34624 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 109 / Tuesday, June 7, 2022 / Proposed Rules 

standards to determine the practicality 

of the VCS for this rule. This review 

requires significant method validation 

data that meet the requirements of EPA 

Method 301 for accepting alternative 

methods or scientific, engineering, and 

policy equivalence to procedures in the 

EPA referenced methods. The EPA may 

reconsider determinations of 

impracticality when additional 

information is available for particular 

VCS. 

No applicable VCS was identified for 

EPA Method 5 or EPA Method 29. The 

search identified one VCS that was 

potentially applicable for this rule in 

lieu of EPA Method 29. After reviewing 

the available standard, the EPA 

determined that the VCS identified for 

measuring emissions of pollutants 

subject to emissions standards in the 

rule would not be practical due to lack 

of equivalency. Additional information 

for the VCS search and determination 

can be found in the memorandum, 

Voluntary Consensus Standard Results 

for National Emission Standards for 

Hazardous Air Pollutants: 

Miscellaneous Coatings Manufacturing 

Technology Review, which is available 

in the docket for this action. 

The EPA welcomes comments on this 

aspect of the proposed rulemaking and, 

specifically, invites the public to 

identify potentially applicable VCS, and 

to explain why the EPA should use such 

standards in this regulation. 

J. Executive Order 12898: Federal 

Actions To Address Environmental 

Justice in Minority Populations and 

Low-Income Populations 

The EPA believes that this action does 

not have disproportionately high and 

adverse human health or environmental 

effects on minority populations, lowincome populations, and/or indigenous 

peoples, as specified in Executive Order 

12898 (59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994). 

As discussed in section V.E of this 

preamble, the assessment of populations 

in close proximity of MCM facilities 

shows no demographic groups that are 

higher than the national average and the 

proposed changes will provide health 

protection for all populations. 

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 63 

Environmental protection, Air 

pollution control, Hazardous 

substances, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements. 

Michael S. Regan, 

Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2022–12180 Filed 6–6–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS 

COMMISSION 

47 CFR Part 73 

[MB Docket No. 22–215; RM–11929; DA 22– 

578; FRS–89945] 

Television Broadcasting Services 

Orono, Maine 

AGENCY: Federal Communications 

Commission. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: The Commission has before it 

a petition for rulemaking filed by Maine 

Public Broadcasting Corporation 

(Petitioner), the licensee of WMEB, 

channel *9, Orono, Maine. The 

Petitioner requests the substitution of 

channel *22 for channel *9 at Orono in 

the Table of Allotments. 

DATES: Comments must be filed on or 

before July 7, 2022 and reply comments 

on or before July 22, 2022. 

ADDRESSES: Federal Communications 

Commission, Office of the Secretary, 45 

L Street NE, Washington, DC 20554. In 

addition to filing comments with the 

FCC, interested parties should serve 

counsel for the Petitioner as follows: 

Derek Teslik, Esq., Gray Miller Persh, 

2233 Wisconsin Avenue NW, 

Washington, DC 20007. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Joyce Bernstein, Media Bureau, at (202) 

418–1647; or Joyce Bernstein, Media 

Bureau, at Joyce.Bernstein@fcc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 

support, the Petitioner states that the 

proposed channel substitution would 

serve the public interest, since moving 

the Station to a UHF channel would 

improve indoor reception. According to 

the Petitioner, although the proposed 

channel *22 facilities will result in a 

slight reduction in the Station’s 

predicted population served, much of 

the predicted loss area is served by the 

Petitioner’s other commonly owned 

stations WCBB–TV, Augusta, Maine4 

and WMED–TV, Calais, Maine, which 

largely air the same programming as 

WMEB–TV. The Petitioner further states 

that once terrain-limitations are factored 

into the analysis, the new loss area that 

would be created by the proposed 

channel substitution would contain 

only 523 persons, which it asserts is 

below the level the Commission 

considers de minimis in the context of 

determining whether there would be an 

impermissible loss of service. Moreover, 

the proposed channel change would 

result in first service to a substantial 

number of persons. 

This is a synopsis of the 

Commission’s Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking, MB Docket No. 22–215; 

RM–11929; DA 22–578, adopted May 

25, 2022, and released May 25, 2022. 

The full text of this document is 

available for download at https://

www.fcc.gov/edocs. To request materials 

in accessible formats (braille, large 

print, computer diskettes, or audio 

recordings), please send an email to 

FCC504@fcc.gov or call the Consumer & 

Government Affairs Bureau at (202) 

418–0530 (VOICE), (202) 418–0432 

(TTY). 

This document does not contain 

information collection requirements 

subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act 

of 1995, Public Law 104–13. In addition, 

therefore, it does not contain any 

proposed information collection burden 

‘‘for small business concerns with fewer 

than 25 employees,’’ pursuant to the 

Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 

2002, Public Law 107–198, see 44 U.S.C. 

3506(c)(4). Provisions of the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act of 1980, 5 U.S.C. 601– 

612, do not apply to this proceeding. 

Members of the public should note 

that all ex parte contacts are prohibited 

from the time a Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking is issued to the time the 

matter is no longer subject to 

Commission consideration or court 

review, see 47 CFR 1.1208. There are, 

however, exceptions to this prohibition, 

which can be found in Section 1.1204(a) 

of the Commission’s rules, 47 CFR 

1.1204(a). 

See Sections 1.415 and 1.420 of the 

Commission’s rules for information 

regarding the proper filing procedures 

for comments, 47 CFR 1.415 and 1.420. 

List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 73 

Television. 

Federal Communications Commission. 

Thomas Horan, 

Chief of Staff, Media Bureau. 

