Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 12 / Tuesday, January 20, 2015 / Notices 2725 

the permit number when requesting 

documents or submitting comments. 

Æ U.S. Mail: U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service, Division of Endangered 

Species—HCP Permits, P.O. Box 1306, 

Room 6034, Albuquerque, NM 87103. 

Æ Electronically: fw2_hcp_permits@

fws.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Marty Tuegel, Branch Chief, by U.S. 

mail at Environmental Review, P.O. Box 

1306, Room 6034, Albuquerque, NM 

87103; or by telephone at 505–248– 

6651. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Introduction 

Under the Endangered Species Act, as 

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

we, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 

invite the public to comment on an 

incidental take permit (ITP) application 

for take of the federally listed American 

burying beetle (Nicrophorus 

americanus) resulting from activities 

associated with geophysical exploration 

(seismic) and construction, 

maintenance, operation, repair, and 

decommissioning of oil and gas well 

field infrastructure within Oklahoma. If 

approved, the permit would be issued to 

the applicant under the Oil and Gas 

Industry Conservation Plan Associated 

with Issuance of Endangered Species 

Act Section 10(a)(1)(B) Permits for the 

American Burying Beetle in Oklahoma 

(ICP). The ICP was made available for 

comment on April 16, 2014 (79 FR 

21480), and approved on May 21, 2014 

(publication of the FONSI notice was on 

July 25, 2014; 79 FR 43504). The ICP 

and the associated environmental 

assessment/finding of no significant 

impact are available on the Web site at 

http://www.fws.gov/southwest/es/

oklahoma/ABBICP. However, we are no 

longer taking comments on these 

documents. 

Applications Available for Review and 

Comment 

We invite local, State, Tribal, and 

Federal agencies, and the public to 

comment on the following application 

under the ICP, for incidental take of the 

federally listed ABB. Please refer to the 

appropriate permit number (TE– 

54185B) when requesting application 

documents and when submitting 

comments. Documents and other 

information the applicants have 

submitted with this application are 

available for review, subject to the 

requirements of the Privacy Act (5 

U.S.C. 552a) and Freedom of 

Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552). 

Permit TE–54185B 

Applicant: Chaparral Energy, LLC, 

Oklahoma City, OK. 

Applicant requests a new permit for 

gas upstream and midstream 

production, including geophysical 

exploration (seismic) and construction, 

maintenance, operation, repair, and 

decommissioning of gas well field 

infrastructure, as well as construction, 

maintenance, operation, repair, 

decommissioning, and reclamation of 

gas gathering, transmission, and 

distribution pipeline infrastructure 

within Oklahoma. 

Public Availability of Comments 

Written comments we receive become 

part of the public 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. We will not consider anonymous 

comments. 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. 

Authority 

We provide this notice under section 

10(c) of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) 

and its implementing regulations (50 

CFR 17.22) and the National 

Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 

4321 et seq.) and its implementing 

regulations (40 CFR 1506.6). 

Dated: January 12, 2015. 

Joy E. Nicholopoulos, 

Acting Regional Director, Southwest Region. 

[FR Doc. 2015–00725 Filed 1–16–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P. 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management 

[14XL LLIDB00100 LF1000000.HT0000 

LXSS020D0000 241A 4500069722] 

Notice of Intent To Prepare an 

Environmental Impact Statement for 

the Proposed Bruneau-Owyhee SageGrouse Habitat Project, Owyhee 

County, Idaho 

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of intent. 

SUMMARY: In compliance with the 

National Environmental Policy Act of 

1969, as amended (NEPA), and the 

Federal Land Policy and Management 

Act of 1976, as amended, the Bureau of 

Land Management (BLM) Boise District, 

Boise, Idaho, intends to prepare an 

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) 

and by this notice is announcing the 

beginning of the scoping process to 

solicit public comments to identify 

relevant issues. 

DATES: This notice initiates the public 

scoping process for the EIS. Comments 

on issues may be submitted in writing 

until February 19, 2015. The date(s) and 

location(s) of any scoping meetings will 

be announced at least 15 days in 

advance through local media, 

newspapers and the BLM Web site, 

http://www.blm.gov/id. In order to be 

included in the draft EIS, all comments 

must be received prior to the close of 

the 30-day scoping period or 15 days 

after the last public meeting, whichever 

is later. There will be additional 

opportunities for public participation 

upon publication of the draft EIS. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

related to the Bruneau Owyhee SageGrouse Habitat Project by any of the 

following methods: 

• Web site: http://www.blm.gov/id/st/ 

en/prog/nepa_register/BOSH-juniperremoval.html. 

• email: blm_id_

bruneauowyheesagegrouse@blm.gov. 

• fax: 208–384–3326. 

• mail: 3948 S. Development Avenue, 

Boise, ID 83705–5339. 

Documents pertinent to this proposal 

may be examined at the Boise District 

Office at the above address. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Mike McGee, Wildlife Biologist, Boise 

District Fuels Management to have your 

name added to the mailing list, at 

telephone 208–384–3300; address 3948 

S. Development Avenue, Boise, ID 

83705–5339; email blm_id_

bruneauowyheesagegrouse@blm.gov. 

Persons who use a telecommunications 


rljohnson on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
2726 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 12 / Tuesday, January 20, 2015 / Notices 

device for the deaf (TDD) may call the 

Federal Information Relay Service 

(FIRS) at 1–800–877–8339 to contact the 

above individual during normal 

business hours. The FIRS is available 24 

hours a day, 7 days a week, to leave a 

message or question with the above 

individual. You will receive a reply 

during normal business hours. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

project is a collaborative effort among 

Federal, State, and county governments 

as well as conservation organizations 

and the University of Idaho to improve 

and maintain functioning sage-grouse 

habitat in Owyhee County, Idaho. The 

proposal is to remove early-stage 

encroachment of western juniper 

(Juniperus occidentalis) from Greater 

Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus 

urophasianus) habitat across 1.5 million 

acres in the BLM Bruneau and Owyhee 

Field Offices. Treatment areas were 

selected based on the current 

distribution of sage-grouse and focused 

within a 10 kilometer radius of 

occupied sage-grouse leks. A lek is an 

area where sage-grouse gather each 

spring for mating and is considered 

breeding habitat. 

Recent research suggests that sagegrouse populations incur negative 

impacts at a very low level of juniper 

encroachment, and that no leks remain 

active when conifer cover exceeds 4 

percent. Within the proposed treatment 

area, thousands of acres of sage-grouse 

habitat are being encroached upon by 

western juniper. Removal of early-stage 

juniper encroachment would improve 

and maintain suitable sage-grouse 

habitat. Many acres within the project 

area do not meet the criteria for 

treatment, for example, areas where 

juniper is well established and areas 

where no juniper trees are present. 

Therefore, actual treatment acres would 

be considerably less than the 1.5 million 

acres identified as the project area. 

Proposed treatments include cutting 

and lopping juniper, leaving the 

material on site, or cutting followed by 

jackpot burning. Jackpot burning— 

burning when the ground is saturated, 

frozen, or covered by snow—would be 

utilized in areas where scattering cut 

juniper is not feasible or desirable. 

Mastication of juniper using a track-hoe 

fitted with a grinding implement could 

also occur within 100 feet of existing 

roads. The BLM may use handsaws to 

implement treatment within designated 

wilderness or wilderness study areas, as 

determined through a minimum 

requirements analysis. 

The purpose of public scoping is to 

determine relevant issues that will 

influence the scope of the 

environmental analysis, including 

alternatives, and to guide the process for 

developing the EIS. At present, the BLM 

has identified the following preliminary 

issues: 

• Juniper slash near roads posing a 

threat to the public and firefighters 

during a wildfire, 

• Introduction and spread of invasive 

and noxious vegetation, 

• Impacts to raptor nests, 

• Removal of old growth juniper, 

• Disturbance to lekking, nesting or 

wintering sage-grouse during project 

implementation, 

• Disturbance to migratory birds, and 

• Effects of juniper management on 

wilderness characteristics. 

Appropriate mitigation measures 

would be used to minimize impacts to 

sage-grouse habitat, old growth juniper, 

raptor nests, migratory birds, and 

wilderness characteristics. These 

mitigation measures would be identified 

in detail in the EIS and would primarily 

include physical avoidance and timing 

restrictions during implementation. 

The BLM will use NEPA public 

participation requirements to assist the 

agency in satisfying the public 

involvement requirements under 

Section 106 of the National Historic 

Preservation Act (NHPA) (16 U.S.C. 

470(f)) pursuant to 36 CFR 800.2(d)(3). 

Information about historic and cultural 

resources within the area potentially 

affected by the proposed sage-grouse 

habitat project will assist the BLM in 

identifying and evaluating impacts to 

such resources in the context of both 

NEPA and Section 106 of the NHPA. 

The BLM will consult with Indian 

Tribes on a government-to-government 

basis in accordance with Executive 

Order 13175 and other policies. Tribal 

concerns, including impacts on Indian 

trust assets and potential impacts to 

cultural resources, will be given due 

consideration. Federal, State, and local 

agencies, that may be interested in or 

affected by the proposed sage-grouse 

habitat project may request or be 

requested by the BLM to participate in 

the development of the environmental 

analysis as a cooperating agency. 

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 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. 

Authority: 40 CFR 1501.7. 

James M. Fincher, 

BLM Boise District Manager. 

[FR Doc. 2015–00741 Filed 1–16–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–GG–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management 

[LLMTC 00900.L16100000.DP0000] 

Notice of Public Meeting, Dakotas 

Resource Advisory Council Meeting 

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of public meeting. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Federal Land Policy and Management 

Act (FLPMA) and the Federal Advisory 

Committee Act of 1972 (FACA), the U.S. 

Department of the Interior, Bureau of 

Land Management (BLM) Dakotas 

Resource Advisory Council (RAC) will 

meet as indicated below. 

DATES: The Dakotas Resource Advisory 

Council meeting will be held on 

February 12, 2015 in Bowman, North 

Dakota. The meeting will start at 9:00 

a.m. and adjourn at approximately 4:30 

p.m. 

ADDRESSES: Bowman City Offices, 101 

First Street Northeast, Bowman, North 

Dakota. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Mark Jacobsen, Public Affairs Specialist, 

BLM Eastern Montana/Dakotas District, 

111 Garryowen Road, Miles City, 

Montana 59301; (406) 233–2831; 

mjacobse@blm.gov. Persons who use a 

telecommunications device for the deaf 

(TDD) may call the Federal Information 

Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–800–677–8339 

to contact the above individual during 

normal business hours. The FIRS is 

available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week 

to leave a message or question with the 

above individual. You will receive a 

reply during normal business hours. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 15- 

member council advises the Secretary of 

the Interior through the BLM on a 

variety of planning and management 

issues associated with public land 

management in North and South 

Dakota. At this meeting, topics will 

include: An Eastern Montana/Dakotas 

District report, North Dakota and South 

Dakota Field Office manager reports, 

Montana/Dakotas State Office RAC chair 

meeting topics for discussion, Ft. Meade 

Recreation Area trails projects report, 

individual RAC member reports and 

other issues the council may raise. All 

meetings are open to the public and the 


rljohnson on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES