90-Day Finding on a Petition to List the Sand Mountain Blue Butterfly as Threatened or Endangered with Critical Habitat

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce a 90-day finding on a petition to list the Sand Mountain blue butterfly (Euphilotes pallescens arenamontana) as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). We find that the petition presents substantial information indicating that listing the Sand Mountain blue butterfly may be warranted. Therefore, with the publication of this notice, we are initiating a status review of the species, and we will issue a 12-month finding to determine if the petitioned action is warranted. To ensure that the status review of the Sand Mountain blue butterfly is comprehensive, we are soliciting scientific and commercial data regarding this species. A determination on critical habitat will be made if and when a listing action is initiated for this species.