This page has links to Federal Register notices published in 2004 by the Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service (and occasionally other agencies), most of them ESA-related. I post every FR notice from FWS (including subsistence notices), but in 2005 I stopped including every fishery-related item from NMFS (aka NOAA Fisheries). Most notably, on this page you will find NMFS ESA and MMPA items, as well as DOJ notices of proposed consent decrees in CWA Section 404 enforcement cases. Go here for current NEPA notices.
Current FWS and NMFS notices
2004 notices
Thursday, Dec. 30 (Dec. 30 Table of Contents from GPO)
- See TOC for NMFS notices on West Coast and Western Pacific fisheries (Bigeye tuna) and a Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council meeting
Wednesday, Dec. 29 (Dec. 29 Table of Contents from GPO)
- FWS, on behalf of natural resource trustees NOAA and New York's Department of Environmental Conservation, releases Draft Restoration Plan and EA for the Love Canal, 102nd Street, and
Forest Glen Mobile Home Subdivision Superfund sites. "The Draft RP/EA presents a preferred alternative, consisting of a variety of restoration projects, that compensates for impacts to natural resources caused by contaminant releases and remedial activities associated with the three mentioned sites." (link in notice to NY Field Office doesn't work)
- CWA (wetlands) enforcement: Consent decree filed in U.S. v. Macaulay, 04-23209, D.S.C.)
- Alaska SeaLife Center (ASLC), 301 Railway Avenue, Seward, AK 99664, (Shannon Atkinson, Ph.D., Principal Investigator) has applied for a permit to conduct scientific research on harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) undergoing rehabilitation
- NMFS issues permit to Harold M. Brundage, Environmental Research and Consulting, Inc., 112 Commons Court, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, 19317 to take shortnose sturgeon
(Acipenser brevirostrum) for purposes of scientific research
Tuesday, Dec. 28 (Dec. 28 Table of Contents from GPO)
- FWS to reconsider decision to exclude certain areas (including five counties) from final rule designating critical habitat for four species of fairy shrimp and 11 vernal pool plants in California and Southern Oregon
- FWS releases draft economic analysis, reopens public comment period for proposed designation of critical habitat for Astragalus lentiginosus var. piscinensis (Fish Slough Milk-vetch)
- FWS releases Recovery Plan for Otay tarplant (Go here for plans)
- NMFS receives application for an enhancement of survival permit from the Lower Columbia Fisheries
Enhancement Group (LCFEG)
- Duke Power Company (Mr. Gene Vaughan, Principal Investigator), 13339 Hagers Ferry Rd., Huntersville,
NC 28078, has applied in due form for a permit for scientific research on shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum).
- Dr. Terrie Williams, Long Marine Lab, Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California at Santa
Cruz, 100 Shaffer Road, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, has requested an amendment to scientific research Permit No. 984-1587-03
Monday, Dec. 27 (Dec. 27 Table of Contents from GPO)
Friday, Dec. 23 (Dec. 23 Table of Contents from GPO)
- NMFS issues 2005 interim total allowable catch (TAC) amounts for each category of groundfish, Community Development Quota (CDQ) reserve amounts, American Fisheries Act (AFA) pollock allocations and sideboard limits, and prohibited species catch (PSC) allowances and prohibited species quota (PSQ) reserves for the groundfish fisheries of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (mentions Steller sea lion conservation measures)
- Enforcement (CERCLA, CWA): DOJ: on December 10, 2004, proposed
Consent Decrees in United States v. Alcoa, Inc., Civil Action No. 6:04-cv-00119, were lodged with the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas.
(Go here for documents )
- CWA enforcement: Consent decree filed in U.S. v. City of Reading, Civ. No. 04-5696, E.D. Pa. ("The city also will perform a Supplemental Environmental Project in the Angelica Park wetlands."
Wednesday, Dec. 22 (Dec. 22 Table of Contents from GPO)
Tuesday, Dec. 21 (Dec. 21 Table of Contents from GPO)
Monday, Dec. 20 (Dec. 20 Table of Contents from GPO)
Friday, Dec. 17 (Dec. 17 Table of Contents from GPO)
- FWS proposes to designate approximately 17,299 acres (ac) (7,001 hectares (ha)) within 35 units along the coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington as CH for the Western snowy plover
- FWS, BuRec and Metropolitan Water District of Southern California release FEIS/R "for Proposed Adoption of the Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Program, Final Lower Colorado River Multi-Species [HCP], Final Biological Assessment, [ITP] Application, Draft Implementing Agreement, and Draft Funding and Management Agreement."
Thursday, Dec. 16 (Dec. 16 Table of Contents from GPO)
Wednesday, Dec. 15 (Dec. 15 Table of Contents from GPO)
- FWS, NMFS: Notice of Intent to Conduct Public Scoping and Prepare an EIS related to the Sequim-Dungeness Valley Agricultural Water Users Association's Conservation Plan
- NOAA: This announcement provides notice that the decision record has
been closed for an administrative appeal filed with the Department of Commerce by Pedro Vidal.
- Liberty Science Center (Richard Weddle, Principal Investigator), 251 Phillip Street, Jersey City, New Jersey 07305, has applied in due form for a permit to take shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum) for purposes of enhancement through educational display
- Daniel Costa, Ph.D., UC-Santa Cruz, Long Marine Lab, 100 Shaffer Road, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, receives amendment to Permit No. 87-1593, to conduct scientific research on southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina).
Tuesday, Dec. 14 (Dec. 14 Table of Contents from GPO)
Monday, Dec. 13 (Dec. 13 Table of Contents from GPO)
Friday, Dec. 10 (Dec. 10 Table of Contents from GPO)
Thursday, Dec. 9 (Dec. 9 Table of Contents from GPO)
Wednesday, Dec. 8 (Dec. 8 Table of Contents from GPO)
Tuesday, Dec. 7 (Dec. 7 Table of Contents from GPO)
- FWS: Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 12-Month Finding on a Petition To List Seven Foreign Species of Swallowtail Butterflies as Threatened or Endangered. "The best available information indicates that listing is not warranted for Papilio esperanza and Ornithoptera meridionalis. For the remaining five species, listing is warranted but precluded by higher-priority listing actions."
- FWS receives endangered species and marine mammal permit applications
- FWS to revise a CCP and associated EIS for the Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge, Tok, AK
- FWS denies permit to Peter A. Larsen, Newcastle, WY, to import a polar bear (Ursus maritimus) sport hunted from the Baffin Bay polar bear population in Canada for personal use
- NMFS issues a proposed rule that would implement Amendment 82 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area. Amendment 82, if approved, would establish a framework for management of the Aleutian Islands subarea (AI) directed pollock fishery (mentions Steller sea lion)
- NMFS proposes 2005 and 2006 harvest specifications, reserves and apportionments, and Pacific halibut prohibited species catch (PSC) limits for the groundfish fishery of the Gulf of Alaska.
Monday, Dec. 6 (Dec. 6 Table of Contents from GPO)
Friday, Dec. 3 (Dec. 3 Table of Contents from GPO)
- FWS to prepare a Comprehensive Conservation Plan and Environmental Assessment for Egmont Key, Pinellas, and Passage Key National Wildlife Refuges located in Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Manatee Counties, Florida, respectively. These three refuges, known as the Tampa Bay Refuges, are managed as part of the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge Complex
- FWS receives ES permit applications
- NMFS receives request from Glenn R. VanBlaricom for a 1-year renewal of his Incidental Harassment Authorization to take small numbers of marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to the assessment of black abalone populations at San Nicolas Island (SNI), CA.
- NMFS receives application for Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, part of the University of California, to take small numbers of several species of cetaceans for a limited period of time within the next year, in the southwestern Pacific Ocean (SWPO).
Thursday, Dec. 2 (Dec. 2 Table of Contents from GPO)
- FWS, FS: "This provides notice of the Federal Subsistence Board's management actions to provide for subsistence harvest opportunity and to protect a declining moose population in Units 22 and 24."
- NMFS publishes proposed List of Fisheries for 2005, as required by the Marine
Mammal Protection Act. "The proposed LOF for 2005 reflects new information on interactions between commercial fisheries and marine mammals. NMFS must categorize each commercial fishery on the LOF into one of three categories under the MMPA based upon the level of serious injury and mortality of marine mammals that occurs incidental to each fishery."
- NMFS: Llewellyn Ehrhart, University of Central Florida, 4000 Central Florida Blvd., Orlando, Florida 32816-2368, has applied in due form for a permit to take green, loggerhead, hawksbill, Kemp's ridley, and leatherback sea turtles for purposes of scientific research
Wednesday, Dec. 1 (Dec. 1 Table of Contents from GPO)
Tuesday, Nov. 30 (Nov. 30 Table of Contents from GPO)
- Wetlands: Corps proposes to modify NWP regulations so district engineers can issue NWP verification letters that expire on the same date the nationwide permit expires. "This amendment will allow district engineers to issue that nationwide permit verifications are valid throughout the period of time the nationwide permit is in effect, to provide regulatory flexibility and efficiency." Corps also proposes to increase the 30-day pre-construction notification review period to 45 days, to conform with nationwide permit general condition 13.
