40614 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 142 / Wednesday, July 28, 2021 / Notices 

Application No. Applicant, city, state Species Location Take activity Permit action 

PER0012586 ... Hawaii Division of Forestry 

and Wildlife, Honolulu, HI.

Akekee (Loxops 

caeruleirostris) Akikiki 

(Oreomystis bairdi).

Maui parrotbill or kiwikiu 

(Pseudonestor 

xanthophrys) Palila or 

honeycreeper (Loxioides 

bailleui) Small Kauai 

thrush or puaiohi 

(Myadestes palmeri) 

Laysan duck (Anas 

laysanensis).

Hawaiian Archipelago and 

the Pacific Islands Region.

Forest birds: Harass by survey, monitor, capture, 

handle, collect eggs, 

nestlings, subadults, and/ 

or adults, captive propagate, band, release, and 

salvage.

Laysan duck: Harass by 

survey, monitor, capture, 

handle, band, vaccinate, 

translocate, release, supplemental feed, and salvage.

Amend. 

Public Availability of Comments 

Written comments we receive become 

part of the administrative record 

associated with this action. 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 request in your comment 

that we 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. 

Next Steps 

If we decide to issue a permit to an 

applicant listed in this notice, we will 

publish a notice in the Federal Register. 

Authority 

We publish this notice under section 

10(c) of the Endangered Species Act of 

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

seq.). 

Katherine Norman, 

Assistant Regional Director–Ecological 

Services, Pacific Region. 

[FR Doc. 2021–16010 Filed 7–27–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4333–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

[Docket No. FWS–R8–ES–2021–0047; 

FXES11130800000–212–FF08ENVS00] 

Enhancement of Survival Permit 

Application and Draft Safe Harbor 

Agreement, Nye, Esmeralda, Lincoln 

and Clark Counties, Nevada 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of availability of the 

proposed draft safe harbor agreement 

and NEPA compliance documentation; 

request for comment. 

SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service (Service), announce the 

receipt and availability of an application 

for an enhancement of survival permit 

(permit) under the Endangered Species 

Act (ESA) and an associated draft 

programmatic Safe Harbor Agreement 

(SHA). Additionally, consistent with the 

requirements of the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), we 

have prepared a draft environmental 

action statement supporting our 

preliminary determination that the 

proposed permit action qualifies for a 

categorical exclusion under NEPA. The 

Nevada Department of Wildlife 

(applicant) has applied for a permit 

under the ESA for the enhancement 

activities within the SHA, which will 

contribute to the recovery of the 

Pahrump poolfish (Empetrichthys latos). 

The permit would authorize the take of 

one species incidental to the 

enhancement and restoration of private 

and public lands. We invite the public 

and local, State, Tribal, and Federal 

agencies to comment on the proposed 

SHA, and NEPA categorical exclusion 

determination documentation. Before 

issuing the requested permit, we will 

take into consideration any information 

that we receive during the public 

comment period. 

DATES: Written comments must be 

received on or before August 27, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: Obtaining Documents: The 

documents this notice announces, as 

well as any comments and other 

materials that we receive, will be 

available for public inspection in Docket 

No. FWS–R8–ES–2021–0047 at http://

www.regulations.gov. 

Submitting Comments: To send 

written comments, please use one of the 

following methods and identify to 

which document your comments are in 

reference—the draft SHA or NEPA 

compliance documentation. 

• Internet: Submit comments at 

http://www.regulations.gov under 

Docket No. FWS–R8–ES–2021–0047. 

• U.S. Mail: Public Comments 

Processing, Attn: Docket No. FWS–R8– 

ES–2021–0047; U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service Headquarters, MS: PRB/3W; 

5275 Leesburg Pike; Falls Church, VA 

22041–3803. 

For more information, see Public 

Comments and Public Availability of 

Comments under SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Glen 

W. Knowles, Field Supervisor, Southern 

Nevada Fish and Wildlife Office, by 

phone at 702–515–5244 or via the 

Federal Relay Service at 800–877–8339. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We, the 

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

announce the receipt of a permit 

application from the Nevada 

Department of Wildlife (applicant), for a 

50-year enhancement of survival permit 

under section 10(a)(1)(A) of the 

Endangered Species Act, as amended 

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

Application for the permit requires the 

preparation of a programmatic safe 

harbor agreement (SHA) between the 

applicant and Service. The SHA 

provides for voluntary habitat 

restoration, maintenance, or 

enhancement activities that will 

contribute to the recovery of the 

Pahrump poolfish (Empetrichthys latos). 

Service consideration of issuing a 

permit also requires evaluation of its 

potential impacts on the natural and 

human environment in accordance with 

the National Environmental Policy Act 

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

Service has prepared a draft 

environmental action statement, which 

includes a draft categorical exclusion 

(CatEx) pursuant to NEPA and its 

implementing regulations in the Code of 

Federal Regulations (CFR) at 40 CFR 

1501.4, to preliminarily determine if the 

proposed SHA is eligible for a 

categorical exclusion. 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 142 / Wednesday, July 28, 2021 / Notices 40615 

Background 

Except for permitted exceptions, 

section 9 of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1538 et 

seq.) prohibits the taking of fish and 

wildlife species listed as endangered 

under section 4 of the ESA; by 

regulation, take of certain species listed 

as threatened is also prohibited (16 

U.S.C. 1533(d); 50 CFR 17.31). 

Regulations governing the permitted 

exception for allowable incidental take 

of endangered and threatened species 

are at 50 CFR 17.22 and 17.32. For more 

about the Federal SHA program, go to: 

https://www.fws.gov/endangered/esalibrary/pdf/harborqa.pdf, https://

www.fws.gov/endangered/landowners/ 

safe-harbor-agreements.html. 

National Environmental Policy Act 

Compliance 

The proposed permit issuance triggers 

the need for compliance with the NEPA. 

The draft categorical exclusion (CatEx) 

was prepared to determine if issuance of 

a permit, based on the draft SHA, would 

individually or cumulatively have a 

minor or negligible effect on the species 

covered, and would therefore be eligible 

for a CatEx from further environmental 

analysis under NEPA. 

Proposed Action 

Under the proposed action, the 

Service would issue a permit to the 

applicant for a period of 50 years for 

covered activities (described below) 

benefitting the Pahrump poolfish by 

relieving landowners from any 

additional section 9 liability under the 

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

Landowners who have suitable habitat 

for Pahrump poolfish may be enrolled 

by the applicant under the SHA. 

Landowners would receive a certificate 

of inclusion when they sign a 

cooperative agreement. Thus, the 

landowners will be authorized to take 

Pahrump poolfish when the number of 

species has increased above the baseline 

established in the SHA and cooperative 

agreement as a result of the landowner’s 

covered activities. Although the permit 

and SHA will authorize incidental take 

of Pahrump poolfish associated with 

returning the enrolled property to its 

agreed-upon baseline condition, the 

Service anticipates that this level of take 

will not negatively impact the recovery 

of the species. It is not anticipated that 

cooperators will continuously seek to 

return to baseline during the pendency 

of their cooperative agreements; and 

during such time, the agreements will 

create short, mid-range, and long-term 

benefits for the recovery of the Pahrump 

poolfish. The applicant has requested a 

permit for one species, the Pahrump 

poolfish (Empetrichthys latos), which 

was, and remains as listed under the 

ESA as endangered in March 1967. 

Safe Harbor Agreement Area 

The geographic scope of this SHA 

encompasses suitable private and nonFederal lands within Nye, Esmeralda, 

Lincoln, and Clark Counties, Nevada. 

Covered Activities 

The proposed section 10(a) permit 

would allow incidental take of one 

covered species from covered activities 

in the proposed SHA area. The 

applicant is requesting incidental take 

authorization for covered activities, 

including but not limited to operation of 

vehicles and maintenance equipment, 

building or fence construction, 

gardening, hunting, recreational fishing, 

farming, mining, mowing, maintenance 

of landscaping and recreational facility 

infrastructure including irrigation 

facilities, commercial and noncommercial recreational activities, or 

cultivation of agricultural crops. As long 

as enrolled landowners allow the 

agreed-upon conservation measures to 

be completed on their property, and 

agree to maintain their baseline 

responsibilities, they may make any 

other lawful use of the property during 

the term of the cooperative agreement, 

even if such use results in the take of 

individual Pahrump poolfish or harm to 

their habitat. Some of the conservation 

measures that will be used to achieve 

this include restoration of springpool 

and springbrook habitats to approximate 

historical conditions, removal of aquatic 

nonnative species, control of invasive 

weed and plant species, modification of 

livestock grazing practices, and 

maintenance of seasonal flooding and 

soil moisture through pasture irrigation 

management strategies. 

Public Comments 

We request data, comments, new 

information, or suggestions from the 

public, other concerned governmental 

agencies, the scientific community, 

Tribes, industry, or any other interested 

party on the draft SHA and associated 

documents. If you wish to comment, 

you may submit comments by any of the 

methods in ADDRESSES. 

Public Availability of Comments 

Any comments we receive will 

become part of the decision record 

associated with this action. 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 request in your comment 

that we 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. 

Next Steps 

Issuance of a permit is a Federal 

proposed action subject to compliance 

with NEPA and section 7 of the ESA. 

We will evaluate the permit application, 

the SHA, associated documents, and 

any public comments we receive during 

the comment period to determine 

whether the application meets the 

requirements of section 10(a) of the 

ESA. If we determine that those 

requirements are met, we will conduct 

an intra-Service consultation under 

section 7 of the ESA for the Federal 

action and for the potential issuance of 

an enhancement of survival permit. If 

the intra-Service consultation confirms 

issuance of the permit will not 

jeopardize the continued existence of 

any endangered or threatened species, 

or destroy or adversely modify critical 

habitat, we will issue a permit to the 

applicant for the incidental take of the 

covered species. 

Authority 

We provide this notice under section 

10(c) of the Endangered Species Act (16 

U.S.C. 1539(c) and its implementing 

regulations (50 CFR 17.32), and NEPA 

(42 U.S.C. 4371 et seq.) and NEPA 

implementing regulations (40 CFR 

1501.4). 

Glen W. Knowles, 

Field Supervisor, Southern Nevada Fish and 

Wildlife Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Las Vegas, Nevada. 

[FR Doc. 2021–16061 Filed 7–27–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4333–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

[FWS–R7–ES–2020–N045; 

FXES11140700000–212–FF07CAFB00] 

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife 

and Plants; Initiation of 5-Year Status 

Review of the Eskimo curlew 

(Numenius borealis) 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice; request for information. 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES