42700 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 174 / Monday, September 11, 2017 / Notices 

a DDA in 2019 or 2020. A complete 

application for tax-exempt bond 

financing for Project D is filed with the 

bond-issuing agency on October 30, 

2018. Bonds are issued for Project D on 

April 30, 2020, but Project D is not 

placed in service until January 30, 2021. 

Project D is eligible for the increase in 

basis available to projects located in 

2018 DDAs because: (1) One of the two 

events necessary for triggering the 

effective date for buildings described in 

section 42(h)(4)(B) of the IRC (the two 

events being bonds issued and buildings 

placed in service) took place on April 

30, 2020, within the 730-day period 

after a complete application for taxexempt bond financing was filed, (2) the 

application was filed during a time 

when the location of Project D was in a 

DDA, and (3) both the issuance of the 

bonds and placement in service of 

Project D occurred after the application 

was submitted. 

(Case E) Project E is a multiphase 

project located in a 2018 DDA that is 

NOT a designated DDA or QCT in 2019. 

The first phase of Project E received an 

allocation of credits in 2018, pursuant to 

an application filed March 15, 2018, 

which describes the multiphase 

composition of the project. An 

application for tax credits for the second 

phase of Project E is filed with the 

allocating agency by the same entity on 

March 15, 2019. The second phase of 

Project E is located on a contiguous site. 

Credits are allocated to the second 

phase of Project E on October 30, 2019. 

The aggregate amount of credits 

allocated to the two phases of Project E 

exceeds the amount of credits that may 

be allocated to an applicant in one year 

under the allocating agency’s QAP and 

is the reason that applications were 

made in multiple phases. The second 

phase of Project E is, therefore, eligible 

for the increase in basis accorded a 

project in a 2018 DDA, because it meets 

all of the conditions to be a part of a 

multiphase project. 

(Case F) Project F is a multiphase 

project located in a 2018 DDA that is 

NOT a designated DDA in 2019 or 2020. 

The first phase of Project F received an 

allocation of credits in 2018, pursuant to 

an application filed March 15, 2018, 

which does not describe the multiphase 

composition of the project. An 

application for tax credits for the second 

phase of Project F is filed with the 

allocating agency by the same entity on 

March 15, 2020. Credits are allocated to 

the second phase of Project F on 

October 30, 2020. The aggregate amount 

of credits allocated to the two phases of 

Project F exceeds the amount of credits 

that may be allocated to an applicant in 

one year under the allocating agency’s 

QAP. The second phase of Project F is, 

therefore, NOT eligible for the increase 

in basis accorded a project in a 2018 

DDA, since it does not meet all of the 

conditions for a multiphase project, as 

defined in this notice. The original 

application for credits for the first phase 

did not describe the multiphase 

composition of the project. Also, the 

application for credits for the second 

phase of Project F was not made in the 

year immediately following the first 

phase application year. 

X. Environmental Impact 

This notice involves the 

establishment of fiscal requirements or 

procedures that are related to rate and 

cost determinations and do not 

constitute a development decision 

affecting the physical condition of 

specific project areas or building sites. 

Accordingly, under 40 CFR 1508.4 of 

the regulations of the Council on 

Environmental Quality and 24 CFR 

50.19(c)(6) of HUD’s regulations, this 

notice is categorically excluded from 

environmental review under the 

National Environmental Policy Act of 

1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321). 

Dated: August 29, 2017. 

Todd M. Richardson, 

Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Policy 

Development, Office of Policy Development 

and Research. 

[FR Doc. 2017–19188 Filed 9–8–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4210–67–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

[FWS–HQ–MB–2017–N136; FF09M21200– 

178–FXMB1232099BPP0L2] 

Migratory Birds; Take of Peregrine 

Falcons for Use in Falconry 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: In December 2008, the U.S. 

Fish and Wildlife Service completed an 

environmental assessment (EA) on the 

take of peregrine falcons for use in 

falconry. In 2009 and 2010, we 

published notices in the Federal 

Register describing the take limits and 

geographic allocation of take for firstyear fall-migrant (passage) peregrine 

falcons consistent with the selected 

alternative in that EA. The overall take 

limits have remained constant since 

2009. This notice is to inform the public 

that, at the request of the Atlantic, 

Mississippi and Central Flyway 

Councils, we have reviewed recent data 

and are revising the take limits for 

passage peregrine falcons beginning in 

the fall of 2017. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Brian A. Millsap, National Raptor 

Coordinator, Division of Migratory Bird 

Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service, at 505–761–4724; brian_

millsap@fws.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The authority of the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service to govern take of 

raptors and other migratory birds is 

derived from the Migratory Bird Treaty 

Act (MBTA; 16 U.S.C. 703–712). In 

carrying out this responsibility, we have 

administratively divided the Nation into 

four Flyways: Atlantic, Mississippi, 

Central, and Pacific. Each Flyway has a 

Flyway Council that assists in 

researching and providing migratory 

game bird management information. 

