65056 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 222 / Monday, November 19, 2007 / Notices 

and OMB are seeking comments from 

members of the public and affected 

agencies concerning the proposed 

collection of information to: (1) Evaluate 

whether the proposed extension of 

collection of information is necessary 

for the proper performance of the 

functions of the agency, including 

whether the information will have 

practical utility; (2) Evaluate the 

accuracy of the agency’s estimate of the 

burden of the proposed collection of 

information; (3) Enhance the quality, 

utility, and clarity of the information to 

be collected; and (4) Minimize the 

burden of the collection of information 

on those who are to respond; including 

through the use of appropriate 

automated collection techniques or 

other forms of information submission 

of responses. 

Title of Proposal: Consolidated Plan & 

Annual Performance Report. 

Description of the Need for the 

Information and Proposed Uses: The 

information is needed to provide HUD 

with preliminary assessment of 

compliance with statutory and 

regulatory requirements. A secondary 

need is informing citizens of the 

intended uses of formula grant funds 

and an evaluation of programmatic 

accomplishments. 

Agency Form Numbers (if applicable): 

The Department’s collection of this 

information is in compliance with 

statutory provisions of the CranstonGonzalez National Affordable Housing 

Act of 1990 that requires the 

participating jurisdictions submit a 

Comprehensive Housing Affordability 

Strategy (Section 105), the 1974 Housing 

and Community Development Act, as 

amended, that requires states and 

localities to submit a Community 

Development Plan (Section 104 (b)(4) 

and Section 104 (b)(m) and statutory 

provisions of these Acts that require 

states and localities to submit annual 

plans and reports for these formula 

grant programs. 

Members of the Affected Public: State 

and local governments participating in 

the Community Development Block 

Grant Program (CDBG), the HOME 

Investment Partnerships (HOME) 

program, the Emergency Shelter Grants 

(ESG) program, or the Housing 

Opportunities for Persons with AIDS/ 

HIV (HOPWA) program. 

Estimation of the total numbers of 

hours needed to prepare the information 

collection including number of 

respondents, frequency of response and 

hours of response: Under a previous 

submission, OMB Control Number 

2506–0117, the burden of meeting the 

regulatory requirements of Title I of the 

National Affordable Housing Act 

(NAHA) and the Housing and 

Community Development Act (HCDA) 

were assessed. That submission was 

approved until March 31, 2008. In 2002, 

the President’s Management Agenda 

directed HUD to work with local 

stakeholders to streamline the 

consolidated plan, making it more 

results-oriented and useful to 

communities in assessing their own 

progress toward addressing the 

problems of low-income areas. The 

Department carefully considered ideas 

generated by several working groups 

that were established to explore 

alternative planning requirements and 

suggestions for improving the 

consolidated plan. 

A number of suggested alternative 

formats allowed jurisdictions to crossreference other existing local documents 

and experiment with different visual 

formatting tools such as tables, graphs, 

bullet points, and appendices. The 

outcome was a streamlined, userfriendly document. In addition, the 

revision established some new 

requirements involving the 

development and implementation of an 

outcome measurement framework to 

meet local needs as well as outcomes 

that can be aggregated on a national 

basis. The net result did not result in a 

net change in burden hours. 

The paperwork estimates are as 

follows: 

Task Number of 

respondents 

Frequency of 

response 

Total U.S. 

burden hours 

Consolidated Plan 

Localities: 

• Strategic Plan Development ............................................................................................. 1,000 1 220,000 

• Action Plan Development ................................................................................................. 1,000 1 112,00 

States: 

• Strategic Plan Development ............................................................................................. 50 1 30,200 

• Action Plan Development ................................................................................................. 50 1 18,700 

Performance Report: 

Localities ............................................................................................................................... 1,000 1 162,000 

States .................................................................................................................................... 50 1 12,600 

*Abbreviated Strategy ........................................................................................................... 100 ........................ 8,200 

Total ............................................................................................................................... ........................ ........................ 563,700 

Status of the proposed information 

collection: Extension of previously 

approved collection for which approval 

is near expiration and the request for 

OMB’s approval for three years. The 

current OMB approval expires March 

31, 2008. 

Authority: Section 3506 of the Paperwork 

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

as amended. 

Dated: November 9, 2007. 

