Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Proposed Determination of Critical Habitat for Wintering Piping Plovers

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) proposes to designate 146 areas along the coasts of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas as critical habitat for the wintering population of the piping plover (Charadrius melodus). This includes approximately 2,691 kilometers (1,672 miles) of shoreline along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts and along margins of interior bays, inlets, and lagoons. The population of piping plovers that breeds in the Great Lakes States is listed as endangered, while all other piping plovers are threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). All piping plovers are considered threatened species under the Act when on their wintering grounds. Critical habitat identifies specific areas that are essential to the conservation of a listed species, and that may require special management considerations or protection. The primary constituent elements for the piping plover are those habitat components that are essential for the primary biological needs of foraging, sheltering, and roosting. This proposed rule, if made final, would result in additional review requirements under section 7 of the Act. Federal agencies may not fund, authorize, license, permit, or carry out an action that would destroy or adversely modify critical habitat. Section 4 of the Act requires us to consider economic and other impacts of specifying any particular area as critical habitat. We solicit data and comments from the public on all aspects of this proposal, including data on the economic and other impacts of the designation. We may revise this proposal to incorporate or address new information received during the comment period.