The Federal regulations to carry out the 

MBTA are located in title 50 of the Code 

of Federal Regulations. 

The MBTA prohibits any person from, 

among other things, taking, possessing, 

purchasing, bartering, selling, or 

offering to purchase, barter, or sell, 

raptors (birds of prey) and other 

migratory birds listed in 50 CFR 10.13, 

unless the activities are allowed under 

Federal regulations. Take and 

possession of raptors for use in falconry 

is governed by regulations at 50 CFR 

21.29. Under the provisions of the 

Federal falconry regulations, the Service 

administers a program to approve State, 

tribal, and territorial falconry programs. 

Since January 1, 2014, the 48 

continental States and Alaska all have 

approved falconry regulatory programs, 

and the Service no longer issues permits 

for the practice of falconry. 

We completed an environmental 

assessment (EA) on take of migrant 

peregrine falcons in 2008 (see 73 FR 

74508, December 8, 2008). Our preferred 

alternative at that time allowed a take of 

36 passage peregrine falcons from 

September 20 through October 20 from 

anywhere in the United States east of 

100 degrees W. longitude. Allocation of 

the 36 passage peregrine falcons was 

agreed upon by the Atlantic, 

Mississippi, and Central Flyway 

Councils. Our management strategy 

analyzed in the preferred alternative in 

the 2008 EA incorporated three 

important safeguards to ensure against 

negative impacts from authorized 

falconry take on peregrine falcons across 

their range. 

First, we constrained the timing and 

location of the falconry captures to 

focus the take on the northern peregrine 


asabaliauskas on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 174 / Monday, September 11, 2017 / Notices 42701 

falcon management population (i.e., 

those birds originating from natal areas 

north of 54 degrees N. latitude), which 

was known to be healthy and able to 

sustain take. We constrained captures in 

this way to minimize take from the 

eastern and western management 

populations (i.e., those originating from 

sites east and west, respectively, of 100 

degrees W. longitude and south of 54 

degrees N. latitude), which were still 

recovering from the negative 

population-level effects of pesticide 

contamination. We committed to 

evaluate whether our management 

strategy effectively focused take on the 

northern management population by 

collecting feathers from falconercaptured passage peregrine falcons, and 

analyzing deuterium levels in those 

feathers to estimate the latitude of 

origin. 

Second, because we lacked credible 

estimates of the size of the northern 

passage peregrine falcon population in 

2008, we consulted with the Canadian 

Wildlife Service and adopted an 

extremely conservative estimate of the 

number (i.e., 3,590) of passage peregrine 

falcons for the northern management 

population. We derived this estimate 

from the number of known breeding 

pairs in the Arctic. 

Finally, in our EA and in subsequent 

Federal Register notices (74 FR 36253, 

July 22, 2009; 75 FR 56555, September 

16, 2010), we committed to reviewing 

data on peregrine falcons in the future 

at the request of the Flyway Councils to 

reassess the allowable take limits if data 

required or supported a change. 

New Information 

We have reviewed two recent 

scientific analyses that provide 

important new information relevant to 

the take of passage peregrine falcons. 

First, Franke (2016) used a markrecapture model to generate an 

improved data-based estimate of the 

average number of passage peregrine 

falcons produced in the northern 

management population annually. 

Franke’s (2016) data-based estimate of 

21,000 is more than five times greater 

than the number we used to set take 

limits in the 2008 EA. Second, the 

Service and cooperators completed the 

analysis of deuterium levels in passage 

peregrine falcons captured in fall within 

the prescribed take area. The deuterium 

level analysis shows that the 

management strategy outlined in the 

2008 EA is likely resulting in more than 

75 percent of the falconer take coming 

from the northern peregrine falcon 

management population (Franke et al. 

2017). This outcome is more protective 

than the objective outlined in the 2008 

EA, which was that at least 65 percent 

of the passage peregrine falcons taken 

by falconers must originate from the 

northern management population. 

