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
40616 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 142 / Wednesday, July 28, 2021 / Notices 

SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service (Service), announce our 

intention to conduct a 5-year status 

review under the Endangered Species 

Act of 1973, as amended, for the Eskimo 

curlew. A 5-year status review is based 

on the best scientific and commercial 

data available at the time of the review. 

We are requesting submission of any 

new information that has become 

available since the last review of the 

species in 2016. 

DATES: To ensure consideration, we 

must receive your comments and 

information by September 27, 2021. 

However, we will accept information 

about the species at any time. 

ADDRESSES: Please submit your 

information by one of the following 

methods: 

• Email: Daniel_Rizzolo@fws.gov; or 

• U.S. mail: U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service, Attention: Dan Rizzolo, 

Fisheries and Ecological Services, 101 

12th Avenue, Fairbanks, Alaska 99701. 

For more about submitting 

information, see Request for Information 

in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

section. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dan 

Rizzolo, by telephone at 907–456–0227. 

Individuals who are hearing impaired or 

speech impaired may call the Federal 

Relay Service at 800–877–8339 for TTY 

assistance. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We are 

initiating a 5-year status review under 

the ESA for the Eskimo curlew 

(Numenius borealis). A 5-year status 

review is based on the best scientific 

and commercial data available at the 

time of the review; therefore, we are 

requesting submission of any new 

information on this species that has 

become available since the last 5-year 

review was conducted in 2016. 

Why do we conduct 5-year reviews? 

Under the ESA, we maintain Lists of 

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife 

and Plants (which we collectively refer 

to as the List) in the Code of Federal 

Regulations (CFR) at 50 CFR 17.11 (for 

animals) and 17.12 (for plants). Section 

4(c)(2)(A) of the ESA requires us to 

review each listed species’ status at least 

once every 5 years. Further, our 

regulations at 50 CFR 424.21 require 

that we publish a notice in the Federal 

Register announcing those species 

under active review. For additional 

information about 5-year reviews, go to 

http://www.fws.gov/endangered/whatwe-do/recovery-overview.html. 

What information do we consider in 

our reviews? 

In conducting these reviews, we 

consider the best scientific and 

commercial data that have become 

available since the listing determination 

or most recent status review, such as: 

(1) The biology of the species, 

including but not limited to population 

trends, distribution, abundance, 

demographics, and genetics; 

(2) Habitat conditions, including but 

not limited to amount, distribution, and 

suitability; 

(3) Conservation measures that have 

been implemented that benefit the 

species; 

(4) Threat status and trends in relation 

to the five listing factors (as defined in 

section 4(a)(1) of the ESA); and 

(5) Other new information, data, or 

corrections, including but not limited to 

taxonomic or nomenclatural changes, 

identification of erroneous information 

contained in the List, and improved 

analytical methods. 

Any new information will be 

considered during the 5-year review and 

will also be useful in evaluating the 

ongoing recovery programs for the 

species. 

In the case of the Eskimo curlew, we 

concluded in our 2016 5-year review 

that the probability that the species 

remained extant was extremely low 

based on the scarcity of recent sightings 

and the length of time that has passed 

since the last sighting that was 

confirmed with physical evidence. We 

will therefore focus this 5-year review 

upon reported sightings or other recent 

information on the species’ possible 

existence. Thus, we ask, in particular, 

for information on recent sightings, 

including indication as to whether 

corroborating evidence (such as 

photographs) is available. 

Species Under Review 

Entity listed: Eskimo curlew 

(Numenius borealis). 

• Where listed: Wherever found. 

• Classification: Endangered. 

• Date listed (publication date for 

final listing rule): March 11, 1967, under 

the Endangered Species Preservation 

Act of 1966. 

• Federal Register citation for final 

listing rule: 32 FR 4001. 

Request for Information 

To ensure that a 5-year review is 

complete and based on the best 

available scientific and commercial 

information, we request new 

information from all sources. See What 

Information Do We Consider in Our 

Review? for specific criteria. If you 

submit information, please support it 

with documentation such as maps, 

bibliographic references, methods used 

to gather and analyze the data, and/or 

copies of any pertinent publications, 

reports, or letters by knowledgeable 

sources. 

Public Availability of Comments 

Before including your address, phone 

number, email address, or other 

personal identifying information in your 

comments, 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. 

Completed and Active Reviews 

A list of all completed and currently 

active 5-year status reviews addressing 

species for which the Alaska Region of 

the Service has the lead responsibility is 

available at https://www.fws.gov/alaska/ 

pages/endangered-species-program/ 

recovery-endangered-species. 

Authority 

This document is published under the 

authority of the Endangered Species Act 

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

seq.). 

Peter Fasbender, 

Assistant Regional Director, Fisheries and 

Ecological Services, Alaska Region. 

[FR Doc. 2021–16076 Filed 7–27–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4333–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Indian Affairs 

[212A2100DD/AAKC001030/ 

A0A501010.999900 253G; OMB Control 

Number 1076–0169] 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Submission to the Office of 

Management and Budget for Review 

and Approval; Probate of Indian 

Estates, Except for Members of the 

Osage Nation and Five Civilized Tribes 

AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of information collection; 

request for comment. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we, 

the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), are 

proposing to renew an information 

collection. 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES