2006 FR notices - FWS and NMFS

This page has links to ESA and NEPA Federal Register notices, along with most announcements of proposed consent decrees in CWA enforcement cases. I post every FR notice from FWS (including subsistence notices), but I have stopped including every fishery-related item from NMFS (aka NOAA Fisheries). Instead, I am posting NMFS ESA and MMPA items, as well as DOJ notices of proposed consent decrees in CWA Section 404 enforcement cases.

• Go here for older NEPA notices
• 2005 notices, 2004, 2003, and 2002, and about five months of 2001 are here.

Upcoming Tables of Contents (not available till day of)

ESA and NEPA (and other) notices

Tues., Oct. 24

• FWS releases a draft report, "Management and Control Plan for Asian Carps in the United States.''
  • More on ANS Task Force
  • FWS receives ES/marine mammal permit apps
  • FWS receives scientific research permit apps (Southwest)
  • FWS, NMFS will conduct public scoping in preparation for EIS related to a permit application from the Washington Department of Natural Resources (WDNR)
  • FWS issues marine mammal permits
  • FWS: Aquatic Nuisance Species (ANS) Task Force to meet from 8-5 p.m. Tues., Nov. 7, and Wed., Nov. 8, and from 8 a.m.-noon Thurs., Nov. 9, at the Holiday Inn Arlington, VA
  • NOAA Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management will evaluate performance of the Texas Coastal Management Program.
  • U.S. Section of U.S./Mexico International Boundary and Water Commission, releases DEA/FONSI on proposed changes to the Mission and Common Levee Systems, in the Lower Rio Grande Flood Control Project in Hidalgo County, Texas. ("Based on regional distribution, 26 Threatened and Endangered (T&E) species habitat could be found in the project area. Improvements to the existing levee system are not likely to affect those habitats. Consultation with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) will be conducted to schedule construction activities to minimize potential impacts on those species and their habitat.")

  NEPA, et al.

• APHIS: Summary -- "A supplemental [EIS] will be prepared ... to analyze methyl bromide usage associated with regulatory requirements for importing solid wood packing material into the [U.S.]. That document will serve as a supplement to the [Aug 03] Importation of Solid Wood Packing Material [FEIS]
• APHIS extends comment period on petition filed by In Defense of Animals "requesting that we issue an interpretive rule or policy to clarify the space and living conditions required for captive elephants, and that we enforce the Animal Welfare Act and its implementing regulations by requiring that exhibitors fully comply with the regulations.
• NRCS issues EA/FONSI for the rehabilitation of grade stabilization Structure 2 in Turtle Creek Watershed, Sarpy County Nebraska.
• NRCS seeks comments on proposed revision of the ``Natural Resources Conservation Service Conservation Programs Manual--Part 513: Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) Program.'' (Report can be found here)
• U.S. Section of U.S./Mexico International Boundary and Water Commission, releases DEA/FONSI on proposed changes to the Mission and Common Levee Systems, in the Lower Rio Grande Flood Control Project in Hidalgo County, Texas. ("Based on regional distribution, 26 Threatened and Endangered (T&E) species habitat could be found in the project area. Improvements to the existing levee system are not likely to affect those habitats. Consultation with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) will be conducted to schedule construction activities to minimize potential impacts on those species and their habitat.")

• FWS "reinstates" July 15, 2002 proposed rule to list Lepidium papilliferum (slickspot peppergrass) as endangered. Comment period reopened.
• NMFS receives application from Dr. Glenn VanBlaricom for a authorization to take small numbers of black abalone by "harassment"

  NEPA

• FERC issues EA/FONSI on Orange Cove Irrigation District's application for an amendment of license for the Fishwater Release Project to add a powerhouse with a single turbine generator with a capacity of 1.8 megawatts. (Friant Dam)

Fri., Oct. 20

• FWS to prepare CCP/EIS for Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge in Massachusetts
• Corps to hold public hearing Dec. 14 on PCS Phosphate's plans to continue phosphate mining near Aurora, Beaufort County, NC. (PCS proposes to expand its existing open pit phosphate mining operation into a 3,412 acre tract immediately adjacent to the current mine. This expansion would impact 2,408 acres of waters of the U.S. including wetlands adjacent to the Pamlico River and South Creek.) (Location of hearing: Chocowinity, Beaufort County, NC)
• Molly Lutcavage, Department of Zoology, 177 A Spaulding Hall, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824-2617, has requested a modification to scientific research Permit No. 1557.
• NMFS Southwest Fisheries Science Center, La Jolla, CA has applied for a permit to take leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) sea turtles for purposes of scientific research.

NEPA, et al.

• BLM releases DEIS on Eagle Butte West federal coal lease by application; public hearing slated; comments sought on Maximum Economic Recovery (MER) and Fair Market Value (FMV).
• BLM requests comments on Special Status Species RMPA/EIS for the Pecos District
• EPA releases comments on draft, final EIS's
• EPA receives draft, final EIS's for comment
• NPS releases Final General Management Plan and EIS for Badlands National Park--North Unit

Thurs., Oct. 19

• FWS receives ES permit apps
• FWS Sport Fishing and Boating Partnership Council to meet Nov. 8-9 in Charleston, S.C.
• FWS releases Draft National Management and Control Plan for the New Zealand Mudsnail (Potamopyrgus antipodarum)
  li>Here it is

  NEPA, et al.

• BuRec will prepare EIS/R; scoping meetings scheduled
• DOE will prepare supplement to the Stockpile Stewardship and Management Programmatic EIS--Complex 2030
• FERC releases FSEIS for the Proposed Northeast-07 Project (NY, CT)
• FERC to prepare EA for the Proposed Kinder Morgan Illinois Pipeline Project; request for comments on environmental issues

Wed., Oct. 18

• FWS proposes to designate approximately 2,306 acres in Monterey County, California, as critical habitat for the endangered Piperia yadonii (Yadon's piperia)
• FWS receives ITP app from Duane and Darlene Schwisow. The requested 25-year permit would authorize the "incidental take of the threatened northern Idaho ground squirrel on 13.9 square meters (150 square feet) of suitable but unoccupied habitat associated with the development of a residence in Adams County, Idaho.")
• FWS receives application for an ITP for construction of four single-family homes in Brevard County, Florida (Florida scrub-jay)
• FWS receives application for an ITP for the Sarment Parcel Low-Effect Habitat Conservation Plan, Monterey County, California ("We are considering issuing a 5-year permit to the applicant that would authorize take of the federally endangered Smith's blue butterfly (Euphilotes enoptes smithi) incidental to otherwise lawful activities associated with construction of a single family home, which would remove 0.3 acre of Smith's blue butterfly habitat within a 6.1-acre parcel in Carmel Highlands, Monterey County, California.")
• NMFS to prepare EIS for the establishment of annual quotas for the subsistence harvest of Bowhead whales by Alaska Natives
• NMFS receivs application a scientific research permit from Tenera Environmental in Lafayette, CA. (Endangered Sacramento River winter-run Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), threatened Central Valley spring-run Chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha), Central Valley steelhead (T) (O. mykiss), and Southern Distinct Population Segment of North American green sturgeon (T) (Acipenser medirostris).

  NEPA, et al.

• CEQ extends public comment period to Dec. 1 on proposed guidance for determining categorical exclusions under NEPA
  • NEPA Task Force page
  • Proposed guidance

Tues., Oct. 17

• FWS releases DEIS, draft CCP, and draft land protection plan for Texas Chenier Plain National Wildlife Refuge Complex
  • SW Planning Page
• NMFS revises species of concern list by adding three and removing six species; our definition of candidate species; and our candidate species list by adding four species and removing two. We solicit information and comments on the status of, and research and stewardship opportunities for, species of concern.
• NMFS begins status review for the Black Abalone
• NMFS receives application from the Bay Marina Management Incorporated (BMMI) for the re-issuance of an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) to take small numbers of marine mammals, by Level B harassment only, incidental to dredging on the west side of the Pier 39 Marina on the San Francisco waterfront
• NOAA releases draft Prospectus for one of the U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) Synthesis and Assessment Products for public comment

  NEPA, et al.

• BLM to prepare EIS on a Federal Coal Lease Application Filed by the Antelope Coal Company in the Decertified Powder River Federal Coal Production Region, Wyoming (public mtg scheduled) (Casper FO)
• FERC to prepare EA on Panhandle Eastern Pipeline Company's proposed Tuscola East project
• MMS: Notice of Additional Information for a Public Hearing on the DEIS for the Proposed 5-Year Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2007-2012

Mon., Oct. 16

• USGS: The next meeting of the Advisory Committee on the Bird Banding Laboratory will take place Nov. 7 and 8, 2006, at the Red Lion Hotel, 3500 NE Cornell Road, Hillsboro, Oregon 97124. ("The purpose of the Advisory Committee, which is co-chaired by the USGS and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, is to represent the interests of the bird banding community, including both game and non-game birds, in advising the U.S. Department of the Interior and the USGS on current and future management of the Bird Banding Laboratory.")
• NMFS has issued an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) to Eglin Air Force Base (EAFB) for the take of marine mammals, by Level B harassment only, incidental to Naval Explosive Ordnance Disposal School (NEODS) training operations at EAFB, Florida.

  NEPA

• Army releases Draft Supplemental Programmatic EIS identifying "the potential environmental effects of changing land and airspace use at Fort Bliss to support evolving changes in missions and units and support Army Transformation, Integrated Global Presence and Basing Strategy, Base Realignment And Closure (BRAC), the Army Campaign Plan and other Army initiatives."
  • Fort Bliss
• DOE: CSW Power Marketing (CPMI) has applied for authority to transmit electric energy from the U.S. to Mexico pursuant to section 202(e) of the Federal Power Act.
• DOE: TexMex Energy, LLC has applied to renew its authorization to transmit electric energy from the United States to Mexico pursuant to section 202(e) of the Federal Power Act.
• MMS releases DEIS on Chukchi Sea Planning Area Oil and Gas Lease Sale 193 and Seismic Surveying Activities in the Chukchi Sea

Fri., Oct. 13

• Noted: Oct. 11 Proclamation: General Pulaski Memorial Day, 2006
• FWS releases results from 2003 monitoring data collected as part of the post-delisting monitoring plan for the American peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus anatum).
  • FWS peregrine page
• FWS seeks comments on ES/marine mammal permit applications
• FWS issues MM permits
• FWS issues ES, MM permits
• FWS receives MM permit applications
• EPA requests public comment on Jan. 10, 2005, petition from Washington Toxics Coalition, (EPA-HQ-OPP-2006-0801), requesting that the agency revoke all tolerances for the pesticide carbaryl
• EPA: Association of American Pesticide Control Officials State FIFRA Issues Research and Evaluation Group: Working Committee on Water Quality Pesticide Disposal to hold public meeting on Nov. 6, from 8.30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and 8:30 a.m. to noon on Nov. 7. Endangered species issues to be discussed

  NEPA

• Army releases Transformation DEIS, Draft Clean Air Act General Conformity Determination, and Evaluation of Continued Land Withdrawal Under Public Law 104-201 at Fort Carson, CO
  • More here
• Army releases Transformation DEIS and Evaluation of Continued Land Withdrawal under Public Law 104-201for Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site (PCMS), Colorado
• BLM releases Record of Decision for the Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area Resource Management Plan (RMP) and FEIS
• DOE: Amended Notice of Intent To Expand the Scope of the Environmental Impact Statement for the Alignment, Construction, and Operation of a Rail Line to a Geologic Repository at Yucca Mountain, Nye County, NV
• DOE to prepare Supplement to the Final Environmental Impact Statement for a Geologic Repository for the Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High- Level Radioactive Waste at Yucca Mountain, Nye County, NV
• EPA releases comments on draft, final EIS's
• EPA receives draft, final EIS's for comment
• FERC: Notice of Intention To Hold Public Meetings for Discussion of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Klamath Hydroelectric Project
• FERC issues EA/FONSI on application for license for the Norway-Oakdale Project, located on the Tippecanoe River in Carroll and White counties, Indiana.
• FHWA, Iowa DOT will prepare EIS for a proposed roadway project in Polk County, Iowa.

