[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 165 (Wednesday, August 26, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51834-51835]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-20960]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R4-ES-2015-N139; FF04E00000-1115-0000 156]


Proposed Joint Programmatic Candidate Conservation Agreement With 
Assurances and Safe Harbor Agreement in the Saline, Caddo, and Ouachita 
River (Headwaters) Watersheds, Arkansas

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service's Arkansas Ecological Services Field Office (ARFO), the 
Arkansas Game and Fish Commission (AGFC), the U.S. Department of 
Agriculture--Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and The 
Nature Conservancy (TNC) have applied for enhancement of survival 
permits (permits) pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (Act). 
The permit application includes a proposal (referred to as the 
``agreement'') that combines a safe harbor agreement (SHA) for 5 
endangered and threatened species and a candidate conservation 
agreement with assurances (CCAA) for 20 State species of concern. The 
term of the agreement would be 30 years. If approved, the agreement 
would allow the applicants to issue certificates of inclusion (CI) to 
eligible non-Federal landowners throughout the Saline, Caddo, and 
Ouachita River (Headwaters) Watersheds in Arkansas whose property owner 
management agreements (POMA) are approved. We invite public comments on 
these documents.

DATES: We must receive any written comments at our Regional Office (see 
ADDRESSES) on or before September 25, 2015.

ADDRESSES: You may obtain a copy of the information available by 
contacting Melvin Tobin, Field Supervisor, Fish and Wildlife Service, 
Arkansas Ecological Services Field Office, 110 South Amity Road, Suite 
300, Conway, AR 72032. Documents are also available for public 
inspection by appointment during normal business hours at the Fish and 
Wildlife Service's Regional Office, 1875 Century Boulevard, Suite 200, 
Atlanta, GA 30345; or at the Arkansas Ecological Services Field Office, 
Fish and Wildlife Service, 110 Amity Road, Suite 300, Conway, AR 72032. 
Note that requests for any documents must be in writing to be 
processed. When you are requesting or commenting on the information 
provided in this notice, please reference ``Programmatic CCAA and SHA 
in the Saline, Caddo, and Ouachita Rivers'' in any correspondence.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Michael Harris, At-Risk Species 
Coordinator, at the Regional Office (see ADDRESSES), telephone: 404-
679-7066; or Mr. Chris Davidson, Endangered Species Program Supervisor, 
at the Arkansas Field Office (see ADDRESSES), telephone: 501-513-4481.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    We announce the availability of the agreement, which covers the 
Arkansas fatmucket (Lampsilis powellii), pink mucket (Lampsilis 
abrupta), spectaclecase (Cumberlandia monodonta), and rabbitsfoot 
(Quadrula cylindrica cylindrica) mussels, and Harperella (Ptilmnium 
nodosum), a plant, and a candidate conservation agreement with 
assurances (CCAA) for 20 State species of concern (collectively 
``covered species'').

CCAAs and SHAs

    Under a CCAA, participating property owners voluntarily undertake 
management activities on their property to enhance, restore, or 
maintain habitat benefiting species that may warrant listing under the 
Act. CCAAs encourage private and other non-Federal property owners to 
implement conservation efforts for candidate and at-risk species by 
assuring property owners they will not be subjected to increased 
property use restrictions should the species become listed as 
threatened or endangered under the Act. Under a SHA, participating 
property owners voluntarily undertake management activities on their 
property to enhance, restore, or maintain habitat benefiting federally 
listed species under the Act. SHAs encourage private and other non-
Federal property owners to implement conservation efforts for federally 
listed species by assuring property owners they will not be subjected 
to increased property use restrictions under the Act. Application 
requirements and issuance criteria for SHAs and CCAAs are found in 50 
CFR 17.22(d) and 50 CFR 17.32(d), respectively. Because of the 
significant overlap between the covered species' habitat requirements 
and the anticipated beneficial effects from implementation of the 
voluntary conservation measures, we believe that it is appropriate to 
combine the CCAA/SHA components in a single agreement for consideration 
in this notice.

Parties' Agreement

    The Agreement describes conservation practices designed to protect 
and enhance streambed and bankside habitats for the benefit of the 
covered species on private or non-Federal public lands enrolled under 
the agreement. Enrolled landowners who implement these measures would 
receive assurances against take liability for the federally listed 
species, as well as for the covered species that might become federally 
listed in the future. Conservation land use practices will vary 
according to the needs of a particular enrolled landowner. Typical 
measures include controlling livestock access to streams; protection, 
enhancement, or restoration of streamside or in-stream habitats; 
species reintroduction to unoccupied suitable habitat; and other 
conservation measures that may be developed in the future.
    We specifically request information, views, and opinions from the 
public via this notice on our proposed Federal action, including our 
determination that the agreement, including its proposed conservation 
measures, would have minor or negligible effects on the covered 
species. Therefore, we have determined that the agreement is a ``low-
effect'' project and qualifies for categorical exclusion under the 
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA; 42

[[Page 51835]]

U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) as provided by the Department of the Interior 
Manual (516 DM 2 Appendix 1 and 516 DM 6 Appendix 1). A low-effect 
project involves (1) minor or negligible effects on federally-listed or 
candidate species or their habitats, and (2) minor or negligible 
effects on other environmental values or resources. Further, we 
specifically solicit information regarding the adequacy of the 
agreement per 50 CFR parts 13 and 17.

Public Comments

    Before including your address, phone number, email address, or 
other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be 
aware that your entire comment--including your personal identifying 
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can 
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying 
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be 
able to do so.
    If you wish to comment, you may submit comments by any one of 
several methods. Please reference TE 71956B or TE 71959B in such 
comments. You may mail comments to the Fish and Wildlife Service's 
Regional Office (see ADDRESSES). You may also comment via the internet 
to [email protected] or [email protected]. Please include your 
name and return address in your email message. If you do not receive a 
confirmation from us that we have received your email message, contact 
us directly at either telephone number listed under FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT.
    Finally, you may hand-deliver comments to either of our offices 
listed under ADDRESSES.

Covered Area

    The agreement covers approximately 439,792 acres of potentially 
eligible lands in the upper Saline River watershed; 412,556 acres of 
potentially eligible lands in the upper Ouachita River watershed; and 
235,010 acres of potentially eligible lands in the upper Caddo River 
watershed. Lands eligible to enroll in the agreement include any non-
Federal properties within the watershed of the upper Saline, Caddo, and 
Ouachita Rivers.

Next Steps

    We will evaluate the enhancement of survival permit application, 
including the agreement and any comments we receive, to determine 
whether the applications meet the requirements of section 10(a)(1)(A) 
of the Act. We will also evaluate whether the section 10(a)(1)(A) 
enhancement of survival permits would comply with section 7 of the Act 
by conducting an intra-Service section 7 consultation. If we determine 
that the requirements are met, we will issue a permit under section 
10(a)(1)(A) of the Act to the Applicants in accordance with the 
applicable regulatory requirements. We will not make our final decision 
until after the end of the 30-day comment period and will fully 
consider all comments received during the comment period.

Authority

    We provide this notice under section 10 of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 
et seq.) and NEPA regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).

    Dated: July 29, 2015.
Mike Oetker,
Deputy Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 2015-20960 Filed 8-25-15; 8:45 am]
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