Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service
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Tuesday, June 6, 2006 Part III Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service 50 CFR Part 17 Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Critical Habitat for Five Endangered and Two Threatened Mussels in Four Northeast Gulf of Mexico Drainages; Proposed Rule VerDate Aug<31>2005 17:50 Jun 05, 2006 Jkt 208001 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 4717 Sfmt 4717 E:\FR\FM\06JNP3.SGM 06JNP3 sroberts on PROD1PC70 with PROPOSALS 32746 Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 108 / Tuesday, June 6, 2006 / Proposed Rules DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 5. Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// If you wish to comment, you may www.regulations.gov. Follow the submit your comments and materials Fish and Wildlife Service instructions for submitting comments. concerning this proposal by any one of Comments and materials received, as several methods (see ADDRESSES 50 CFR Part 17 well as supporting documentation used section). Please submit e-mail comments in the preparation of this proposed rule, to [email protected] in RIN 1018–AU87 will be available for public inspection, ASCII file format and avoid the use of by appointment, during normal business special characters or any form of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife hours at U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, encryption. Please also include ‘‘Attn: 7 and Plants; Critical Habitat for Five 1601 Balboa Avenue, Panama City, mussels—RIN 1018–AU87’’ in your e- Endangered and Two Threatened Florida 32405 (telephone 850–769– mail subject header, and your name and Mussels in Four Northeast Gulf of 0552). return address in the body of your Mexico Drainages FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jerry message. If you do not receive a Ziewitz at the address above (telephone confirmation from the system that we AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 850–769–0552 ext. 223; facsimile 850– have received your message, contact us Interior. 763–2177). directly by calling our Panama City, ACTION: Proposed rule. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Florida, Fish and Wildlife Office at phone number 850–769–0552. Please SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Public Comments Solicited note that the e-mail address Wildlife Service (Service), propose to We intend that any final action [email protected] will be designate critical habitat for the resulting from this proposal will be as closed out at the termination of the endangered fat threeridge, shinyrayed accurate and as effective as possible. public comment period. pocketbook, Gulf moccasinshell, Therefore, comments or suggestions Our practice is to make comments, Ochlockonee moccasinshell, and oval from the public, other concerned including names and home addresses of pigtoe, and the threatened Chipola governmental agencies, the scientific respondents, available for public review slabshell and purple bankclimber community, industry, or any other during regular business hours. (collectively referred to as the seven interested party concerning this Individual respondents may request that mussels), pursuant to the Endangered proposed rule are hereby solicited. We we withhold their home addresses from Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). particularly seek comments concerning: the rulemaking record, which we will We propose to designate 11 units (1) The reasons any habitat should or honor to the extent allowable by law. encompassing approximately 1,864 should not be determined to be critical There also may be circumstances in kilometers (1,158 miles) of river and habitat as provided by section 4 of the which we would withhold from the stream channels as critical habitat. Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), including rulemaking record a respondent’s Proposed critical habitat includes whether the benefit of designation will identity, as allowable by law. If you portions of the Econfina Creek drainage outweigh any threats to the species due wish us to withhold your name or in Florida, the Apalachicola— to designation; address, you must state this Chattahoochee—Flint River drainage in (2) Specific information on the prominently at the beginning of your Alabama, Florida, and Georgia, the amount and distribution of habitat for comment, but you should be aware that Ochlockonee River drainage in Florida the seven mussels, including areas the Service may be required to disclose and Georgia, and the Suwannee River occupied by the seven mussels at the your name and address pursuant to the drainage in Florida. time of listing and containing the Freedom of Information Act. However, DATES: We will accept comments from features essential to the conservation of we will not consider anonymous all interested parties until August 7, the species, and areas not occupied at comments. We will make all 2006. We must receive requests for the time of listing that are essential to submissions from organizations or public hearings, in writing, at the the conservation of the species; businesses, and from individuals address shown in the ADDRESSES section (3) Whether the middle section of the identifying themselves as by July 21, 2006. Flint River complex, between the representatives or officials of confluence of Gum Creek and the organizations or businesses, available ADDRESSES: If you wish to comment, confluence of Auchumpkee/ for public inspection in their entirety. you may submit your comments and Ulcohatchee Creek, has the Primary Comments and materials received will materials concerning this proposal by Constituent Elements for the mussels, is be available for public inspection, by any one of the following methods: occupied by the mussels, or is essential appointment, during normal business 1. You may submit written comments to the conservation of the mussels; hours at the above address. and information to the Field Supervisor, (4) Land use designations and current Role of Critical Habitat in Actual U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1601 or planned activities in the subject areas Practice of Administering and Balboa Avenue, Panama City, Florida and their possible impacts on proposed Implementing the Act 32405. critical habitat; 2. You may hand-deliver written (5) Any foreseeable economic, Attention to and protection of habitat comments to our office, at the above national security, or other potential is paramount to successful conservation address. impacts resulting from the proposed actions. The role that designation of 3. You may send comments by designation and, in particular, any critical habitat plays in protecting electronic mail (e-mail) to impacts on small entities; and habitat of listed species, however, is [email protected]. Please (6) Whether our approach to often misunderstood. There are see the ‘‘Public Comments Solicited’’ designating critical habitat could be significant limitations on the regulatory section under SUPPLEMENTARY improved or modified in any way to effect of designation under Act section INFORMATION for file format and other provide for greater public participation 7(a)(2). In brief, (1) designation provides information about electronic filing. and understanding, or to assist us in additional protection to habitat only 4. You may fax your comments to accommodating public concerns and where there is a Federal nexus; (2) the 850–763–2177. comments. protection is relevant only when, in the VerDate Aug<31>2005 17:50 Jun 05, 2006 Jkt 208001 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 4701 Sfmt 4702 E:\FR\FM\06JNP3.SGM 06JNP3 sroberts on PROD1PC70 with PROPOSALS Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 108 / Tuesday, June 6, 2006 / Proposed Rules 32747 absence of designation, destruction or controversial. The current statutory of preparation and publication of the adverse modification of the critical framework of critical habitat, combined designation, the analysis of the habitat would in fact take place (in other with past judicial interpretations of the economic effects and the cost of words, other statutory or regulatory statute, make critical habitat the subject requesting and responding to public protections, policies, or other factors of excessive litigation. As a result, comment, and in some cases the costs relevant to agency decision-making critical habitat designations are driven of compliance with the National would not prevent the destruction or by litigation and courts rather than Environmental Policy Act (NEPA; 42 adverse modification); and (3) biology, and made at a time and under U.S.C. 4371 et seq.). These costs, which designation of critical habitat triggers a time frame that limits our ability to are not required for many other the prohibition of destruction or adverse obtain and evaluate the scientific and conservation actions, directly reduce the modification of that habitat, but it does other information required to make the funds available for direct and tangible not require specific actions to restore or designation most meaningful. conservation actions. improve habitat. In light of these circumstances, the Currently, only 475 species, or 36 Service believes that additional agency Background percent of the 1,311 listed species in the discretion would allow our focus to In this proposed rule, we intend to U.S. under the jurisdiction of the return to those actions that provide the discuss only information about the Service, have designated critical habitat. greatest benefit to the species most in seven mussels that is directly relevant to We address the habitat needs of all need of protection. the designation of critical habitat. For 1,311 listed species through more information about these seven Procedural and Resource Difficulties in conservation mechanisms such as mussels, please refer to our final