[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 147 (Monday, August 1, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50543-50544]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-18184]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R2-ES-2016-N120; FXES11120200000-167-FF02ENEH00]


Receipt of Incidental Take Permit Applications for Participation 
in the Amended Oil and Gas Industry Conservation Plan for the American 
Burying Beetle in Oklahoma

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for public comments.

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SUMMARY: Under the Endangered Species Act, as amended (Act), we, the 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, invite the public to comment on 
incidental take permit applications for take of the federally listed 
American burying beetle resulting from activities associated with the 
geophysical exploration (seismic) and construction, maintenance, 
operation, repair, and decommissioning of oil and gas well field 
infrastructure within Oklahoma. If approved, the permits would be 
issued under the approved Amended Oil and Gas Industry Conservation 
Plan Associated with Issuance of Endangered Species Act Section 
10(a)(1)(B) Permits for the American Burying Beetle in Oklahoma (ICP).

DATES: To ensure consideration, written comments must be received on or 
before August 31, 2016.

ADDRESSES: You may obtain copies of all documents and submit comments 
on the applicant's ITP application by one of the following methods. 
Please refer to the permit number when requesting documents or 
submitting comments.
    [cir] U.S. Mail: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Division of 
Endangered Species--HCP Permits, P.O. Box 1306, Room 6034, Albuquerque, 
NM 87103.
    [cir] Electronically: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marty Tuegel, Branch Chief, by U.S. 
mail at: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Environmental Review Division, 
P.O. Box 1306, Room 6034, Albuquerque, NM 87103; or by telephone at 
505-248-6651.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Introduction

    Under the Endangered Species Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et 
seq.; Act), we, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, invite the public 
to comment on incidental take permit (ITP) applications for take of the 
federally listed American burying beetle (Nicrophorus americanus) 
resulting from activities associated with geophysical exploration 
(seismic) and construction, maintenance, operation, repair, and 
decommissioning of oil and gas well field infrastructure, as well as 
construction, maintenance, operation, repair, decommissioning, and 
reclamation of oil and gas gathering, transmission, and distribution 
pipeline infrastructure within Oklahoma. If approved, the permit would 
be issued to the applicant under the Amended Oil and Gas Industry 
Conservation Plan Associated with Issuance of Endangered Species Act 
Section 10(a)(1)(B) Permits for the American Burying Beetle in Oklahoma 
(ICP). The original ICP was approved on May 21, 2014 (publication of 
the FONSI notice was on July 25,

[[Page 50544]]

2014; 79 FR 43504). The draft amended ICP was made available for 
comment on March 8, 2016 (81 FR 12113), and approved on April 13, 2016. 
The ICP and the associated environmental assessment/finding of no 
significant impact are available on the Web site at http://www.fws.gov/southwest/es/oklahoma/ABBICP. However, we are no longer taking comments 
on these finalized, approved documents.

Applications Available for Review and Comment

    We invite local, State, Tribal, and Federal agencies, and the 
public to comment on the following applications under the ICP, for 
incidental take of the federally listed ABB. Please refer to the 
appropriate permit number (e.g., TE-123456) when requesting application 
documents and when submitting comments. Documents and other information 
the applicants have submitted with their 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).

Permit TE51880B

    Applicant: LINN Operating, Inc., Oklahoma City, OK.
    Applicant requests an amended permit for oil and gas upstream and 
midstream production, including geophysical exploration (seismic) and 
construction, maintenance, operation, repair, and decommissioning of 
oil and gas well field infrastructure, as well as construction, 
maintenance, operation, repair, decommissioning, and reclamation of oil 
and gas gathering, transmission, and distribution pipeline 
infrastructure within Oklahoma.

Permit TE54740B

    Applicant: Newfield Exploration Mid-Continent, Inc., Tulsa, OK.
    Applicant requests an amended permit for oil and gas upstream and 
midstream production, including geophysical exploration (seismic) and 
construction, maintenance, operation, repair, and decommissioning of 
oil and gas well field infrastructure, as well as construction, 
maintenance, operation, repair, decommissioning, and reclamation of oil 
and gas gathering, transmission, and distribution pipeline 
infrastructure within Oklahoma.

Public Availability of Comments

    Written comments we receive become part of the public record 
associated with this action. 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 request in your comment that we withhold 
your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot 
guarantee that we will be able to do so. We will not consider anonymous 
comments. All submissions from organizations or businesses, and from 
individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials of 
organizations or businesses, will be made available for public 
disclosure in their entirety.

Authority

    We provide this notice under section 10(c) of the Act (16 U.S.C. 
1531 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (50 CFR 17.22) and the 
National Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and its 
implementing regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).

Joy E. Nicholopoulos,
Acting Regional Director, Southwest Region.
[FR Doc. 2016-18184 Filed 7-29-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4333-15-P