66388 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 208 / Thursday, October 28, 2010 / Notices 

Office. In addition, FWS is accepting 

electronic comments on the draft plan at 

the following e-mail address: 

WhiteNoseBats@fws.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. 

Jeremy Coleman, National White-Nose 

Syndrome Coordinator, at the New York 

Field Office. See ADDRESSES above. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Whitenose syndrome (WNS) is a fungal 

disease responsible for unprecedented 

mortality in hibernating bats in the 

northeastern United States. It has spread 

rapidly since its discovery in January 

2007, and poses a potentially 

catastrophic threat to hibernating bats 

throughout North America, including 

several species listed as endangered or 

threatened under the Endangered 

Species Act (ESA). Listed bats include 

the Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis), Virginia 

big-eared bat (Corynorhinus townsendii 

virginianus), Ozark big-eared bat 

(Corynorhinus townsendii ingens), and 

gray bat (Myotis grisescens). 

The mobility of bats, the potential for 

human-assisted transmission, and the 

severe consequences of WNS make it 

imperative that a national effort be 

mounted to avoid irreversible losses to 

bat populations and associated 

ecological impacts throughout North 

America. This effort requires 

collaboration among State, Federal, and 

tribal wildlife management agencies 

with stewardship responsibilities for bat 

populations and among 

nongovernmental organizations and the 

scientific community. Collaboration at 

the international level is also needed, 

because the threat of WNS crosses 

international borders. 

In June of 2008, an effort to formalize 

a coordinated approach for addressing 

WNS was initiated among Federal and 

State wildlife management agencies. 

More recently, a multiagency WNS 

National Plan Writing Team was formed 

to prepare a draft national plan that 

details the elements that are critical to 

the investigation and management of 

WNS, identifies key actions to address 

stated goals, and outlines the roles of 

Federal and State agencies and other 

entities. 

The WNS response strategy outlined 

in the draft national plan includes 

general practices, as well as seven 

program elements. These elements and 

their associated goals are: 

1. Communications: Provide target 

audiences with relevant information 

about WNS as a wildlife health issue 

and the efforts taking place to control 

and manage WNS, including contact 

information for key team members and 

agency personnel. 

2. Scientific and Technical 

Information Dissemination: Create a 

WNS database that can both be used by 

individual agencies and act as a central 

data repository. 

3. Diagnostics: Develop diagnostic 

and sample quality standards, establish 

laboratory testing capacity, and report 

test results to resource management 

agencies. 

4. Disease Management: Provide 

management recommendations to slow 

the spread of WNS, reduce morbidity 

and mortality rates to sustainable levels, 

and limit adverse impacts of 

management actions. 

5. Research Coordination: Conduct a 

critical review of previous and ongoing 

research projects; investigate disease 

etiology, WNS pathogenesis and 

epidemiology, interaction of disease and 

host ecology, and human dimensions 

and ecological consequences of WNS; 

and disseminate research findings. 

6. Disease Surveillance: Create a 

nationwide early detection program, 

coordinate sample collection and 

submission, and support 

epidemiological investigations. 

7. Conservation and Recovery of 

Affected Species: Develop rapid 

assessment population monitoring 

techniques, establish criteria for 

prioritizing conservation activities, and 

determine best practices for maintaining 

and recovering populations. 

The national plan will be followed by 

an implementation plan that will 

identify sub-actions, the agencies 

responsible for implementation of each 

action/sub-action, and cost estimates. 

Also, the national plan will help 

individual agencies develop response 

plans tailored to their WNS-related 

needs and circumstances. 

Request for Public Comments: We 

request written comments on the draft 

national plan. All comments received by 

the date specified in DATES will be 

considered in preparing a final plan. 

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, the 

FWS cannot guarantee that we will be 

able to do so. 

Authority: As a number of federally listed 

bat species are threatened by WNS, the FWS 

is issuing this notice primarily under the 

authority of the ESA of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 

1531). This plan is intended to guide 

recovery of listed bats. It was developed so 

that it can be easily adopted or incorporated 

into existing or future recovery plans. 

Dated: September 27, 2010. 

Kyla J. Hastie, 

Acting Regional Director, Region 5, U.S. Fish 

and Wildlife Service. 

[FR Doc. 2010–27340 Filed 10–27–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

U.S. Geological Survey 

[USGS–GX11GG009950000] 

Scientific Earthquake Studies Advisory 

Committee 

AGENCY: U.S. Geological Survey. 

ACTION: Notice of Meeting. 

SUMMARY: Pursuant to Public Law 106– 

503, the Scientific Earthquake Studies 

Advisory Committee (SESAC) will hold 

its next meeting at the campus of the 

California Institute of Technology 

(Caltech), President’s Board Room, 

Pasadena, California 91126. The 

Committee is comprised of members 

from academia, industry, and State 

government. The Committee shall 

advise the Director of the U.S. 

Geological Survey (USGS) on matters 

relating to the USGS’s participation in 

the National Earthquake Hazards 

Reduction Program. 

The focus of the meeting will be a 

review of the USGS Earthquake Hazard 

Program’s activities in southern 

California, including the multi-hazards 

demonstration project and earthquake 

early warning prototype development. 

The committee will also discuss USGS 

monitoring activities, international 

work, and USGS role within the fouragency National Earthquake Hazards 

Reduction Program. 

Although meetings of the Scientific 

Earthquake Studies Advisory Committee 

are open to the public, seating may be 

limited due to room capacity. 

DATES: The meeting will be held 

November 4, 2010, beginning at 1 p.m. 

and ending approximately 5 p.m.; 

November 5, 2010, commencing 

approximately 9 a.m. and adjourning at 

4 p.m. 

Contact: Dr. David Applegate, U.S. 

Geological Survey, MS 905, 12201 

Sunrise Valley Drive, Reston, Virginia 

20192, (703) 648–6714, 

applegate@usgs.gov. 

Dated: October 20, 2010. 

William S. Leith, 

Acting Associate Director for Natural 

Hazards. 

[FR Doc. 2010–27248 Filed 10–27–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4311–AM–P 


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