[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 15 (Wednesday, January 23, 2013)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 4812-4813]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-01155]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
50 CFR Part 17
[Docket No. FWS-R8-ES-2011-0063: FXES11130900000-134-FF09E32000]
RIN 1018-AV29
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Removal of the
Valley Elderberry Longhorn Beetle From the Federal List of Endangered
and Threatened Wildlife
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Proposed rule; reopening of public comment.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the
reopening of the public comment period on our October 2, 2012, 12-month
petition finding and proposed rule to remove the valley elderberry
longhorn beetle (Desmocerus californicus dimorphus) from the List of
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife. The 60-day comment period for our
proposed rule ended on December 3, 2012. This notice announces a 30-day
reopening of the comment period to allow all interested parties an
additional opportunity to comment on the proposed rule and to submit
information on the status of the species. If you submitted comments
previously, you do not need to resubmit them because we have already
incorporated them into the public record and will fully consider them
in preparation of the final rule.
DATES: We will consider all comments received or postmarked on or
before February 22, 2013. Comments submitted electronically using the
Federal eRulemaking Portal (see ADDRESSES section, below) must be
received by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the closing date.
ADDRESSES: Document availability: You may obtain copies of the proposed
rule and related documents on the Internet at http://www.regulations.gov under Docket Number FWS-R8-ES-2011-0063, or by mail
from the Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office (see FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT).
Comment submission: You may submit written 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-R8-ES-2011-0063,
which is the docket number for this rulemaking. On the search results
page, under the Comment Period heading in the menu on the left side of
your screen, check the box next to ``Open'' to locate this document.
Please ensure you have found the correct document before submitting
your comments. If your comments will fit in the provided comment box,
please use this feature of http://www.regulations.gov, as it is most
compatible with our comment review procedures. If you attach your
comments as a separate document, our preferred file format is Microsoft
Word. If you attach multiple comments (such as form letters), our
preferred format is a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.
(2) By Hard Copy: Submit by U.S. mail or hand-delivery to: Public
Comments Processing, Attn: FWS-R8-ES-2011-0063; Division of Policy and
Directives Management; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; 4401 N. Fairfax
Drive, MS 2042-PDM; Arlington, VA 22203.
We request that you send comments only by the methods described
above. We will post all information received on http://www.regulations.gov. This generally means that we will post any
personal information you provide us (see Public Comments in
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for more information).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jan Knight, Deputy Field Supervisor,
Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office, 2800 Cottage Way, Suite W-2605,
Sacramento, CA 95825; telephone 916-414-6600; facsimile 916-414-6712.
If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), call the
Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 800-877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Public Comments
We will accept written comments and information during this
reopened comment period on our October 2, 2012, 12-month finding and
proposed rule to remove the valley elderberry longhorn beetle from the
List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife, and to remove the
designation of critical habitat (77 FR 60237). For more information on
the specific information we are seeking, please see the October 2,
2012, proposed rule. You may obtain copies of the proposed rule and
related documents on the Internet at http://www.regulations.gov under
Docket Number FWS-R8-ES-2011-0063, or by mail from the Sacramento Fish
and Wildlife Office (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
You may submit your comments and materials concerning the proposed
rule by one of the methods listed in ADDRESSES. We will not accept
comments sent by email or fax, or to an address not listed in
ADDRESSES. If you submit a comment via http://www.regulations.gov, your
entire comment--including your personal identifying information--will
be posted on the Web site. If you submit a hardcopy comment 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 comments on http://www.regulations.gov.
All comments for this reopening of the public comment period must
be received or postmarked on or before the date shown in DATES.
Comments previously submitted need not be resubmitted, as they will be
fully considered in preparation of the final rule. We intend that any
final action resulting from this proposal be as accurate as possible
and based on the
[[Page 4813]]
best available scientific and commercial data. We will consider
information and recommendations from all interested parties. Your
comments are part of the public record, and we will fully consider them
in the preparation of our final determination.
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, or by appointment,
during normal business hours, at the Sacramento Fish and Wildlife
Office (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
Background
On October 2, 2012 (77 FR 60237), we published, in the Federal
Register, a combined 12-month finding and proposed rule to remove the
valley elderberry longhorn beetle from the List of Endangered and
Threatened Wildlife, and to remove the designation of critical habitat.
That proposal had a 60-day comment period, ending December 3, 2012. We
have not received any requests for a public hearing; therefore, no
public hearings are planned at this time.
Peer Review
In accordance with our joint policy on peer review published in the
Federal Register on July 1, 1994 (59 FR 34270), we subjected the
proposed rule to peer review. This peer review will be provided to the
Service during this reopened public comment period, and once available,
we will post the peer review comments online at http://www.regulations.gov under Docket Number FWS-R8-ES-2011-0063.
We will consider all comments and information provided by the
public and peer reviewers during this comment period in preparation of
a final determination on our proposed delisting. Accordingly, the final
decision may differ from our proposal.
Authority
The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act of
1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).
Dated: December 31, 2012.
Rowan W. Gould,
Acting Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2013-01155 Filed 1-22-13; 8:45 am]
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