2018-13209. Endangered Species; Issuance of Permits

AGENCY:

Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice of issuance of permits.

SUMMARY:

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have issued permits to conduct activities with endangered and threatened species under the authority of the Endangered Species Act, as amended (ESA). With some exceptions, the ESA prohibits activities involving listed species unless a Federal permit is issued that allows such activity.

ADDRESSES:

Information about the applications for the permits listed in this notice is available online at www.regulations.gov. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for details.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Brenda Tapia, [phone] (telephone); [e-mail] (email).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have issued permits to conduct certain activities with endangered and threatened species in response to permit applications that we received under the authority of section 10(a)(1)(A) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).

After considering the information submitted with each permit application and the public comments received, we issued the requested permits subject to certain conditions set forth in each permit. For each application for an endangered species, we found that (1) the application was filed in good faith, (2) the granted permit would not operate to the disadvantage of the endangered species, and (3) the granted permit would be consistent with the purposes and policy set forth in section 2 of the ESA.

Availability of Documents

The permittees' original permit application materials, along with public comments we received during public comment periods for the applications, are available for review. To locate the application materials and received comments, go to www.regulations.gov and search for the appropriate permit number (e.g., 12345C) provided in the following table:

Permit No.	Applicant	Permit issuance date
21468B	Joan Helen Hemker d/b/a Hemker Park & Zoo	January 10, 2018.
59781A	New England Aquarium	January 16, 2018.
22842C	Zoological Society of Philadelphia	January 25, 2018.
48288C	Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Florida Fish and Wildlife Institute	January 25, 2018.
31674C	Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium	February 8, 2018.

Authority

We issue this notice under the authority of the ESA, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).

Brenda Tapia,

Program Analyst/Data Administrator, Branch of Permits, Division of Management Authority.