Overall, peregrine falcon populations 

remain healthy across North America, 

and indices such as the Breeding Bird 

Survey (BBS) show the continental 

population increasing (BBS index for 

the period 2005–2015 = 6.4 percent per 

year, with a 95 percent credible interval 

of 0.45–13.45 percent) and no regional 

populations appear to be declining 

(Sauer et al. 2017). 

The Atlantic, Mississippi, and Central 

Flyway Councils reviewed this new 

information in 2017 and formally 

requested that we reevaluate and revise 

the passage peregrine falcon take limits 

based on the updated estimate of the 

number of passage peregrine falcons 

produced annually in the northern 

management population. Further, the 

Flyway Councils requested that we use 

the 10th quantile (i.e., 18,000) of the 

probability distribution for the updated 

mean annual number of passage 

peregrine falcons exposed to take rather 

than the mean value (i.e., 21,000). By 

using the 10th quantile, we expect there 

to be a 90 percent chance that the actual 

number is larger and, therefore, that we 

remain protective against 

overexploitation and account for the 

uncertainty in the production estimate. 

We undertook the analyses requested by 

the Flyway Councils by substituting 

18,000 (the updated production estimate 

for the northern peregrine falcon 

management population) for 3,590 (the 

production estimate used in the 2008 

EA) in the same models and using the 

same population-specific take rates as 

specified under the preferred alternative 

in the 2008 EA. 

The updated analysis indicates that 

144 passage peregrine falcons may be 

taken annually by falconers east of the 

100th meridian between September 20 

and October 20 consistent with the 

management strategy and the objectives 

of the selected alternative in the 2008 

EA. In accordance with these findings, 

and consistent with the Flyway 

Councils’ request, this notice announces 

that the annual take limits for passage 

peregrine falcons starting in the fall of 

2017 will increase from 36 to 144, to be 

divided equally between the Atlantic, 

Mississippi, and Central Flyways (i.e., 

48 per flyway). 

The sole basis for this increase is the 

updated estimate for the northern 

management population. Thus, we 

consider this increase to be a technical 

update to incorporate new and better 

data. All other provisions outlined in 

the 2008 EA remain in effect (e.g., the 

take rates and management objectives 

are unchanged, the take season remains 

September 20 to October 20 annually, 

and the take of passage peregrine 

falcons is restricted to areas in the 

United States east of 100 degrees W. 

longitude). Therefore, the 

environmental impact of authorizing 

take of passage peregrine falcons under 

the preferred alternative will remain 

unchanged from that analyzed in the 

2008 EA. Because this assessment 

addresses only take east of 100 degrees 

W. longitude, the general provisions for 

take of peregrine falcons west of 100 

degrees W. longitude remain as 

described in our 2010 Federal Register 

notice (75 FR 56555, September 16, 

2010). 

We will continue to review peregrine 

falcon population and take data for 

Canada, the United States, and Mexico 

every 5 years, or at the request of the 

Flyway Councils, to reassess the 

allowable take limits. We will publish a 

notice in the Federal Register if we 

determine that the take limits for 

peregrine falcons should be changed 

again in the future. 

Literature Cited 

Franke, A. 2016. Population estimates for 

Northern juvenile peregrine falcons with 

implications for harvest levels in North 

America. Journal of Fish and Wildlife 

Management 7:36–45. 

Franke, A., J. Duxbury, H. Qi, T. Coplen, G.L. 

Holroyd, and B.A. Millsap. 2017. U.S. 

Fish and Wildlife Service report: 

hydrogen stable isotope analysis of 

peregrine falcons in the United States. 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Division 

of Migratory Bird Management, 

Washington, DC. 

Sauer, J.R., D.K. Niven, J.E. Hines, D.J. 

Ziolkowski, K.L. Pardieck, J.E. Fallon, 

and W.A. Link. 2017. The North 

American Breeding Bird Survey, Results 

and Analysis 1966–2015, Version 

2.07.2017. https://www.mbrpwrc.usgs.gov/cgi-bin/atlasa15.

pl?03560&1&15&csrfmiddlewaretoken=3

YKakk7LxT2ki6NSpl4mstudYCqdW02C. 

Dated: August 24, 2017. 

Gregory J. Sheehan, 

Principal Deputy Director,U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service. 

[FR Doc. 2017–19140 Filed 9–8–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4333–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Indian Affairs 

[178A2100DD/AAKC001030/ 

A0A501010.999900 253G] 

Advisory Board for Exceptional 

Children; Public Meeting 

AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, 

Interior. 


asabaliauskas on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with NOTICES