[Federal Register: October 23, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 204)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 62078-62079]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr23oc06-10]
[[Page 62078]]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
50 CFR Part 17
RIN 1018-AU99
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Determination of
Status for Lepidium Papilliferum (Slickspot Peppergrass)
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Proposed rule; reopening of comment period and document
availability.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), notify the
public of the reinstatement of our July 15, 2002 proposed rule to list
Lepidium papilliferum (slickspot peppergrass) as endangered under the
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), and announce the
reopening of the public comment period on that proposed listing.
DATES: We will accept comments from all interested parties until 5 p.m.
Mountain Standard Time on November 13, 2006.
ADDRESSES: If you wish to comment, you may submit your comments and
materials concerning this proposal by any one of several methods:
(1) You may mail or hand-deliver written comments and information
to Field Supervisor, Snake River Fish and Wildlife Office, 1387 S.
Vinnell Way, Boise, ID 83709.
(2) You may send comments by electronic mail (e-mail) to:
fw1srbocomment@fws.gov. Please see the Public Comments Solicited
section below for file format and other information about electronic
filing.
(3) You may fax your comments to 208-378-5262.
(4) You may submit comments online via the Federal eRulemaking
Portal. Go to http://www.regulations.gov and follow the instructions
for submitting comments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeffery Foss, Field Supervisor, Snake
River Fish and Wildlife Office, 1387 S. Vinnell Way, Boise, ID 83709;
telephone 208-378-5243.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Public Comments Solicited
We intend that any final action resulting from the proposal to list
Lepidium papilliferum (slickspot peppergrass) as endangered under the
Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) will be as accurate and as effective as
possible. Therefore, comments or suggestions from the public, other
concerned governmental agencies, the scientific community, industry, or
any other interested party concerning the proposed rule are hereby
solicited. We are providing further information for the public to
consider, including a document we prepared entitled ``Draft Best
Available Biological Information for Slickspot Peppergrass (Lepidium
papilliferum)'' (BAI), February 27, 2006, a number of peer reviews of
this document, a matrix of the threats data to be used in making our
listing determination, and a list of conservation measures for the
species currently underway.
Comments particularly are sought concerning:
(1) Whether our proposed application of our Policy for Evaluation
of Conservation Efforts (PECE) can be improved.
(2) Whether the threats matrix contains the best available
commercial and scientific data and if not what other data we should
consider.
(3) How might the Service best address the issues raised in the
peer reviews of the Draft BAI.
(4) Any additional comments on the BAI.
(5) Whether the Service has identified all conservation actions
underway, if any should be added and whether the actions are accurately
characterized.
If you wish to comment, you may submit your comments and materials
concerning the proposal by any one of several methods (see ADDRESSES
section). Please submit Internet comments to fw1srbocomment@fws.gov in
ASCII file format and avoid the use of special characters or any form
of encryption. Please also include ``RIN 1018-AU99'' in your e-mail
subject header and your name and return address in the body of your
message. If you do not receive a confirmation from the system that we
have received your Internet message, contact us directly (see
ADDRESSES). Please note that the Internet address
fw1srbocomment@fws.gov will be unavailable at the termination of the
public comment period.
Our practice is to make comments, including names and home
addresses of respondents, available for public review during regular
business hours. Individual respondents may request that we withhold
their names and home addresses, etc., but if you wish us to consider
withholding this information, you must state this prominently at the
beginning of your comments. In addition, you must present rationale for
withholding this information. This rationale must demonstrate that
disclosure would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of privacy.
Unsupported assertions will not meet this burden. In the absence of
exceptional, documentable circumstances, this information will be
released. We will always make submissions from organizations or
businesses, and from individuals identifying themselves as
representatives of or officials of organizations or businesses,
available for public inspection in their entirety.
Previous Federal Actions
For a description of Federal actions concerning Lepidium
papilliferum that occurred prior to January 22, 2004, please refer to
our withdrawal of the proposed rule published in the Federal Register
on January 22, 2004 (69 FR 3094).
On July 15, 2002, we published a proposed rule (67 FR 46441) to
list Lepidium papilliferum as endangered under the Act. We accepted
public comments on the proposal for 60 days, until September 13, 2002.
