Endangered Species Act; Issuance of Enhancement of Survival and Incidental Take Permits for Safe Harbor Agreements, Candidate Conservation Agreements, Conservation Plans, and Scientific Activities; January 1, 2023, Through December 31, 2023, 89 Fed. Reg. (2024)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are publishing this notice in order to provide lists to the public of the permits we issued during calendar year 2023 under sections 10(a)(1)(A) and 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), as amended. We are publishing the lists of section 10(a)(1)(A) permits in accordance with section 10(d) of the ESA. We are publishing the lists of section 10(a)(1)(B) permits in accordance with chapter 16 of the Habitat Conservation Planning and Incidental Take Permit Processing Handbook, developed by the Service in cooperation with the National Marine Fisheries Service, and available at https://www.fws.gov/media/habitat-conservation-planning-and-incidental-take-permit-processing-handbook (December 21, 2016; 81 FR 93702).

With some exceptions, the ESA prohibits take of listed species unless a Federal permit is issued that authorizes the taking, or the take is exempted through section 7 of the ESA. Under section 10(a)(1)(A) of the ESA, we issue scientific permits and enhancement of survival permits in conjunction with conservation agreements ( e.g., Candidate Conservation Agreements with Assurances or CCAAs, and Safe Harbor Agreements or SHAs). Section 10(a)(1)(B) permits authorize take of listed species incidental to otherwise lawful activities associated with conservation plans (also known as habitat conservation plans or HCPs). We provide these lists to the public as a summary of our permit issuances for CCAAs, SHAs, HCPs, and scientific permits for calendar year 2023.

We recently revised the implementing regulations for ESA section 10(a) related to enhancement of survival permits supported by SHAs and CCAAs (50 CFR 17.22(c) and (d) and 50 CFR 17.32(c) and (d)) to combine the SHA and CCAA into one type of conservation agreement, called a conservation benefit agreement (89 FR 26070; April 12, 2024). The permits listed in this notice are not affected by this change, as they were all issued prior to May 13, 2024, the effective date of the regulation revisions.

Background

Under the authority of section 10(a)(1)(A) of the ESA, we have issued enhancement of survival permits to conduct activities that provide a conservation benefit for endangered or threatened species, or for unlisted species should they become listed in the future, in response to permit applications that we received in conjunction with a SHA or a CCAA.

Scientific permits have been issued under ESA section 10(a)(1)(A) to allow for take as part of activities conducted for scientific purposes of listed species ( e.g., scientific research in order to understand better the species' long-term survival needs).

Under ESA section 10(a)(1)(B), we may issue permits for any taking otherwise prohibited by ESA section 9 if such taking is incidental to, and not the purpose of, carrying out an otherwise lawful activity (known as an incidental take permit (ITP)) and the permit applicant submits a conservation plan or HCP that meets the permit issuance criteria under section 10(a)(2)(B). Typically, applicants seek an ITP to conduct activities such as residential and commercial development, infrastructure development or maintenance, and energy development projects that range in scale from small to landscape-level planning efforts.

The permits associated with SHAs, CCAAs, HCPs, and scientific activities that we issued between January 1 and December 31, 2023, are listed in the tables in this notice.

Under section 10(a)(1)(A), we issued each permit only after we determined that it was applied for in good faith; that granting the permit would not be to the disadvantage of the listed species, or to any unlisted species on the permit should they be listed; and that the terms and conditions of the permits were consistent with the purposes and policy set forth in the ESA.

Under section 10(a)(1)(B), we issued permits only after we determined that the applicant was eligible and had submitted a complete application and HCP that fully met the permit issuance criteria consistent with section 10(a)(2)(B).

Permits Issued

Region 1 (Hawaii, Idaho, Oregon (Except for the Klamath Basin), Washington, American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the Pacific Trust Territories)

Table 1 shows permits issued by Region 1 of the Service. The table is sorted by type of permit or agreement and date issued. For more information about any of the HCP or CCAA permits, contact the HCP or CCAA permit coordinator by email at ITEOSpermitsR1ES@fws.gov or by telephone at 503-231-6131. For more information about any of the scientific permits, contact the Recovery Permit Coordinator by email at PermitsR1ES@fws.gov or by telephone at 503-231-6131.

Region 2 (Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas)

Table 2 shows permits issued by Region 2 of the Service. The table is sorted by type of permit or agreement and date issued. For more information about any of the HCP, CCAA, or SHA permits, contact the HCP, CCAA, or SHA Permit Coordinator by email at FW2_HCP_Permits@fws.gov or by telephone at 505-248-6651. For more information about any of the scientific permits, contact the Recovery Permit Coordinator by email at PermitsR2ES@fws.gov or by telephone at 505-248-6649.

Region 3 (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin)

Table 3 shows permits issued by Region 3 of the Service. The table is sorted by type of permit or agreement and date issued. For more information about any of the HCP permits, contact the HCP Permit Coordinator at permitsR3ES@fws.gov or by telephone at 612-713-5343. For more information about any of the scientific permits, contact the Recovery Permit Coordinator by email at PermitsR3ES@fws.gov or by telephone at 612-713-5343.

Region 4 (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands)

Table 4 shows permits issued by Region 4 of the Service. The table is sorted by type of permit or agreement and date issued. For more information about any of the HCP, CCAA, or SHA permits, contact the HCP, CCAA, or SHA Permit Coordinator by email at PermitsR4ES@fws.gov or by telephone at 404-679-7140. For more information about any of the scientific permits, contact the Recovery Permit Coordinator by email at PermitsR4ES@fws.gov or by telephone at 404-679-7140.

Region 5 (Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia)

Table 5 shows permits issued by Region 5 of the Service. The table is sorted by date issued. For more information about any of the permits, contact the Recovery Permit Coordinator by email at PermitsR5ES@fws.gov or by telephone at 413-253-8212.

Region 6 (Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming)

Table 6 shows permits issued by Region 6 of the Service. The table is sorted by type of permit or agreement and date issued. For more information about any of the CCAA or HCP permits, contact the CCAA or HCP Permit Coordinator by email at PermitsR6ES@fws.gov or by telephone at 303-236-7905. For more information about any of the recovery permits, contact the Recovery Permit Coordinator by email at PermitsR6ES@fws.gov or by telephone at 303-236-4224.

Region 7 (Alaska)

Table 7 shows the recovery permit issued by Region 7 of the Service. For more information, contact the Permit Coordinator, by email at PermitsR7ES@fws.gov or by telephone at 907-786-3323.

Region 8 (California, Nevada, and the Klamath Basin Portion of Oregon)

Table 8 shows the permits issued by Region 8 of the Service. The table is sorted by type of permit or agreement and date issued. For more information about any of the HCP or SHA permits, contact the HCP or SHA Permit Coordinator, by email at ITEOSpermitsR8ES@fws.gov or by telephone at 916-414-6464. For more information about any of the recovery permits, contact the Recovery Permit Coordinator, by email at PermitsR8ES@fws.gov or by telephone at 916-414-6464.

Availability of Documents

You may request copies of original application materials, along with public comments we received, from the offices that issued the permits (see contact information for appropriate regions, above). Documents and other information submitted with the applications are available for review subject to the requirements of the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a) and Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552), by any party who submits a written request for a copy of such documents.

Authority

We provide this notice under the authority of section 10 of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).

[FR Doc. 2024-26782 Filed 11-15-24; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4333-15-P

Table 1—Permits Issued by Region 1

[Hawaii, Idaho, Oregon (except for Klamath Basin), Washington, American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the Pacific Trust Territories]

Table 2—Permits Issued by Region 2

[Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas]

Table 3—Permits Issued by Region 3

[Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin]

Table 4—Permits Issued by Region 4

[Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands]

Table 5—Permits Issued by Region 5

[Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia]

Table 7—Permit Issued by Region 7

[Alaska]

Table 8—Permits Issued by Region 8

[California, Nevada, and the Klamath Basin Portion of Oregon]