento,

California 95821–6340. Please refer to

permit number PRT–823773 when

submitting comments. Individuals

wishing copies of the application,

Environmental Assessment or

Implementing Agreement for review

should immediately contact the above

office. Documents also will be available

for public inspection, by appointment,

during normal business hours at the

above address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.

Michael Horton, Sacramento Field

Office, 916–979–2725.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 9

of the Endangered Species Act prohibits

the ‘‘taking’’ of a species listed as

threatened or endangered. However, the

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, under

limited circumstances, may issue

permits to take listed species incidental

to, and not the purpose of, otherwise

lawful activities. Regulations governing

permits for threatened species are

promulgated in 50 CFR 17.32;

regulations governing permits for

endangered species are promulgated in

50 CFR 17.22.

Background

The Natomas Basin Habitat

Conservation Plan addresses

development within the 55,000-acre

Natomas Basin in Sutter and

Sacramento Counties. The Natomas

Basin is subject to several approved or

proposed land use plans that will

convert portions of the Basin to urban

uses. Based on these plans,

approximately 17,500 acres of

undeveloped land is expected to be

urbanized during the 50-year term of the

proposed permit. Development

activities may result in take of covered

species and permanent disturbance to

their habitats. In addition, the proposed

permit would cover incidental take that

occurs during implementation of rice

farming activities within the permit

area. Rice farming may result in take of

the giant garter snake because rice fields

are used as habitat by this species.

The Natomas Basin Habitat

Conservation Plan establishes a

mitigation program for urban

development, water system operation,

and agriculture. The focus of the

program is a system of mitigation lands

which would be managed as wetland

and upland habitat for the giant garter

snake, the Swainson’s hawk and other

covered species. One-half acre of

mitigation land would be established for

every acre of land developed within the

Natomas Basin Habitat Conservation

Plan Area. The mitigation land would

be acquired and managed by the

Natomas Basin Conservancy, a nonprofit conservation organization that

would be established at the time the

Natomas Basin Habitat Conservation

Plan is implemented. Currently, the City

of Sacramento is the only entity seeking

a section 10(a)(1)(B) permit to cover

land use approvals and public works

activities; however, entities such as the

County of Sacramento and the County of

Sutter, among others, could apply to be

added to this permit or apply for

separate permits in the future.

Habitat acquisition and management

would be funded by one-time

assessments (‘‘base fees’’) on

development. The base fee is projected

to be $2,240.00 (in 1995 dollars, to be

adjusted using the Consumer Price

Index to reflect current dollars at the

time of permit issuance) per acre of

development. All lands developed

within the area of the proposed permit

would be subject to the base fee; no

distinction would be made between

areas with approved land use plans and

areas currently zoned for agriculture.

The base fee also would be adjusted as

necessary throughout the term of the

permit to provide for inflation. In

addition, the base fee could be adjusted

to cover increasing costs of mitigation.

This adjustment would be limited to

increases of no more than 10 percent per

year (not including adjustments made

for inflation), with a maximum

cumulative base fee increase of 50

percent above the base fee at the time of

permit issuance.

Initially, a minimum of 80 percent of

the mitigation lands acquired to mitigate

for the loss of giant garter snake habitat

would be located within the Natomas

Basin; up to 20 percent of the giant

garter snake mitigation lands could be

located in specified areas outside of the

Natomas Basin. After completion of the

yet-to-be-developed Giant Garter Snake

Recovery Plan, location of the

mitigation lands could be shifted to a

minimum of 50 percent within the

Basin and up to 50 percent outside of

the Basin, as directed by the Giant

Garter Snake Recovery Plan and

approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service. Mitigation lands would be

managed as a combination of rice farms

and marsh habitat, with at least 25

percent of the mitigation lands in marsh

habitat and 25 percent in rice-farm

habitat. The remaining 50 percent of the

giant garter snake mitigation lands

would be either marsh or rice, as

determined by the Giant Garter Snake

Recovery Plan.

The Environmental Assessment

considers the environmental

consequences of four alternatives.

Alternative 1, the proposed action,

consists of the issuance of an incidental

take permit to the City of Sacramento

and implementation of the Habitat

Conservation Plan and its Implementing

Agreement. This alternative is preferred

because it satisfies the purpose and

needs of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service and the City of Sacramento, and

the impacts of urbanization are

minimized and mitigated by the

establishment of habitat preserves. The

specifications of the habitat preserves

under this alternative ensure that longterm wetland and upland habitat values

are maintained for the giant garter

snake, Swainson’s hawk, and other

species covered by the Natomas Basin

Habitat Conservation Plan. Alternative 2

proposes a variable mitigation ratio in

which landowners with documented

occurrences of covered species or ‘‘high

quality’’ habitat would be required to

compensate at a higher ratio than

landowners with no documented

occurrences of covered species or ‘‘poor

quality’’ habitat. Under this alternative,

each parcel of land proposed for

development would need to be

inspected and a mitigation ratio

assessed based on existing habitat

quality and/or species utilization. This

alternative would place a greater

emphasis on proving presence or

absence of covered species, primarily

giant garter snake. Because survey

procedures used to locate giant garter

snakes and/or determine suitability of

habitat are not fully reliable, it is likely

that this method would not adequately

reflect the ecology of the giant garter

snake and would not effectively address

the indirect and cumulative impacts of

urbanization on the species.

