Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Publishing Notice of Receipt of Captive-Bred Wildlife Registration Applications

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are amending the regulations that implement the Endangered Species Act (Act) by establishing public notice-and-comment procedures for applications to conduct certain otherwise-prohibited activities under the Act that are authorized under the Captive-Bred Wildlife (CBW) regulations. This action adds procedural requirements to the processing of applications for registration under the CBW regulations. Notices of receipt of each application will be published in the Federal Register, and the Service will accept public comments on each application for 30 days. If the registration is granted, the Service will publish certain findings in the Federal Register. In addition, for persons meeting the criteria for registering under the CBW Program, each registration will now remain effective for 5 years rather than 3 years.