[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 228 (Monday, November 28, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 85629-85631]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-28418]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R6-ES-2016-N171; FXES11150600000-167-FF06E13000]


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Enhancement of 
Survival Permit Application; Draft Candidate Conservation Agreement 
with Assurances for Eight Species in Northeastern Wyoming and 
Southeastern Montana, with Integrated Candidate Conservation Agreement 
and Conservation Agreement; Draft Environmental Assessment

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), received an 
application from the Thunder Basin Grasslands Prairie Ecosystem 
Association (Thunder Basin Association) for an Enhancement of Survival 
permit (permit) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended 
(ESA), associated with implementation of a Candidate Conservation 
Agreement with Assurances (CCAA) for eight species (Covered Species) in 
specified areas in northeastern Wyoming and southeastern Montana 
(Coverage Area). The CCAA would implement a Conservation Strategy 
developed by the Thunder Basin Association for farm and ranch 
operations, certain recreational activities, oil and gas activities, 
and surface/in-situ mining activities on enrolled non-Federal lands in 
the Coverage Area. The Association also proposes that the Conservation 
Strategy be implemented on Federal lands administered by the Bureau of 
Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Forest Service (USFS) in the Coverage 
Area through two additional agreements, a Candidate Conservation 
Agreement (CCA) and Conservation Agreement (CA), that would also be 
administered by the Association. The intent of the CCAA and associated 
CCA and CA is to provide non-Federal landowners and BLM and USFS 
pemittees/lessees in the Coverage Area with the opportunity to 
voluntarily conserve the Covered Species and their habitats on enrolled 
properties while carrying out their operations in a manner that would 
contribute to precluding the need to list any of these species.
    Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), we have 
prepared a draft environmental assessment (EA) that analyzes the 
potential impacts of issuance of the permit and implementation of the 
proposed CCAA, as well as the potential impacts of other Federal 
entities entering into the companion CCA and CA. The draft EA also 
analyzes the potential impacts of two alternatives to the consolidated 
proposed action, including a no action alternative. The permit 
application, the draft CCAA and draft EA are available for public 
review, and we seek public comment on these documents and potential 
issuance of the permit associated with the CCAA. Because the draft CCA 
and CA are part of the proposed action addressed in the draft EA, we 
have also made these draft agreements available for public review.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted by December 28, 2016.

ADDRESSES: To request further information or submit written comments, 
please use one of the following methods, and note that your information 
request or comments are in reference to the Thunder Basin CCAA.
    [cir] Internet: Documents may be viewed on the Internet at http://www.fws.gov/wyominges/Index.html.
    [cir] U.S. Mail: Field Supervisor, Wyoming Ecological Services 
Field Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 5353 Yellowstone Road, 
Suite 308A, Cheyenne, WY 82009.
    [cir] Email: [email protected]. Include ``Thunder Basin 
CCAA'' in the subject line of the message.
    [cir] Fax: 307-772-2358, Attn: TBGPEA CCAA.
    [cir] In-Person Viewing or Pickup: Documents will be available for 
public inspection by appointment during normal business hours at the 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Wyoming Field Office, 5353 Yellowstone 
Road, Suite 308A, Cheyenne, WY 82009.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Field Supervisor, Wyoming Ecological 
Services Field Office (see ADDRESSES), telephone: 307-772-2374. If you 
use a telecommunications device for the deaf, please call the Federal 
Information Relay Service at 800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We received an application from the Thunder 
Basin Grasslands Prairie Ecosystem Association (Thunder Basin 
Association or Association) for an enhancement of survival permit 
(permit) under section 10(a)(1)(A) of the Endangered Species Act of 
1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.; ESA), for incidental take 
associated with implementation of a proposed eight-species Candidate 
Conservation Agreement with Assurances (CCAA). The Coverage Area would 
be the five northeastern Wyoming counties of Campbell, Converse, Crook, 
Niobrara, and Weston, along with two qualifying peripheral properties 
in Sheridan County, Wyoming, and in the Montana counties of Big Horn, 
Powder River, and Rosebud. The activities covered by the draft CCAA and 
permit (Covered Activities) are general farm and ranch operations, 
certain recreational activities, oil and gas activities, and surface/
in-situ mining activities, as well as the conservation measures to be 
implemented for these activities under the CCAA. The application 
includes a draft CCAA that addresses impacts to the Covered Species 
from Covered Activities on eligible non-Federal properties within the 
Coverage Area. These impacts are addressed through a Conservation 
Strategy developed by the Association for implementation through three 
separate but related agreements to be administered by the Association: 
the CCAA, which encompasses non-Federal lands in the Coverage Area, a 
Candidate Conservation Agreement (CCA) that addresses Covered 
Activities conducted on BLM or USFS lands in the Coverage Area pursuant 
to a permit, license, or