- FWS releases draft economic analysis for proposed CH designation for Buena Vista lake shrew
- FWS: Proposed Low-Effect Habitat Conservation Plan for Whiskey Creek Bald Eagle Nest Site in Tillamook County, OR
- FWS to prepare Comprehensive Conservation Plan and EA for the Lacreek National Wildlife Refuge Complex, Martin, SD
- NMFS issues a correcting amendment to clarify the regulations that prohibit approaches within 500 yards (460 m) of North Atlantic right whales (right whales). The purpose of this action is to correct
errors contained in the text of the regulation that inadvertently refers to regulations contained in the previous paragraph within 50 CFR part 224. These technical amendments will not change the regulations for approaching right whales found in Sec. 224.103
- Pacific Islands Regional Office, National Marine Fisheries Service, 1601 Kapiolani Blvd., Ste. 1110, Honolulu, HI 96814, has applied in due form for a permit to take green (Chelonia mydas), hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata), leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea), and loggerhead (Caretta caretta) sea turtles for purposes of scientific research
- Dr. Markus Horning, Texas A&M University, Laboratory for Applied Biotelemetry and Biotechnology, Department of Marine Biology, 5007 Avenue U, Galveston, TX 77551 has been issued an amendment to scientific research Permit No. 1034-1685 and Dr. Patrick Butler, University of Birmingham, School of Biosciences, Edgbaston, Birmingham, United.
Monday, Nov. 29 (Nov. 30 Table of Contents from GPO)
- No FWS or NMFS notices today
Friday, Nov. 26 (Nov. 26 Table of Contents from GPO)
Thursday, Nov. 25: Thanksgiving
Wednesday, Nov. 24 (Nov. 24 Table of Contents from GPO)
- FWS designates about 11,180 acres as critical habitat for the Santa Barbara population of the California tiger salamander
- Information Collection Renewal Submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Approval Under the Paperwork Reduction Act; OMB Control Number 1018-0102; Special Use Permit Applications on National Wildlife Refuges Outside Alaska Covering 50 CFR 25.41, 25.61, 26.36, 27.71, 27.91, 27.97, 29.1, 29.2, 30.11, 31.2, 31.13, 31.14, 31.16, and 43 CFR 5
Tuesday, Nov. 23 (Nov. 23 Table of Contents from GPO)
Monday, Nov. 22 (Nov. 22 Table of Contents from GPO)
Friday, Nov. 19 (Nov. 19 Table of Contents from GPO)
Thursday, Nov. 18 (Nov. 18 Table of Contents from GPO)
Wednesday, Nov. 17 (Nov. 17 Table of Contents from GPO)
- Nothing from FWS or NMFS of an ESA or MMPA-related nature
Tuesday, Nov. 16 (Nov. 16 Table of Contents from GPO)
Monday, Nov. 15 (Nov. 15 Table of Contents from GPO)
Friday, Nov. 12 (Nov. 12 Table of Contents from GPO)
Thursday, Nov. 11, Veterans Day
Wednesday, Nov. 10 (Nov. 10 Table of Contents from GPO)
Tuesday, Nov. 9 (Nov. 9 Table of Contents from GPO)
Monday, Nov. 8 (Nov. 8 Table of Contents from GPO)
Friday, Nov. 5 (Nov. 5 Table of Contents from GPO)
- FWS asks for comment on HCP, draft EIR/EIS, and application for an
ITP for the Coachella Valley Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan, Riverside County, CA
- NMFS: Daniel F. Cowan, M.D., The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas 77555-0555, has been issued a permit to acquire, import and export specimen samples for purposes of scientific research
Thursday, Nov. 4 (Nov. 4 Table of Contents from GPO)
Wednesday, Nov. 3 (Nov. 3 Table of Contents from GPO)
Tuesday, Nov. 2 (Nov. 2 Table of Contents from GPO)
Monday, Nov. 1 (Monday, Nov. 1 Table of Contents from GPO)
Friday, Oct. 29 (Oct. 29 Table of Contents from GPO)
Thursday, Oct. 28 (Oct. 28 Table of Contents from GPO)
Wednesday, Oct. 27 (Oct. 27 Table of Contents from GPO)
Tuesday, Oct. 26 (Oct. 26 Table of Contents from GPO)
Monday, Oct. 25 (Oct. 25 Table of Contents from GPO)
Friday, Oct. 22 (Oct. 22 Table of Contents from GPO)
Thursday, Oct. 21 (Oct. 21 Table of Contents from GPO)
- FWS, in cooperation with the states of Tennessee and Alabama and with Conservation Fisheries Inc., a nonprofit organization, propose to reintroduce one federally listed endangered fish, the boulder darter, and one federally listed threatened fish, the spotfin chub, into their historical habitat in Shoal Creek, Lauderdale County, Alabama, and Lawrence County, Tennessee
Wednesday, Oct. 20 (Oct. 20 Table of Contents from GPO)
Tuesday, Oct. 19 (Oct. 19 Table of Contents from GPO)
Monday, Oct. 18 (Oct. 18 Table of Contents from GPO)
Friday, Oct. 15 (Oct. 15 Table of Contents from GPO)
Thursday, Oct. 14 (Oct. 14 Table of Contents from GPO)
Wednesday, Oct. 13 (Oct. 13 Table of Contents from GPO)
Tuesday, Oct. 12 (Oct. 12 Table of Contents from GPO)
Friday, Oct. 8 (Oct. 8 Table of Contents from GPO)
- NMFS receives permit applications to conduct scientific research on endangered and threatened sea turtles: Dr. Allen M. Foley, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, Jacksonville Field Laboratory, 6134 Authority Avenue, Bldg. 200, Jacksonville, Florida 32221 (File No. 1501); and Dr. Blair Witherington, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Fish andWildlife Research Institute, Melbourne Beach Field Laboratory, 9700 SouthA1A, Melbourne Beach, Florida 32951 (File No.
1506).
- Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, Pacific Fishery Management Council, South Atlantic Fishery Management Council to meet. See Table of Contents above
Thursday, Oct. 7 (Oct. 7 Table of Contents from GPO)
Wednesday, Oct. 6 (Oct. 6 Table of Contents from GPO)
Tuesday, Oct. 5 (Oct. 5 Table of Contents from GPO)
Monday, Oct. 4 (Oct. 4 Table of Contents from GPO)
Friday, Oct. 1 (Oct. 1 Table of Contents from GPO)
Thursday, Sept. 30 (Sept. 30 Table of Contents from GPO)
Wednesday, Sept. 29 (Sept. 29 Table of Contents from GPO)
Tuesday, Sept. 28 (Sept. 28 Table of Contents from GPO)
Monday, Sept. 27 (Sept. 27 Table of Contents from GPO)
- This rule 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 releases technical agency draft recovery plan for the endangered Catesbaea melanocarpa for Review and Comment. "Catesbaea melanocarpa is extremely rare and is known
from Puerto Rico, St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI), Barbuda, Antigua, and Guadeloupe. (Recovery plans here)
- NMFS: North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries, P.O. Box 769, Morehead City, NC, has been issued a permit to take loggerhead (Caretta caretta), green (Chelonia mydas), hawksbill
(Eretmochelys imbricata), Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys kempii), and leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) sea turtles for purposes of scientific research
Friday, Sept. 24 (Sept. 24 Table of Contents from GPO)
Thursday, Sept. 23 (Sept. 23 Table of Contents from GPO)
- FWS prescribes final late-season frameworks from which states may select season dates,
limits, and other options for the 2004-05 migratory bird hunting seasons.
- FWS releases final CCP/EA for Illinois River National Wildlife and
Fish Refuge (NWFR), Havana, IL
- FWS releases final CCP/EA for Mark Twain National Wildlife Refuge
Complex in Iowa, Illinois and Missouri
- FWS releases final CCP/EA for the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge (NWR)
and Minnesota Valley Wetland Management District (WMD), Bloomington, MN
- NMFS receives request from BP Exploration (Alaska), 900 East Benson Blvd., Anchorage, AK 99519 (BP) for renewal of an authorization to take small numbers of marine mammals incidental to operation of an offshore oil and gas platform at the Northstar facility in the Beaufort Sea in state waters (ringed seal, bearded seal, spotted seal, bowhead whale, etc.)
- NMFS receives permit application from the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, Freshwater Fisheries Section and request to modify a permit application from Mr. Harold M. Brundage, Environmental Research and Consulting, Chadds Ford, PA (both shortnose sturgeon)
- Dr. Daniel Costa, Department of Biology and Institute of Marine Sciences, UC-Santa Cruz, has been issued a permit to conduct scientific research on northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris). California sea lions may be incidentally harassed during the research, and Costa has asked to include those species in the permit
Wednesday, Sept. 22 (Sept. 22 Table of Contents from GPO)
Tuesday, Sept. 21 (Sept. 21 Table of Contents from GPO)
Monday, Sept. 20 (Sept. 20 Table of Contents from GPO)
No ESA-related notices today
Friday, Sept. 17 (Sept. 17 Table of Contents from GPO)
Thursday, Sept. 16 (Sept. 16 Table of Contents from GPO)
Wednesday, Sept. 15 (Sept. 15 Table of Contents from GPO)
Tuesday, Sept. 14 (Sept. 14 Table of Contents from GPO)
- FWS reopens comment Period for the Draft Recovery Plan for
the Pecos Sunflower
- FWS receives endangered species, marine mammal permit applications
- FWS issues ES, marine mammal permits
- FWS releases draft Sentry Milk-vetch Recovery Plan for Review and Comment
(Should be here soon)
- NMFS: Inwater Research Group, Inc., 4160 NE Hyline Dr., Jensen Beach, FL, has been issued a permit to take loggerhead (Caretta caretta), green (Chelonia mydas), hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata), and Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys kempii) sea turtles for purposes of scientific research.
Monday, Sept. 13 (Sept. 13 Table of Contents from GPO)
Friday, Sept. 10 (Sept. 10 Table of Contents from GPO)
Thursday, Sept. 9 (Sept. 9 Table of Contents from GPO)
Wednesday, Sept. 8 (Sept. 8 Table of Contents from GPO)
Tuesday, Sept. 7 (Sept. 7 Table of Contents from GPO)
Friday, Sept. 3 (Sept. 3 Table of Contents from GPO)
Thursday, Sept. 2 (Sept. 2 Table of Contents from GPO)
Wednesday, Sept. 1 (Sept. 1 Table of Contents from GPO)
Tuesday, August 31 (Aug. 31 Table of Contents from GPO)
- FWS designates 8.6 million acres of critical habitat on federal lands in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah, for the Mexican spotted owl. "The owl inhabits canyon and forest habitats across a range that extends from southern Utah and Colorado, through Arizona, New Mexico, and west Texas, to the mountains of central Mexico."
- FWS designates 13 river and stream segments in the Tennessee and/or Cumberland River Basins, encompassing about 550 river miles, as critical habitat for five endangered mussels [Cumberland elktoe (Alasmidonta atropurpurea), oyster mussel (Epioblasma capsaeformis), Cumberlandian combshell (Epioblasma brevidens), purple bean (Villosa perpurpurea), and rough rabbitsfoot (Quadrula cylindrica strigillata)].
- FWS, FS: "This rule corrects the Subsistence Management Regulations for Public Lands in Alaska, published in the Federal Register on July 1, 2004, (69 FR 40174) implementing the subsistence priority for rural residents of Alaska under Title VIII of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980."
- FWS, FS: "This proposed rule would establish regulations for hunting and
trapping seasons, harvest limits, methods and means related to taking of wildlife for subsistence uses during the 2005-2006 regulatory year."
- FWS releases Final Comprehensive Conservation Plan and EIS for Nisqually National Wildlife
Refuge (More here)
- NOAA announces "temporary restrictions consistent with the requirements of the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan's implementing regulations. "These regulations apply to lobster trap/pot and anchored gillnet fishermen in an area totaling approximately 2,600 square nautical miles (nm2) (8,918 km\2\), east of Cape Ann, MA, for 15 days. The purpose of this action is to provide protection to an aggregation of North Atlantic right whales."
- NMFS extends comment period, announces public hearings on proposed listings of 27 salmonid ESUs
- NMFS extends comment period to Oct. 20, announces public hearings on proposed hatchery listing
policy
- NMFS releases draft recovery plan for the North Atlantic Right Whale (Go to bottom for revised plan)
- NMFS re-opens public comment period on rulemaking petition to protect deep-sea coral and sponge habitat (Petition is here)
- NMFS announces Aug. 9 decision by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California setting aside a final finding made on Dec. 31, 2002, by the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NMFS. "Under the terms of this Order, the labeling standard for 'dolphin-safe' tuna shall be governed by the provisions of the Dolphin Protection Consumer Information Act. Under that provision, tuna are deemed dolphin safe if 'no tuna were caught on the trip in which such tuna were harvested using a purse seine net intentionally deployed on or to encircle dolphins, and no dolphins were killed or seriously injured during the sets in which the tuna were caught.' " (News coverage)
Monday, August 30 (Aug. 30 Table of Contents from GPO)
Friday, August 27 (Aug. 27 Table of Contents from GPO)
Thursday, August 26 (Aug. 26 Table of Contents from GPO)
Wednesday, August 25 (Aug. 25 Table of Contents from GPO)
Tuesday, August 24 (Aug. 24 Table of Contents from GPO)
Monday, August 23 (Aug. 23 Table of Contents from GPO)
Friday, August 20 (Aug. 20 Table of Contents from GPO)
- Information Collection Submitted to OMB for approval Under the Paperwork Reduction Act; Injurious
Wildlife; Importation Certification for Live Fish and Fish Eggs (50 CFR 16.13)
- FWS receives endangered species/marine mammal permit applications
- FWS receives endangered species/marine mammal permit applications
- FWS receives endangered species/marine mammal permit applications
- FWS issues endangered species/marine mammal permits
- FWS receives scientific research permit applications
- FWS releases draft Comprehensive Conservation Plan and EA for Steigerwald Lake National
Wildlife Refuge (NWR), Franz Lake NWR, and Pierce NWR
- FWS issues marine mammal permits
- NMFS receives application from the City of San Diego to harass "small numbers" of Pacific harbor seals for 1 year, "incidental to wall replacement and bluff improvement projects at La Jolla, CA."
- St. George's School, P.O. Box 1910, Newport, RI, 02840, applies for a permit to take green (Chelonia mydas), loggerhead (Caretta caretta), hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata), and Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys kempii) sea turtles for purposes of scientific research. (More about research)
- NOAA releases 5-Year Research Plan Draft and the 20-Year Research Vision
Thursday, August 19 (Aug. 19 Table of Contents from GPO)
Wednesday, August 18 (Aug. 18 Table of Contents from GPO)
- FWS issues negative 12-month petition finding, removes black-tailed prairie dog from list of candidate species
- FWS releases final Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment for the Certus, Inc. Chemical Spill Natural Resource Damage Assessment in Tazewell County, VA
- CWA enforcement: DOJ announces proposed settlement agreement in U.S. and state of California ex rel. California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Los Angeles Region v. City of Los Angeles, Civ. 01-191-RSWL, C.D. Cal.). The agreement "contains a list of possible [Supplemental Environmental Projects], most of which are wetland and stream restoration projects, located primarily along the Los Angeles River, that are designed to restore aquatic areas and provide water quality benefits by treating local runoff."
