[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 20 (Tuesday, January 31, 2023)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 6220-6222]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-01139]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
50 CFR Part 17
[Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2021-0162; FF09E22000 FXES1113090FEDR 223]
RIN 1018-BF54
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Removal of the
Puerto Rican Boa From the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened
Wildlife
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
[[Page 6221]]
ACTION: Proposed rule; reopening of comment period and announcement of
public hearing.
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SUMMARY: On July 13, 2022, we, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(Service), proposed to delist the Puerto Rican boa (Chilabothrus
inornatus, but listed as Epicrates inornatus), an endemic snake from
Puerto Rico. We announced a 60-day public comment period on the
proposed rule, ending September 12, 2022. We are reopening the comment
period for 30 days to hold a public hearing and to allow all interested
parties additional time to comment on our proposal. Comments previously
submitted will be fully considered in preparation of the final rule and
do not need to be resubmitted.
DATES:
Comment submission: We will accept comments received or postmarked
on or before March 2, 2023. Please note that 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,
and comments submitted by U.S. mail must be postmarked by that date to
ensure consideration.
Public hearing: On February 16, 2023, we will hold a public hearing
from 6 to 7:30 p.m., eastern time, using the Zoom platform (for more
information, see Public Hearing, below).
ADDRESSES: Availability of documents: You may obtain copies of the July
13, 2022, proposed rule and associated documents on the internet at
https://www.regulations.gov under Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2021-0162.
Written comments: You may submit written comments by one of the
following methods:
(1) Electronically: Go to the Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. In the Search box, enter FWS-R4-ES-2021-0162,
which is the docket number for this rulemaking. 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.'' Please ensure you have located the correct
document before submitting your comments.
(2) By hard copy: Submit by U.S. mail to: Public Comments
Processing, Attn: FWS-R4-ES-2021-0162, 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 https://www.regulations.gov. This
generally means that we will post any personal information you provide
us (see Public Comments, below, for more information).
Public hearing: Interested parties may present verbal testimony
(formal, oral comments) at a public hearing, which will be held
virtually using the Zoom platform. See Public Hearing, below, for more
information.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Edwin Mu[ntilde]iz, Field Supervisor,
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Caribbean Ecological Services Field
Office, P.O. Box 491, Boquer[oacute]n, PR 00622; email:
Caribbean_es@fws.gov; telephone: (787) 405-3641. Individuals in the
United States who are deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a
speech disability may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access
telecommunications relay services. Individuals outside the United
States should use the relay services offered within their country to
make international calls to the point-of-contact in the United States.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On July 13, 2022, we published a proposed rule (87 FR 41641) to
remove the Puerto Rican boa from the Federal List of Endangered and
Threatened Wildlife (List) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as
amended (Act; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). The proposed rule opened a 60-
day public comment period, ending September 12, 2022. During the
comment period, we received a request for a public hearing that could
not be accommodated prior to the close of the comment period.
Therefore, we are reopening the proposed rule's comment period and
announcing a public hearing (see DATES and ADDRESSES, above) to allow
the public an additional opportunity to provide comments on the
proposed rule.
For a description of previous Federal actions concerning the Puerto
Rican boa and information on the types of comments that would be
helpful to us in promulgating this rulemaking action, please refer to
the July 13, 2022, proposed rule (87 FR 41641).
Public Hearing
We are holding a public hearing to accept comments on the July 13,
2022, proposed rule on the date and at the time listed above in DATES.
We are holding the public hearing via the Zoom online video platform
and via teleconference so that participants can attend remotely. For
security purposes, registration is required. All participants must
register in order to listen and view the hearing via Zoom, listen to
the hearing by telephone, or provide oral public comments at the
hearing by Zoom or telephone. For information on how to register, or if
technical problems occur joining Zoom on the day of the hearing, visit
https://www.fws.gov/office/caribbean-ecological-services/library.
Registrants will receive the Zoom link and the telephone number for the
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 hearing.
The public hearing will provide interested parties an opportunity
to present verbal testimony (formal, oral comments) regarding the July
13, 2022, proposed rule to delist the Puerto Rican boa (87 FR 41641).
The public hearing will not be an opportunity for dialogue with the
Service, but rather a forum for accepting formal verbal testimony. In
the event there is a large attendance, the time allotted for oral
statements may be limited. Therefore, anyone wishing to make an oral
statement at the public hearing for the record is encouraged to provide
a prepared written copy of their statement to us through the Federal
eRulemaking Portal or U.S. mail (see ADDRESSES, above). There are no
limits on the length of written comments submitted to us. Anyone
wishing to make an oral statement at the public hearing must register
before the hearing (https://www.fws.gov/office/caribbean-ecological-services/library). The use of a virtual public hearing is consistent
with our regulations at 50 CFR 424.16(c)(3).
Reasonable Accommodation
The Service is committed to providing access to the public hearing
for all participants. Closed captioning will be available during the
public hearing in both English and Spanish. Participants will also have
access to live audio during the public hearing via their telephone or
computer speakers. Persons with disabilities requiring reasonable
accommodations to participate in the hearing should contact the person
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT at least 5 business days
prior to the date of the hearing to help ensure availability. An
accessible version of the Service's presentation will also be posted
online at https://www.fws.gov/office/caribbean-ecological-services/library prior to the hearing (see DATES, above). See https://www.fws.gov/office/caribbean-ecological-services/library for more
[[Page 6222]]
information about reasonable accommodation.
Public Comments
If you submit information via https://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 https://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 https://www.regulations.gov.
Authors
The primary authors of this document are staff members of the
Caribbean Ecological Services Field Office and the Service's Ecological
Services Species Assessment Team.
Authority
The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act of
1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).
Martha Williams,
Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-01139 Filed 1-30-23; 8:45 am]
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