[[Page 85630]]

other authorization from these agencies; and a Conservation Agreement 
(CA) that addresses voluntary conservation measures undertaken by 
eligible companies in anticipation of their future development of 
energy resources within specified potential coal and oil and gas 
development areas within the Coverage Area. Activities covered by the 
CCA and the CA would not be covered by the Enhancement of Survival 
permit and associated CCAA that are the subject of this notice, and no 
assurances or permits under the ESA are available for these separate 
agreements.
    The Conservation Strategy developed by the Thunder Basin 
Association proposes to address landscape conservation in the Covered 
Area in the context of two primary ecotypes, sagebrush steppe and the 
shortgrass prairie, and their associated at-risk Covered Species. The 
Covered Species found in the sagebrush steppe ecotype are greater sage-
grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus), sage sparrow (Amphispiza belli), 
Brewer's sparrow (Spizella breweri), and sage thrasher (Oreoscoptes 
montanus). The Covered Species found in the shortgrass prairie ecotype 
are black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus), mountain plover 
(Charadrius montanus), burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia), and 
ferruginous hawk (Buteo regalis). The intent of the Association's 
Conservation Strategy, as implemented through the CCAA and companion 
agreements, is to provide ranchers, agriculture producers, coal 
producers, and an oil and gas producers in the Coverage Area with the 
opportunity to voluntarily conserve the Covered Species and their 
habitat while carrying out their operations in a manner that would 
contribute to precluding the need to list these species.
    Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 4321 
et seq.; NEPA), we have prepared a draft environmental assessment (EA) 
that analyzes the potential impacts of issuance of the permit and 
implementation of the proposed CCAA, as well as the potential impacts 
of the Service and other Federal entities entering into the companion 
CCA and CA. The draft EA also analyzes the potential impacts of two 
alternatives to the consolidated proposed action, including a no action 
alternative. The permit application, the draft CCAA and draft EA are 
available for public review, and we seek public comment on these 
documents and potential issuance of the permit associated with the 
CCAA. Because the draft CCA and CA are part of the proposed action 
addressed in the draft EA, these draft agreements are available for 
public review.