Alternative 3 is similar to the

proposed action except that the

minimum percentage of mitigation

lands to be maintained as managed

marsh habitat (as opposed to rice-farm

habitat) would increase from 25 to 50

percent. This alternative would likely

provide greater habitat values than the

proposed action because a greater

proportion of the habitat preserves

would be enhanced and managed as

marsh. This alternative, however,

contains a greater risk that the smaller

proportion of revenue-generating rice

lands could result in economic

instability and consequently have an
2176 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 10 / Wednesday, January 15, 1997 / Notices

adverse impact on the maintenance and

management of the preserve system.

Under Alternative 4, the no action

alternative, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service would not issue an incidental

take permit. Under this alternative,

development within the Natomas Basin

Habitat Conservation Plan area would

occur with individual development

projects mitigating for their impacts

independently in an unstructured

manner. The current process of

individual consultation on each

development project has resulted in

mitigation which is fragmented over the

landscape and is likely to be of limited

long-term value in providing for the

conservation of species such as the giant

garter snake.

This notice is provided pursuant to

section 10(a) of the Endangered Species

Act and the National Environmental

Policy Act of 1969 regulations (40 CFR

1506.6). The U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service will evaluate the application,

associated documents, and comments

submitted thereon to determine whether

the application meets the requirements

of the National Environmental Policy

Act regulations and section 10(a) of the

Endangered Species Act. If it is

determined that the requirements are

met, a permit will be issued for the

incidental take of the listed species. The

final permit decision will be made no

sooner than 45 days from the date of

this notice.

Dated: January 7, 1997.

Thomas J. Dwyer,

Acting Regional Director, Region 1, Portland,

Oregon.

[FR Doc. 97–967 Filed 1–14–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem

Management Project

AGENCIES: Forest Service, USDA; Bureau

of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Revised notice of intent to

prepare environmental impact

statements.

SUMMARY: Interior Columbia Basin

Ecosystem Management Project

(ICBEMP). The purpose for this revised

notice of intent is to provide public

notice of the changed completion

schedule for the ICBEMP’s

environmental impact statements (EIS).

This Federal Register notice revises the

schedule published in the September

11, 1996 Federal Register (61 FR 47859)

for the completion of the EISs. The

Executive Steering Committee (ESC), at

its meeting from December 2–4, 1996,

took the important step of approving the

alternatives for inclusion in the draft

EISs. The ESC also directed changes to

the draft EISs to improve them and

address specific concerns raised in its

earlier internal review of the draft

documents. The directed changes focus

on clarification of the objectives and

standards for the alternatives. Based on

the amount of time to implement these

changes and then to prepare and print

the document, the draft EISs are now

planned to go to the printer in April,

with a scheduled release for public

comment in June 1997. Release of the

final EISs and Records of Decision is

anticipated approximately one year

later.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Linda S. Colville, Project Management

Team, Interior Columbia Basin

Ecosystem Management Project; 304

North 8th Street, Room 246, Boise,

Idaho 83702, phone 208–334–1770.

Dated: January 6, 1997.

Robert W. Williams,

Regional Forester.

Dated: January 6, 1997.

Elaine Y. Zielinski,

State Director.

[FR Doc. 97–963 Filed 1–14–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–11–M; 4310–84–M

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[WY–040–07–1060–00]

Notice of Public Hearing

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management,

Interior.

SUMMARY: A public hearing on the use

of helicopters in wild horse roundup

activities will be held at the White

Mountain Library, Grace Gasson Room.

DATE: February 19, 1997, 7 p.m. until 9

p.m.

ADDRESSES: White Mountain Library,

2935 Sweetwater Drive, Rock Springs,

Wyoming 82901.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Michelle Cha ́vez, District Manager, Rock

Springs District Office, 280 Highway

191 North, Rock Springs, Wyoming,

(307–352–0200).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

agenda will be limited to:

1. Introduction and opening remarks.

2. Review of the Wild Horse

Management Plan.

3. Use of helicopters in the Plan.

4. Film presentation of roundup

activity.

5. Public comment period.

The meeting is open to the public and

interested persons may make statements

on the subject.

All statements will be recorded.

Michelle Cha ́vez,

District Manager.

[FR Doc. 97–585 Filed 1–14–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–22–P

[ID–990–1020–00]

Notice of Resource Advisory Council

Meeting

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management,

Upper Columbia—Salmon Clearwater

Districts, Idaho.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the

Federal Land Policy and Management

Act and the Federal Advisory

Committee Act of 1972 (FACA), 5 U.S.C.

Appendix, the Bureau of Land

Management (BLM) announces the

meeting of the Upper Columbia—

Salmon Clearwater District Resource

Advisory Council (RAC) on Friday,

January 31, 1997. The meeting will be

held via telephone conference.

The purpose of the meeting is for the

RAC members to discuss and make

recommendations to the District

Manager, State Director and Secretary of

the Interior concerning the procedures

and implementation schedule for the

proposed rangeland standards and

guidelines. Other administrative issues

may be discussed as time permits. The

RAC will meet from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00

a.m. (PST). The public may address the

Council during the public comment

period starting at 10:00 a.m. at BLM’s

Coeur d’Alene Field Office, 1808 N.

Third St., Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: All

Resource Advisory Council meetings are

open to the public. Interested persons

may make oral statements to the

Council, or written statements may be

submitted for the Council’s

consideration. Depending on the

number of persons wishing to make oral

statements, a per-person time limit may

be established by the District Manager.

The Council’s responsibilities include

providing long-range planning and

establishing resource management

priorities; and assisting the BLM to

identify state standards for rangeland

health and guidelines for grazing.