[Federal Register: November 15, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 221)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 69177-69179]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr15no02-23]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
50 CFR Part 17
RIN 1018--AH01
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Determination of
Critical Habitat for the Kauai Cave Wolf Spider and Kauai Cave Amphipod
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Proposed rule; extension of comment period and notice of
availability of draft economic analysis.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announce the
availability of the draft economic analysis for the proposed
designations of critical habitat for the Kauai cave wolf spider and
Kauai cave amphipod from the island of Kauai, Hawaii. We are now
providing notice of extending the comment period to allow peer
reviewers and all interested parties to comment simultaneously on the
proposed rule and the associated draft economic analysis. The draft
economic analysis shows a range likely costs from the proposed critical
habitat designation of between $743 million to $1.955 billion over the
18 year period from 2003 to 2020. Comments previously submitted need
not be resubmitted as they will be incorporated into the public record
as part of this extended comment period and will be fully considered in
preparation of the final rule.
DATES: We will accept public comments until December 16, 2002.
ADDRESSES: Written comments and information should be submitted to
Field Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
[[Page 69178]]
Service, Pacific Islands Office, 300 Ala Moana Blvd., P.O. Box 50088,
Honolulu, HI 96850-0001. Copies of the draft economic analysis are
available on the Internet at http://pacificislands.fws.gov or by
request from the Field Supervisor at the above address and 808/541-
3441. For further instructions on commenting, refer to Public Comments
Solicited section of this notice.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul Henson, Field Supervisor, Pacific
Islands Office, at the above address (telephone: 808/541-3441;
facsimile: 808/541-3470).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On June 16, 1978, we published in the Federal Register a proposal
to list the Kauai cave wolf spider (Adelocosa anops) as an endangered
species and the Kauai cave amphipod (Spelaeorchestia koloana) as
threatened (43 FR 26084). That proposal was withdrawn on September 2,
1980 (45 FR 58171) as a result of a provision in the 1978 Amendments to
the Endangered Species Act of 1973 that required withdrawal of all
pending proposals that were not made final within 2 years of the
proposal or within one year after passage of the Amendments, which ever
period was longer. An initial comprehensive Notice of Review for
invertebrate animals was published on May 22, 1984 (49 FR 21664), in
which the Kauai cave wolf spider and Kauai cave amphipod were treated
as category 2 candidates for Federal listing. Category 2 taxa were
those for which conclusive data on biological vulnerability and threats
were not currently available to support proposed rules.
We published an updated Notice of Review for animals on January 6,
1989 (54 FR 554). In this notice, the Kauai cave wolf spider and Kauai
cave amphipod were treated as category 1 candidates for Federal
listing. Category 1 taxa were those for which we had on file
substantial information on biological vulnerability and threats to
support preparation of listing proposals. However, in the Notice of
Review for all animal taxa published on November 21, 1991 (56 FR
58804), the two Kauai cave arthropods were listed as category 2
candidates. In the November 15, 1994, Notice of Review for all animal
taxa (59 FR 58982), the two Kauai cave arthropods were again elevated
to category 1 candidates. Upon publication of the February 28, 1996,
Notice of Review (61 FR 7596), we ceased using candidate category
designations and included the two cave arthropods as candidate species.
Candidate species are those for which we have on file sufficient
information on biological vulnerability and threats to support
proposals to list the species as threatened or endangered. The two cave
arthropods were included as candidate species in the September 19, 1997
(62 FR 49398), Notice of Review.
A proposed rule to list these two species as endangered was
published on December 5, 1997 (62 FR 64340), and the final rule to list
them was published on January 14, 2000 (65 FR 2348). In the proposed
listing rule, we indicated that designation of critical habitat for the
Kauai cave wolf spider and Kauai cave amphipod was not prudent. Our
concern was that publication of precise maps and descriptions of
critical habitat in the Federal Register could increase human
visitation to these highly sensitive cave habitats, which could lead to
incidents of vandalism, destruction of habitat, and unintentional cases
of take. Also, we believed that critical habitat designation would not
provide any additional benefit to these species beyond that provided
through listing as endangered.