Background Information

    A CCAA is an agreement between the Service and one or more non-
Federal entities in which private and other non-Federal landowners 
voluntarily agree to manage lands they enroll in the CCAA to remove or 
reduce threats to species that are proposed for listing under the ESA, 
that are candidates for listing, or that may become candidates for 
listing. In return for managing their lands to the benefit of the 
species covered by the CCAA, participating property owners receive 
assurances that no additional conservation measures or land, water or 
resource use restrictions will be imposed under the ESA on covered 
activities on enrolled lands should any of the covered species ever be 
listed under the ESA. The Service provides these assurances through an 
Enhancement of Survival permit, issued pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(A) 
of the ESA for a specific number of years, that becomes effective if a 
species covered by the CCAA and permit is listed. Under the permit, 
participating landowners also receive authorization for take that is 
incidental to activities covered by the CCAA. In a case such as this, 
in which a third-party would administer the CCAA, the permit is issued 
to the third-party administrator, the Thunder Basin Association here, 
and permit coverage extends to non-Federal landowners who enroll in the 
CCAA through a Certificate of Inclusion (CI) and comply with the 
requirements stated in the CCAA and their respective CIs. Additional 
permit application requirements and issuance criteria for CCAAs are 
found in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) at 50 CFR 17.22(d) and 
17.32(d), respectively, as well as 50 CFR part 13. Please also see our 
joint policy on CCAAs, which we published in the Federal Register with 
the Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service (64 FR 32726; June 
17, 1999).
    As described above, the Thunder Basin Association has also proposed 
implementing its Conservation Strategy in the Coverage Area through two 
additional agreements, the CCA and CA, which are integrated with the 
CCAA and the Association's administration of that agreement. In 
general, CCAs and CAs are voluntary conservation agreements between the 
Service and one or more public or private parties that identify 
specific conservation measures that the participants will voluntarily 
undertake to conserve the species covered by the agreements. CCAs are 
typically developed with Federal agencies to address one or more 
threats on Federal lands to candidate species and species that are 
likely to become candidates, and are particularly helpful in ensuring 
consistent application of a conservation strategy in situations, such 
as occur in the Coverage Area, where private activities occur on a mix 
of non-Federal and Federal lands. Because Federal agencies have special 
obligations for the conservation of listed species under section 7 of 
the ESA, CCAs for activities conducted on Federal lands do not include 
the assurances, incidental take authorization and permit that are 
available to participants in a CCAA, all of whom by definition are non-
Federal entities. A CA, in turn, may involve non-Federal and/or private 
parties, but also does not provide assurances, take authorization or a 
permit to agreement participants. In both types of agreements, the 
Service works with its partners to identify threats to candidate 
species, plan the measures needed to address the threats and conserve 
these species, identify Federal permittees/licensees or others willing 
to participate in the CCA or CA, develop agreements with these parties, 
and design and implement conservation measures and monitor their 
effectiveness.

Proposed Action

    Under the proposed CCAA and the incorporated Conservation Strategy, 
members of the Thunder Basin Association who enroll non-Federal lands 
in the CCAA (Participants) would implement conservation measures that 
avoid, minimize, and mitigate impacts to the Covered Species and their 
habitats from activities covered by the CCAA (Covered Activities), 
which are general farm and ranch operations, certain recreational 
activities, oil and gas activities and surface/in-situ mining 
activities, as well as the conservation measures to be implemented for 
these activities under the CCAA. The Service would issue the permit to 
the Thunder Basin Association, which would administer the CCAA and 
enroll the Participants as provided in the CCAA. The CCAA and 
associated permit would be in effect for 30 years. The Coverage Area 
would encompass the five northeastern Wyoming counties of Campbell, 
Converse, Crook, Niobrara, and Weston, along with two qualifying 
peripheral properties located in Sheridan County, Wyoming, and the 
Montana counties of Big Horn, Powder River, and Rosebud.
    Through issuance of the enhancement of survival permit to the 
Thunder Basin Association, the Service would provide

[[Page 85631]]

landowners who enroll non-Federal property in the CCAA through the 
Association with assurances that, should any of the Covered Species be 
listed, no further commitments or restrictions than those they 
committed to under the CCAA would be imposed for Covered Activities on 
enrolled lands, as long as the CCAA is being properly implemented. 
Furthermore, if any of the Covered Species are listed, the permit would 
provide landowners participating in the CCAA with incidental take 
authorization for Covered Activities on enrolled non-Federal property. 
The permit would become effective on the effective date of a listing of 
a Covered Species as endangered or threatened and would continue 
through the end of the CCAA term.
    The Secretary of the Interior has delegated to the Service the 
authority to approve or deny a section 10(a)(1)(A) permit in accordance 
with the ESA. To act on Thunder Basin Association's permit application, 
we must determine that the CCAA meets the issuance criteria specified 
in the ESA and at 50 CFR 17.22 and 17.32, as well as at 50 CFR part 13. 
These criteria include a finding that the proposed CCAA complies with 
the requirements of our CCAA Policy (64 FR 32726; June 17, 1999). The 
Service has proposed changes to the CCAA Policy and Regulation (FWS/
NOAA Fisheries policy notice at Docket No. [FWS-HQ-ES-2015-0177; May 4, 
2016]; FWS regulations notice at Docket No. [FWS-HQ-ES-2015-0171; May 
4, 2016]. When determining whether this CCAA complies with the 
requirements of our CCAA Policy, we will use the most recent finalized 
CCAA Policy.