Thurs., Oct. 12

• FWS revises critical habitat for the Perdido Key beach mouse (Peromyscus polionotus trissyllepsis) and Choctawhatchee beach mouse (Peromyscus polionotus allophrys) and designates critical habitat for the St. Andrew beach mouse (Peromyscus polionotus peninsularis) ("In total, approximately 6,193 acres (ac) (2,506 hectares (ha)) are being designated as critical habitat for the three subspecies.")
• NOAA's National Marine Sanctuary Program issues final revised management plan and revised regulations for the Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary
• NOAA: Availability of Seats for the Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council
• NOAA: Availability of Seats for the Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council
• NMFS begins 5-year review of Johnson's seagrass
• FWS, FS: This notice solicits written comments and suggestions on the membership qualifications for Federal Subsistence Regional Advisory Councils established under Subsistence Management Regulations.

  NEPA

• FAA; Notice of Public Hearing and Availability of a Draft Environmental Assessment (DEA) for the Proposed Runway 22R/4L Offset ILS at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW) Located in Romulus, Detroit
• FHWA to prepare EIS for a proposed roadway project and river crossing over the Little Missouri River in Billings County, North Dakota.
• NPS releases FEIS/GMP, Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve, Island County, WA

Wed., Oct. 11

• FWS withdraws proposed listing of the Cow Head tui chub (Gila bicolor vaccaceps) as an endangered species "because the threats to the species identified in the March 30, 1998, proposed rule are not significant, and currently available data do not indicate that the threats to the species, as analyzed under the five listing factors described in section 4(a)(1) of the Act, are likely to endanger the species in the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range."
• FWS comes up with new 12-month finding on Beaver cave beetle, says listing proposal is no longer warranted. ("After a review of the best available scientific and commercial information, we conclude that this species is not likely to become an endangered or threatened species within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range. Therefore, we find that proposing a rule to list the species is not warranted, and we no longer consider it to be a candidate species.")

  NEPA

• BIA cancels NOI for proposed operations and maintenance of the Flathead Indian Irrigation Project upon transfer in favor of preparation of an EA, Flathead, Lake, Missoula and Sanders Counties, MO
• FSA issues FONSI "with respect to the implementation of the following Disaster Assistance Programs: (1) Hurricane Indemnity Program, (2) Feed Indemnity Program, (3) Livestock Indemnity Program, (4) Tree Indemnity Program, and (5) Aquaculture Grant Program as well as (6) the 2006 Livestock Assistance Grant Program."
• FERC to prepare EA for the proposed Temple LNG Plant, requests comments on environmental issues
• State Dept. to prepare EIS on TransCanada Keystone Pipeline's application for a Presidential Permit. Also, Notice of Floodplain and Wetland Involvement

Tues., Oct. 10

• Corps to prepare DEIS on application for 404 permit from the town of North Topsail Beach to nourish approximately 7.25 miles of shoreline. The modification will include an additional 3.85 miles of beachfront to protect residential homes and town infrastructures located along the south section of the Town limits
• Corps to prepare DEIS/R for a permit application for the Carryover Storage and San Vicente Dam Raise Project, San Diego County
• FS to prepare EIS for a proposal to treat approximately 4,637 acres of selected plantations on the Georgetown and Pacific Ranger Districts.
• NPS releases EIS/for the General Management Plan, Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site
• NPS releases FEIS for General Management Plan; Olympic National Park; Notice of Extension of Public Comment Period
• NPS releases Record of Decision on the Final Environmental Impact Statement and General Management Plan, Pea Ridge National Military Park, AR

No FR: Columbus Day (Federal holiday)

Fri., Oct. 6

• NOAA proposes draft revised management plan and revised regulations for Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary
• NOAA proposes draft revised management plan and revised regulations for the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary
• NOAA proposes draft revised management plan, revised Designation Document, and revised regulations for the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary

  NEPA

• BIA, in cooperation with the Elk Valley Rancheria (tribe), City of Crescent City, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, FWS, CDFG, and EPA will file with EPA an FEIS for the Elk Valley Rancheria's Proposed 203.5 Acre Martin Ranch Fee-to-Trust Transfer and Casino/Resort Project, Del Norte County, CA
• BLM schedules Public Listening Sessions on implementation of the Pilot Project To Improve Federal Permit Coordination under EPACT
• EPA releases comments on draft, final EIS's
• EPA receives draft, final EIS's for comment
• FERC releases DEIS for California Department of Water Resources' application for license for Oroville Facilities on the Feather River in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada in Butte County, California
• FERC, Corps release EA/FONSI for the Proposed Big Sandy Pipeline Project
• RUS will prepare SEIS, conduct public scoping meeting related to possible financial assistance to East Kentucky Power Cooperative (EKPC) for the proposed construction of two 278 MW Circulating Fluidized Bed generating units (CFBs) in Clark County, Kentucky

Thurs., Oct. 5

• FWS proposes to designate 217.2 acres of critical habitat for the threatened guajon in Puerto Rico
• FWS requests comments on NRDA Assessment Plan for Former Indian Refinery in Lawrenceville, IL
  • It's here
• NOAA "corrects and clarifies" figures published in an Aug. 11 proposed rule to establish marine reserves and marine conservation areas within the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary.
• NMFS receives application from the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (L-DEO) for an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) to take small numbers of marine mammals incidental to conducting an acoustic calibration and seismic testing program in the northern Gulf of Mexico in Fall, 2006.
• NOAA seeks nominations for Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee (FR notice is here)
• South Carolina DNR's Marine Resources Division in Charleston, SC, requests modification to scientific research Permit No. 1540.

  NEPA

• FERC releases FEA/FONSI on application for a new license for the Prospect Nos. 1, 2, and 4 Hydroelectric Project, located on the Rogue River, Middle Fork Rogue River, and Red Blanket Creek in Jackson County, Oregon.
• FHWA corrects three typos in June 7 notice of intent to prepare an EIS for a road widening project in Henderson and Buncombe Counties, North Carolina

• FWS requests public comment on draft economic analysis, draft EA, tribal management plans and resolutions, and a management plan and economic analysis submitted by Phelps Dodge Corporation, on proposal to designate critical habitat for the spikedace and loach minnow.
  • More here on spikedace/loach minnow page

  NEPA, etc.

• Corps to prepare SEIS on rock mining in wetlands in the Lake Belt region of Miami-Dade County, FL
  • Lake Belt SEIS site
• BIA releases ROD for proposed lease of Tribal Trust Lands Between Private Fuel Storage, L.L.C. (PFS) and Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indian (Band) in Tooele County, UT
• EPA, NOAA plan to approve the New York Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control Program
  • Findings
• USDA/Forest Service amends charter of Roadless Area National Advisory Committee ("The amended purpose of the Roadless Area Conservation National Advisory Committee is to provide advice and recommendations to the Secretary on petitions received from States regarding roadless area management...")
  • Roadless Area Conservation National Advisory Committee to meet in D.C. Oct. 18-19
• CWA enforcement DOJ files proposed consent decree in U.S. v. Nacelle Land & Management Corporation, Civ. 04-201, N.D. Ohio). ("Company would pay $300,000 (determined by a [DOJ] financial analyst to be the amount that the corporations can pay) as well as a portion of the proceeds of any sale or lease of certain properties owned by the companies. Of the $300,000 to be recovered, $200,000 would be paid to the [Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund] in satisfaction of the United States' claim for reimbursement of removal costs, and $100,000 would be paid to the OSLTF in full settlement of the United States' claim for civil penalties.")

• FWS releases draft Recovery Plan for the Puerto Rican Parrot for review and comment
• FWS proposes approximately 644 acres as critical habitat for the Ceanothus ophiochilus (Vail Lake ceanothus) and Fremontodendron mexicanum (Mexican flannelbush)
• FWS says petition to delist Plymouth red-bellied cooter (a turtle) may be warranted

  NEPA

• Army releases DEIS for Base Closure and Realignment (BRAC) Actions at Fort Lee, VA
• Army releases DEIS for Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Actions at Fort Sam Houston, TX
• BIA to prepare EIS for the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians' Proposed Fee-to-Trust Transfer and Casino Project, Jackson County, MS
• EPA: "This notice of determination is for all navigable waters of Dale Hollow Lake, located on the border of Kentucky and Tennessee. On March 23, 2006, notice was published that the Army Corps of Engineers, State of Kentucky, and State of Tennessee had petitioned the [EPA] Regional Administrator to concur with their determinations that adequate and reasonably available pumpout facilities exist on Dale Hollow Lake. Zero comments were received regarding this proposed action.
• NRCS releases ROD for the Coal Creek Flood Control and Parkway FEIS. The ROD authorizes implementation of Alternative C (Replace Main Street diversion/drop structure) in conjunction with the North Field Canal Option and Parkway Option C1, resulting from proposed flood control improvements to Coal Creek in Cedar City, Utah..
  • More here

• FWS designates 154,834 acres in Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara, and San Joaquin counties, California, as critical habitat for the Alameda whipsnake
  • Economic analysis is here, along with final rule with maps
  • Press release
• FWS rule prescribes special late-season migratory bird hunting regulations for certain tribes on federal Indian reservations, off-reservation trust lands, and ceded lands
• NMFS: Paul Nachtigall, Ph.D., Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, has applied for a permit to conduct research on captive cetaceans.
• NMFS to prepare EIS on proposed regs to protect wild spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris) in the main Hawaiian Islands from "take,'' as defined in the MMPA
  • More here

• FWS releases Recovery Plan for Holmgren milk-vetch (Astragalus holmgreniorum) and Shivwits milk-vetch (Astragalus ampullarioides) (Go here for plans)
• FWS receives application for 50-year enhancement of survival permit from Nevada Department of Wildlife. The permit application includes a proposed programmatic Safe Harbor Agreement (SHA) that "provides for voluntary habitat restoration, maintenance, enhancement, or creation activities to enhance the reintroduction and long-recovery of razorback sucker (Xyrauchen texanus) and bonytail chub (Gila elegans) within Clark County, Nevada." (More here)
• FWS releases Final Revised CCP and EIS for Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska
  • Go here for plan
• NMFS releases proposed Upper Columbia Spring Chinook Salmon, Steelhead, and Bull Trout Recovery Plan for public review and comment.
  • More at this page
• NOAA establishes Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) Product Development Committee (CPDC) for Synthesis and Assessment Product 3.3 (CPDC--S&A 3.3) under provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, announces first meeting of the Committee.
• NMFS: notification is hereby given that an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) has been issued to Fugro West, Inc. (Fugro), to take small numbers of California sea lions, Pacific harbor seals, harbor porpoises, and gray whales, by harassment, incidental to geographical seismic surveys being conducted in south San Francisco Bay (SFB or Bay) in California.
• NMFS ("The supplemental biological opinion concluded that, although the 2005 catch of Chinook had been high, continued operation of the groundfish fisheries under the FMP would not jeopardize the recovery of salmon stocks listed as threatened or endangered under the ESA. The supplemental biological opinion also recommended that, as a longer-term management measure, the OSCZ be implemented via Federal regulation as a management measure available for inseason implementation, as needed to constrain salmon bycatch in the whiting fishery.")