We also held a public hearing on August 29, 2002. On September 25,
2002, and again on July 18, 2003, we reopened the public comment period
on the proposed listing. On October 30, 2003, we made the Candidate
Conservation Agreement and Best Available Information for Slickspot
Peppergrass available for public review and comment (68 FR 61821).
On January 22, 2004, we published a document withdrawing our
proposed rule to list Lepidium papilliferum as endangered (69 FR 3094).
That withdrawal was based on our conclusion that there was ``a lack of
strong evidence of a negative population trend,'' and the formalized
conservation plans (e.g., the CCA and INRMPs) had ``sufficient
certainty that they will be implemented and will be effective such that
the risk to the species is reduced to a level below the statutory
definition of endangered or threatened.''
On April 5, 2004, the Western Watershed Project filed a complaint
challenging our decision to withdraw the proposed rule to list Lepidium
papilliferum as endangered (Western Watersheds Project v. Jeffery Foss,
et al., Case No. CV 04-168-S-EJL). On August 19, 2005, the U.S.
District Court for the District of Idaho reversed the decision to
withdraw the proposed rule (which effectively reinstated our July 15,
2002, proposed rule at 67 FR 46441), with directions that the case be
remanded to the Secretary of the Department of the Interior for
reconsideration of ``whether a proposed rule listing the slickspot
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peppergrass as either threatened or endangered should be adopted.''
Following the August 19, 2005, U.S. District Court for the District
of Idaho remand order, we notified Federal, State, and local agencies,
county governments, elected officials, and other interested parties of
the District Court's decision in a letter dated October 13, 2005. We
requested new scientific data and information, and comments, about
Lepidium papilliferum, and requested that any such comments be
submitted by November 14, 2005. We also stated that scientific
information received from the public would be utilized in a document
titled, ``Draft Best Available Biological Information for Slickspot
Peppergrass (Lepidium papilliferum)'' (BAI). We extended the comment
period through December 14, 2005, and we received a total of 13 comment
letters in response to our request for additional information. From
February 27, 2006, through March 30, 2006, we opened a public comment
and peer review period, during which we requested information on the
BAI and on conservation efforts for the species. We received an
additional 33 comments.
A number of threats and potential threats to Lepidium papilliferum
were identified as a result of past listing actions and a number of
conservation actions to address those threats have been identified. In
evaluating the contributions of these conservation actions under the
PECE, where the Service is party to agreements regarding conservation
actions for Lepidium papilliferum, we propose to consider whether the
actions contained in those agreements are likely to be effective over
time. For those plans that the Service is not a party to, the PECE
policy evaluation is proposed to be based on their consistency with
management guidance the Service has provided to other agencies and
cooperators. We request that commenter's address whether the foregoing
will result in an appropriate application of the PECE.
On October, 2006, the Court directed the Service to issue a final
listing determination by January 4, 2007. The Service will complete its
review of any information and comments submitted during this comment
period to comply with that order.
Information Available for Review
Information received, developed, or analyzed since the August 19,
2005, U.S. District Court remand of our proposed listing withdrawal is
available for review by accessing the following Web site: http://www.fws.gov/idahoes/
, or by contacting the Field Supervisor (see
ADDRESSES above). This information includes the following:
(1) The document ``Draft Best Available Biological Information for
Slickspot Peppergrass (Lepidium papilliferum)'' (BAI), February 27,
2006.
(2) Peer review comments on the BAI.
(3) A threats matrix of the data used to make the listing
determination;
(4) A spreadsheet containing a description of Lepidium papilliferum
conservation measures in the CCA, including an explanation of how the
Policy for Evaluation of Conservation Efforts (PECE) will be applied in
making our determinations regarding the benefits of the conservation
actions.
Following this public comment period, we will be using any new
information, along with existing scientific and commercial information
in assessing species status.
Author
The primary authors of this notice are staff of the Snake River
Fish and Wildlife Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Authority
The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act of
1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).
Dated: October 17, 2006.
Marshall Jones,
Acting Director, Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 06-8833 Filed 10-18-06; 4:25 pm]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P