[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 85 (Thursday, May 4, 2017)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 20861-20863]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-09010]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
50 CFR Part 17
[Docket No. FWS-R2-ES-2017-0018; FXES11130900000 178 FF09E42000]
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 90-Day Finding on
a Petition To Remove the Bone Cave Harvestman From the List of
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of 90-day petition finding.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce a
90-day finding on a petition to remove
[[Page 20862]]
the Bone Cave harvestman (Texella reyesi) from the List of Endangered
and Threatened Wildlife (i.e., ``delist'' the species) under the
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). Based on our review,
we find that the petition does not present substantial scientific or
commercial information indicating that the petitioned action may be
warranted. However, we ask the public to submit to us any new
information that becomes available concerning the status of, or threats
to, the Bone Cave harvestman or its habitat at any time.
DATES: The finding announced in this document was made on May 4, 2017.
ADDRESSES: A copy of the petition is available on http://www.regulations.gov under Docket No. FWS-R2-ES-2017-0018, or by request
from the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Adam Zerrenner, Field Supervisor,
Austin Ecological Services Field Office, 10711 Burnet Road, Suite 200,
Austin, TX 78758; telephone 512-490-0057; or facsimile 512-490-0974. If
you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), please call the
Federal Relay Service at 800-877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Section 4(b)(3)(A) of the Act requires that we make a finding on
whether a petition to list, delist, or reclassify a species presents
substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that the
petitioned action may be warranted. To the maximum extent practicable,
we are to make this finding within 90 days of our receipt of the
petition and publish our notice of the finding promptly in the Federal
Register.
At the time we received the petition discussed below (June 2,
2014), the standard for substantial scientific or commercial
information with regard to this 90-day petition finding was ``that
amount of information that would lead a reasonable person to believe
that the measure proposed in the petition may be warranted'' (50 CFR
424.14(b)). If we find that a petition presents substantial scientific
or commercial information, we are required to promptly commence a
review of the status of the species, and we will subsequently summarize
the status review in our 12-month finding.
Section 4 of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1533) and its implementing
regulations at 50 CFR part 424 set forth the procedures for adding a
species to, or removing a species from, the Federal Lists of Endangered
and Threatened Wildlife and Plants. A species may be delisted for one
of three reasons: Extinction, recovery, or the original data for
classification were in error. A species may be determined to be an
endangered or threatened species for the purpose of listing, or
recovered for the purpose of delisting, as result of an assessment of
the five factors described in section 4(a)(1) of the Act.
Evaluation of a Petition To Delist the Bone Cave Harvestman, Which Is
Listed as an Endangered Species Under the Act
Species and Range
The Bone Cave harvestman (Texella reyesi) occurs in Travis and
Williamson Counties, Texas, and was listed as an endangered species on
September 16, 1988 (53 FR 36029). See 58 FR 43818, August 18, 1993, for
more information.
Petition History
On June 2, 2014, we received a petition from John Yearwood, Kathryn
Heidemann, Charles and Cheryl Shell, the Walter Sidney Shell Management
Trust, the American Stewards of Liberty, and Steven W. Carothers
requesting that we remove the endangered Bone Cave harvestman from the
Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife. The petition
clearly identified itself as a petition and included the requisite
identification information for the petitioners, as required at that
time in 50 CFR 424.14(a). The Service and National Marine Fisheries
Service (``Services'') revised the regulations at 50 CFR 424.14 to
clarify the procedures under which the Services evaluate petitions
effective October 27, 2016 (81 FR 66462; September 27, 2016). We
originally received the petition that is the subject of this document
on June 2, 2014, with supplemental information received on October 6,
2016. We, therefore, evaluated this petition under the 50 CFR 424.14
requirements that were in effect prior to October 27, 2016, as those
requirements applied when the petition and supplemental information
were received. At that time, our standard for substantial scientific or
commercial information within the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)
with regard to a 90-day petition finding was ``that amount of
information that would lead a reasonable person to believe that the
measure proposed in the petition may be warranted'' (50 CFR
424.14(b)(1)). On June 1, 2015, the Service published a 90-day finding
in the Federal Register (80 FR 30990) that the petition did not present
substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that the
petitioned action was warranted. On December 15, 2015, the American
Stewards of Liberty, Charles and Cheryl Shell, Walter Sidney Shell
Management Trust, Kathryn Heidemann, and Robert V. Harrison, Sr.,
challenged the June 1, 2015, 90-day finding in Federal district court.
The Service sought the court's permission to reconsider the 90-day
finding. On December 22, 2016, the court ordered the Service to
complete a 90-day finding and deliver that finding to the Federal
Register on or before March 31, 2017, and subsequently extended to May
1, 2017. This finding addresses the court's order and the 2014
petition.
Recently, we began publishing multiple 90-day petition findings in
a single, batched Federal Register notice and using a template format
for supplementary information for each finding, to ensure consistency
and transparency among findings. We are providing the supporting
information for this finding in both the former single-petition Federal
Register notice format that was used for the prior finding, and the new
batched-notice template format. Both of these rely on identical
information and can be found along with this Federal Register notice at
Docket No. FWS-R2-ES-2017-0018. The prior traditional Federal Register
notice also includes some additional information not included in the
petition review form with respect to information such as
representation, redundancy, and resilience.
Finding
Based on our review of the petition, sources cited in the petition,
and the additional information provided, we find that the petition does
not present substantial scientific or commercial information indicating
that delisting the Bone Cave harvestman may be warranted. Although this
finding ends our formal consideration of the petition, we are in the
process of conducting a species status assessment and 5-year status
review of the Bone Cave harvestman. Specifically, section 4(c)(2)(A) of
the Act requires us to review each listed species' status at least once
every 5 years. On April 15, 2015, we published a notice in the Federal
Register initiating this review (80 FR 20241). The purpose of a 5-year
review is to ensure that listed species have the appropriate level of
protection under the Act. In this case, we are developing a species
status assessment as a tool to inform the 5-year status review. The 5-
year review will consider whether the species' status has changed since
the time of its listing or its last status review and whether it should
be reclassified as threatened or delisted. We invite the public,
including the petitioners and
[[Page 20863]]
other interested parties, to submit new data and information for
consideration in this ongoing process.
The basis for our finding on this petition, and other information
regarding our review of this petition can be found as an appendix at
http://www.regulations.gov under Docket No. FWS-R2-ES-2017-0018 in the
Supporting Documents section. This 90-day finding supersedes the
Service's previous June 1, 2015, 90-day finding, and is made pursuant
to the court's December 22, 2016, order; the 2014 petition; and the
additional reference materials accompanying the petition.
References Cited
A complete list of references cited is available on the Internet at
http://www.regulations.gov and upon request from the Austin Ecological
Services Field Office (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, above).
Authors
The primary authors of this notice are staff members of the Austin
Ecological Services Field Office.
Authority
The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act of
1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).
Dated: March 20, 2017.
James W. Kurth,
Acting Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2017-09010 Filed 5-3-17; 8:45 am]
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