[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 224 (Wednesday, November 22, 2017)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 55550-55551]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-25268]



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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Part 17

[Docket No. FWS-HQ-ES-2017-0075; FF09E41000 178 FXES111609C0000]


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Regulations for 
Candidate Conservation Agreements With Assurances

AGENCY: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), Interior.

ACTION: Regulatory review; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), announce the 
intention to review and potentially revise the regulations concerning 
enhancement-of-survival permits issued under the Endangered Species Act 
of 1973, as amended (ESA), associated with Candidate Conservation 
Agreements with Assurances. In a separate document published in today's 
Federal Register, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National 
Marine Fisheries Service announce the intention to review and 
potentially revise the Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances 
policy.

DATES: We will accept comments that we receive on or before January 22, 
2018. Comments submitted electronically using the Federal eRulemaking 
Portal (see ADDRESSES, below) must be received by 11:59 p.m. Eastern 
Time on the closing date.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by one of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. In 
the Search box, enter docket number FWS-HQ-ES-2017-0075. Then, click on 
the Search button. On the resulting page, you may enter a comment by 
clicking on ``Comment Now!'' Please ensure that you have found the 
correct document before submitting your comment.
     U.S. mail or hand delivery: Public Comments Processing, 
Attn: Docket No. FWS-HQ-ES-2017-0075; Division of Policy, Performance, 
and Management Programs; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; 5275 Leesburg 
Pike; MS: BPHC; Falls Church, VA 22041.
    We will post all comments on http://www.regulations.gov. This 
generally means that we will post any personal information you provide 
us (see Request for Information, below, for more information).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeff Newman, Chief, Division of 
Recovery and Restoration, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Headquarters, 
MS: ES, 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803; telephone 703-
358-2171. Persons who use a telecommunications device for the deaf may 
call the Federal Relay Service at 800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Through its Candidate Conservation Program, one of the FWS's goals 
is to encourage the public to voluntarily develop and implement 
conservation agreements for declining species prior to them being 
listed under the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). The benefits of such 
conservation actions may contribute to not needing to list a species, 
to list a species as threatened instead of endangered, or to accelerate 
the species' recovery if it is listed. The FWS put in place a voluntary 
conservation program to provide incentives for non-Federal property 
owners to develop and implement conservation agreements for unlisted 
species: Candidate Conservation Agreements with Assurances (CCAAs). On 
June 17, 1999, the policy for this type of agreement (64 FR 32726) and 
implementing regulations in part 17 of title 50 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (CFR) (64 FR 32706) were made final. On May 3, 2004, we 
published a final rule (69 FR 24084) to revise the CCAA regulations to 
make them easier to understand and implement by, among other things, 
defining ``property owner'' and by clarifying several points, including 
the transfer of permits, permit revocation, and advanced notification 
of take.
    To participate in a CCAA, non-Federal property owners agree to 
implement specific conservation actions on their land that reduce or 
eliminate threats to the species that are covered under the agreement. 
An ESA section 10(a)(1)(A) enhancement-of-survival permit is issued to 
the agreement participant providing a specific level of incidental take 
coverage should the property owner's agreed-upon conservation actions 
and routine property management actions (e.g., agricultural, ranching, 
or forestry activities) result in take of the covered species, if it is 
listed. Property owners receive assurances that they will not be 
required to undertake any conservation actions other than those agreed 
to if new information indicates that additional or revised conservation 
measures are needed for the species, and they will not be subject to 
additional resource use or land-use restrictions.
    Based on our past 16 years of experience with CCAAs, on December 
27, 2016, we revised the CCAA policy (81 FR 95164) and made necessary 
amendments to the CCAA regulations (81 FR 95053) to conform to the 
revised policy. Those revisions to the regulations clarify the level of 
conservation effort each agreement needs to include in order for the 
FWS to approve an agreement and issue a permit. We revised the issuance 
criteria at 50 CFR 17.22(d)(2)(ii) and 17.32(d)(2)(ii) to include 
language indicating that a CCAA must provide a net conservation benefit 
consistent with the 2016 CCAA policy. The conservation criteria 
required for permit issuance were not included in the previous version 
of the regulations. Instead, they specifically referred to compliance 
with the CCAA policy, which established the criteria. Our intent was to 
be more clear and transparent about the level of conservation effort 
required for each CCAA to be approved and make it consistent with the 
criteria for Safe Harbor Agreements; this change also better aligned 
the regulations with the CCAA policy. The other major change we made to 
the regulations was to the duration language at 50 CFR 17.22(d)(8) and 
17.32(d)(8), where we stated that the duration of a CCAA must be 
sufficient to provide a net conservation benefit to the covered 
species. The full definition of ``net conservation benefit (for CCAA)'' 
is included in part 2 of the 2016 CCAA policy. The Services are 
committed to strengthening the delivery of our voluntary conservation 
tools, such as CCAAs, by making it easier to work with us on proactive 
conservation efforts, thus we are soliciting public review and comment 
on whether to revise the 2016 CCAA regulations (and accompanying 
policy).

Request for Information

    During the comment period (see DATES, above), we will accept 
written comments and information on our 2016 revisions to the CCAA 
regulations (81 FR 95053; December 27, 2016). You may submit your 
comments and materials by one of the methods listed in ADDRESSES. 
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--will be posted on http://www.regulations.gov. 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. All comments and recommendations, including names and 
addresses, will become part of the record for this review.

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Authority

    The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act of 
1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).

    Dated: October 4, 2017.
Gregory J. Sheehan,
Principal Deputy Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2017-25268 Filed 11-21-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4333-15-P