[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 230 (Friday, November 29, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Page 65833]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-25907]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R2-ES-2019-N159; FXES11140200000-201-FF02ENEH00]


Incidental Take Permit Application To Participate in 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, we, the U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service, invite the public to comment on a federally listed 
American burying beetle incidental take permit application. The 
applicant anticipates American burying beetle take as a result of 
impacts to Oklahoma habitat the species uses for breeding, feeding, and 
sheltering. The take would be incidental to the applicant's 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 permit 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, we must receive written comments on or 
before December 30, 2019.

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 proposed permit number when requesting documents or 
submitting comments.
     Email: [email protected].
     U.S. Mail: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Endangered 
Species--HCP Permits, P.O. Box 1306, Room 6093, Albuquerque, NM 87103.

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 6078, Albuquerque, NM 87103; by telephone at 505-
248-6651; or via the Federal Relay Service at 800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Introduction

    Under the Endangered Species Act, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 
et seq.), we, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, invite the public to 
comment on an incidental take permit (ITP) application 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 permit would be issued to the applicant 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 original ICP of 2014 and the associated 
environmental assessment/finding of no significant impact and the 
amended ICP of 2016 are available on our website at http://www.fws.gov/southwest/es/oklahoma/ABBICP. However, we are no longer taking comments 
on these finalized, approved documents.
    The second draft amendment to the ICP was made available for public 
comment via publication in the Federal Register on March 14, 2019 (84 
FR 9371), with a comment period end of April 15, 2019.

Application Available for Review and Comment

    We invite local, State, Tribal, and Federal agencies and the public 
to comment on the following application under the ICP for incidentally 
taking the federally listed American burying beetle. Please refer to 
the proposed permit number (TEXXXXXX-X) when requesting application 
documents and when submitting comments. Documents and other information 
the applicant 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 No. TE59403D

    Applicant: Cushing Connect Pipeline Holdings, LLC, Dallas, 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.

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 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. 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 ESA (16 U.S.C. 
1531 et seq.), 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).

Amy L. Lueders,
Regional Director, Southwest Region, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2019-25907 Filed 11-27-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4333-15-P