  NEPA

• Corps plans to prepare an EIS for the Upper Ohio Navigation Study, Allegheny and Beaver counties, Penn.
  • More here
• Corps: Intent to convey the ``Drum Stick'' Parcel of the Former Fort Ord, Located in Monterey County, Calif., in return for the ``Stillwell Kidney'' parcel owned by the City of Seaside
• BLM Notice of Availability of Bay Draft Resource Management Plan and Draft Environmental Impact Statement, Alaska
• EPA releases comments on draft, final EIS's
• EPA receives EIS's for review
• FERC releases EA/FONSI on an application for an Original Major License for the Augusta Canal Project located on the Augusta Canal, adjacent to the Savannah River, Richmond County, Augusta, GA.
• FERC, California State Lands Commission and BLM release EIS/R and Draft Land Use Plan Amendment on North Baja Pipeline's Proposed North Baja Pipeline Expansion Project
• FERC releases EIS on PacifiCorp's application for license for the Klamath Hydroelectric Project; public meetings planned
• Forest Service will prepare supplement to the FEIS for the 2002 Nebraska National Forest Revised Land and Resource Management Plan (as amended) (LRMP) for black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) management
• MMS releases guidelines for the Coastal Impact Assistance Program (Guidelines are here)
• Navy to prepare EIS/Overseas EIS for Atlantic Fleet Active Sonar Training; scoping meetings announced

• FWS issues negative 90-day finding on petition to list the Anacapa deer mouse
• FWS proposes delisting the Idaho springsnail because "it no longer constitutes a distinct species. It is now described as the Jackson Lake springsnail (P. robusta), a single taxon, composed of four previously distinct springsnail species (Idaho, Jackson Lake, Harney Lake, and Columbia springsnails), and therefore we are proposing to remove the Idaho springsnail from the federal list of endangered and threatened wildlife. We evaluated the best available scientific and commercial information regarding the status of, and threats to, the newly described P. robusta, and determined that the threats to the species do not warrant its listing at this time. Additionally, based on our status review of P. robusta, we also find that listing the Jackson Lake springsnail, Harney Lake springsnail, and Columbia springsnail as separate species is not warranted.
• FWS issues negative 90-day finding on a petition to list Usnea longissima, a lichen, in California as Threatened or Endangered
• FWS releases revised recovery plan for Hawaiian Forest Birds ("There are 21 bird taxa included in this revised recovery plan; 19 are listed as endangered, 1 is a candidate species for federal listing, and 1 is a species of concern. These taxa represent four bird families, with the majority being Hawaiian Honeycreepers (subfamily Drepanidinae, family Fringillidae).")
• FWS releases approved recovery plan for the endangered Hungerford's crawling water beetle (Brychius hungerfordi)
• Lake Champlain Sea Lamprey Control Alternatives Workgroup to meet Oct. 25 in Burlington, Vt.
• NMFS announces that recreational fishery from the U.S.-Canada Border to Cape Falcon, OR was modified, effective Saturday, Aug. 26, 2006, by transferring 2000 coho from the Westport subarea quota with a resulting increase in the La Push subarea quota of 1,140.
• NMFS announces that the commercial fishery from the U.S.- Canada Border, to Cape Falcon, Oregon was modified by two inseason actions.
• NMFS receives application from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO), a part of the University of California, for an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) to take small numbers of marine mammals incidental to conducting an oceanographic survey in the South Pacific Ocean
• NMFS receives request from the Navy for MMPA authorization to take marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to conducting operations of Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System (SURTASS) Low Frequency Active (LFA) sonar from Aug. 16, 2007, through Aug. 15, 2012.
  • More here

• FS, FWS: Federal Subsistence Board withdraws direct final rule that would have amended regulations governing subsistence use of fish and wildlife in Alaska by creating an additional subsistence resource region for the Kenai Peninsula. ("We predicate this withdrawal on the fact that we have received significant adverse comments, specifically relating to the lack of public input on this issue")
• Federal Subsistence Board extends comment period through Nov. 9 on proposed rule to amend the regulations governing subsistence use of fish and wildlife in Alaska by creating an additional subsistence resource region for the Kenai Peninsula.
• FWS proposes to revise Federal Duck Stamp Contest regulations
• FWS sends ICR to OMB for approval: Special Use Permit Applications for National Wildlife Refuges in Alaska
• FWS receives ES, marine mammal permit apps (sport-hunted trophies)
• FWS receives ES permit apps (Intl)
• FWS issues marine mammal permits
• FWS issues marine mammal permit
• FWS: Wildlife Conservation Society, Bronx, NY, receives amendment to scientific research Permit No. 31-1741/MA081663.
• FWS releases final recovery plan for the sentry milk-vetch (Astragalus cremnophylax var. cremnophylax). ("Three populations of this endangered plant are known to occur on land managed by the National Park Service in the Grand Canyon National Park in Coconino County, Arizona.")
• FWS says it won't propose listing the Northern Mexican Gartersnake (press release)
• FWS initiates 5-Year Review of 37 Southeastern Species
• FWS releases CCP/EA/FONSI for Cedar Island National Wildlife Refuge in Carteret County, North Carolina.
  • SE planning
• NMFS proposes regulations to implement measures in Amendment 1 to the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan ("Because herring is a primary prey species for seals, porpoises and some whales, protected species interactions with this fishery are likely. The proposed measures, however, include a limited access program that would control capitalization of the fleet, including growth of the midwater trawl sector, and a seasonal purse seine/fixed gear only area that should, at a minimum, not increase interactions with protected species beyond the status quo, and may have indirect positive benefits by imposing more controls on the fishery.")
• NMFS: Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole requests modification to scientific research Permit No. 1448.
• NMFS Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center applies for a permit to take green (Chelonia mydas) and hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) sea turtles for purposes of scientific research.

  NEPA, et al.

• BLM's Lake Havasu Field Office "will close portions of roads on public lands to motorized and mechanized vehicle use." ("The purpose of the emergency closure is to protect soils, vegetation and cultural resources that have been adversely impacted, or are at risk of being adversely impacted, by [OHV] use. In addition, this closure is needed to alleviate congestion in the project area during Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) remediation of hexavalent chromium in the groundwater at the Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) Topock Compressor Station in Needles, California.")
• The Commodity Credit Corporation issues FONSI with respect to the implementation of the Emergency Forestry Conservation Reserve Program (EFCRP).
• NPS releases draft South Florida and Caribbean Parks Exotic Plant Management Plan/DEIS, Big Cypress National Preserve, FL; Biscayne National Park, FL; Canaveral National Seashore, FL; Dry Tortugas National Park, FL; Everglades National Park, FL; Buck Island Reef National Monument, VI; Christiansted National Historic Site, VI; Salt River Bay National Historic Park and Ecological Preserve, VI; and Virgin Islands National Park, VI (More information is here)
• NRCS releases Draft Supplemental Watershed Plan No. 1 and EA for Plum Creek Watershed, Rehabilitation of Flood Retarding Structure (FRS) 18
• NRCS releases EA/FONSI for rehabilitation of Pohick Creek Watershed Dam No. 4, Fairfax County, Virginia.
• NRCS releases ROD "to proceed with the installation of the East Locust Creek Watershed Revised Plan is available."
• Office of Science and Technology Policy releases Draft National Assessment of Efforts to Predict and Respond to Harmful Algal Blooms in U.S. Waters which was mandated by Congress in the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Amendments Act of 2004 (Pub. L. 108-456) ("This report reviews and evaluates short term harmful algal bloom (HAB) prediction techniques, and identifies current prevention, control and mitigation (PCM) programs and research for freshwater, estuarine and marine HABs operating at the national, State, local and tribal level.")

• NWPs proposed: Corps proposes new and modified nationwide permits, general conditions
• FWS won't propose listing Northern Mexico gartersnake (12-month finding)
• FWS, NMFS release ROD on the issuance of incidental take permits to the state of Washington for the Washington Forest Practices Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) ("The two incidental take permits (one from each of the Services) authorize incidental take of aquatic species (16 listed fish species, 54 unlisted fish species, and 7 unlisted amphibian species) from covered forest practices implemented under the HCP. These forest practices affect approximately 9 million acres of non-Federal and non-tribal lands in Washington State. The permits were issued on June 5, 2006, and will remain in effect for 50 years.") (9/26)
• FWS releases econ. analysis on proposed CH designation of Shivwits Milk-Vetch Holmgren Milk-Vetch
• Page for both
• FWS proposes, as a result of settlement agreement, new "not prudent" finding for designation of critical habitat for California plant, Trichostema austromontanum ssp. compactum.
• FWS: The petitioners provided three listing scenarios for consideration by the Service: (1) Listing the United States population as a Distinct Population Segment (DPS); (2) listing Thamnophis eques megalops throughout its range in the United States and Mexico based on its rangewide status; or (3) listing Thamnophis eques megalops throughout its range in the United States and Mexico based on its status in the United States. After thorough analysis and review of all available scientific and commercial information, we find that listing of the subspecies, under any of the three scenarios, is not warranted. 12-Month Finding on a Petition To List the Northern Mexican Gartersnake (Thamnophis eques megalops) as Threatened or Endangered With Critical Habitat; Proposed Rule
• FWS receives endangered species recovery permit applications (Pacific Northwest)
• FWS receives endangered species recovery permit applications (Pacific Northwest)
• FWS receives enhancement of survival permit application from Boy Scouts of America/Capital Area Council on 15-year draft Safe Harbor Agreement (SHA) for the endangered Houston toad (Bufo houstonensis) in Bastrop County, Texas.
• FWS, NMFS release final ROD on the issuance of incidental take permits to the state of Washington under section 10 of the Endangered Species Act for the Washington Forest Practices Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP). (he two incidental take permits (one from each of the Services) authorize incidental take of aquatic species (16 listed fish species, 54 unlisted fish species, and 7 unlisted amphibian species))
• NOAA: Marine Protected Areas Federal Advisory Committee to meet in Newport, Ore.
• NOAA requests nominations for the Marine Protected Areas Federal Advisory Committee.
• NMFS: Markus Horning, Ph.D., Department of Fisheries & Wildlife, Oregon State University, Hatfield Marine Science Center, Newport, OR 97365, receives permit to conduct research on Weddell seals.
• Corps: Coastal Engineering Research Board to meet Oct. 11-13 at Ocean Place Resort and Spa in Long Branch, NJ ("The Board provides broad policy guidance and review of plans and fund requirements for the conduct of research and development of research projects in consonance with the needs of the coastal engineering field and the objectives of the Chief of Engineers.")

  NEPA, etc.

• BLM reopens and extends until Sept. 25 the public comment period for the Aug. 25 Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. The ANPR requested comments and suggestions to assist in the writing of a proposed rule to establish a commercial leasing program for oil shale.
• BLM extends public comment period for reopened public scoping process for the proposed Clark, Lincoln, and White Pine counties Groundwater Development Project (Nevada BLM page)
• MMS: Notice of Public Hearings on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed 5-Year Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2007-2012
• Maritime Administration (MARAD) and U.S. Coast Guard release EA/FONSI on the Main Pass Energy Hub (MPEH) Deepwater Port Amended License Application
• NASA releases final PEIS for the development of Advanced Radioisotope Power Systems
• NASA to prepare PEIS, conduct scoping for the Constellation Program.
• NPS releases Benefits-Sharing Draft EIS covering all units of the National Park System.

• FWS: Proposed Low-Effect Habitat Conservation Plan for the Offices at Parkshore, Folsom, Sacramento County, CA (Mark III Engineering Contractors of Sacramento has applied to FWS for a 5-year ITP for threatened valley elderberry longhorn beetle associated with grading a 6.48-acre project site and construction of the Offices at Parkshore, a 9-building office complex off Parkshore Drive in the Lake Forest Technical Center, Folsom, Sacramento County, California.)
• FWS releases Draft CCP/EA for Stone Lakes National Wildlife Refuge (More here)

• FAA releases ROD for FEIS that evaluated the proposed relocation of the Panama City-Bay County International Airport, Panama City, Fla.
  • Airport site
• FERC to prepare EIS, conduct public scoping meeting for the Bluestone Hydropower Project, Hinton, Summers County, WV
• FERC, DHS (Coast Guard) preparing EIS for the Proposed Downeast LNG Project; request for comments on environmental issues

• FWS releases draft Recovery Plan for Listed Species of the Rogue Valley Vernal Pool and Illinois Valley Wet Meadow Ecosystems
• FWS prescribes the hunting seasons, hours, areas, and daily bag and possession limits for general waterfowl seasons and those early seasons for which states previously deferred selection
• FWS "prescribes final late-season frameworks from which States may select season dates, limits, and other options for the 2006-07 migratory bird hunting seasons."
• NMFS, cooperating agencies release status for Atlantic Salmon in the U.S. ("Recent genetic studies indicate that salmon inhabiting the Kennebec and Penobscot Rivers are more closely related to other salmon inhabiting the GOM DPS than they are to those found in Canada and other parts of the world. Based on these studies, as well as other zoogeographic, hydrographic, and life history data, the new Status Review concludes that the GOM DPS should be comprised of all anadromous Atlantic salmon whose freshwater range occurs in the watersheds from the Androscoggin River northward along the Maine coast to the Dennys River, including all associated conservation hatchery populations used to supplement natural populations; currently, such populations are maintained at Green Lake and Craig Brook National Fish Hatcheries.... In the new Atlantic salmon Status Review, PVA projections suggest that the likelihood of extinction of the GOM DPS of Atlantic salmon ranges from 19 percent to 75 percent within the next 100 years. The Status Review also includes a detailed analysis of threats to the DPS... NMFS could determine that a change to the boundaries or conservation status of the existing GOM DPS is warranted, that a separate listing action is warranted, or that no new action is warranted. If NMFS determines that a modification to the existing listing or a new listing is warranted, then a proposed rule will be published along with the rationale for that proposal.")
• Status reviews here
• NMFS releases, requests comment on, Draft Framework for Developing the National System of Marine Protected Areas.
• Marine Protected Areas page
• NMFS Southwest Fisheries Science Center (Stephen Reilly, Responsible Official), 8604 La Jolla Shores Drive, La Jolla, CA 92038, has applied in due form for a permit to take green (Chelonia mydas), loggerhead (Caretta caretta), and olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) sea turtles for purposes of scientific research.

  NEPA

• Corps corrects Notice of Availability for DEIS for Hemet/San Jacinto Integrated Recharge and Recovery Project, Riverside County, CA; Correction
• Corps releases FEIS to consider Issuance of a 404 for Mingo Logan Coal Company's Proposal To Construct and Operate Spruce No. 1 Mine in Logan County, WV
• BLM Lake Havasu Field Office releases proposed RMP/FEIS
  • More here
• EPA releases comments on draft, final EIS's
• EPA receives draft, final EIS's for comment
• FERC releases EA/FONSI on application for exemption from licensing for the Alternatives Hydro Power Project, to be located on the Mumford River, in the Town of Northbridge, Worcester County, Mass.
• The Smokey Bear Ranger District of the Lincoln National Forest will prepare EIS on Perk-Grindstone III Hazardous Fuel Reduction Project on National Forest System lands in Lincoln County, New Mexico.

Thurs., Sept. 21

• FWS initiates 5-year review of Curtis' Pearlymussel and Indiana Bat
• FWS to prepare CCP/EIS for the Julia Butler Hansen Refuge for the Columbian White-tailed Deer and the Lewis and Clark National Wildlife Refuge (WA and OR)
  • More here
  • NMFS receives application for a scientific research permit from the Santa Clara Valley Water District (SCVWD) in Santa Clara County, CA (1121).
• FEMA lists communities scheduled for suspension of flood insurance on the effective dates listed within this rule because of noncompliance with the floodplain management requirements of the program. (N.J., Md., Pa., Ala., Ga., Ind., Mich., Ky., Tenn., Fla., Mo., Mont., Wyo.)

Wed., Sept. 20

• FWS initiates 5-year review of Kendall Warm Springs dace, Dudley Bluffs bladderpod, and Dudley Bluffs twinpod
• FWS: Draft Safe Harbor Agreement and Application for an Enhancement of Survival Permit for the Tempe Reach of the Rio Salado Environmental Restoration Project
• Safe Harbor Agreement and Receipt of Application for an Enhancement of Survival Permit Associated With the Restoration of Habitat for Utah Prairie Dogs on Private Land in Sevier County, UT
• Tarval Torgersen (Applicant/Cooperator) has applied to FWS for an Enhancement of Survival Permit (ESP) for the Utah prairie dog
• FWS: Proposed Information Collection; Export of Caviar or Meat of Paddlefish or Sturgeon Removed From the Wild
• FWS issues final rule for migratory bird hunting on certain Federal Indian Reservations and Ceded Lands for the 2006-07 Early Season NOAA: The Riverbanks Zoo and Garden, 500 Wildlife Parkway, P.O. Box 1060, Columbia, SC 29202-1060 [Charles Scott Pfaff, Responsible Party] has applied in due form for a permit to take shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum) for purposes of enhancement.

  NEPA

• BLM restricts OHV travel to "designated routes on 142,023 acres of public lands near Caineville, Utah, known as the Factory Butte area." ("The purpose of the restriction is to protect threatened and endangered species that have been adversely impacted or are at risk of being adversely impacted by OHV use. ")
• FAA extends scoping period to Oct. 31 for preparation of PEIS for Experimental Permits
• NPS will prepare a White-tailed Deer Management Plan/EIS, Rock Creek Park, Washington, DC.
  Rock Creek Park site

Tues., Sept. 19

• FWS extends comment period for draft EA on the take of raptors from the wild for falconry and raptor propagation
  • Go here for EA
• FWS releases final CCP/EA for Chesapeake Marshlands National Wildlife Refuge Complex (including Blackwater, Martin and Susquehanna NWRs). (CCPs are here)
• FWS releases draft RP for the Nosa Luta or Rota Bridled White-eye
• Recovery Plan released for Camissonia benitensis (San Benito evening-primrose).
• NOAA releases draft report, "Product 2.2 First State of the Carbon Cycle Report (SOCCR): The North American Carbon Budget and Implications for the Global Carbon Cycle," as part of the U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) Synthesis and Assessment
  • Go here for more

  NEPA

• CEQ requests comments on proposed guidance, "Establishing, Revising, and Using Categorical Exclusions under [NEPA]."
  More here on CEQ page
  • and here
• Navy to prepare EIS for proposed dredging of the Norfolk Harbor Channel, Norfolk and Portsmouth, Va (Scoping meetings scheduled)
• NMFS issues rule extending emergency rule that removed a 7-day delay in the effective date for closing the Hawaii-based shallow-set longline fishery "as a result of interaction limits for sea turtles. The intended effect of the emergency action is to afford enhanced protection for sea turtles via timely closure of the fishery.")

Mon., Sept. 18

• FWS releases Recovery Plan for Newcomb's Snail
  • Pacific Islands plans are here, including -- at this point -- draft plan for snail
• FWS releases RP for Yreka phlox, "a narrow endemic known only from the vicinity of the City of Yreka, Siskiyou County, California."
  • All plans are here (snail will be posted soon)
  • NOAA: Notice establishing NOAA's Climate Change Science Program Product Development Committee for Synthesis and Assessment Product 5.3 (Established under provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act)

  NEPA

• FERC releases FEIS, prepared in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, for the Baker River Hydroelectric Project ("The Baker River Project occupies 5,207 acres of lands within the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest managed by the U.S. Forest Service.")
• FERC to prepare EA for the Proposed Gulfstream Natural Gas System, LLC'S Phase III Pipeline Project; also, Notice of Site Visit and Request for Comments on Environmental Issues ("In this filing, Gulfstream proposes to construct, own and operate a 34.3-mile segment of 30-inch gas pipeline extending from its existing Station 712 in Martin County, Florida to a newly constructed Station 705 that would connect to the proposed Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) 2,220 megawatt (MW) gas turbine West County Energy Center (WCEC) in Palm Beach County, Florida.")
• FERC to prepare EA on Northern Natural Gas Company's proposed Palmyra North Expansion Project; requests comments on env'l issues (Clay County, Kansas; Saunders, Washington, and Otoe Counties, Nebraska; Lincoln County, South Dakota; and Cherokee and Dickinson Counties, Iowa.)
• Forest Service to do an EIS on Mountain Coal Company, LLC's proposal to build a ventilation shaft and an emergency escape shaft (at a combined location) and install up to 160 methane drainage wells, located on up to 120 pads, with up to 19 miles of associated access roads to vent explosive methane gas from their underground coal mine. (scoping comments sought w/in 45 days)
• Access to information: GAO proposes to "clarify and broaden" the existing exemption that applies to disclosure of congressional correspondence. GAO proposes to "create a new exemption to allow for the withholding of records of interviews created by GAO in connection with its work. "Specifically, the proposed revision to the congressional correspondence exemption would enable GAO to release or withhold congressional correspondence without prior congressional authorization. The proposed new exemption would enhance the open, frank, and honest exchange of information from other agencies, nonfederal organizations, and individuals to GAO during the course of a GAO audit, evaluation, or investigation."
• NPS preparing Legislative EIS on Gull Egg Harvest by the Huna Tlingit in Glacier Bay National Park
• NPS releases ROD for EIS on the South Denali Implementation Plan, Denali National Park and Preserve, AK
  • More here at parkplanning.nps.gov/index.cfm
• NPS releases ROD on EIS for the Stream Management Plan, Herbert Hoover National Historic Site, West Branch, IA

Fri., Sept. 15

• FWS to conduct public scoping under NEPA to gather information to prepare an EIS related to an anticipated application for a permit amendment from the Washington Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) for its 1997 Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) for forested State trust lands.
• Wetlands: USGS: Notice of an Open Meeting of the Advisory Committee on Water Information (ACWI) (agenda includes "presentation on the new Wetland Mapping Standard Workgroup of the Federal Geographic Data Committee.")
  • More here
• NMFS corrects, clarifies earlier notice "announcing plans to conduct a survey regarding public preferences for potential results of protection measures on Steller sea lion populations." The Abstract replaces the one in the previous notice, which appeared Aug. 16 (see link below) (Here's most of the abstract: "The public benefits associated with the results of protection actions on the endangered Western and threatened Eastern stocks of Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus), such as population increases, are primarily the result of the non- consumptive value people attribute to such protection (e.g., active use values associated with being able to view Steller sea lions and passive use values unrelated to direct human use). Little is known about these values, yet such information is needed for decision makers to more fully understand the trade-offs involved in choosing among protection alternatives and to complement other information available about the costs, benefits, and impacts of the protection alternatives.

