SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, invite the public to comment on applications for permits under section 10(a)(1)(A) of the Endangered Species Act, as ( printed page 6654) amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). The requested permits would allow the applicants to conduct activities intended to promote recovery of species that are listed as endangered or threatened under the ESA.

Background

With some exceptions, the ESA prohibits activities that constitute take of listed wildlife species unless a Federal permit is issued that allows such activity. The ESA's definition of “take” of wildlife species includes such activities as pursuing, harassing, trapping, capturing, or collecting, in addition to hunting, shooting, harming, wounding, or killing, or attempting to engage in any such contact.

A recovery permit issued by us under section 10(a)(1)(A) of the ESA authorizes the permittee to conduct activities with endangered or threatened species for scientific purposes that promote recovery or for enhancement of propagation or survival of the species. These activities often include such prohibited actions as capture and collection of listed wildlife species and removal and reduction to possession of listed plant species from an area of federal jurisdiction. Our regulations implementing section 10(a)(1)(A) for these permits are found in the Code of Federal Regulations at 50 CFR 17.22 for endangered wildlife species, 50 CFR 17.32 for threatened wildlife species, 50 CFR 17.62 for endangered plant species, and 50 CFR 17.72 for threatened plant species.

Permit Applications Available for Review and Comment

Proposed activities in the permit requests in Table 1 are for the recovery and enhancement of propagation or survival of the species in the wild. The ESA requires that we invite public comment before issuing these permits. Accordingly, we invite local, State, Tribal, and Federal agencies and the public to submit written data, views, or arguments with respect to these applications. The comments and recommendations that will be most useful and likely to influence agency decisions are those supported by quantitative information or studies.

( printed page 6662)

Public Availability of Comments

Written comments we receive become part of the administrative 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. All submissions from organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials, will be made available for public disclosure in their entirety.

Next Steps

After the comment period closes, we will make decisions regarding permit issuance. If we decide to issue permits to any of the applicants listed in this notice, we will publish a notice in the Federal Register . You may locate the notice announcing the permit issuance by searching https://www.regulations.gov by the application number listed above is this document. Type in your search exactly as the application number appears above, with spaces and hyphens as necessary. For example, to find information about the potential issuance of Permit No. PER1234567-0, you would go to https://www.regulations.gov and type “PER1234567-0” in the Search field.

An interested party opposed to a recovery permit's issuance may object by following the requirements in 50 CFR17.22(d) and request notification of the final action. The Service will follow the procedures in that section regarding notification of interested parties who file objections to issuance of permits.

Authority

We publish this notice under section 10(c) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).

91 FR 6653