[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 213 (Monday, November 4, 2013)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 65936-65938]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-26332]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
50 CFR Part 17
[Docket Nos. FWS-R6-ES-2011-0111; FWS-R6-ES-2012-0108; 4500030114]
RIN 1018-AZ20; RIN 1018-AX71
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Proposed
Endangered Status for Gunnison Sage-Grouse and Proposed Designation of
Critical Habitat for Gunnison Sage-Grouse
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Proposed rule; reopening of comment period; announcement of
public hearings.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the
reopening of the public comment periods on our January 11, 2013,
proposed rules to list the Gunnison sage-grouse (Centrocercus minimus)
as endangered and to designate critical habitat for the species under
the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). In addition, we
announce the rescheduling of two public informational sessions and
public hearings for both the proposed listing and proposed critical
habitat rules, and the addition of a third public informational session
and public hearing. We are reopening the comment periods to allow all
interested parties an additional opportunity to comment on the proposed
listing and the proposed designation of critical habitat, and to
comment on the proposed critical habitat's associated draft economic
analysis (DEA), draft environmental assessment (EA), and amended
required determinations section. Comments previously submitted need not
be resubmitted, as they will be fully considered in preparation of the
final rules.
DATES: Comment submission: We will consider comments received or
postmarked on or before December 2, 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.
Public informational sessions and public hearings: We will hold
three public informational sessions followed by public hearings on the
following dates:
November 19, 2013, from 4:00-9:00 p.m., including an
information session
[[Page 65937]]
from 4:00-5:00 p.m., a break, and a public hearing from 6:00-9:00 p.m.;
and
November 20, 2013, from 4:00-9:00 p.m., including an
information session from 4:00-5:00 p.m., a break, and a public hearing
from 6:00-9:00 p.m.; and
November 21, 2013, from 4:00-9:00 p.m., including an
information session from 4:00-5:00 p.m., a break, and a public hearing
from 6:00-9:00 p.m.
See the ADDRESSES section, below, for information on where these public
informational sessions and public hearings will be held.
ADDRESSES:
Document availability: You may obtain copies of the January 11,
2013, proposed rules on the Internet at http://www.regulations.gov at
Docket No. FWS-R6-ES-2012-0108 for the proposed listing, and at Docket
No. FWS-R6-ES-2011-0111 for the proposed designation of critical
habitat. You may obtain a copy of the draft economic analysis and the
draft environmental assessment at Docket No. FWS-R6-ES-2011-0111.
Alternately, you may obtain a copy of either proposed rule, the draft
economic analysis, or the draft environmental assessment at http://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/species/birds/gunnisonsagegrouse/ or by
mail from the Western Colorado Field 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. Submit comments on the listing proposal to Docket
No. FWS-R6-ES-2012-0108, and submit comments on the critical habitat
proposal and associated draft economic analysis and draft environmental
assessment to Docket No. FWS-R6-ES-2011-0111.
(2) By hard copy: Submit comments on the listing proposal by U.S.
mail or hand-delivery to: Public Comments Processing, Attn: FWS-R6-ES-
2012-0108; Division of Policy and Directives Management; U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service; 4401 N. Fairfax Drive, MS 2042-PDM; Arlington, VA
22203. Submit comments on the critical habitat proposal, draft economic
analysis, and draft environmental assessment by U.S. mail or hand-
delivery to: Public Comments Processing, Attn: FWS-R6-ES-2011-0111;
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 comments on http://www.regulations.gov. This
generally means that we will post any personal information you provide
us (see the Public Comments section below for more information).
Public informational sessions and public hearings:
The November 19, 2013, public informational session and public
hearing will be held at Western State Colorado University, University
Center, 600 N. Adams Street in Gunnison, Colorado.
The November 20, 2013, public informational session and public
hearing will be held at the Holiday Inn Express, 1391 S. Townsend
Avenue in Montrose, Colorado.
The November 21, 2013, public informational session and public
hearing will be held at Monticello High School Auditorium, 164 South
200 West in Monticello, Utah.
People needing reasonable accommodations in order to attend and
participate in the public hearing should contact Patty Gelatt, Western
Colorado Supervisor, Western Colorado Field Office, as soon as possible
(see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patty Gelatt, Western Colorado
Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Western Colorado Field
Office, 764 Horizon Drive, Building B, Grand Junction, CO 81506-3946;
by telephone (970-243-2778); or by facsimile (970-245-6933). Persons
who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the
Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 800-877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Previous Federal Actions
On January 11, 2013, we published a proposed rule to list the
Gunnison sage-grouse as endangered (78 FR 2486) and a proposed rule to
designate critical habitat for the Gunnison sage-grouse (78 FR 2540).
We proposed to designate as critical habitat approximately 1,704,227
acres (689,675 hectares) in seven units located in Chaffee, Delta,
Dolores, Gunnison, Hinsdale, Mesa, Montrose, Ouray, Saguache, and San
Miguel Counties in Colorado, and in Grand and San Juan Counties in
Utah. Those proposals initially had a 60-day comment period, ending
March 12, 2013, but we extended the comment period by an additional 21
days, through April 2, 2013 (78 FR 15925, March 13, 2013). On July 19,
2013, we published a document announcing that we were extending the
timeline for making final determinations on both proposed rules by 6
months due to scientific disagreement, and we reopened the public
comment period to seek additional information to clarify the issues in
question (78 FR 43123). In accordance with that July 19, 2013,
publication, we will submit for publication in the Federal Register a
final listing determination and a final critical habitat designation
for Gunnison sage-grouse on or before March 31, 2014.
On September 19, 2013, we reopened the comment period on these
proposals for 30 days, and announced the availability of a DEA, a draft
EA, and an amended required determinations section for our proposal to
designate critical habitat for the Gunnison sage-grouse (78 FR 57604).
In that document, we also announced two public information sessions and
public hearings to be held in Gunnison, Colorado, and Monticello, Utah,
on October 7 and 8, 2013. However, due to a lapse in government
appropriations from October 1-16, 2013, these meetings and hearings
were postponed. Therefore, this document serves to reschedule those
meetings and public hearings, add an additional meeting and public
hearing, and reopen the public comment period.
Public Comments
We will accept written comments and information during this comment
period on: (1) Our proposed listing determination for the Gunnison
sage-grouse that published in the Federal Register on January 11, 2013
(78 FR 2486); (2) our proposed designation of critical habitat for the
Gunnison sage-grouse that published in the Federal Register on January
11, 2013 (78 FR 2540); (3) our DEA of the proposed critical habitat
designation, which was made available on September 19, 2013 (78 FR
57604); (4) our draft EA of the proposed critical habitat designation,
which was made available on September 19, 2013 (78 FR 57604); (5) the
amended required determinations provided in our September 19, 2013,
Federal Register document (78 FR 57604) for the proposed critical
habitat designation; and (6) the issues raised in our July 19, 2013,
Federal Register publication (78 FR 43123) regarding scientific
disagreement about the species. We will consider information and
recommendations from all interested parties.
We request that you provide comments specifically on our listing
determination under Docket No. FWS-R6-ES-2012-0108.
We request that you provide comments specifically on the critical
habitat determination and related DEA
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and draft EA under Docket No. FWS-R6-ES-2011-0111.
For additional details on specific information we are requesting
during this public comment period, please see the Public Comments
section in our September 19, 2013, Federal Register document (78 FR
57604), which reopened the previous comment period.
Authors
The primary authors of this document are the staff members of the
Regional Office and Western Colorado Field Office, Mountain-Prairie
Region, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Authority
The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act of
1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).
Dated: October 28, 2013.
Rachel Jacobsen,
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks.
[FR Doc. 2013-26332 Filed 11-1-13; 8:45 am]
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