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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 224 / Wednesday, November 22, 2017 / Notices

Background
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(FWS) and the National Marine
Fisheries Service (NMFS) are charged
with implementing the Endangered
Species Act of 1973, as amended (16
U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) (ESA or Act); among
the purposes of the ESA are to provide
a means to conserve the ecosystems
upon which species listed as
endangered or threatened depend and a
program for listed species conservation.
Through its Candidate Conservation
program, one of the FWS’s goals is to
encourage the public to voluntarily
develop and implement conservation
agreements for declining species prior to
them being listed under the ESA. The
benefits of such conservation actions
may contribute to not needing to list a
species, to list a species as threatened
instead of endangered, or to accelerate
the species’ recovery if it is listed. The
Services put in place a voluntary
conservation program to provide
incentives for non-Federal property
owners to develop and implement
conservation agreements for unlisted
species: Candidate Conservation
Agreements with Assurances (CCAAs).
The policy for this type of agreement
was finalized on June 17, 1999 (64 FR
32726), along with implementing
regulations for FWS in part 17 of title 50
of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)
(64 FR 32706). The Services finalized a
revision of the CCAA policy on
December 27, 2016 (81 FR 95164). The
FWS revised the CCAA regulations in
2004 (69 FR 24084; May 3, 2004), to
make them easier to understand and
implement by, among other things,
defining ‘‘property owner’’ and
clarifying several points, including the
transfer of permits, permit revocation,
and advanced notification of take. On
December 27, 2016 (81 FR 95053), the
FWS again revised the CCAA
regulations to make the regulations
consistent with the 2016 revisions to the
policy.
To participate in a CCAA, nonFederal property owners agree to
implement on their land the CCAA’s
specific conservation measures that
reduce or eliminate threats to the
species that are covered under the
agreement. An ESA section 10(a)(1)(A)
enhancement-of-survival permit is
issued to the agreement participant
providing a specific level of incidental
take coverage should the property
owner’s agreed-upon conservation
measures and routine propertymanagement actions (e.g., agricultural,
ranching, or forestry activities) result in
take of the covered species, if it is listed.
Property owners receive assurances that

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they will not be required to undertake
any other conservation measures than
those agreed to, even if new information
indicates that additional or revised
conservation measures are needed for
the species, and they will not be subject
to additional resource use or land-use
restrictions.
Under the 1999 policy, to approve a
CCAA we had to ‘‘determine that the
benefits of the conservation measures
implemented by a property owner under
a CCAA, when combined with those
benefits that would be achieved if it is
assumed that conservation measures
were also to be implemented on other
necessary properties, would preclude or
remove any need to list the covered
species.’’ This language had led some
property owners to believe that the
Services expected each individual
CCAA to provide enough conservation
benefits to the species to remove any
need to list the species. The confusion
created by the hypothetical concept of
conservation measures that need to be
implemented on ‘‘other necessary
properties’’ lead us to revise the CCAA
standard to require a net conservation
benefit to the covered species,
specifically on the property to be
enrolled, and eliminated references to
‘‘other necessary properties.’’ Although
the policy states that this revision does
not increase the conservation standard
(but rather makes it easier to understand
how we determine our standard), we are
aware there has been some concern that
this change is considered by some
members of the public to be a higher
standard while others considered it to
be a lower standard than the previous
standard. The Services are committed to
strengthening the delivery of our
voluntary conservation tools, such as
CCAAs, by making it easier to work
with us on conservation efforts, thus we
are soliciting public review and
comment on whether to revise the 2016
CCAA policy (and accompanying
regulation).
Request for Information
During the comment period (see
DATES), we will accept written
comments and information on our 2016
CCAA policy (81 FR 95164; December
27, 2016). You may submit your
comments and materials by one of the
methods listed in ADDRESSES. 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—will
be posted on http://
www.regulations.gov. While you can ask
us in your comment to withhold your

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personal identifying information from
public review, we cannot guarantee that
we will be able to do so. All comments
and recommendations, including names
and addresses, will become part of the
record for this review.
Authority
The authority for this action is the
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as
amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).
Dated: October 4, 2017.
Gregory J. Sheehan,
Principal Deputy Director, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service.
Dated: October 4, 2017.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for
Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2017–25267 Filed 11–21–17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333–15–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Geological Survey
[GX14EB00A181100; OMB Control Number
1028–0101]

Agency Information Collection
Activities: The William T. Pecora
Award; Application and Nomination
Process
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS),
Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:

In accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the
USGS is proposing to renew an
information collection (IC).
DATES: Interested persons are invited to
submit comments on or before January
22, 2018.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
on this information collection to the
Information Collection Clearance
Officer, U.S. Geological Survey, 12201
Sunrise Valley Drive MS 159, Reston,
VA 20192 (mail); or gs-help_
infocollections@usgs.gov (email). Please
reference ‘‘Information Collection 1028–
0101, Pecora Award’’ in all
correspondence.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Thomas Holm, USGS, EROS Center,
47914 252nd Street, Sioux Falls, SD
57198 (mail), by telephone (605)–594–
6127, or holm@usgs.gov (email).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We, the
USGS, in accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995,
provide the general public and other
Federal agencies with an opportunity to
comment on proposed, revised, and
continuing collections of information.
SUMMARY:

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asabaliauskas on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with NOTICES

Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 224 / Wednesday, November 22, 2017 / Notices
This helps us assess the impact of our
information collection requirements and
minimize the public’s reporting burden.
It also helps the public understand our
information collection requirements and
provide the requested data in the
desired format.
We are soliciting comments on the
proposed IC that is described below. We
are especially interested in public
comment addressing the following
issues: (1) Is the collection necessary to
the proper functions of the USGS; (2)
will this information be processed and
used in a timely manner; (3) is the
estimate of burden accurate; (4) how
might the USGS enhance the quality,
utility, and clarity of the information to
be collected; and (5) how might the
USGS minimize the burden of this
collection on the respondents, including
through the use of information
technology.
Comments that you submit in
response to this notice are a matter of
public record. We will include or
summarize each comment in our request
to OMB to approve this IC. 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 may 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.
Abstract: The William T. Pecora
Award is presented annually to
individuals or teams using satellite or
aerial remote sensing that make
outstanding contributions toward
understanding the Earth (land, oceans
and air), educating the next generation
of scientists, informing decision makers
or supporting natural or human-induced
disaster response. The award is
sponsored jointly by the Department of
the Interior (DOI) and the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA).
The award was established in 1974 to
honor the memory of Dr. William T.
Pecora, former Director of the USGS and
Under Secretary, Department of the
Interior. Dr. Pecora was a motivating
force behind the establishment of a
program for civil remote sensing of the
Earth from space. His early vision and
support helped establish what we know
today as the Landsat satellite program.
The purpose of the award is to recognize
individuals or groups working in the
field of remote sensing of the earth.
National and international nominations
are accepted from the public and private

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sector individuals, teams, organizations,
and professional societies.
Nomination packages include three
sections: (A) Cover Sheet, (B) Summary
Statement, and (C) Supplemental
Materials. The cover sheet includes
professional contact information. The
Summary Statement is limited to two
pages and describes the nominee’s
achievements in the scientific and
technical remote sensing community,
contributions leading to successful
practical applications of remote sensing,
and/or major breakthroughs in remote
sensing science or technology.
Nominations may include up to 10
pages of supplemental information such
as resume, publications list, and/or
letters of endorsement.
Title: The Pecora Award; Application
and Nomination Process
OMB Control Number: 1028–0101.
Form Number: NA.
Type of Review: Revision of a
currently approved collection.
Affected Public: Individuals or
households; Businesses and other
academic and non-profit institutions;
State, local and tribal governments.
Respondent’s Obligation: None.
Participation is voluntary.
Frequency of Collection: Annually.
Estimated Total Number of Annual
Responses: 10–15.
Estimated Time per Response: 6
hours.
Estimated Annual Burden Hours: 90.
Total Estimated Annual Non-hour
Burden Cost: There are no ‘‘non-hour
cost’’ burdens associated with this IC.
An agency may not conduct or
sponsor and you are not required to
respond to a collection of information
unless it displays a currently valid OMB
control number.
The authorities for this action are the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44
U.S.C. 3501, et seq.).
Frank Kelly,
Director, Earth Resources Observation and
Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey.
[FR Doc. 2017–25314 Filed 11–21–17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4311–AM–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[LLNVS00560 L58530000 EU0000 241A; 14–
08807; MO#4500109372; TAS: 17X]

Notice of Realty Action: Competitive
Sale of 40 Parcels of Public Land in
Clark County, NV
Bureau of Land Management,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Realty Action.
AGENCY:

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The Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) proposes to offer 40
parcels of public land totaling 754.78
acres in the Las Vegas Valley by
competitive sale, sealed-bid and oral
auction, at not less than the appraised
fair market values (FMV) pursuant to
the Southern Nevada Public Land
Management Act of 1998 (SNPLMA), as
amended. The proposed sale will be
subject to the applicable provisions of
Section 203 of the Federal Land Policy
and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA)
and BLM land sale regulations. The
BLM has also completed a
Determination of National
Environmental Policy Act Adequacy
(DNA).
DATES: Interested parties may submit
written comments regarding the
proposed sale until January 8, 2018. The
proposed sale is to occur by sealed bid
and oral public auction on January 24,
2018, at 10 a.m., Pacific Time. The FMV
for the parcels, the period to submit
sealed-bids, and the sale date will be
announced in local and online media at
least 30 days prior to the sale. The BLM
will start accepting sealed bids
beginning on January 8, 2018. Sealed
bids must be received by the BLM, Las
Vegas Field Office (LVFO) by no later
than 4:30 p.m. Pacific Time on January
19, 2018. The BLM will open the sealed
bids on the day of the sale just prior to
the oral bidding.
ADDRESSES: The proposed sale will
occur at the City of Henderson Council
Chambers, 240 Water Street, Henderson,
Nevada 89009. Mail written comments
and submit sealed bids to the BLM Las
Vegas Field Office, Assistant Field
Manager, 4701 North Torrey Pines
Drive, Las Vegas, Nevada 89130.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joe
Fields, Realty Specialist, BLM Las Vegas
Field Office at email: jfields@blm.gov, or
telephone: 702–515–5194. Persons who
use a telecommunications device for the
deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Relay
Service (FRS) at 1–800–877–8339 to
contact the above individual during
normal business hours. The FRS is
available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,
to leave a message or question with the
above individual. You will receive a
reply during normal business hours.
General information on previous BLM
public land sales go to: https://
www.blm.gov/snplma.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The BLM
proposes to offer 40 parcels of public
land within the Clark County
jurisdiction. Twenty-eight of the parcels
are located in the northwest part of the
valley, near Highway 95 and Interstate
215. Nine parcels are located in the
southwest part of the valley, south of
SUMMARY:

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