However, in the final rule, we determined that critical habitat
designation was prudent as at the time we did not find specific
evidence of taking, vandalism, collection, or trade of these species or
any other similarly situated species. Also, we did find that there may
also be some educational or informational benefit to designating
critical habitat. Therefore, we found that the benefits of designating
critical habitat for these two species outweighed the benefits of not
designating critical habitat. In that final rule, we determined that
critical habitat designation would be prudent, and we also indicated
that we were not able to develop a proposed critical habitat
designation for both species at that time due to budgetary and workload
constraints.
On June 2, 2000, we were ordered by the U.S. District Court for the
District of Hawaii (in Center for Biological Diversity v. Babbitt and
Clark, Civ. No. 99-00603 (D. Haw.) to publish the final critical
habitat designation for both cave animals by February 1, 2002. The
plaintiffs and the Service entered into a consent decree in a separate
action agreeing to jointly seek an extension of this deadline (Center
for Biological Diversity v. Norton, Civ. No. 01-2063 D.D.C. October 2,
2001).
On January 30, 2002, the U.S. District Court in Hawaii approved a
joint stipulation to modify the terms of the June 2 order to extend the
deadline to August 10, 2002. Subsequently, the Service determined that
an additional extension of time was needed to complete this designation
making process. On August 21, 2002, the U.S. District Court in Hawaii
approved another joint stipulation extending the date for the final
rule designating critical habitat for this species to March 31, 2003.
We proposed critical habitat designations for the Kauai cave wolf
spider and the Kauai cave amphipod on March 27, 2002, totaling
approximately 1,697 hectares (ha) (4,193 acres (ac)) on the island of
Kauai, Hawaii (67 FR 14671).
Critical habitat receives protection from destruction or adverse
modification through required consultation under section 7 of the Act
(16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) with regard to actions carried out, funded, or
authorized by a Federal agency. Section 4(b)(2) of the Act requires
that the Secretary shall designate or revise critical habitat based
upon the best scientific and commercial data available, and after
taking into consideration the economic impact of specifying any
particular area as critical habitat. We have prepared a draft economic
analysis of the proposed critical habitat designation. The draft
economic analysis is available on the Internet and from the mailing
address in the Public Comments Solicited section below.
The public comment period for the March 27, 2002, proposal
originally closed on May 28, 2002. We are now announcing the
availability of the draft economic analysis and the extension of the
comment period for the Kauai cave wolf spider and Kauai cave amphipod.
We will accept public comments on the proposal and the associated draft
economic analysis for the Kauai cave wolf spider and Kauai cave
amphipod until the close of this comment period (see DATES). The
extension of the comment period gives all interested parties the
opportunity to comment on the proposal and the associated draft
economic analysis for the Kauai cave wolf spider and Kauai cave
amphipod. Comments already submitted on the proposed designation of
critical habitat for the Kauai cave wolf spider and Kauai cave amphipod
need not be resubmitted as they will be fully considered in the final
determinations.
Public Comments Solicited
We will accept written comments and information during this re-
opened comment period. If you wish to comment, you may submit your
comments and materials concerning this proposal by any of several
methods:
[[Page 69179]]
(1) You may submit written comments and information to the Field
Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Pacific Islands Office, 300
Ala Moana Blvd., P.O. Box 50088, Honolulu, HI 96850-0001. Or by
facsimile at 808/541-3470.
(2) You may hand-deliver comments to our Honolulu Fish and Wildlife
Office at the address given above.
Comments and materials received, as well as supporting
documentation used in preparation of the proposal to designate critical
habitat, will be available for inspection, by appointment, during
normal business hours at the address under (1) above. Copies of the
draft economic analysis are available on the Internet at http://
pacificislands.fws.gov or by request from the Field Supervisor at the
address and phone number under (1 and 2) above.
Author(s)
The primary author of this notice is Lorena Wada (see ADDRESSES).
Authority
The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act of 1973
(16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).
Dated: November 5, 2002.
Paul Hoffman,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks.
[FR Doc. 02-29048 Filed 11-12-02; 3:04 pm]
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