76302 Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 229 / Friday, November 27, 2020 / Proposed Rules DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE required fields, and enter or attach your Background comments. We listed twenty coral species as National Oceanic and Atmospheric Instructions: You must submit threatened under the ESA effective Administration comments by the above to ensure that October 10, 2014 (79 FR 53851, we receive, document, and consider September 10, 2014). Five of the corals 50 CFR Parts 223 and 226 them. Comments sent by any other occur in the Caribbean: Orbicella [Docket No. 200918–0250] method or received after the end of the annularis, O. faveolata, O. franksi, comment period, may not be Dendrogyra cylindrus, and RIN 0648–BG26 considered. All comments received are Mycetophyllia ferox. The final listing a part of the public record and will determinations were all based on the Endangered and Threatened Species; generally be posted to http:// best scientific and commercial Critical Habitat for the Threatened www.regulations.gov without change. information available on a suite of Caribbean Corals All Personal Identifying Information (for demographic, spatial, and susceptibility example, name, address, etc.) components that influence the species’ AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries vulnerability to extinction in the face of Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and voluntarily submitted by the commenter continuing threats over the foreseeable Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), may be publicly accessible. Do not future. All of the species had undergone Commerce. submit Confidential Business Information or otherwise sensitive or population declines and are susceptible ACTION: Proposed rule; request for protected information. to multiple threats, including: Ocean comments. NMFS will accept anonymous warming, diseases, ocean acidification, ecological effects of fishing, and land- SUMMARY: We, NMFS, propose to comments (enter ‘‘N/A’’ in the required based sources of pollution. However, designate critical habitat for the fields if you wish to remain aspects of the species’ demography and threatened Caribbean corals: Orbicella anonymous). annularis, O. faveolata, O. franksi, distribution buffer the effects of the Dendrogyra cylindrus, and FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: threats. We determined that all the Mycetophyllia ferox pursuant to section Jennifer Moore, NMFS, SERO, 727–824– Caribbean coral species are likely to 4 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). 5312, [email protected]; Celeste become endangered throughout all of Twenty-eight mostly overlapping Stout, NMFS, Office of Protected their ranges within a foreseeable future specific occupied areas containing Resources, 301–427–8436, of the next several decades as a result physical features essential to the [email protected]. of a combination of threats, of which the conservation of all these coral species most severe are related to climate SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In change, and we listed them as are being proposed for designation as accordance with section 4(b) of the ESA critical habitat; these areas contain threatened. and our implementing regulations (50 This proposed rule is based on our approximately 15,000 square kilometers CFR 424.12), this proposed rule is based Draft Information Report and peer (km2; 5,900 square miles (mi2)) of on the best scientific information review comments on the report. All of marine habitat. We have considered available concerning the range, biology, the information that we used to make positive and negative economic, habitat, threats to the habitat, and our determinations in this proposed rule national security, and other relevant conservation objectives for the is contained in that report. The Draft impacts of the proposed designations, threatened Caribbean boulder star coral Information Report is available on and we propose to exclude one area (Orbicella franksi), lobed star coral (O. NMFS’s Southeast Regional Office from the critical habitat designations annularis), mountainous star coral (O. website at [https:// due to anticipated impacts on national faveolata), pillar coral (Dendrogyra www.fisheries.noaa.gov/resource/ security. We are soliciting comments cylindrus), and rough cactus coral document/5-caribbean-coral-proposed- from the public on all aspects of the (Mycetophyllia ferox). We have CH-Information-Report and at proposal, including our identification of reviewed the available information and www.regulations.gov, see ADDRESSES]. the geographical area and depths have used it to identify a composite occupied by the species, the physical physical feature essential to the Natural History and biological feature essential to the conservation of each coral, the specific This section summarizes life history coral species’ conservation and areas within the occupied geographical and biological characteristics of the five identification, areas not included and areas that contain the physical essential corals to provide context for the excluded, and consideration of impacts feature that may require special identification of the physical and of the proposed action. management considerations or biological feature essential for the DATES: Comments on this proposal must protections, the Federal activities that conservation of these species. In this be received by January 26, 2021. may impact the proposed critical section, we cover several topic areas, Public hearings: If requested, we will habitat, and the potential impacts of including an introduction to reef- hold at least one public hearing on this designating critical habitat for the building corals, reproduction, proposed rule. corals. The economic, national security, settlement and growth, coral habitat ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, and other relevant impacts of the types, and coral reef ecosystems. The identified by the docket number proposed critical habitat designations amount of information available on the NOAA–NMFS–2020–0131, by any of the are described in the draft document life history, reproductive biology, and following methods: titled, Draft Information Basis and ecology varies for each of the five corals • Electronic Submissions: Submit all Impact Considerations of Critical that occur in U.S. waters of the electronic public comments via the Habitat Designations for Threatened Caribbean. We provide specific Federal eRulemaking Portal. Go to Caribbean Corals (Draft Information information for each species where www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D= Report). This supporting document is possible. In addition, we provide NOAA-NMFS-2020-0131 click the available at www.regulations.gov or information on the biology and ecology ‘‘Comment Now’’ icon, complete the upon request (see ADDRESSES). of Caribbean corals in general, VerDate Sep<11>2014 21:20 Nov 25, 2020 Jkt 253001 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 4701 Sfmt 4702 E:\FR\FM\27NOP3.SGM 27NOP3 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with PROPOSALS3 Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 229 / Friday, November 27, 2020 / Proposed Rules 76303 highlighting traits that these five corals accretion of reef structure, Asexual reproduction in coral species share. The information below is largely characterizing the ‘‘palmata’’ and usually occurs by fragmentation, when summarized from the final listing rule ‘‘cervicornis’’ zones in the classical colony pieces or fragments are (79 FR 53852, September 10, 2014), and descriptions of Caribbean reefs (Goreau, dislodged from larger colonies to updated with the best scientific 1959). The three species (O. annularis, establish new colonies, or by the information available to date. O. faveolata, and O. franski) in the budding of new polyps within a colony. Reef-building corals, in the phylum Orbicella star coral species complex Depending on the mode of Cnidaria, are marine invertebrates that have also been dominant components fertilization, coral larvae (called occur as polyps. The Cnidaria include on Caribbean coral reefs, characterizing planulae) undergo development either true stony corals (class Anthozoa, order the ‘‘buttress zone’’ and ‘‘annularis mostly within the mother colony Scleractinia), the blue coral (class zone.’’ After the die-off of Acropora (brooders) or outside of the mother Anthozoa, order Helioporacea), and fire spp., the star coral species complex colony, adrift in the ocean (broadcast corals (class Hydrozoa, order became the major reef-builder in the spawners). In either mode of larval Milleporina). These species secrete greater Caribbean due to their large size. development, larvae presumably massive calcium carbonate skeletons Most reef-building coral species are experience considerable mortality (up to that form the physical structure of coral colonial, producing colonies made up of 90 percent or more) from predation or reefs. Reef-building coral species polyps that are connected through tissue other factors prior to settlement and collectively produce coral reefs over and skeleton. In a colonial species, a metamorphosis (Goreau et al., 1981). time when growth outpaces erosion. single larva will develop into a discrete Such mortality cannot be directly Corals may also occur on hard substrate unit (the primary polyp) that then observed, but is inferred from the large that is interspersed among other benthic produces modular units of itself (i.e., number of eggs and sperm spawned features (e.g., seagrass beds in the back genetically-identical copies, or clones, versus the much smaller number of reef lagoon) in the coral reef ecosystem, of the primary polyp). Each polyp recruits observed later. Coral larvae are