[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 157 (Thursday, August 13, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49393-49394]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-17740]



[[Page 49393]]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of the Secretary

[20XD4523WS, DS61200000, DWSN00000.000000, DP61202]


Draft Invasive Species Strategic Plan; Tribal and Alaska Native 
Corporation Consultations, Public Listening Sessions and Request for 
Public Comments

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of planning document with teleconference consultations 
with Tribes and Alaska Native Corporations, teleconference public 
listening sessions and public comment.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the John D. Dingell Jr., Conservation, Management 
and Recreation Act of 2019 (Pub. L. 116-9), notice is hereby given of 
the development of the U.S. Department of the Interior Invasive Species 
Strategic Plan.

DATES: A teleconference consultation with Tribes will be held on 
September 17, 2020 at 4:00 p.m. Eastern. A teleconference consultation 
with Alaska Native Corporations will be held on September 22 at 4:00 
p.m. Eastern. RSVPs are required to participate in these sessions and 
must be received by 5:00 p.m. Eastern, September 14. Teleconference 
listening sessions for other interested parties and the public will be 
held on September 24 at 4:00 p.m. Eastern and September 28 at 4:00 p.m. 
Eastern. RSVPs are required to participate and must be received by 5:00 
p.m. Eastern, September 21. Written comments must be submitted online 
or by mail by 11:59 p.m. Eastern, October 9, 2020. For more 
information, including on how to RSVP, see SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

ADDRESSES: Written comments will be accepted online only at http://www.regulations.gov by entering ``DOI-2020-0007'' in the Search bar and 
clicking ``Search'' or by mail to U.S. Department of the Interior, 
Office of Policy Analysis--Mailstop 3530, ATTN: Invasive Species 
Comments, 1849 C Street NW, Washington DC, 20240.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department of the Interior's (Interior) 
Draft Invasive Species Strategic Plan (Plan) and other related 
information are posted on Interior's website at https://www.doi.gov/ppa/doi-invasive-species-strategic-plan.
    To RSVP for the Tribal, Alaska Native Corporation, or public 
teleconference sessions, please enter your contact information into the 
following form: https://tinyurl.com/tfgu83p. Call-in details for the 
sessions will be provided to registered participants in advance of the 
calls. Consultations with Tribes and Alaska Native Corporations are 
also being noticed through Dear Leader Letters.
    The John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management and Recreation 
Act (Act) (Pub. L. 116-9) was enacted on March 12, 2019. Title VII 
Section 7001 of the Act directs relevant Secretaries to take actions 
concerning invasive species; this includes direction to each Secretary 
concerned to develop a strategic plan for the implementation of the 
invasive species program to achieve, to the maximum extent practicable, 
a substantive annual net reduction of invasive species populations or 
infested acreage on land or water managed by the Secretary concerned. 
The Act directed that the Plan be developed in coordination with 
affected eligible States, political subdivisions of eligible States, in 
consultation with Federally recognized Indian tribes and in accordance 
with the priorities of Governors of eligible States. The Act is 
available at: https://www.congress.gov/116/bills/s47/BILLS-116s47enr.pdf.
    To inform the Plan's development, Interior held a series of 
teleconference listening sessions in November 2019 with Federally 
recognized Indian tribes, State, county and territorial governments, 
Alaska Native Corporations and the Native Hawaiian Community. The 
purpose of the sessions was for Interior to gain perspectives on topics 
including, but not limited to, priority invasive species of greatest 
concern to address to protect valued natural, economic and cultural 
resources; opportunities to address invasive species at a meaningful 
scale to achieve effective outcomes; interjurisdictional efforts needed 
to prevent, detect, eradicate and control invasive species; 
opportunities to fulfill Trust responsibilities; and specific areas of 
interest to emphasize in the Plan. Written comments were also accepted. 
Input received at the onset of the Plan's development informed the 
Plan's mission, vision, goals, objectives and strategies.
    The Plan is intended to: Comply with the Act's mandate for Interior 
to develop an Interior-wide Plan; be broad enough to reflect Interior's 
depth and breadth of work underway; coordinate with and build upon 
existing efforts; complement existing plans, e.g., bureau and 
interagency plans, and reporting efforts; be implemented in 
collaboration with States, Tribes, territories, local governments, 
other Federal agencies and others, as appropriate, and be implemented 
within existing authorities and available resources.
    The scope of the Plan includes goals, objectives, strategies and 
metrics; ongoing work and opportunities to focus on emerging 
priorities; actions both on Interior-managed lands and waters and on 
lands and waters managed by others but for which Interior has a 
mandate; a spectrum of strategies, invasive species and scales of 
implementation; and a five-year timeline, beginning in Fiscal Year 
2021, to be reviewed every five years.
    Consultation and teleconference listening sessions on the draft 
Plan, together with any written comments received, will aid Interior in 
refining the Plan.
    An overview of the Plan and process to develop it will be provided 
during the teleconference sessions. The majority of the time will be 
made available for comment. Input to gain on the draft Plan includes 
but is not limited to the following topics:
     Are the mission, vision, goals, objectives and strategies 
clear as written, and if not, what clarifications should be made?
     Do the goals, objectives and strategies build in 
sufficient flexibility for implementation to meet the needs of ongoing 
and emerging efforts, and if not, how should they be adjusted?
     Do the goals, objectives and strategies emphasize the 
importance of collaboration to advance mutual priorities of Tribal, 
State, local and territorial governments and partners, and if not, how 
should they be adjusted?
     Based on the objectives, what metrics would be most useful 
to track progress against the objectives?
     Are there any major omissions in the draft that should be 
addressed, and if so, what are they?
    For further information, contact Hilary Smith, Senior Advisor for 
Invasive Species, (202) 763-3118; email: 
[email protected].

    Note:  As part of the teleconference sessions, participants will 
be required to provide their name, title, organization and telephone 
number to the operator before being connected.

    Please note the following URLs associated with this Federal 
Register Notice:

1. John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management and Recreation Act: 
https://www.congress.gov/116/bills/s47/BILLS-116s47enr.pdf
2. Draft Plan: https://www.doi.gov/ppa/doi-invasive-species-strategic-plan
3. Regulations website for submitting written comments: https://
www.regulations.gov

[[Page 49394]]

4. Required registration for consultation and listening sessions: 
https://tinyurl.com/tfgu83p

Public Availability of Comments

    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 
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.

    Authority: John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management and 
Recreation Act (Public Law 116-9).

Hilary Smith,
Senior Advisor for Invasive Species, Office of Policy Analysis, Office 
of the Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-17740 Filed 8-12-20; 8:45 am]
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