  "[NMFS] plans to conduct a survey of U.S. citizens, presenting information on Steller sea lions, including information about population trends and current management actions and asking respondents for information regarding their knowledge of and opinions regarding: Steller sea lions, other marine mammals and endangered species, and potential Steller sea lion population increases and changes in listing status that might result from management. The standard socio-demographic information needed to classify respondents will also be collected. The survey will gather a sufficient number of responses to estimate the non-consumptive benefits associated with the results of protection actions on Steller sea lions. This information is currently unavailable, and would be used by analysts to supplement existing information available for the evaluation of Steller sea lion protection alternatives.'')

  • Aug. 16 original notice, which did not go into such detail

  NEPA

• APHIS releases EA "concerning authorization to ship for the purpose of field testing, and then to field test, an unlicensed Marek's Disease Vaccine, Serotype 1, Live Herpesvirus Chimera."
• APHIS (USDA) extends comment period on petition re: handling, care, treatment, and transport of elephants covered by the Animal Welfare Act.
• Corps corrects addresses in notice on release of draft Integrated Feasibility Report and EIS for the Mid-Chesapeake Bay Island Ecosystem Restoration Project in Dorchester County, on Maryland's Eastern Shore
• BLM releases Draft Sierra Resource Management Plan and DEIS (Go here for the document)
• BuRec and El Dorado County Water Agency will prepare a joint EIS/EIR for a Municipal and Industrial (M&I) water service contract from the Central Valley Project (CVP)
• EPA releases comments on draft, final EIS's
• EPA receives draft, final EIS's for comment
• NPS releases EIS for the Grand Teton Transportation Plan, Grand Teton National Park. (More here)

Thurs., Sept. 14

• FWS designates critical habitat for mountain yellow-legged frog. "In total, approximately 8,283 acres (ac) (3,352 hectares (ha)) fall within the boundaries of the critical habitat designation." which is located in Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and Riverside counties, California.
  • Maps, more info here
• NMFS is establishing a Take Reduction Team (TRT) to address incidental mortality and serious injury of long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas), short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus), white-sided dolphins (Lagenorhynchus acutus), and common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) in several trawl gear fisheries in the Atlantic Ocean.Atlantic Trawl Gear Take Reduction Team
• NMFS issues permit to Smithsonian National Zoological Park to conduct research on Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddelliis) and import marine mammal specimens for scientific research.

  NEPA

• Corps releases DEIS for Hemet/San Jacinto Integrated Recharge and Recovery Project, Riverside County, CA ("Eastern Municipal Water District (EMWD), has completed a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Hemet/San Jacinto Integrated Recharge and Recovery Project. EMWD requires authorization pursuant to Section 404 of the Clean Water Act for 53.1 acres of fill into waters of the U.S. A public hearing will be held at the Simpson Center (305 East Devonshire Avenue, Hemet, CA 92543) on September 19, 2006 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.")
• NRCS to prepare EIS for the Dunloup Creek Watershed of the New River Watershed, Fayette and Raleigh Counties, West Virginia. The EIS will evaluate potential impacts to the natural, physical and human environment as a result of the flood damage reduction measures proposed for the 100-year floodplain in the Dunloup Creek Watershed, Fayette and Raleigh Counties, West Virginia.

Wed., Sept. 13

• FWS releases final CCP and EA/FONSI for Long Island National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) Complex.
  • Long Island refuges page

  NEPA

• USAF releases ROD for the proposed Navy Air-to-Ground Training at Avon Park Air Force Range, Fla., and has selected Alternative 6 (Utilize Alpha Plus Impact Area for High Explosive Delivery) for implementation.
• EPA: Meeting scheduled Oct. 2-3 of Association of American Pesticide Control Officials State FIFRA Issues Research and Evaluation Group (SFIREG) Working Committee on Pesticide Operations and Management (Endangered species on agenda)
• FERC releases EA/FONSI on application for amendment of license for the Shawano Project (FERC No. 710). The project is located on the Wolf River, in Shawano County, Wisconsin.
• FERC commissioners to hold technical conference Dec. 6 "to discuss the status of ocean-based hydroelectric technologies (wave, tidal, and current) and explore the environmental, financial, and regulatory issues pertaining to the development of these new technologies." ("Transcripts of the conference will be immediately available from Ace Reporting Company (202-347-3700 or 1-800-336-6646) for a fee. They will be available to the public on the Commission's eLibrary system seven calendar days after FERC receives the transcript. A free Webcast of this event will be available through http://www.ferc.gov. Anyone with Internet access who desires to view this event can do so by navigating to http://www.ferc.gov's Calendar of Events and locating this event)

Tues., Sept. 12

• FWS considers cutting marbled murrelet critical habitat from 3.66 million acres to 221,692 acres. (Service proposes 3,590,642 acres but is "considering excluding 3,368,950 acres of these lands under section 4(b)(2) of the Act from the final designation.")
• FWS designates 3,958 acres of land on the Island of Rota, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, as critical habitat for the Rota Bridled White-eye
  • FWS Pacific Islands page
• FWS releases latest Candidate Species Notice of Review ("Overall, this CNOR recognizes 7 new candidates, changes the listing priority number for 24 candidates, and removes 10 species from candidate status. Combined with other decisions for individual species that were published separately from this CNOR, the new number of species that are candidates for listing is 279.") (New England cottontail, Red knot on list)
• FWS: Notice of Intent To Conduct Public Scoping and Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement Regarding the Coyote Springs Investments Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan, Lincoln County, NV
• Delaware River Basin Commission will hold an informal conference followed by a public hearing on Wednesday, September 27, 2006 ("The conference among the commissioners and staff will begin at 10:15 a.m. Topics of discussion will include a presentation on proposed revisions to the State of New Jersey's Flood Plain Regulations; general discussion of Basin-wide flood mitigation and flood loss reduction planning; a presentation on preliminary findings of a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service dwarf wedgemussel habitat study; a presentation by the Water Management Advisory Committee Chair on a recommended policy for water transfers and a proposed water loss accountability program; and a second-year status report on implementation of the Commission's 2004 Water Resources Plan for the Delaware River Basin.")
• NMFS issues this final rule to amend three fishery management plans (FMPs) to include fisheries and waters around the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) and Pacific Remote Island Areas (PRIA). ("These amendments affect United States domestic fisheries that offload or operate in Federal waters around the CNMI and the PRIA. These amendments establish new permitting and reporting requirements for vessel operators targeting bottomfish species around the PRIA to improve understanding of the ecology of these species and the activities and harvests of the vessel operators that target them. They also establish new permitting and reporting requirements for vessel operators targeting crustacean species and precious corals around the CNMI and PRIA.")
• The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
• NOAA sends ICR request to OMB: ("The objective of this survey is to assess the level of awareness on issues related to regulations preventing feeding/harassment of wild bottlenose dolphins, which are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.")
• White House Office of Science and Technology Policy releases report: "Charting the Course for Ocean Science in the United States: Research Priorities for the Next Decade" (The report is here)

  NEPA, et al.

• Delaware River Basin Commission will hold an informal conference followed by a public hearing on Wednesday, September 27, 2006 ("The conference among the commissioners and staff will begin at 10:15 a.m. Topics of discussion will include a presentation on proposed revisions to the State of New Jersey's Flood Plain Regulations; general discussion of Basin-wide flood mitigation and flood loss reduction planning; a presentation on preliminary findings of a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service dwarf wedgemussel habitat study; a presentation by the Water Management Advisory Committee Chair on a recommended policy for water transfers and a proposed water loss accountability program; and a second-year status report on implementation of the Commission's 2004 Water Resources Plan for the Delaware River Basin.")
• The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the Denver Regional Transportation District (RTD), in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), will prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to evaluate the impacts of transit improvements, including a potential commuter rail line or a light rail line, in the North Metro Corridor between Downtown Denver and the City of Thornton in Adams County, Colorado.
• FS to prepare EIS "to disclose the environmental effects of timber harvesting the Brick Creek, Panther Creek, Lunch Creek, Trout Creek, and Fan Creek drainages (herein referred to as the Brick Trout project)"

Mon., Sept. 11

• FWS releases economic analysis on lynx critical habitat proposal
  • More here
• FWS receives endangered species and marine mammal permit applications
• FWS issues ES permits
• FWS, NMFS: Notice of Intent to Conduct Public Scoping Meeting and Prepare an Environmental Document for the Stanford University Habitat Conservation Plan, Palo Alto, CA
• NMFS Southwest Fisheries Science Center, Antarctic Marine Living Resources Program (Rennie Holt, Ph.D., Principal Investigator), La Jolla, CA 92037, has been issued a permit to conduct research on Antarctic fur seals (Arctocephalus gazella) and leopard seals (Hydrurga leptonyx).
• NMFS issues permit amendment on a permit held by Dr. Alejandro Acevedo-Gutierrez, Biology Department, Western Washington University, Bellingham, Wash., to conduct scientific research on harbor seals
• NMFS announces its intent to develop recovery plans for 5 ESUs of Pacific salmon and 5 DPSs of steelhead trout in California (Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha): Sacramento River Winter-run, Central Valley Spring-run, and California Coastal; Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch): Southern Oregon/Northern California Coast, and Central California Coast; Steelhead Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss): Northern California Coast, Central California Coast, South-Central California Coast, Southern California Coast, and California Central Valley.)

  NEPA, et al.

• FERC releases EA/FONSI on Dorena Lake Dam Hydroelectric Project; Notice of Availability of Draft Environmental Assessment
• FERC to prepare EA on Cheniere Creole Trail Pipeline's proposed Creole Trail Segment I Amendment Project; Request for Comments on Environmental Issues
• FERC to prepare EIS on environmental impacts of the Southeast Expansion Project proposed by Gulf South Pipeline Company, LP
• FHWA extends comment period to Oct. 9 on DEIS for the proposed interstate facility in the south-central portion of Kentucky, between the Somerset Northern Bypass (I-66) and London, KY.
• Maritime Administration releases draft EA for the Nuclear Ship SAVANNAH decommissioning. The draft EA analyzes the impacts associated with the full nuclear decommissioning of the vessel.