- NMFS issues final rule "that removes a harvest restriction on participants in the harvest limit area (HLA) Atka mackerel fishery in the Aleutian Islands subarea. The regulatory amendment allows participants assigned to an HLA fishery to harvest Atka mackerel outside of the HLA during the first HLA fishery in each of two seasons. This action allows participants to harvest Atka mackerel efficiently, reduces competition with [endangered] Steller sea lions for prey species within the HLA, and does not increase competition among participants in the groundfish fisheries. This action is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson."
- Christine A. Tomichek, Kleinschmidt Associates, Kleinschmidt Building, 35 Pratt Street, Essex,
Connecticut, 06426, has applied for a permit to take shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum) for purposes of scientific research
Tuesday, Aug. 17 (Aug. 17 Table of Contents from GPO)
Friday, Aug. 13 (Aug. 13 Table of Contents from GPO)
Thursday, Aug. 12 (Aug. 12 Table of Contents from GPO)
Wednesday, Aug. 11 (Aug. 11 Table of Contents from GPO)
- Wetlands enforcement: DOJ announces proposed consent decree in U.S.A. v. Hyponex Corp. (92-1940, D.N.J.) ("The consent decree enjoins Hyponex Corporation from discharging dredged or fill material into waters of the United States at the Site. The consent decree further requires that Hyponex Corporation: (a) Implement a restoration plan to restore wetlands damaged by the unauthorized discharges at the Site and to enhance other wetlands at the Site; (b) pay a civil penalty of $50,000; (c) place a conservation easement on over 1,000 acres of land at the Site, which includes all wetlands at the Site, and transfer that property to an organization approved by the Corps of Engineers for the purpose of permanently protecting and managing the transferred property in an undeveloped state, consistent with the function and values of the wetlands at the Site; and (d) pay $125,000 to establish a fund to be used by the holder of the conservation easement for the purpose of overseeing the preservation and maintenance of the 1,000-plus acre [parcel].")
Tuesday, Aug. 10 (Aug. 10 Table of Contents from GPO)
Monday, Aug. 9 (Aug. 9 Table of Contents from GPO)
- FWS approves three shot types, Tungsten-Bronze [formulated of tungsten, bronze (copper and tin), and
less than 1 percent iron], Tungsten-Iron (formulated of tungsten and iron), and Tungsten-Tin-Bismuth (formulated of tungsten, tin, and
bismuth), as nontoxic for hunting waterfowl and coots
- FWS: The Woodlands Operating Company, L.P., has requested an amendment to 2002 ITP that authorizes incidental take of the threatened bald eagle "as a result of the otherwise lawful development of the East Lake Area of The Woodlands, Montgomery County, Texas. The requested amendment would authorize incidental take at all nests built by the pair of bald eagles whose territory is on the East Lake Area of the Woodlands and that a 330 foot management zone be established around each active nest site."
- FWS receives applications for scientific research permits to conduct certain activities with endangered species
Friday, Aug. 6 (Aug. 6 Table of Contents from GPO)
- Weaver's Cove Energy, L.L.C.; Mill River Pipeline, L.L.C.; Notice of Availability of the Draft EIS and the Draft General Conformity Determination for the Proposed Weaver's Cove LNG Project
- FWS: "terminat[es] ... emergency establishment of the Pine Island-Estero Bay Refuge, which was created
when a rule was published in the Federal Register on April 7, 2004, and will expire effective August 5, 2004. We are publishing a proposed rule to establish these areas as the Pine Island-Estero Bay Manatee Refuge by standard rulemaking elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register." (see below)
- FWS proposes to establish an additional manatee protection area in Lee County, Florida (Pine Island-Estero Bay Manatee Refuge).
- FWS proposes to designate 8,486 acres along approximately 113 stream miles as critical habitat for the Colorado butterfly plant. "The proposed critical habitat is located in Laramie and Platte counties in Wyoming; Kimball County in Nebraska; and Weld County in Colorado
- Hungerford's Crawling Water Beetle (Brychius hungerfordi) Draft Recovery Plan for Review and Comment
- FWS releases Scaleshell Mussel (Leptodea leptodon) Draft Recovery Plan for Review and Comment
(Go here for plan)
- FWS submits ICR to OMB for approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act; Fish and Wildlife Service Employee Exit Follow-Up Survey (1018-0112) (Go here for plan)
- NMFS "corrects the gear requirements for bottom longline fishermen that were inadvertently changed in a July 2004 final rule to minimize sea turtle bycatch and bycatch mortality in the pelagic longline fishery." "In changing the requirements for pelagic longline fishermen, NMFS inadvertently changed the requirements for bottom longline fishermen by failing to correct a paragraph cross-reference referring to the previous linecutter and dipnet requirements. Thus, the regulatory text in the July 6, 2004 (69 FR 35599) final rule indicated that bottom longline fishermen would also need to carry the additional equipment and use the revised handling procedures established for pelagic longline fishermen. This was not the intent of that."
