[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 118 (Wednesday, June 23, 2021)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 32857-32859]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-13290]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
50 CFR Part 17
[Docket No. FWS-R1-ES-2020-0079; FF09E22000 FXES11130900000 212]
RIN 1018-BE02
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Reclassification
of the Hawaiian Stilt From Endangered to Threatened With a Section 4(d)
Rule
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Proposed rule; reopening of comment period, and announcement of
a public informational meeting and public hearing.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), recently
proposed to reclassify the Hawaiian stilt (Himantopus mexicanus
knudseni) from an endangered species to a threatened
[[Page 32858]]
species with a rule issued under section 4(d) of the Endangered Species
Act of 1973 (Act), as amended. We are reopening the proposed rule
comment period to give all interested parties an additional opportunity
to comment on the proposed rule. We also announce a public
informational meeting and public hearing on the proposed rule. Comments
previously submitted need not be resubmitted as they are already
incorporated into the public record and will be fully considered in the
final rule.
DATES: Comment submission: The comment period on the proposed rule that
published March 25, 2021 (86 FR 15855), is reopened. We will accept
comments received or postmarked on or before July 23, 2021. Comments
submitted electronically using the Federal eRulemaking Portal (see
ADDRESSES, below) must be received by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the
closing date.
Public informational meeting and public hearing: On July 7, 2021,
we will hold a public informational meeting from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Hawaii Time, followed by a public hearing from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Hawaii
Time.
ADDRESSES: Availability of documents: You may obtain copies of the
March 25, 2021, proposed rule and associated documents on the internet
at http://www.regulations.gov under Docket No. FWS-R1-ES-2020-0079.
Comment submission: You may submit comments by one of the following
methods:
(1) Electronically: Go to the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. In the Search box, enter FWS-R1-ES-2020-0079,
which is the docket number for the March 25, 2021, proposed rule. Then
click on the Search button. On the resulting page, in the Search panel
on the left side of the screen, under the Document Type heading, click
on the Proposed Rule box to locate this document. You may submit a
comment by clicking on ``Comment Now!''
(2) By hard copy: Submit by U.S. mail to: Public Comments
Processing, Attn: Docket No. FWS-R1-ES-2020-0079, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, MS: PRB/3W, 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA
22041-3803.
We request that you send comments only by the methods described
above. We will post all comments on http://www.regulations.gov. This
generally means that we will post any personal information you provide
us (see Public Comments, below, for more information).
Public informational meeting and public hearing: The public
informational meeting and the public hearing will be held virtually
using the Zoom platform. See Public Hearing, below, for more
information.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Greg Koob, Deputy Field Supervisor for
Programmatic Operations, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Pacific
Islands Fish and Wildlife Office, 300 Ala Moana Boulevard, Room 3-123,
Honolulu, HI 96850; telephone 808-792-9449. Persons who use a
telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Relay
Service at 800-877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On March 25, 2021, we published a proposed rule (86 FR 15855) to
reclassify the Hawaiian stilt from endangered to threatened (i.e., to
``downlist'' the species) with a rule issued under section 4(d) of the
Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). The proposed rule opened a 60-day public
comment period, ending May 24, 2021. During the open comment period, we
received a request for a public hearing from the Center for Biological
Diversity. Therefore, we are reopening the comment period on the March
25, 2021, proposed rule and announcing a public informational meeting
and a public hearing to allow the public an additional opportunity to
provide comments on the proposed rule.
For a description of previous Federal actions concerning the
Hawaiian stilt and information on the types of comments that would be
helpful to us in promulgating this rulemaking action, please refer to
the March 25, 2021, proposed rule (86 FR 15855).
Public Comments
If you submit information via http://www.regulations.gov, your
entire submission--including any personal identifying information--will
be posted on the website. If your submission is made via hard copy that
includes personal identifying information, you may request at the top
of your document that we withhold this information from public review.
However, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. We will
post all hardcopy submissions on http://www.regulations.gov. Comments
and materials we receive, as well as supporting documentation we used
in preparing the proposed rule, will be available for public inspection
on http://www.regulations.gov.
Public Hearing
We have scheduled a public informational meeting and public hearing
on our March 25, 2021, proposed rule to downlist the Hawaiian stilt
with a rule issued under section 4(d) of the Act (86 FR 15855). We will
hold the public informational meeting and public hearing on the date
and at the times listed above under Public informational meeting and
public hearing in DATES. We are holding the public informational
meeting and public hearing via the Zoom online video platform and via
teleconference so that participants can attend remotely. For security
purposes, registration is required. To listen and view the meeting and
hearing via Zoom, listen to the meeting and hearing by telephone, or
provide oral public comments at the public hearing via Zoom or by
telephone, you must register. For information on how to register, or if
you encounter problems joining Zoom the day of the meeting, visit
https://www.fws.gov/pacificislands. Registrants will receive the Zoom
link and the telephone number for the public informational meeting and
public hearing. If applicable, interested members of the public not
familiar with the Zoom platform should view the Zoom video tutorials
(https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/206618765-Zoom-video-tutorials) prior to the public informational meeting and public
hearing.
The public hearing will provide interested parties an opportunity
to present verbal testimony (formal, oral comments) regarding the March
25, 2021, proposed rule to downlist the Hawaiian stilt with a rule
issued under section 4(d) of the Act (86 FR 15855). While the public
informational meeting will be an opportunity for dialogue with the
Service, the public hearing is not. The purpose of the public hearing
is to provide a forum for accepting formal verbal testimony, which will
then become part of the record for the proposed rule. In the event
there is a large attendance, the time allotted for verbal testimony may
be limited. Therefore, anyone wishing to provide verbal testimony at
the public hearing is encouraged to provide a prepared written copy of
their statement to us through the Federal eRulemaking Portal or by U.S.
mail (see ADDRESSES, above). There are no limits on the length of
written comments submitted to us. Anyone wishing to provide verbal
testimony at the public hearing must register before the hearing
(https://www.fws.gov/pacificislands). The use of a virtual public
hearing is consistent with our regulations in title 50 of the Code of
Federal Regulations (CFR) at Sec. 424.16(c)(3) (50 CFR 424.16(c)(3)).
[[Page 32859]]
Reasonable Accommodation
The Service is committed to providing access to the public
informational meeting and public hearing for all participants. Closed
captioning will be available during the public informational meeting
and public hearing. Further, a full audio and video recording and
transcript of the public hearing will be posted online at https://www.fws.gov/pacificislands after the hearing. Participants will also
have access to live audio during the public informational meeting and
public hearing via their telephone or computer speakers. Persons with
disabilities requiring reasonable accommodations to participate in the
meeting and/or hearing should contact the person listed under FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT at least 5 business days prior to the date
of the meeting and hearing to help ensure availability. An accessible
version of the Service's public informational meeting presentation will
also be posted online at https://www.fws.gov/pacificislands prior to
the meeting and hearing (see DATES, above). See https://www.fws.gov/pacificislands for more information about reasonable accommodation.
Authors
The primary author of this document is Ecological Services staff of
the Interior-Region 9/12 Regional Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, Portland, Oregon.
Authority
The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act of
1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).
Signing Authority
The Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, approved this
document and authorized the undersigned to sign and submit the document
to the Office of the Federal Register for publication electronically as
an official document of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Martha
Williams, Principal Deputy Director Exercising the Delegated Authority
of the Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, approved this document
on June 21, 2021, for publication.
Anissa Craghead,
Acting Regulations and Policy Chief, Division of Policy, Economics,
Risk Management, and Analytics, Joint Administrative Operations, U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2021-13290 Filed 6-22-21; 8:45 am]
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