Fri., Sept. 8

• FWS will conduct five-year reviews of 14 Southeastern species: Alabama beach mouse (Peromyscus polionotus ammobates), eastern indigo snake (Drymarchon corais couperi), Red Hills salamander (Phaeognathus hubrichti), Ozark cavefish (Amblyopsis rosae), bayou darter (Etheostoma rubrum), southern combshell (Epioblasma = Dysnomia penita), Arkansas fatmucket (Lampsilis powelli), Louisiana pearlshell (Margaritifera hembeli), black clubshell (Pleurobema curtum), flat pigtoe (Pleurobema marshalli), heavy pigtoe (Pleurobema taitianum), stirrupshell (Quadrula stapes), Kral's water-plantain (Sagittaria secundifolia), and Alabama streak-sorus fern (Thelypteris pilosa var. alabamensis)
• FWS's Arkansas Ecological Service Field Office, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and The Nature Conservancy receives proposed Joint Programmatic Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances and Safe Harbor Agreement for Select Species in the Upper Little Red River Watershed, Arkansas
• Mississippi State University (MSU or Applicant) has applied to FWS for an enhancement of survival permit, which includes includes a proposed Safe Harbor Agreement for the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker (Picoides borealis) (RCW) for a period of 20 years.
• FWS to prepare a comprehensive conservation plan and EA for Tensas River National Wildlife Refuge
• FWS, NMFS: Sea World in Orlando, Fla., has been issued a permit to collect, receive, import, and export marine mammal specimens for scientific research purposes.
• NMFS receives request from the Moss Landing Harbor District (MLHD) to take small numbers of Pacific harbor seals and California sea lions by harassment incidental to the harbor redevelopment project in Moss Landing Harbor, California

  NEPA

• APHIS releases EA for a "preliminary decision to extend a determination of nonregulated status. The original determination and the requested extension involve rice lines genetically engineered to be tolerant to the herbicide glufosinate."
• Corps releases Draft Integrated Feasibility Report and EIS for the Mid-Chesapeake Bay Island Ecosystem Restoration Project in Dorchester County, on Maryland's Eastern Shore (It can be found here)
• EPA releases comments on draft, final EIS's
• EPA receives draft, final EIS's for comment

Thurs., Sept. 7

• FWS grants marine mammal permits
• FWS receives ES permit applications
• FWS, in cooperation with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, releases draft Template Safe Harbor Agreement regarding incidental take of Columbia Basin pygmy rabbits in six Washington counties. (Agreement covers take "that could result from activities associated with ranching, farming, recreation, residential upkeep, conservation programs, and shrub steppe maintenance, restoration, and enhancement on an undeterminable number of non-Federal properties.") (WDFW link)
• FWS, NMFS issue correction to email address for Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument rule
• NOAA: Initiation of Review of the Management Plan/Regulations of the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary; Intent To Prepare Draft Environmental Impact Statement and Management Plan; Scoping Meetings
• NOAA: Initiation of Review of the Management Plan/Regulations of the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary; Intent To Prepare Draft Environmental Impact Statement and Management Plan; Scoping Meetings

• BLM releases Proposed Roan Plateau Resource Management Plan Amendment/Final Environmental Impact Statement, Colorado
  • More on Roan
• FERC to prepare EA on Golden Pass Pipeline's proposed Northern Segment Amendment Project
• FHWA to prepare EIS for a proposed project in the City of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio.
• NPS to prepare a White-tailed Deer Management Plan/EIS, Valley Forge National Historical Park, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. (Valley Forge site)

Wed., Sept. 6

• FWS releases Recovery Plan for the Endangered Spring Creek Bladderpod, an annual plant endemic to the Central Basin in Tennessee (Lesquerella perforata)
  • Plans are here
• FWS receives ES permit application
• FWS issues permits for ES, marine mammals
• NMFS: North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries has been issued a permit to take threatened and endangered sea turtles for purposes of scientific research.
• NMFS: Dynergy Northeast Generation, Inc., Newburgh, NY, has applied in due form for a permit to take shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum) for purposes of scientific research

• BIA, in cooperation with the Spokane Tribe of Indians, releases DEIS for the proposed Integrated Resource Management Plan (IRMP) for the Spokane Indian Reservation, Washington
  • It's here
• BLM to prepare EIS, hold public meetings on Hiawatha Regional Energy Development Project, Sweetwater County, WY, and Moffat County, CO; also, Notice of the Potential for an Amendment to the Green River Resource Management Plan
  • Check here for more
• BLM: Notice of Intent To Prepare a Resource Management Plan for the Malta (Montana) Field Office and Associated Environmental Impact Statement
  • More here
• FAA releases EA/FONSI on a proposal from Blue Origin, LLC to construct and operate a commercial space launch site to be located on privately-owned property in Culberson County, Texas.
  • More here
• FAA issues this notice to advise the public that an EIS will be prepared to assess the potential impacts of proposed improvements at West Bend, Wis., Municipal Airport.
• MMS releases EA/FONSI for the proposed Alaska Region Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Beaufort Sea Planning Area Lease Sale 202
  • Alaska MMS page
• NPS to prepare EIS for a White-tailed Deer Management Plan, Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Ohio
• The National Science Foundation releases DEIS for the proposed Advanced Technology Solar Telescope (ATST) Project

Tues., Sept. 5

• FWS "proposes to add all forms (diploid and triploid) of live silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix), gametes, eggs, and hybrids; and all forms (diploid and triploid) of live largescale silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys harmandi), gametes, eggs, and hybrids to the list of injurious fish, mollusks, and crustaceans under the Lacey Act. This listing would have the effect of prohibiting the importation and interstate transportation of any live animal, gamete, viable egg, or hybrid of the silver carp and largescale silver carp, without a permit in limited circumstances."
• FWS: Proposed Safe Harbor Agreement for the California Red-Legged Frog and the California Tiger Salamander for landowners restoring and enhancing Stock Ponds in Alameda County, CA
• FWS: Proposed Safe Harbor Agreement for the California Red-Legged Frog for Landowners Restoring Aquatic and Riparian Habitat in the Cottonwood Creek Watershed in Shasta and Tehama counties, California
• FWS Southwest region receives scientific research permits to conduct certain activities with endangered species
• NOAA releases South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve Revised Management Plan

  NEPA, etc.

• BLM releases Record of Decision for the Cotterel Wind Power Project and Cassia Resource Management Plan Amendment/EIS (Go here for more)
• BuRec, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and California Department of Parks and Recreation will prepare a joint EIS/EIR. The EIS/EIR would evaluate a restoration project along the reach of the Upper Truckee River that extends from its entry point at the southern boundary of Washoe Meadows State Park to that point just west of U.S. Highway 50 where the river exits Lake Valley State Recreation Area
• More here
• FAA to prepare EIS for Southern Nevada Supplemental Airport, Clark County, NV; scoping meetings slated
  • More here
• FHWA to prepare EIS for a proposed highway project in Clay and St. Johns Counties, Florida.
  • More here
• NASA releases DEIS for implementation of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission.
  • More here

Fri., Sept. 1

• FWS expands James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge boundary by approximately 750 acres, resulting in a revised refuge boundary encompassing about 1,100 acres (Action taken pursuant to congressionally enacted legislation)
  • Pacific Region Planning page
• FWS releases CCP/EIS for Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge
• Crab Orchard page
• FWS releases final CCP/FONSI for St. Catherine Creek National Wildlife Refuge in Adams and Wilkinson counties, Mississippi
  • SE planning page
• NOAA Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM) announces Funding Opportunity for the Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program

  NEPA, etc.

• BLM corrects editorial, typographical errors in a July 12 final rule regarding the administration of livestock grazing on BLM lands
• BLM: North Slope Science Initiative, Science Technical Group, to meet in Fairbanks, Alaska, Oct. 11-12
• BLM "inadvertently published a Notice of Availability of the [FEIS] for the Atlantic Rim Natural Gas Development Project in the Federal Register on Wednesday, August 9, 2006 (FR 71 45576). BLM will publish this Notice of Availability at a later date."
• BLM releases Draft Resource Management Plan and Draft EIS for the Cottonwood field office
• EPA releases comments on draft, final EIS's
• EPA receives draft, final EIS's for comment
• EPA requests comments on proposed stipulated injunction "that would affect aspects of the registrations of certain pesticides and establish a series of deadlines for the agency to make 'effects determinations' " and initiate consultation with FWS "as appropriate" on the effects of those pesticides on the threatened California red-legged frog
• NASA releases FONSI on proposed development of the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV). The CEV, a reusable Apollo-like capsule, would enable our nation's renewed commitment to human space exploration of the Moon and beyond and provide human and cargo access to the International Space Station no later than 2014.
  • It's here

Thurs., Aug. 31

• FWS rule for 2006-2007 "prescribes the hunting seasons, hours, areas, and daily bag and possession limits of mourning, white-winged, and white-tipped doves; band-tailed pigeons; rails; moorhens and gallinules; woodcock; common snipe; sandhill cranes; sea ducks; early (September) waterfowl seasons; migratory game birds in Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands; and some extended falconry seasons."
• FWS, FS: This provides notice of the Federal Subsistence Board's in- season management action to remove closure restrictions on non- Federally qualified users in the Red Sheep and Cane Creek drainages of the Arctic Village Sheep Management Area
• 404 enforcement: DOJ files proposed consent decree in U.S. v. Howard McKenzie & EBT Property Holding Co. Inc., 06-2353, D.S.C.) (Consent decree is here with exhibit (map) )
  • DOJ ENRD CD page
• CWA enforcement: Comment period extended to Sept. 15 for proposed consent decree lodged on June 22, 2006 (U.S. v. Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (PRASA), Civ. 06-1624 (SEC), D.P.R.)
• BLM will prepare a joint EIS/R and proposed Land Use Plan Amendment for the proposed Sunrise Powerlink Project, San Diego and Imperial Counties, CA
  • Calif. BLM page
• NNSA: Extension of Comment Period on the Draft Site-Wide EIS for Continued Operation of Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM

Wed., Aug. 30

• FWS, DoD sign migratory bird MOU
• EPA: Carbofuran; Interim Reregistration Eligibility Decision; Notice of Availability (ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-2005-0162)
• FWS turns down petition to reclassify Sonoran Desert Population of the Bald Eagle as a Distinct Population Segment, list that DPS as endangered, and designate critical habitat
• FWS releases Final CCP, EA/FONSI for Choctaw National Wildlife Refuge in Choctaw County, Alabama. (Planning page, SE)
• NOAA Estuarine Reserves Division, Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM), National Ocean Service, announces 30-day public comment period on the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve Management Plan , which is here)
• NOAA OCRM to evaluate the performance of Oregon Coastal Management Program.
• NOAA Estuarine Reserves Division, OCRM, National Ocean Service approves revised management plan for Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve
• FERC to prepare EA that will on impacts of Southern Pines Energy Center Expansion Project, which involves construction and operation of facilities by SG Resources Mississippi, L.L.C. (SGRM) in Greene County, Miss., and Mobile County, Ala.
• Unrelated to ESA or NEPA: Advisory Committee on Historical Diplomatic Documentation Notice of Meeting ("The Committee will meet in open session from 1:30 p.m. through 3 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 11, 2006, in Room 1105 to discuss declassification and transfer of Department of State records to the National Archives and Records Administration and the status of the Foreign Relations series. The remainder of the Committee's sessions from 3:15 p.m. until 4:30 p.m. on Monday, September 11, 2006, and 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Tuesday, September 12, 2006, will be closed in accordance with Section 10(d) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463). The agenda calls for discussions of agency declassification decisions concerning the Foreign Relations series and other declassification issues. These are matters not subject to public disclosure under 5 U.S.C. 552b(c)(1) and the public interest requires that such activities be withheld from disclosure.")

