[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 35 (Tuesday, February 22, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9637-9638]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-03619]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R2-ES-2021-N028; FXES11140200000-223-FF02ENEH00]


Draft Low Effect Screening Form for a Categorical Exclusion and 
Candidate Conservation Plan; Texas Kangaroo Rat Candidate Conservation 
Agreement With Assurances, Montague, Clay, Wichita, Archer, Wilbarger, 
Baylor, Hardeman, Foard, Childress, Cottle, and Motley Counties, Texas

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for public comments.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, make available a draft 
low-effect screening form for a categorical exclusion (dCatEx form) 
under the National Environmental Policy Act and candidate conservation 
agreement with assurances (CCAA) for normal agricultural operations, 
recreation, and nature tourism in Montague, Clay, Wichita, Archer, 
Wilbarger, Baylor, Hardeman, Foard, Childress, Cottle, and Motley 
Counties, in Texas. Texas Parks & Wildlife Department has applied for 
an enhancement of survival permit (EOS) under the Endangered Species 
Act that would authorize incidental take of the Texas kangaroo rat. The 
dCatEx form evaluates the impacts of, and alternatives to, 
implementation of the proposed CCAA. We seek public comment on the 
CCAA, dCatEx form, and EOS application.

DATES: To ensure consideration, written comments must be received or 
postmarked on or before 11:59 p.m. eastern time on March 24, 2022. We 
may not consider any comments we receive after the closing date in the 
final decision on this action.

ADDRESSES: Accessing Documents: You may access the dCatEx form and CCAA 
by any of the following means. In your request for documents, please 
reference the ``Texas Kangaroo Rat CCAA.''
     Internet: https://www.fws.gov/southwest/es/arlingtontexas/.
     U.S. Mail: You may obtain a CD-ROM containing the 
documents (limited supply) or printed copies, by request from Ms. Debra 
T. Bills, 2005 Northeast Green Oaks Boulevard, Suite 140, Arlington, TX 
76006.
     Email: [email protected].
    Submitting Comments: You may submit written comments by one of the 
following methods. In your comments,

[[Page 9638]]

please reference ``Texas Kangaroo Rat CCAA.''
     Email: [email protected].
     U.S. Mail: Debra T. Bills (street address above).
     Fax: 817-277-1129.
    We request that you send comments by only one of the above methods.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Debra T. Bills, Field Supervisor, by 
mail (street address above); via phone at 817-277-1100, ext. 22113; or 
via the Federal Relay Service at 800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 9 of the Endangered Species Act 
(ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and its implementing regulations prohibit 
the ``take'' of animal species listed as endangered or threatened. Take 
is defined under the ESA as to ``harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, 
wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect listed animal species, or to 
attempt to engage in such conduct'' (16 U.S.C. 1538). However, under 
section 10(a) of the ESA, we, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 
(Service), may issue permits for incidental take if such take is 
authorized under an enhancement of survival of candidate species permit 
(EOS permit) and covered by a candidate conservation agreement with 
assurances (CCAA). ``Incidental take'' is defined by the ESA as take 
that is incidental to, and not the purpose of, carrying out an 
otherwise lawful activity. Regulations governing take of endangered and 
threatened species, respectively, are found in the Code of Federal 
Regulations at 50 CFR 17.22 and 50 CFR 17.32.

Background

    The Texas Parks & Wildlife Department has applied to the Service 
for an EOS permit under section 10(a)(1)(A) of the ESA. If granted, the 
requested EOS permit would be in effect upon a listing of the Texas 
kangaroo rat (Dipodomys elator) under the ESA during the 10-year term 
of the CCAA, and would authorize incidental take of the species. The 
proposed incidental take would result from activities associated with 
otherwise lawful activities, including normal agricultural operations, 
recreation, and nature tourism resulting from ground disturbance and 
changes in vegetation community composition and structure. The CCAA 
includes conservation measures to minimize and mitigate direct and 
indirect impacts to the Texas kangaroo rat and provide net conservation 
benefits to the species.

Alternatives

Proposed Action

    The proposed action involves the issuance of an EOS permit by the 
Service for the covered activities in the permit area, under section 
10(a)(1)(A) of the ESA. The EOS permit would cover incidental take of 
the covered species associated with annual production and preparation 
for market of crops, livestock, and livestock products and in the 
production and harvesting of agriculture, agronomic, horticulture, 
silviculture, and rangeland commodities within the permit area, in the 
event the covered species is listed under the ESA during the 10-year 
term of the CCAA. An application for an EOS permit must include a CCAA 
that describes the conservation measures the applicant has agreed to 
undertake to minimize and mitigate for the impacts of the proposed 
taking of covered species to the maximum extent practicable. The 
applicant will fully implement the CCAA if approved by the Service. The 
terms of the CCAA and EOS permit will also ensure that incidental take 
will not appreciably reduce the likelihood of the survival and recovery 
of the species in the wild.

No Action Alternative

    We have considered one alternative to the proposed action as part 
of this process: No Action. Under a No Action alternative, the Service 
would not issue the requested EOS permit, and the applicant would 
proceed in either of the following ways:
    1. The applicant would not plant, cultivate, produce, harvest, 
process, package, store, or market for wholesale or retail distribution 
any agricultural commodities. The applicant would not undertake 
management of agricultural waste.
    2. The applicant would conduct the above-described activities, but 
would do so in a manner that avoids incidental take.
    In either of the above two cases in the No Action Alternative, the 
applicant would not implement the conservation measures described in 
the CCAA.

Next Steps

    We will evaluate the CCAA and comments we receive to determine 
whether the EOS application meets the requirements of section 10(a) of 
the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). We will also evaluate whether 
issuance of a section 10(a)(1)(A) permit would comply with section 7 of 
the ESA by conducting an intra-Service section 7 consultation. We will 
use the results of this consultation, in combination with the above 
findings, in our final analysis to determine whether to issue an EOS 
permit. If all necessary requirements are met, we will issue the EOS 
permit to the applicant.

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 representatives or officials of 
organizations or businesses, will be made available for public 
disclosure in their entirety.

Authority

    We provide this notice under the authority of section 10(c) of the 
ESA and its implementing regulations (50 CFR 17.22 and 50 CFR 17.32) 
and NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4371 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. 2022-03619 Filed 2-18-22; 8:45 am]
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