Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Proposed Designation of Critical Habitat for the Great Lakes Breeding Population of the Piping Plover

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, propose to designate 37 units along the Great Lakes shoreline of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York as critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended, for the Great Lakes breeding population of the piping plover (Charadrius melodus). We propose to designate critical habitat on fewer than 305 km (189 mi) in 27 counties within these States. Within these areas, only the specific locations that have or could develop the physical and biological features required by piping plovers (primary constituent elements) would be considered critical habitat. The primary constituent elements for the piping plover are those habitat components that are essential for foraging, sheltering, reproduction, rearing of young, intra-specific communication, roosting, nesting, and dispersal. This proposed rule, if made final, would result in additional review requirements under section 7 of the Act. Federal agencies may not fund, authorize, 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 potential economic and other impacts of the designation.