Tues., Aug. 29

• CWA enforcement EPA plans to publish notices of proposed penalty orders issued under the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act on the Internet. "EPA is encouraging the Regions to use the Internet as a more effective and efficient means to provide such notice."
• FWS rule "prescribes final early-season frameworks from which the States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands may select season dates, limits, and other options for the 2006-07 migratory bird hunting seasons."
• NOAA, FWS issue final regs for the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument. ("This action codifies the prohibitions and management measures set forth in Presidential Proclamation 8031 establishing the Monument. The rule is effective immediately.")
• Navy will prepare EIS/Overseas EIS for a proposal to enhance training, testing, and operational capability within the Hawaii Range Complex; public scoping meetings announced

Mon, Aug. 28

• FWS: Paul Athanas has requested a permit to take "0.275 acre of Florida scrub-jay foraging, sheltering, and possibly nesting habitat, incidental to lot preparation for the construction of a single-family residence and supporting infrastructure in Sarasota County, Florida."
• FWS receives endangered species permit applications
• FWS: City of Palm Bay, Fla., requests ITP. HCP submitted "identif[ies] anticipated impacts to two federally-listed threatened species, the Florida scrub-jay and the eastern indigo snake (City has also asked for permission to take gopher tortoise habitat in the event it becomes listed as threatened or endangered "during the 30-year term of the requested ITP.")
• FWS, NMFS: Darlene R. Ketten, Ph.D., Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, has applied for a permit from NMFS and FWS to take parts from species of marine mammals for purposes of scientific research.
• Tongass NF to prepare EIS on Iyouktug Timber Sales, Hoonah Ranger District
• Corps to prepare a DEIS for the proposed Port of Vancouver Columbia Gateway Project in the State of Washington ("The EIS is for a Department of the Army permit issued under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act to install the infrastructure necessary to support an approximately 500-acre development of water dependent and industrial facilities at the Port of Vancouver.")
• FAA extends comment period to Sept. 22 for a Draft Written Reevaluation of environmental impacts of a proposed centerfield taxiway at Boston-Logan International Airport, Boston, Massachusetts.
• DOI's Office of Insular Affairs has released a draft report "concerning power utilities and energy usage in the U.S.-affiliated insular areas, [including] the territories of Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, as well as the freely associated states of the Republic of Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia." The report was produced in consultation with DOE.

Fri., Aug. 25

• Sea turtles: Scallop dredgers have to modify equipment "when fishing south of 41[deg] 9.0' N. latitude, from the shoreline to the outer boundary of the Exclusive Economic Zone."

• USACE: Notice of Intent To Prepare a draft EIS for a Proposed Cumberland County Regional Water Supply Project, Cumberland County, TN
• EPA releases comments on draft, final EIS's
• EPA receives draft, final EIS's for comment
• FAA releases ROD on St. George Replacement Airport project, St. George, Washington County, UT
  • Go here for more
• FEMA rule identifies communities whose eligibility for flood insurance is scheduled to be suspended because of "noncompliance with the floodplain management requirements of the program." (The communities are in Georgia, N.C., Illinois, and California -- including Healdsburg and unincorporated areas of Sonoma County.)
• Central Ariz. Project: Notice of Modification to the Secretary of the Interior's Record of Decision, Publication of a Final Decision of CAP Water Reallocation.
• BLM asks for "comments and suggestions to assist in the writing of a proposed rule to establish a commercial leasing program for oil shale." (More information is here)
• BLM Anchorage Field Office releases Ring of Fire Proposed Resource Management Plan
• MMS releases DEIS for the Proposed Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing Program: 2007-2012
  • DEIS is here on the 5-year OCS leasing page
  • Go here to find out how to submit comments
• NPS releases Plan of Operations and EA for the Wilson Well No. 1 by Kindee Oil and Gas Texas, LLC, Padre Island National Seashore. (More here)

• FWS, FS: "This rule revises the jurisdiction of the Federal Subsistence Management Program by adding submerged lands and waters in the area of Makhnati Island, near Sitka, Alaska. This would then allow Federal subsistence users to harvest marine resources in this area under seasons, harvest limits, and methods specified in Federal Subsistence Management regulations."
• FWS proposes to establish the 2006-07 late-season hunting regulations for certain migratory game birds. "We annually prescribe frameworks, or outer limits, for dates and times when hunting may occur and the number of birds that may be taken and possessed in late seasons. These frameworks are necessary to allow State selections of seasons and limits and to allow recreational harvest at levels compatible with population and habitat conditions."
• FWS proposes to revise the List of Migratory Birds by adding numerous species and removing numerous species. Reasons for the proposed changes to the list include correcting previous mistakes including misspellings, adding species based on new evidence of occurrence in the United States or U.S. territories, removing species no longer known to occur within the United States, and changing names based on new taxonomy. The net increase of 140 species (152 added and 12 removed) brings to 972 the total number of species protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA).
• FWS receives applications for ITPs from Alabama South Pools, Ms. Debbie Bankster, Baron Investments, Mr. Horton Bateman, BIOA LLC, Mr. Christopher Celeslie, Mr. Claud Clark, Mr. Robin Crick, Mr. Lawrence Dalgo, Mr. Erik Daniels, Mr. William Erwin, Mr. Mark Freeman, Mr. Mike Halliday, Mr. Leo Hastings, Harrison Building, Mr. Walter Lindsey, Mr. William Lingsch, Mr. Brian Litton, LK&K LLC, Mr. Michael Llop, Mr. Danny Mason, Mr. Lannie McRill, Mr. Michael Molleston, Mr. Johnny Moore, Ms. Margaret Pickering, Mr. Robert Relinski, Mr. Michael Sciortino Sr., Mr. Preston Simmons, Mr. Claude Sims, Mr. Gary Smith, Mr. Ron Spivey, Mr. Mike Stoddard, Mr. Larkin Strong, Mr. Robert Susko, TBI LLC, Mr. John Wales, and Mr. Kenneth Wallis, for the take of Alabama beach mouse (ABM). "The proposed take would be incidental to the otherwise lawful activity of constructing 32 single- family residences, 13 duplex residences, and expansion of 3 existing residences on the Fort Morgan Peninsula in Baldwin County, Alabama."
• DOI: Notice of public meetings of the Invasive Species Advisory Committee.
• NMFS issues IHA for Small Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities; Seismic Surveys in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas off Alaska

• Air Force: Notice of Intent To Prepare an EIS for the transfer of Cannon Air Force Base and Melrose Air Force Range from Air Combat Command to Air Force Special Operations Command
• APHIS: Availability of an Environmental Assessment for Field Testing Fowl Laryngotracheitis-Marek's Disease Vaccine, Serotype 3, Live Marek's Disease Vector
• FERC - Notice of Availability; Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Orlando Gasification Project
• FERC - CenterPoint Energy Gas Transmission Company; Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Carthage to Perryville Project

• FWS releases draft Candidate Conservation Agreement With Assurances and Application for an Enhancement of Survival Permit for the Lesser Prairie-Chicken in Texas (“The permit application includes a draft 20-year [CCAA] between [FWS] and TPWD for the Lesser Prairie-Chicken in 50 Texas counties. We request public comment.")
• NMFS releases draft updated Recovery Plan for the U.S. Distinct Population Segment (DPS) of smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata)
  • It’s here
• NMFS: "Notification is hereby given that an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) to take marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to conducting marine geophysical seismic surveys, on oil and gas lease blocks located on Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) waters in the Chukchi Sea. has been issued to GX Technology of Houston, Texas (GXT).
• NMFS receives request "from the Knik Arm Bridge and Toll Authority (KABATA) for an authorization to take small numbers of marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to construction of the Knik Arm Bridge at the Knik Arm Crossing in Alaska during the period 2007 through 2012."

• Forest Service: "This project will revise Rangeland Allotment Management Plans (RAMP) for eight allotments comprising about 79,634 acres within two Ranger Districts of the Black Hills National Forest, and analyze continued grazing within the constraints of the Revised Black Hills National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan, as amended (BHNF LRMP). A Notice of Intent to prepare an environmental impact statement for this project was published August 17, 2005 (70 FR 48369). More than six months have elapsed since the projected FEIS date in that original NOI. This revised NOI is being issued to update the project schedule."
• BLM's Alaska State Office "will hold an oil and gas lease sale bid opening for the Northeast and Northwest Planning Areas of the National Petroleum Reserve--Alaska. Tracts offered for competitive bid in the Northeast Planning Area cover land not previously offered for sale, as identified in the January 11, 2006, Record of Decision on the Amended Integrated Activity Plan/[EIS]; land previously offered in Sale Numbers 991 (1999) and 2002, but for which no bid was received; and land from leases issued after the 2002 Sale that have been relinquished by lessees. All the tracts in the Northwest Planning Area cover land offered in the 2004 Sale but that did not receive any bid."
• NPS releases DEIS for disposition of the former Bureau of Mines Twin Cities Research Center Main Campus, Hennepin County, MN; Request for Written Proposals

• FWS receives application, EA, and HCP for taking Perdido Key beach mice (Peromyscus polionotus trissyllepsis) incidental to construction, and occupancy of a single-family residence on Perdido Key in Escambia County, Florida. Mr. Norton Bond has requested an incidental take permit (ITP) for a 30-year period.
• FWS issues marine mammal permits
• FWS receives ES, marine mammal permit applications
• FWS says petitions to delist the Island Night Lizard have enough information to warrant further review (5-year status review will be done in September; the lizard occurs on San Clemente, San Nicolas, and Santa Barbara Islands (Bezy et al. 1980) and one small islet (Sutil Island) adjacent to Santa Barbara Island (Fellers and Drost 1991). The lizard was listed as threatened Aug. 11, 1977, along with six other animals and plants that occur on the Channel Islands off the coast of southern California.)
• FWS proposes to designate critical habitat for the endangered plant Catesbaea melanocarpa (no common name). "In total, approximately 50 acres (ac) (20.2 hectares (ha)) fall within the boundaries of the proposed critical habitat designation for C. melanocarpa in one unit located in Christiansted, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands."
• Migratory bird hunting regs corrected (“In Title 50 of the Code of Federal Regulations, parts 18 to 199, revised as of October 1, 2005, on page 36, Sec. 20.21 is corrected by reinstating paragraphs (j)(2) and (3) to read as follows:
  Sec. 20.21 What hunting methods are illegal?
  (j) * * *
  (2) Each approved shot type must contain less than 1 percent residual lead (see Sec. 20.134).
  (3) This shot type restriction applies to the taking of ducks, geese (including brant), swans, coots
  (Fulica americana), and any other species that make up aggregate bag limits with these migratory
  game birds during concurrent seasons in areas described in Sec. 20.108 as nontoxic shot zones.”)
• Marine Mammal Commission and its Committee of Scientific Advisors on Marine Mammals will meet on Tuesday, 12 September, and Wednesday, 13 September, 2006, from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. The meetings are open to the public. (Draft agenda is here)

• FERC issues EA/FONSI on Golden Pass Pipeline L.P.'s proposed Optimized Pipeline Project
• FERC to prepare EIS for Rockies Express Pipeline's proposed Rockies Express Pipeline Project, Eastern Phase
• NRCS releases EA/FONSI on rehabilitation of Floodwater Retarding Structure 35A, Upper Salt Creek Watershed, Lancaster County Nebraska

• FWS releases Recovery Plan for the Chittenango Ovate Amber Snail
  • should be here soon
• NMFS retracts NOI to prepare an EIS to analyze a range of alternatives for the annual allocation of the Pacific sardine harvest guideline proposed action published on July 19, 2004. "Further scoping subsequent to the publication of the NOI revealed additional information indicating that it was unlikely the proposed action would result in significant environmental impacts."
• NMFS issues two 1-year Letters of Authorization (LOAs) to take marine mammals by harassment incidental to the U.S. Navy's operation of Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System Low Frequency Active (SURTASS LFA) sonar operations.
  • More here
• NMFS issues scientific research permit to take shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum) to Dr. Frank A. Chapman, Department of Fisheries & Aquatic Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla.
• Enforcement: DOJ files proposed consent decree in U.S. and Commonwealth of Kentucky, Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet v. Mid-Valley Pipeline Company, Sunoco Pipeline L.P., and Sun Pipe Line Company, Civ. 06-57-KKC, E.D. Ky.) ("In this action, the United States alleged Clean Water Act violations arising from two spills of crude oil from the Mid-Valley Pipeline." Large fines imposed. (Consent decrees here)
• "Army Installation Management Agency and the Fort Irwin National Training Center will prepare a PEIS to analyze the impacts of mission realignment in support of the Army Transformation, the Army Campaign Plan, and other Army initiatives. Under the proposed action, the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment will expand to become a full-size, multi-component Heavy Brigade Combat Team (BCT), deployable throughout the world. Other, smaller units will also be stationed at Fort Irwin. Training rotations will increase from 10 per year to 12. The PEIS will evaluate the new construction, new land use, and changes in training, area use necessary to implement the proposed action at Fort Irwin."
• Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles District (Regulatory Branch), in coordination with the Port of Los Angeles, has completed a DEIS/R for the Berth 97-109 Container Terminal Project. ("The Port of Los Angeles requires authorization pursuant to Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act for wharf and terminal development (142 acres) in three phases, dredging up to 41,000 cubic yards of sediment, construction of two new concrete pile-supported wharves.")
• NRCS releases FEIS on potential effects to the human environment resulting from proposed flood-control improvements to Coal Creek in Cedar City, Utah.
  • More here

• FWS rejects Algodones Dunes insect listing petition ("We reviewed the petition and supporting information provided by the petitioners and evaluated that information in relation to other pertinent literature and information available at the time of the petition review. After this review and evaluation, we find (1) The vespid wasp (Euparagia n. sp.) is not a listable entity as defined by the Act since it is only identified by the petitioners to the genus level; (2) the petition does not provide substantial scientific information that the four subspecies of weevils (Trigonoscuta rothi rothi, Trigonoscuta rothi algodones, Trigonoscuta rothi imperialis, and Trigonoscuta rothi punctata) are scientifically accepted taxons; and (3) the petition does not present substantial scientific or commercial information to demonstrate listing the remaining 11 petitioned 16 insect species of the Algodones Dunes area as threatened or endangered may be warranted at this time.")
• FWS releases Final Comprehensive Conservation Plan/Environmental Impact Statement for the Sweetwater Marsh and South San Diego Bay Units of the San Diego Bay National Wildlife Refuge (More here)
• NMFS: Amanda Southwood, Department of Biology and Marine Biology, UNC-Wilmington, Wilmington, NC has been issued a permit to take loggerhead (Caretta caretta), green (Chelonia mydas), and Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys kempii) sea turtles for purposes of scientific research.
• BuRec provides advance notice, seeks public input on plans to develop a rule to address and reduce the use of Colorado River water in the lower Colorado River basin without a contract. "Reclamation believes that development of such a rule would help prevent Non-Contract Use from depleting the Colorado River and taking water from holders of Colorado River water entitlements. Reclamation intends that any rule would establish the procedure that Reclamation would follow in making determinations of potential Non-Contract Use including notice and administrative appeal procedures for those entities whose use of Colorado River water falls within the category of Non-Contract use."
• EPA releases comments on draft, final EIS's
• EPA receives draft, final EIS's for comment
• FERC to prepare EA on impacts of the MoBay Storage Project, which involves construction and operation of facilities by MoBay Storage Hub Inc., in offshore Alabama waters and in Mobile County, Ala. "These facilities would consist of injection/withdrawal storage wells, observation wells, various diameter offshore and onshore pipeline, two 8,500 horsepower (hp) offshore compressor units, one 37,880 hp onshore compressor station, and meter stations. This EA will be used by the Commission in its decisionmaking process to determine whether the project is in the public convenience and necessity."
• FERC releases EA/FONSI on application for exemption from licensing for the Corriveau Project, to be located on the Swift River, near the town of Mexico, Oxford County, Maine.
• FHWA to prepare EIS for the proposed U.S. Highway (U.S.) 69/Loop 49 North Lindale Reliever Route (LRR) project in Smith County, Texas.
• NPS releases Plans of Operations and Environmental Assessments for Continuing Operations for Chesapeake Operating, Inc., and Pantera Energy Company, Lake Meredith National Recreation Area, Texas
• NPS: "Glen Canyon National Recreation Area has received an application from Comment Four Corners, LLC, to install and operate a wireless (cellular) telephone system. The location of the proposed telecommunication site is at the Defiance House Lodge at Bullfrog, Utah.... The NEPA analysis has determined that there will not be any adverse effects on the park's natural or cultural resources resulting from this proposal; therefore, this project has been categorically excluded from further analysis under NEPA." (More here)
• The Department of State has received an application from TransCanada Keystone Pipeline, LP (``Keystone'') for a Presidential permit, pursuant to Executive Order 11423 of August 16, 1968, as amended by Executive Order 12847 of May 17, 1993, and Executive Order 13284 of January 23, 2003 to construct, connect, operate, and maintain the Keystone Pipeline Project at the U.S.-Canadian border at Cavalier County, North Dakota, for the purpose of transporting Canadian crude oil production from the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin (``WCSB'')

• FWS: Migratory Bird Hunting; Proposed Migratory Bird Hunting Regulations on Certain Federal Indian Reservations and Ceded Lands for the 2006-07 Season
• FWS releases final Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) for Great Dismal Swamp and Nansemond National Wildlife Refuges (NWR) (More here)
• FWS releases Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) Draft Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) and Environmental Assessment (EA).
• NPS releases FEIS/Non-Native Deer Management Plan Point Reyes National Seashore; Marin County, CA

• FWS: "The permittee requests a permit amendment to take (apply radio- transmitters to) the Hawaiian petrel (Pterodroma sandwichensis) in conjunction with scientific research in Haleakala National Park, Hawaii, for the purpose of enhancing its survival."
• Enforcement: Proposed CD filed. ConocoPhillips would have to pay the United States $1.037 million for past response costs incurred at the Glenrock Oil Seep Site outside Glenrock, Wyo. The decree also requires Conoco to release any "claims it might have (1) against the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund relating to the Site or (2) arising out of response actions at the Site for which past costs were incurred. (United States v. ConocoPhillips Company, 06-CV-195-J, D. Wyo.)
  • Should be here soon
• NMFS has received applications to modify and renew permits for scientific research from the Southwest Fisheries Science Center in Santa Cruz, CA (1044) and Dr. Michael Fawcett (M. Fawcett) in Bodega, CA (1045)
• NMFS releases for public review the proposed Hood Canal Summer Chum Salmon Recovery Plan for the Evolutionarily Significant Unit (ESU) of Hood Canal and Eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca Summer Chum Salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) (Go here for more)
• Corps to prepare EIS to evaluate impacts associated with a previously authorized pier extension in Strait of Georgia at Cherry Point, Near Ferndale, Whatcom County, WA
• FERC releases EA/FONSI on an application for new license for the Osage Project, located on the Osage River in south central Missouri
• FERC requests comments on EA prepared on application for non-project use of project lands and waters. ("The licensees seek Commission approval to permit use of the Conowingo Hydroelectric Project, FERC No. 405, reservoir and lands to withdraw and discharge water. The EA analyzes the environmental impacts of the proposed water withdrawal and discharge. The project is located on the Susquehanna River in Hartford and Cecil Counties in Maryland, and York and Lancaster Counties in Pennsylvania.")
• Rural Utilities Service to hold public scoping meeting, prepare EA related to a project proposed by Georgia Transmission Corporation of Tucker, Ga. (More here)

• FWS issues special rule for the threatened southwest Alaska distinct population segment (DPS) of the northern sea otter (Enhydra lutris kenyoni). This DPS of the northern sea otter is listed as threatened under the Act. "This special rule allows for the limited, noncommercial import and export of items that qualify as authentic native articles of handicrafts and clothing that were derived from sea otters legally taken for subsistence purposes by Alaska Natives from the listed population. This special rule also allows for cultural exchange by Alaska Natives and activities conducted by persons registered as an agent or tannery under existing law."
• FWS proposes to designate 18 acres of critical habitat for 11 species of Hawaiian picture-wing flies (Drosophila aglaia, D. differens, D. hemipeza, D. heteroneura, D. montgomeryi, D. mulli, D. musaphilia, D. obatai, D. substenoptera, and D. tarphytrichia). The proposed critical habitat is located in four counties (City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii, Maui, and Kauai) in Hawaii.
• FWS issues permit for the incidental take of the Preble's meadow jumping mouse (Zapus hudsonius preblei) on the Struthers Ranch Property in El Paso County, Colorado.
• Klamath Fishery Management Council to meet Sept. 6 by telephone call. The meeting is open to the public. "The purpose of this meeting is to formulate a recommendation to the Pacific Fishery Management Council regarding a proposed amendment to their Fishery Management Plan for Commercial and Recreational Salmon Fisheries Off the Coasts of Washington, Oregon and California. The proposed amendment concerns the harvest of Klamath River fall Chinook salmon in years of low projected abundance."

• FAA releases ROD, written reevaluation of the 1999 FEIS To Select Another Alternative for the Location of the Proposed Third Runway, as Analyzed in the FEIS and Approved in the 2000 ROD at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, Charlotte, NC