Thursday, December 13, 2007 Part VI Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service 50 CFR Part 17 Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 12-Month Finding on a Petition To List the Jollyville Plateau salamander (Eurycea tonkawae) as Endangered With Critical Habitat; Proposed Rule VerDate Aug<31>2005 17:48 Dec 12, 2007 Jkt 214001 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 4717 Sfmt 4717 E:\FR\FM\13DEP5.SGM 13DEP5 jlentini on PROD1PC65 with PROPOSALS5 71040 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 239 / Thursday, December 13, 2007 / Proposed Rules DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Background February 13, 2007, we published a 90- Section 4(b)(3)(B) of the Act (16 day petition finding (72 FR 6699) in Fish and Wildlife Service U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) requires that, for which we concluded that the petition any petition to revise the Lists of presented substantial information 50 CFR Part 17 Endangered and Threatened Wildlife indicating that listing may be warranted. and Plants that contains substantial This notice constitutes the 12-month Endangered and Threatened Wildlife finding on the June 10, 2005, petition to and Plants; 12-Month Finding on a scientific and commercial information indicating that listing may be warranted, list the Jollyville Plateau salamander as Petition To List the Jollyville Plateau endangered. salamander (Eurycea tonkawae) as we make a finding within 12 months of Endangered With Critical Habitat the date of our receipt of the petition on Taxonomy and Species Description whether the petitioned action is: (a) Not The Jollyville Plateau salamander was AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, warranted, (b) warranted, or (c) recently described as Eurycea tonkawae Interior. warranted, but the immediate proposal by Chippendale, et al. (2000, pp. 1–48), ACTION: Notice of 12-month petition of a regulation implementing the based on morphology and finding. petitioned action is precluded by other mitochondrial DNA tests. The Jollyville pending proposals to determine whether Plateau salamander is a neotenic (does SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and any species is threatened or endangered. not transform into a terrestrial form) Wildlife Service (Service), announce a Such 12-month findings are to be member of the family Plethodontidae. 12-month finding on a petition to list published promptly in the Federal As neotenic salamanders, they retain the Jollyville Plateau salamander Register. Section 4(b)(3)(C) of the Act external gills and inhabit aquatic (Eurycea tonkawae) as endangered and requires that we treat a petition for habitats (springs, spring-runs, and wet to designate critical habitat under the which the requested action is found to caves) throughout their lives (City of Endangered Species Act of 1973, as be warranted but precluded as though Austin (COA) 2001, p. 3). Water for the amended (Act). After review of all resubmitted on the date of such finding, salamanders is provided by infiltration available scientific and commercial and we must make a subsequent finding of surface water through the soil into the information, we find that listing the within 12 months. aquifer which discharges from springs Jollyville Plateau salamander as Previous Federal Action as groundwater (Schram 1995, p. 91). threatened or endangered is warranted. Juvenile Jollyville Plateau salamanders Currently, however, listing of the On June 13, 2005, we received a are less than 1.5 inches (3.8 Jollyville Plateau salamander is petition, dated June 10, 2005, from Save centimeters); adults are typically 1.5 to precluded by higher priority actions to Our Springs Alliance (SOSA), 2 inches ( 3.8–5 centimeters) long (COA amend the Lists of Endangered and requesting that the Jollyville Plateau 2001a, p. 5). Those salamanders Threatened Wildlife and Plants. Upon salamander (Eurycea tonkawae) be occurring in spring habitat have large, publication of this 12-month petition listed as an endangered species in well-developed eyes; wide, yellowish finding, we will add Jollyville Plateau accordance with section 4 of the Act. heads; blunt, rounded snouts; dark salamander to our candidate species list. Action on this petition was precluded greenish-brown bodies; and bright We will develop a proposed rule to list by court orders and settlement yellowish-orange tails (Chippendale, et this species as our priorities allow. We agreements for other listing actions that al. 2000, pp. 33–34). Some cave forms will make any determination on critical required all of our listing funds for fiscal of Jollyville Plateau salamanders exhibit habitat during development of the year 2005 and a substantial portion of cave-associated morphologies, such as proposed listing rule. our listing funds for fiscal year 2006. On eye reduction, flattening of the head, DATES: We made the finding announced September 29, 2005, we received a 60- and dullness or loss of color in this document on December 13, 2007. day notice of intent to sue from SOSA (Chippendale, et al. 2000, p. 37). ADDRESSES: The supporting file for this for failing to make a timely 90-day Genetic analysis suggests that finding is available for public finding. On December 1, 2005, we sent Jollyville Plateau salamanders occurring inspection, by appointment, during a letter to SOSA informing them that we in caves may actually be separate normal business hours at the Austin would not likely make a petition finding species from the surface-dwelling forms, Ecological Services Office, U.S. Fish and during fiscal year 2006 due to higher but more study is needed to confirm Wildlife Service, 10711 Burnet Road, priority actions. this, because sample sizes from the Suite 200, Austin, TX 78758. The Subsequently, in fiscal year 2006, caves were small (Chippendale, et al. finding is available via the Internet at funding became available to act on the 2000, pp. 36–37). For the purposes of www.fws.gov/endangered/. Please petition. We began working on the 90- this finding, we are considering all of submit any new information, materials, day finding at that time. On August 10, the Jollyville Plateau salamanders comments, or questions concerning this 2006, SOSA filed a complaint against described in Chippendale, et al. (2000, finding to the above address or via the Service for failure to issue a 90-day pp. 32–37) as one species. petition finding under section 4 of the electronic mail (e-mail) at Distribution [email protected]. Act for the Jollyville Plateau salamander. In our December 11, 2006, The Jollyville Plateau salamander FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: motion for summary judgment, we occurs in the Jollyville Plateau and Adam Zerrenner, Field Supervisor, informed the court that based on current Brushy Creek areas of the Edwards Austin Ecological Services Office (see funding and workload projections, we Plateau in Travis and Williamson ADDRESSES); by telephone at 512–490– believed that we could complete a 90- Counties, Texas (Chippendale, et al. 0057; or by facsimile at 512–490–0974. day finding by February 6, 2007, and if 2000, pp. 35–36; Bowles, et al. 2006, p. Persons who use a telecommunications we determined that the petition 112; Sweet 1982, p. 433). Upon device for the deaf (TDD) may call the provided substantial scientific or classification as a species, Jollyville Federal Information Relay Service commercial information, we could make Plateau salamanders were known from (FIRS) at 800–877–8339. a 12-month warranted or not warranted Brushy Creek and, within the Jollyville SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: finding by December 1, 2007. On Plateau, from Bull Creek, Cypress Creek, VerDate Aug<31>2005 17:48 Dec 12, 2007 Jkt 214001 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 4701 Sfmt 4702 E:\FR\FM\13DEP5.SGM 13DEP5 jlentini on PROD1PC65 with PROPOSALS5 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 239 / Thursday, December 13, 2007 / Proposed Rules 71041 Long Hollow Creek, Shoal Creek, and within the subsurface habitat (COA in a substantial negative response by the Walnut Creek drainages (Chippendale, 2001a, pp. 65–66). species overall. In addition, State et al. 2000, p. 36). Since it was regulations and local ordinances Biology described, the Jollyville Plateau intended to protect water quality salamander has been documented Jollyville Plateau salamander breeding integrity are not currently adequate to within the Lake Creek watershed (COA events have not been observed. Eggs prevent habitat degradation in the 2006, p. 1). have also not been observed in or aquatic environments occupied by the Cave dwelling Jollyville Plateau around springs or in spring runs, salamander (Factor D). salamanders are known from 1 cave in indicating egg laying and early the Cypress Creek drainage and 12 caves development likely occurs in the Factor A. The Present or Threatened in the Buttercup Creek cave system in subsurface aquifer (COA 2001a, p. 4). Destruction, Modification, or the Brushy Creek drainage Bowles, et al. (2006, p. 114) observed Curtailment of the Species’ Habitat or (Chippendale, et al. 2000, p. 49; Russell gravid females (those with eggs visible Range 1993, p. 21; Service 1999, p. 6; HNTB through the abdominal wall) between 2005, p. 60). While the entrances to November and February and noted the Habitat modification, in the form of these caves are located within particular number of juvenile salamanders was degraded water quality, is the primary watersheds, the subsurface waters could higher from March to August. In an threat to the Jollyville Plateau move in a different direction from the effort to learn more about the salamander. The range of the surface waters. For example, dyes reproductive biology of Jollyville salamander is largely within the urban injected into three of the Buttercup Plateau salamander, the City of Austin environment of the Austin, Texas, Creek caves later surfaced at one spring collected salamanders from the wild to metropolitan area (Cole 1995, p. 28; (proving subsurface connection of these start a captive breeding program (COA COA 2006, pp. 45–50). Urban caves) to the south in the Long Hollow 2006, pp.