FWS announced a 12-month finding on a petition to list the Sonoran population of the desert tortoise as endangered or threatened and to designate critical habitat under the ESA; the agency found that listing is warranted but precluded by higher priority actions.

FWS proposed to list the dunes sagebrush lizard from southeastern New Mexico and adjacent west Texas as endangered under the ESA.

NOAA-Fisheries announced a 90-day finding on two petitions to delist the eastern distinct population segment of the Steller sea lion under the ESA; the agency found that delisting may be warranted.

NOAA-Fisheries announced a 12-month finding on a petition to list the bearded seal as a threatened or endangered species under the ESA; the agency found that listing of the Beringia and Okhotsk distinct population segments as threatened is warranted.

NOAA-Fisheries announced a 12-month finding on a petition to list the ringed seal as a threatened or endangered species under the ESA; the agency found that listing of the Arctic, Okhotsk, Baltic, and Ladoga subspecies as threatened is warranted.

United States v. Orval Kent Food Co., Inc., No. 2:11-cv-02057-JAR-JPO (D. Kan. Jan. 31, 2011). A settling CWA defendant responsible for discharges into a POTW in Baxter Springs, Kansas, must pay a $390,000 civil penalty, must increase monitoring of its discharges and install additional treatment, if necessary, and must undertake a fish restocking project at a cost of $32,500.

NOAA-Fisheries announced a 90-day finding on a petition to list Alabama shad as threatened or endangered and to designate critical habitat under the ESA; the agency found that listing is not warranted.

NOAA-Fisheries announced a 90-day finding on a petition to list the Texas pipefish as threatened or endangered under the ESA; the agency found that listing is not warranted.

EPA announced the release of the draft report titled, Aquatic Ecosystems, Water Quality, and Global Change: Challenges of Conducting Multi-Stressor Vulnerability Assessments, for public comment.

FWS announced the availability of draft guidelines on wind energy that would supersede the 2003 voluntary, interim guidelines.