National Environmental Policy Act Compliance

    The issuance of a section 10(a)(1)(A) permit is a Federal action 
subject to NEPA compliance, including the Council on Environmental 
Quality regulations for implementing the procedural provisions of NEPA 
(40 CFR 1500-1508; 516 DM 6.2B). The Service's decision on whether to 
enter into the CCAA, CCA and CA, so that the Conservation Strategy can 
be implemented on non-Federal and Federal lands subject to these 
agreements, is also a Federal action subject to NEPA compliance. The 
Association's draft CCAA and related application for the Enhancement of 
Survival permit, as well as the companion CCA and CA it proposes, are 
not eligible for categorical exclusion under NEPA. We have prepared a 
draft EA to further analyze the direct, indirect, and cumulative 
impacts of the proposed CCAA and permit, the CCA and the CA, including 
their proposed implementation of the Conservation Strategy, on the 
quality of the human environment and other natural resources. In 
compliance with NEPA, we analyzed the potential impacts of this 
proposed action and a reasonable range of alternatives in the draft EA. 
Based on these analyses and any new information resulting from public 
comment on the proposed action, we will determine if issuance of the 
permit and approval of the underlying CCAA and related CCA and CA would 
cause any significant impacts to the human environment. After reviewing 
public comments, we will evaluate whether the proposed action and 
alternatives in the draft EA are adequate to support a finding of no 
significant impact under NEPA. We now make the draft EA available for 
public inspection online or in person at the Service offices listed in 
ADDRESSES.

Public Comments

    You may submit your comments and materials by one of the methods 
listed in the ADDRESSES section. We request data, information, 
opinions, or suggestions from the public, other concerned governmental 
agencies, the scientific community, Tribes, industry, or any other 
interested party on our proposed permit action. We particularly seek 
comments on the following: (1) Biological information and relevant data 
concerning the Covered Species; (2) current or planned activities in 
the subject area and their possible impacts on the Covered Species; (3) 
identification of any other environmental issues that should be 
considered with regard to the proposed permit action; and (4) 
information regarding the adequacy of the draft CCAA pursuant to the 
requirements for permits at 50 CFR parts 13 and 17.

Public Availability of Comments

    All comments and materials we receive become part of the public 
record associated with this action. Before including your address, 
phone number, email address, or other personally identifiable 
information (PII) in your comments, you should be aware that your 
entire comment--including your PII--may be made publicly available at 
any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your PII 
from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. 
Comments and materials we receive, as well as supporting documentation 
we use in preparing the EA, will be available for public inspection by 
appointment, during normal business hours, at our Wyoming Field Office 
(see ADDRESSES).

Next Steps

    After completion of the EA based on consideration of public 
comments, we will determine whether adoption of the proposed action, 
entry into the proposed CCAA, CCA and CA and issuance of the permit 
associated with the CCAA, warrants a finding of no significant impact 
or whether an environmental impact statement should be prepared. We 
will evaluate the proposed agreements and their incorporated 
Conservation Strategy, as well as any comments we receive, to determine 
whether to enter into the agreements. We will also use our evaluation 
and any comments we receive to help determine whether implementation of 
the proposed CCAA would meet the requirements for issuance of a permit 
under section 10(a)(1)(A) of the ESA. Further, we will evaluate whether 
the proposed permit action and underlying CCAA, in addition to the CCA 
and CCA, would comply with section 7 of the ESA by conducting an intra-
Service section 7 consultation. We will consider the results of this 
consultation, in combination with the above findings, in our final 
analysis to determine whether or not to issue a permit to the Thunder 
Basin Association and enter into a CCAA, CCA, and CA. We will not make 
our final decision until after the end of the 30-day public comment 
period, and we will fully consider all comments we receive during the 
public comment period.

    Authority: We provide this notice in accordance with the 
requirements of section 10 of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and 
NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and their implementing regulations (50 
CFR 17.22 and 40 CFR 1506.6; 516 DM 6.2B, respectively).

Michael Thabault,
Assistant Regional Director, Ecological Services, Mountain-Prairie 
Region, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Lakewood, Colorado.
[FR Doc. 2016-28418 Filed 11-25-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4310-15-P