Agencies Propose to Simplify Critical Habitat Proposal Review Process under Endangered Species Act

Regulation changes would require the draft economic analysis of the proposed critical habitat designation to be available for public comment concurrent with the publication of the proposed critical habitat designation. Comment on these proposed changes through Oct. 23. http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/mediacenter/2012/08/23_fws_and_nmfs_propose_simplified_review_process_for_crithab.htm

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has sent an Information Collection Request (ICR) to OMB for review and approval. They summarize the ICR below and describe the nature of the collection and the estimated burden and cost. They may not conduct or sponsor and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

You must submit comments on or before September 28, 2012.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established the Clean Air Act Advisory Committee (CAAAC) on November 19, 1990, to provide independent advice and counsel to EPA on policy issues associated with implementation of the Clean Air Act of 1990. The Committee advises on economic, environmental, technical, scientific, and enforcement policy issues.

Notice is hereby given that the Clean Air Act Advisory Committee will hold its next open meeting on September 20, 2012 from 8 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. at the Hilton Crystal City at Washington Reagan National Airport located at 2399 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, VA 22202.

Critical Habitat Can Affect Your Access to Resources

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) (collectively referred to as the ``Services'' or ``we''), propose to revise our regulations pertaining to impact analyses conducted for designations of critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (the Act). These changes are being proposed as directed by the President's February 28, 2012, memorandum, which directed us to take prompt steps to revise our regulations to provide that the economic analysis be completed and made available for public comment at the time of publication of a proposed rule to designate critical habitat.

We will accept comments from all interested parties until October 23, 2012. Please note that if you are using the Federal eRulemaking Portal (see ADDRESSES below), the deadline for submitting an electronic comment is 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on this date.

Vessels affected by this proposed rule would be vessels traveling on inland waters of the United States. At this time, we anticipate a small additional cost for future WIG craft to install a light. We estimate that there would not be additional costs or burden from the other harmonizing or discretionary provisions. A benefit of the harmonizing provisions is complying with COLREGS and the Presidential memo,. Both harmonizing and discretionary provisions would also provide regulatory flexibility to certain vessels. Some of the discretionary changes may help to reduce risk of collision.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) of the Department of Homeland Security will be submitting the following information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act: 

User Fees. This is a proposed extension of an information collection that was previously approved. CBP is proposing that this information collection be extended with a change to the burden hours. This document is published to obtain comments from the public and affected agencies. 

90-Day Finding on a Petition To List Five Species of Sturgeon as Threatened or Endangered We, NMFS, announce a 90-day finding on a petition to list five species of sturgeon (Acipenser sturio, A. naccarii, A. mikadoi, A. sinensis, and Huso dauricus), or any distinct population segments of these species that the Secretary of Commerce determines may exist, as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). We find that the petition and information in our files present substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that these petitioned actions may be warranted. We will conduct a status review of these species to determine if the petitioned actions are warranted. To ensure that the status review is comprehensive, we are soliciting scientific and commercial information regarding these species (see below).

Information and comments on the subject action must be received by October 26, 2012.

The National Maritime Security Advisory Committee (NMSAC) will meet on September 11-12, 2012 in the Washington, DC metropolitan area to discuss various issues relating to national maritime security. This meeting will be open to the public.

The Merchant Mariner Medical Advisory Committee (MMMAC) will meet on September 25-26, 2012 to discuss matters relating to medical certification determinations for issuance of merchant mariner credentials, medical standards and guidelines for physical qualifications of operators of commercial vessels, medical examiner education, and medical research. The meeting will be open to the public.

MMMAC will meet on Tuesday, September 25, and Wednesday, September 26, 2012 from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Please note that the meeting may close early if the committee has completed its business.

Statement from Sam Rauch

I am very pleased to announce that Frederick “Buck” Sutter has been named the new Director for the Office of Habitat Conservation at NOAA Fisheries. He will begin this new assignment on August 26, 2012.