[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 170 (Tuesday, September 5, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41980-41981]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-18724]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R2-ES-2017-N109; FXES11140200000-178-FF02ENEH00]


Incidental Take Permit Applications Received To Participate in 
the American Burying Beetle Amended Oil and Gas Industry Conservation 
Plan 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 (ESA), we, the 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, invite the public to comment on 
federally listed American burying beetle incidental take permit 
applications. The applicants anticipate American burying beetle take as 
a result of impacts to habitat the species uses for breeding, feeding, 
and sheltering in Oklahoma. The take would be incidental to the 
applicants' activities associated with oil and gas well field and 
pipeline infrastructure (gathering, transmission, and distribution), 
including geophysical exploration (seismic), construction, maintenance, 
operation, repair, decommissioning, and reclamation. If approved, the 
permits would be issued under the approved American Burying Beetle 
Amended Oil and Gas Industry Conservation Plan (ICP) Endangered Species 
Act Section 10(a)(1)(B) Permit Issuance in Oklahoma.

DATES: To ensure consideration, written comments must be received on or 
before October 5, 2017.

ADDRESSES: You may obtain copies of all documents and submit comments 
on the applicants' incidental take permit (ITP) applications by one of 
the following methods. Please refer to the proposed 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.; ESA), we, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, invite the public 
to comment on incidental take permit (ITP) applications to take the 
federally listed American burying beetle (Nicrophorus americanus) 
during oil and gas well field infrastructure geophysical exploration 
(seismic) and construction, maintenance, operation, repair, and 
decommissioning, as well as oil and gas gathering, transmission, and 
distribution pipeline infrastructure construction, maintenance, 
operation, repair, decommissioning, and reclamation in Oklahoma.
    If approved, the permits would be issued to the applicants under 
the American Burying Beetle Amended Oil and Gas Industry Conservation 
Plan (ICP) Endangered Species Act Section 10(a)(1)(B) Permit Issuance 
in Oklahoma. The original ICP was approved on May 21, 2014, and the 
``no significant impact'' finding notice was published in the Federal 
Register on July 25, 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 our 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 
incidentally taking the federally listed American burying beetle. 
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 are 
available for review, subject to Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a) and 
Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552) requirements.

Permit TE41500C

Applicant: Plains All American Pipeline, L.P., Houston, TX.

    Applicant requests a permit for oil and gas upstream and midstream 
production, including oil and gas well field infrastructure geophysical 
exploration (seismic) and construction, maintenance, operation, repair, 
and decommissioning, as well as oil and gas gathering, transmission, 
and distribution pipeline infrastructure construction, maintenance, 
operation, repair, decommissioning, and reclamation in Oklahoma.

Permit TE42582C

Applicant: Reach Energy Limited, Oklahoma City, OK.

    Applicant requests a permit for oil and gas upstream and midstream 
production, including oil and gas well field infrastructure geophysical 
exploration (seismic) and construction, maintenance, operation, repair, 
and decommissioning, as well as oil and gas gathering, transmission, 
and distribution pipeline infrastructure construction, maintenance, 
operation, repair, decommissioning, and reclamation in 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

[[Page 41981]]

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 ESA 
(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).

    Dated: July 27, 2017.
Benjamin N. Tuggle,
Regional Director, Southwest Region, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2017-18724 Filed 9-1-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4333-15-P