SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the availability of the Dakota Skipper Multi-Project Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP), Draft Environmental Assessment (draft EA), and associated documents related to the North Dakota Petroleum Council's (NDPC) application for an Incidental Take Permit (ITP) under section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered Species Act (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). NDPC applied for a 30-year ITP to seek authorization for incidental take of the Dakota Skipper ( Hesperia dacotae; DASK) that may be associated with oil and gas development projects by NDPC ( printed page 32995) member companies in North Dakota. If granted, the ITP would authorize incidental take of DASK resulting from the HCP's covered activities. The proposed HCP has a programmatic structure that establishes a standardized conservation strategy and defines a process to enroll multiple similar projects under a single incidental take permit through Certificates of Inclusion over the 30-year permit term. The draft EA analyzes the effects of the proposed action and the no-action alternative.

Background

Section 9 of the ESA and Federal regulations prohibit the taking of a species listed as endangered or threatened. The ESA defines “take” to mean to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or to attempt to engage in any such conduct. The Service may issue permits, under limited circumstances, to take listed species incidental to, and not the purpose of, otherwise lawful activities. Section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA and its implementing regulations (50 CFR 17.22(b) and 17.32(b)) provide for authorizing incidental take of listed species. Issuance of an ITP also must not jeopardize the existence of federally listed fish, wildlife, or plant species, pursuant to section 7 of the ESA and 50 CFR 402.02. The permittee would receive assurances under our “No Surprises” regulations (50 CFR 17.22(b)(5) and 17.32(b)(5)).

Project Information

The NDPC has requested take authorization of DASK that may result from covered activities associated with oil and gas development in the Plan Area, which is the State of North Dakota. Covered activities include those associated with above-ground pre-construction and exploration actions, construction, operation and maintenance, decommissioning, and reclamation for multiple future projects. Under the programmatic structure of the HCP, the NDPC is the master permit holder. Individual projects seeking coverage under the HCP would prepare an application package to demonstrate their plan to implement the conservation strategies set forth in the HCP, submit that application package to the NDPC, and receive a Certificate of Inclusion. The Certificate of Inclusion then extends the DASK take authorization of the HCP and ITP to the Certificate of Inclusion holder for the individual project.

The ITP, if issued, would authorize take of the DASK that may occur incidental to the covered activities. The HCP describes the covered activities, the anticipated impacts to DASK from the covered activities, and the measures that NDPC and Certificate of Inclusion holders will implement to minimize and mitigate such impacts. The HCP also describes the environmental setting and biological resources in the Plan Area, the biological goals and objectives of the HCP, monitoring, adaptive management, and funding assurances.

National Environmental Policy Act Background

The draft EA analyzes the effects of the proposed action, which is issuance of the ITP and the implementation of the proposed programmatic HCP. The draft EA also analyzes the no-action alternative, which is the denial of the programmatic permit application and the consideration of individual ITP applications for proposed projects instead.

The potential issuance of the ITP is considered a Federal action under NEPA, and we determined that preparation of an EA to analyze the potential impacts on the human (biological, physical, social, and economic) environment caused by the project was appropriate. The draft EA was prepared in accordance with NEPA, and the most recent associated regulations, and the procedures set forth in the Department of the Interior's NEPA Handbook.

Public Availability of Comments

Before including your address, phone number, or other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment—including your personal identifying information—might 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. 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. Comments and materials we receive will be available for public inspection online in Docket No. FWS-R6-ES-2026-0859, at https://www.regulations.gov/​.

Next Steps and Decision to be Made

We will make a permit decision based on the statutory and regulatory criteria of ESA Section 10(a), informed by the permit application, HCP, and any public comments. This determination will also include our compliance with Section 7 of the ESA through an intra-Service consultation. We will rely on the results of this consultation, our NEPA analyses, and the findings on permit issuance criteria to decide whether to issue the permit with appropriate terms and conditions.

Authority

We provide this notice under section 10(c) of the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (50 CFR 17.22 and 17.32), National Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and the Service's implementing regulations (43 CFR Part 46).

91 FR 32994