Nelson Brego ́n, 

General Deputy Assistant Secretary for 

Community Planning and Development. 

[FR Doc. E7–22610 Filed 11–16–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4210–67–P 

DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

Proposed Safe Harbor Agreement for 

the California Red-Legged Frog for 

Landowners Restoring Aquatic and 

Riparian Habitat in the Pine Gulch 

Creek Watershed in Marin County, CA 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of availability; receipt of 

application. 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 222 / Monday, November 19, 2007 / Notices 65057 

SUMMARY: This notice advises the public 

that the Marin County Agriculture 

Commission (Applicant) has applied to 

the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

(Service) for an enhancement of survival 

permit pursuant to Section 10(a)(1)(A) 

of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, 

as amended (Act). The permit 

application includes a proposed Safe 

Harbor Agreement (Agreement) between 

the Applicant and the Service for the 

threatened California red-legged frog 

(Rana aurora draytonii). The Agreement 

and permit application are available for 

public comment. 

DATES: Written comments should be 

received on or before December 19, 

2007. 

ADDRESSES: Comments should be 

addressed to Rick Kuyper, U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service, Sacramento Fish and 

Wildlife Office, 2800 Cottage Way, 

W–2605, Sacramento, California 95825. 

Written comments may be sent by 

facsimile to (916) 414–6712. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Rick Kuyper, Sacramento Fish and 

Wildlife Office (see ADDRESSES); 

telephone: (916) 414–6600. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Availability of Documents 

You may obtain copies of the 

documents for review by contacting the 

individual named above. You may also 

make an appointment to view the 

documents at the above address during 

normal business hours. 

Public Availability of Comments 

Before including your address, phone 

number, e-mail 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. 

Background 

Under a Safe Harbor Agreement, 

participating landowners voluntarily 

undertake management activities on 

their property to enhance, restore, or 

maintain habitat benefiting species 

listed under the Act. Safe Harbor 

Agreements, and the subsequent 

enhancement of survival permits that 

are issued pursuant to Section 

10(a)(1)(A) of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et 

seq.), encourage private and other nonFederal property owners to implement 

conservation efforts for listed species by 

assuring property owners that they will 

not be subjected to increased land use 

restrictions as a result of efforts to 

attract or increase the numbers or 

distribution of a listed species on their 

property. Application requirements and 

issuance criteria for enhancement of 

survival permits through Safe Harbor 

Agreements are found in 50 CFR 

17.22(c). 

We have worked the Applicant to 

develop this proposed Programmatic 

Agreement for the conservation of the 

California red-legged frog in the 7.5 

square-mile Pine Gulch Creek 

Watershed in Marin County, California. 

The properties subject to this Agreement 

consist of approximately 4,800 acres of 

non-Federal properties within the Pine 

Gulch Creek Watershed, on which 

habitat for the California red-legged frog 

will be created, enhanced, and managed 

pursuant to a written agreement 

between the Service, Marin County 

Agriculture Commission, and property 

owners in the Pine Gulch Creek 

Watershed. 

This Agreement provides for the 

creation of a Program in which private 

landowners (Cooperators) enter into 

written cooperative agreements with the 

Applicant pursuant to the terms of the 

Agreement, to restore, enhance, and 

maintain aquatic and riparian habitat in 

ways beneficial to the California redlegged frog. Such cooperative 

agreements will be for a term of at least 

10 years. The proposed duration of the 

Agreement is 30 years, and the proposed 

term of the enhancement of survival 

permit is 30 years. The Agreement fully 

describes the proposed management 

activities to be undertaken by 

Cooperators and the conservation 

benefits expected to be gained for the 

California red-legged frog. 

Upon approval of this Agreement, and 

consistent with the Service’s Safe 

Harbor Policy published in the Federal 

Register on June 17, 1999 (64 FR 32717), 

the Service would issue a permit to the 

Marin County Agriculture Commission 

authorizing take of the California redlegged frog by Cooperators incidental to 

the implementation of the management 

activities specified in the cooperative 

agreements, incidental to other lawful 

uses of the properties, including normal 

routine land management activities, 

and/or to return to pre-Agreement 

conditions (baseline). 

To benefit the California red-legged 

frog, Cooperators will agree to undertake 

site-specific management activities, 

which will be specified in their written 

cooperative agreements. Management 

activities that could be included in the 

Cooperative Agreements will provide 

for the enhancement, restoration, and/or 

maintenance of aquatic and riparian 

habitat. These activities have been 

designed to enhance California redlegged frog populations by creating and 

improving breeding habitat, managing 

vegetation and grazing as appropriate, 

controlling non-native predators, and 

managing agriculture and recreation as 

appropriate to benefit populations of 

California red-legged frog. Take of 

California red-legged frog incidental to 

the aforementioned activities is 

unlikely; however, it is possible that in 

the course of such activities or other 

lawful activities on the enrolled 

property, a Cooperator could 

incidentally take a California red-legged 

frog, thereby necessitating take authority 

under the permit. 

The California red-legged frog relies 

on a variety of habitats for various stages 

of its life cycle, including pond and 

riparian habitat, upland habitat and 

moist refuges. Baseline conditions, 

consisting of a description and survey to 

determine the quantity and location of 

suitable California red-legged frog 

habitat, shall be determined for each 

enrolled property as provided in the 

Agreement. In order to receive the above 

assurances regarding incidental take of 

the California red-legged frog, a 

Cooperator must maintain baseline on 

the enrolled property. The Agreement 

and requested enhancement of survival 

permit will allow each Cooperator to 

return to baseline conditions after the 

end to the term of the 10-year 

cooperative agreement and prior to the 

expiration of the 30-year permit, if so 

desired by the Applicant and 

Cooperator. 

Consistent with the Service’s Safe 

Harbor Policy (64 FR 32717), the 

proposed Agreement and requested 

permit also extend certain assurances to 

those lands that are immediately 

adjacent to lands on which restoration 

activities occur. To receive such 

assurances, a neighboring landowner 

must enter into a written agreement 

with the Service that specifics the 

baseline conditions on the property. 

This written agreement remains in effect 

until the expiration of the 30-year 

Agreement between the Applicant and 

the Service and requires the neighboring 

landowner to maintain the baseline 

conditions established at the start of the 

agreement. 

Public Review and Comments 

The Service has made a preliminary 

determination that the proposed 

Agreement and permit application are 

eligible for categorical exclusion under 

the National Environmental Policy Act 

of 1969 (NEPA). We explain the basis 

for this determination in the 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with NOTICES
65058 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 222 / Monday, November 19, 2007 / Notices 

Environmental Action Statement, which 

is also available for public review. 

Individuals wishing copies of the 

permit application, copies of our 

preliminary Environmental Action 

Statement, and/or copies of the full text 

of the Agreement, including a map of 

the proposed permit area, references, 

and legal descriptions of the proposed 

permit area, should contact the office 

and personnel listed in the ADDRESSES

section above. 

If you wish to comment on the permit 

application or the Agreement, you may 

submit your comment to the address 

listed in the ADDRESSES section of this 

document. Comments and materials 

received, including names and 

addressed of respondents, will be 

available for public review, by 

appointment, during normal business 

hours at the address in the ADDRESSES

section above and will become part of 

the public record, pursuant to section 

10(c) of the Act. Individual respondents 

may request that we withhold their 

home address from the record, which 

we will honor to the extent allowable by 

law. There also may be circumstances in 

which we would withhold from the 

record a respondent’s identity, as 

allowable by law. If you wish us to 

withhold your name and/or address, 

you must state this prominently at the 

beginning of your comment. 

Anonymous comments will not be 

considered. All submissions from 

organizations or businesses, and from 

individuals identifying themselves as 

representatives or officials of 

organizations or businesses, are 

available for public inspection in their 

entirety. 

We will evaluate this permit 

application, associated documents, and 

comments submitted thereon to 

determine whether the permit 

application meets the requirements of 

section 10(a) of the Act and NEPA 

regulations at 40 CFR 1506.6. If we 

determine that the requirements are 

met, we will sign the proposed 

Agreement and issue and enhancement 

of survival permit under section 

10(a)(1)(A) of the Act to the Applicants 

for take of the California red-legged frog 

incidental to otherwise lawful activities 

in accordance with the terms of the 

Agreement. We will not make our final 

decision until after the end of the 30- 

day comment period and will fully 

consider all comments received during 

the comment period. 

The Service provides this notice 

pursuant to section 10(c) of the Act and 

pursuant to implementing regulations 

for NEPA (40 CFR 1506.6). 

Dated: November 8, 2007. 

Susan K. Moore, 

Field Supervisor, Sacramento Fish and 

Wildlife Office, Sacramento, California. 

[FR Doc. 07–5703 Filed 11–16–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–M 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

Draft Revised Recovery Plan for the 

Attwater’s Prairie-Chicken 

(Tympanuchus cupido attwateri) 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of document availability. 

SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service (Service), announce the 

availability of the draft revised recovery 

plan for the Attwater’s prairie-chicken 

(Tympanuchus cupido attwateri). This 

is the second revision of the recovery 

plan for this species; the original was 

completed in 1983. We are soliciting 

review and comment from the public on 

this draft revised recovery plan. 

DATES: To ensure consideration, we 

must receive comments by January 18, 

2008. 

ADDRESSES: You may obtain copies of 

the recovery plan on CD from the Refuge 

Manager, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service, Attwater Prairie Chicken 

National Wildlife Refuge, P.O. Box 519, 

Eagle Lake, Texas 77434, or download it 

from the Internet at http://www.fws.gov/ 

endangered (type ‘‘Attwater’s’’ in the 

species search field). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Terry Rossignol, Refuge Manager, 

Attwater Prairie Chicken National 

Wildlife Refuge, P.O. Box 519, Eagle 

Lake, Texas 77434; telephone 979–234–

3021, ext. 13, facsimile 979–234–3278, 

e-mail: terry_rossignol@fws.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The Endangered Species Act of 1973 

(Act), as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et 

seq.) requires the development of 

recovery plans for listed species unless 

such a plan would not promote the 

conservation of a particular species. 

Section 4(f) of the Act, as amended in 

1988, requires that public notice and an 

opportunity for public review and 

comment be provided during recovery 

plan development. The Service 

considers all information provided 

during a public comment period prior to 

approval of each new or revised 

recovery plan. The Service and others 

take these comments into account in the 

course of implementing recovery plans. 

The Attwater’s prairie-chicken was 

listed as Endangered with Extinction in 

1967. This listing was ‘‘grandfathered’’

into the Endangered Species Act of 

1973. Critical habitat has not been 

designated for this species. Attwater’s 

prairie-chickens occur only in coastal 

prairie habitats of Texas in the United 

States. Fewer than 50 individuals exist 

in the wild at 2 locations, and 

approximately 150 Attwater’s are in 

captivity at 7 sites. With so few 

individuals surviving, the population 

remains in imminent danger of 

extinction. Habitat destruction and 

degradation, and to a lesser extent over 

harvesting, are the primary factors 

contributing to historic population 

declines. Current threats include 

extremely small populations, habitat 

and population fragmentation resulting 

in genetic isolation, diseases and 

parasites in both the wild and captive 

setting, inability of captive breeding 

facilities to produce large numbers of 

captively-reared birds that are capable 

of survival and reproduction in wild 

habitats, and poor brood survival in 

wild populations. 

The revised recovery plan includes 

scientific information about the species 

and provides objectives and actions 

needed to recover the Attwater’s prairiechicken and ultimately remove it from 

the list of threatened and endangered 

species. Recovery actions designed to 

achieve these objectives include 

restoration of a network of large, high 

quality grasslands within a large (greater 

than 100 linear miles) geographic area to 

minimize threats from catastrophic 

weather and allow for gene flow among 

populations, maintenance of 90 percent 

of original gene diversity in a captive 

flock of 200 for 20 years, increasing 

production of the captive flock to allow 

for release at multiple sites, 

establishment of multiple greater than 

500-bird populations within the 

grassland network, and broadening 

public support and partner efforts to 

conserve the Attwater’s and its coastal 

prairie ecosystem. 

The current recovery goal is to protect 

and ensure the survival of the Attwater’s 

prairie-chicken and its habitat, allowing 

the population to reach a measurable 

level of ecological and genetic stability 

so that it can be reclassified to 

threatened status (downlisted) and 

ultimately removed from the 

endangered species list (delist). 

Downlisting can be considered when 

the population maintains a minimum of 

3,000 breeding adults annually over a 5- 

year period. These birds should be 

distributed along a linear distance of no 

less then 50 miles to mitigate for 

environmental stochasticity (e.g., 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with NOTICES