Proposed Rule 

For the reasons discussed in the 

preamble, the Federal Communications 

Commission proposes to amend 47 CFR 

part 73 as follows: 

PART 73—Radio Broadcast Service 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 73 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 47 U.S.C. 154, 155, 301, 303, 

307, 309, 310, 334, 336, 339. 

§ 73.622 [Amended] 

■ 2. In § 73.622 in paragraph (j), amend 

the Table of Allotments under Maine by 

revising the entry for Orono to read as 

follows: 

§ 73.622 Table of allotments. 

* * * * * 


jspears on DSK121TN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 109 / Tuesday, June 7, 2022 / Proposed Rules 34625 

(j) * * * 

Community Channel No. 

* * * * * 

MAINE 

* * * * * 

Orono .................................... * 22 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. 2022–12159 Filed 6–6–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

50 CFR Part 17 

[Docket No. FWS–HQ–ES–2021–0033; 

FF09E41000 2223 FXES111609C0000] 

RIN 1018–BF98 

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife 

and Plants; Designation of 

Experimental Populations 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish Wildlife 

Service (Service), propose to revise the 

regulations concerning experimental 

populations of endangered species and 

threatened species under the 

Endangered Species Act (ESA). We are 

proposing to remove language generally 

restricting the introduction of 

experimental populations to only the 

species’ ‘‘historical range’’ to allow for 

the introduction of populations into 

habitat outside of their historical range 

for conservation purposes. To provide 

for the conservation of certain species, 

we have concluded that it may be 

increasingly necessary and appropriate 

to establish experimental populations 

outside of their historical range if the 

ability of the habitat to support one or 

more life history stages has been 

reduced due to threats, such as climate 

change or invasive species. We are also 

proposing minor changes to clarify the 

existing regulations. These minor 

changes are not intended to alter the 

substance or scope of the regulations. 

DATES: We will accept comments from 

all interested parties until August 8, 

2022. Please note that if you are using 

the Federal eRulemaking Portal (see 

ADDRESSES below), the deadline for 

submitting an electronic comment is 

11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on 

this date. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by one of the following methods: 

(1) Electronically: Go to the Federal 

eRulemaking Portal: https://

www.regulations.gov. In the Search box, 

enter FWS–HQ–ES–2021–0033, which 

is the docket number for this 

rulemaking. Then, in the Search panel 

on the left side of the screen, under the 

Document Type heading, click on the 

Proposed Rules link to locate this 

document. You may submit a comment 

by clicking on ‘‘Comment.’’ 

(2) By hard copy: Submit by U.S. mail 

to: Public Comments Processing, Attn: 

FWS–HQ–ES–2021–0033; U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service, MS: PRB/3W, 5275 

Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041– 

3803. 

We request that you send comments 

only by the methods described above. 

We will post all comments on https:// 

www.regulations.gov. This generally 

means that we will post any personal 

information you provide us (see Public 

Comments below for more information). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lisa 

Ellis, Acting Chief, Division of 

Restoration and Recovery, U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service, 5275 Leesburg Pike, 

Falls Church, VA 22041–3803, 

telephone 703–358–2171. 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-ofcontact in the United States. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The purposes of the ESA are to 

provide a means to conserve the 

ecosystems upon which listed species 

depend, to develop a program for the 

conservation of listed species, and to 

achieve the purposes of certain treaties 

and conventions. Moreover, the ESA 

states that it is the policy of Congress 

that Federal agencies shall seek to 

conserve threatened and endangered 

species and use their authorities to 

further the purposes of the ESA (16 

U.S.C. 1531(c)(1)). The ESA’s 

implementing regulations are found in 

title 50 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations (CFR). 

The 1982 amendments to the ESA 

added section 10(j) to facilitate 

reintroductions of listed species by 

allowing the Service to designate 

‘‘experimental populations.’’ The 

regulations to carry out section 10(j) 

provide that the Service may designate 

as an experimental population a 

population of an endangered species or 

a threatened species that will be 

released into suitable natural habitat 

outside the species’ current natural 

range (but within its probable historical 

range, absent a finding by the Director 

in the extreme case that the primary 

habitat of the species has been 

unsuitably and irreversibly altered or 

destroyed) (50 CFR 17.81). At the time 

the Service adopted these regulations, it 

did not anticipate the impact of climate 

change on species and their habitats. We 

have since learned that climate change 

is causing, or is anticipated to cause, 

many species’ suitable habitat to shift 

outside of their historical range. In 

addition, other threats such as invasive 

species may also reduce the ability of 

habitat to support one or more life 

history stages within the species’ 

historical range. Therefore, it may be 

necessary and appropriate to establish 

experimental populations outside of the 

species’ historical range to provide for 

their conservation and adapt to the 

habitat-related impacts of climate 

change and other threats. These 

proposed regulatory changes will more 

clearly establish the authority of the 

Service to introduce experimental 

populations into areas of habitat outside 

of the historical range of the affected 

listed species. The proposed revisions 

will not otherwise change the process 

for designating an experimental 

population. 

Proposed Regulatory Revisions 

We seek public comments on the 

proposed revisions to the regulations in 

50 CFR part 17, subpart H. The primary 

proposed revision is to delete the 

reference to a species’ ‘‘historical 

range.’’ We intend for this change to 

allow for experimental populations to 

be introduced into habitat outside of the 

historical range of the species under 

appropriate circumstances. Such 

circumstances could include instances 

where little to no habitat remains within 

the historical range of a species or 

where formerly suitable habitat within 

the historical range has undergone, or is 

undergoing, irreversible decline or 

change, rendering it unable to support 

one or more life history stages for the 

species, thereby leading to the need to 

establish the species in habitat in areas 

outside the historical range. If this 

proposal is finalized, it will be applied 

to future designations and will not 

require the reevaluation of any prior 

designation of an experimental 

population. 


jspears on DSK121TN23PROD with PROPOSALS1