- NMFS renews affirmative finding for the Government of Mexico under the Marine Mammal Protection Act
- NMFS: University of Florida, Aquatic Animal Program, Gainesville, FL has been issued a permit to import and export marine mammal specimens for purposes of scientific research
Thursday, Aug. 5 (August 5 Table of Contents from GPO)
Wednesday, Aug. 4 (August 4 Table of Contents from GPO)
- FWS, FS: Federal Subsistence Board takes in-season management actions to protect chinook salmon escapement in the Unalakleet River, while still providing subsistence harvest opportunities for other fish.
- FWS lists California Tiger Salamander as threatened, issues special rule exempting "routine ranching activities."
- FWS designates 21,836 acres as critical habitat in Imperial County for the threatened Astragalus magdalenae var. peirsonii (Peirson's milk-vetch).
- FWS receives endangered species/marine mammal permit applications
- NMFS receives applications to renew and modify permits from BuRec, Weaverville, CA (Permit 1072) and BLM, Arcata, CA (Permit 1088), and to issue a new Permit to Humboldt State University
Foundation, Institute for River Ecosystems (1283). "These permits would affect any or all of three Evolutionarily Significant Units (ESUs) of salmonids identified in the Supplementary Information section": Southern Oregon/Northern California Coast (SONCC) coho salmon, California Coastal (CC) Chinook salmon, or Northern California (NC) steelhead ( O. mykiss).
- The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, New England Fishery Management Council, and South Atlantic Fishery Management Council are meeting. Go here and scroll down.
Tuesday, Aug. 3 (Aug. 3 Table of Contents from GPO)
Monday, Aug. 2 (Aug. 2 Table of Contents from GPO)
Friday, July 30 (July 30 Table of Contents from GPO)
Thursday, July 29 (July 29 Table of Contents from GPO)
Wednesday, July 28 (July 28 Table of Contents from GPO)
Tuesday, July 27 (July 27 Table of Contents from GPO)
Monday, July 26 (July 26 Table of Contents from GPO)
Friday, July 23 (July 23 Table of Contents from GPO)
Thursday, July 22 (July 22 Table of Contents from GPO)
- FWS: Information Collection Submitted to the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) for Approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act; Federal Fish and Wildlife Permit Application; Native Endangered and Threatened Species
- FWS, in cooperation with other agencies, to prepare EIS/R for an amendment to the Incidental Take Permit for the San Bruno Mountain Habitat Conservation Plan, San Mateo County, CA
- NMFS announces temporary restrictions to protect right whales. These regulations apply to lobster trap/pot and anchored gillnet fishermen in an area totaling approximately 1,638 square nautical miles (nm\2\) (5,618 km\2\) in July and approximately 1,688 square nautical miles (nm\2\) (5,790 km\2\) in August, east of Cape Cod, MA for 15 days
- NMFS proposes rule to limit entry into the American Samoa-based pelagic longline fishery.
Wednesday, July 21 (July 21 Table of Contents from GPO)
Tuesday, July 20 (July 20 Table of Contents from GPO)
Monday, July 19 (July 19 Table of Contents from GPO)
- FWS: Correction to proposed designation of Critical Habitat for the Jarbidge River, Coastal-Puget Sound, and Saint Mary-Belly River Populations of Bull Trout
- FWS: Final Comprehensive Conservation Plan for Eastern Shore of Virginia and Fisherman Island National Wildlife Refuges
- FWS releases final CCP for Las Vegas National Wildlife Refuge, Las Vegas, NM
- FWS releases Final Comprehensive Conservation Plan for Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge, Muleshoe, TX and Grulla National Wildlife Refuge, Arch, NM
- FWS releases draft recovery plan for Phlox hirsuta
- FWS to prepare a Comprehensive Conservation Plan and associated EA for Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge in Cameron and Willacy Counties, TX
- NMFS and the Pacific Fishery Management Council will prepare an EIS to analyze a range of alternatives for the annual allocation of the Pacific sardine harvest guideline
- NMFS, Southeast Fisheries Science Center, Miami, has requested a modification to scientific research Permit No. 1260
Friday, July 16 (July 16 Table of Contents from GPO)
Thursday, July 15 (July 15 Table of Contents from GPO)
Wednesday, July 14 (July 14 Table of Contents from GPO)
Tuesday, July 13 (July 13 Table of Contents from GPO)
Monday, July 12 (July 12 Table of Contents from GPO)
Friday, July 9 (July 9 Table of Contents from GPO)
Thursday, July 8 (July 8 Table of Contents from GPO)
- NMFS Office of Sustainable Fisheries has been issued a permit to take loggerhead, leatherback, Kemp's ridley, green, and hawksbill sea turtles for purposes of scientific research
- Jeanette Wyneken, Ph.D., [Principal Investigator], Department of Biological Sciences, Florida Atlantic University, 777 Glades Rd., Boca Raton, FL 33431, has been issued a permit to take loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) for purposes of scientific research
Wednesday, July 7 (July 7 Table of Contents from GPO)
- FWS removes federal protection status from two Manatee Protection Areas in Florida
- FWS receives endangered species and/or marine mammal permits
- FWS issues endangered species and/or marine mammal permits
- NMFS issues correction to Amendment 13 -- Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act Provisions; Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast (NE) Multispecies Fishery
- NMFS announces inseason adjustments to the Pacific Coast limited entry trawl and fixed gear groundfish fisheries. These actions, which are authorized by the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP), will allow fisheries access to more abundant groundfish stocks while protecting overfished and depleted stocks.
- NMFS announces that the commercial salmon fishery in the area from the Humbug Mountain, OR to the Oregon-California Border was modified to close at midnight on Saturday, June 19, 2004.
- NMFS announces receipt of a petition for rulemaking from the Fisheries Survival Fund (FSF) and the Garden State Seafood Association (GSSA) (Petitioners), both of which represent participants in the commercial fishing industry.
- NMFS issues this proposed rule to implement Amendment 16-3 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP). Amendment 16-3 amends the FMP to include overfished species rebuilding plans for bocaccio, cowcod, widow rockfish, and yelloweye rockfish within the FMP and would add two rebuilding parameters, the target year for rebuilding and the harvest control rule, to the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) for each overfished stock
Tuesday, July 6 (July 6 Table of Contents from GPO)
Friday, July 2 (July 2 Table of Contents from GPO)
Thursday, July 1 (July 1 Table of Contents from GPO)
- FWS, FS issue final rule: Subsistence Management Regulations for Public Lands in Alaska, Subpart C and Subpart D--2004-05 Subsistence Taking of Fish and Wildlife Regulations
- FWS designates 1,093 miles of river and stream channels as critical habitat for three threatened (fine-lined pocketbook, orange-nacre mucket, and Alabama moccasinshell) and eight endangered freshwater mussels (Coosa moccasinshell, ovate clubshell, southern clubshell, dark pigtoe, southern pigtoe, triangular kidneyshell, southern acornshell, and upland combshell)
- FWS extends comment period to Jan. 3, 2005, on 5-year status review of bull trout
- FWS issues draft Recovery Plan for the Coastal-Puget Sound Distinct
Population Segment of Bull Trout (Salvelinus confluentus), Volumes I and II
- FWS issues draft Recovery Plan for the Jarbidge River Distinct Population Segment of Bull Trout (Salvelinus Confluentus)
Wednesday, June 30 (June 30 Table of Contents from GPO)
Tuesday, June 29 (June 29 Table of Contents from GPO)
Monday, June 28 (June 28 Table of Contents from GPO)
Friday, June 25 (June 25 Table of Contents from GPO)
Thursday, June 24 (June 24 Table of Contents from GPO)
- Some NMFS notices -- check TOC link
Wednesday, June 23 (June 23 Table of Contents from GPO)
- NMFS issues positive 90-day finding for a petition to list elkhorn coral, staghorn coral, and
fused-staghorn coral as endangered or threatened, and to designate critical habitat
- NMFS adjusts the daily retention limit for the recreational fishery for Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT) for the 2004 fishing year that began June 1, 2004, and ends May 31, 2005
- NMFS is implementing approved measures contained in Amendment 10 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan (FMP), developed by the New England Fishery Management Council
- The NOAA Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM) announces its intent to evaluate the performance of the South Carolina Coastal Management Program.
- NMFS asks for comments on amendment to the Fishery Management Plan for Pelagic
Fisheries of the Western Pacific Region. FMP Amendment 11 would establish a limited access permit program for the domestic pelagic longline fishery based in American Samoa. The amendment is intended to: reduce the potential for fishing gear conflict in waters of the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ) around American Samoa, prevent local depletion of Pacific pelagic management unit species, minimize fish bycatch and waste, sustain community participation in the fishery,
minimize adverse economic impacts to local communities, and ensure opportunities for future participation by indigenous fishers in the domestic longline fishery
- NMFS has received an application from the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (L-DEO), a part of Columbia University, for an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) to take small numbers of marine mammals (pinnipeds), by harassment, incidental to conducting oceanographic seismic surveys in the Gulf of Alaska
- Michael T. Williams, LGL Alaska Research Associates, Inc., has been issued a permit to take
northern fur seals (Callorhinus ursinus) for purposes of scientific research
Tuesday, June 22 (June 22 Table of Contents from GPO)
Monday, June 21 (June 21 Table of Contents from GPO)