Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Removing Textual Descriptions of Critical Habitat Boundaries for Mammals, Birds, Amphibians, Fishes, Clams, Snails, Arachnids, Crustaceans, and Insects; Correction
| Published date | 07 May 2019 |
| Citation | 84 FR 19877 |
| Record Number | 2019-09356 |
| Section | Rules and Regulations |
| Court | Fish And Wildlife Service |
Federal Register, Volume 84 Issue 88 (Tuesday, May 7, 2019)
[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 88 (Tuesday, May 7, 2019)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 19877-19878]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-09356]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
50 CFR Part 17
Docket No. FWS-HQ-ES-2015-0008; 4500030113]
RIN 1018-BA81
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Removing Textual
Descriptions of Critical Habitat Boundaries for Mammals, Birds,
Amphibians, Fishes, Clams, Snails, Arachnids, Crustaceans, and Insects;
Correction
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Correcting amendment.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, published a final rule
in the Federal Register on April 27, 2018, to remove the textual
descriptions of critical habitat boundaries from those designations for
mammals, birds, amphibians, fishes, clams, snails, arachnids,
crustaceans, and insects for which the maps have been determined to be
sufficient to stand as the official delineation of critical habitat.
Where we determined that the maps were not sufficient to stand as the
official delineation of critical habitat, we revised the textual
descriptions to include the following statement: ``The map provided is
for informational purposes only.'' Inadvertently, we removed, rather
than revised, a map note in the critical habitat designation for the
Waccamaw silverside (Menidia extensa). The map note is necessary to
clarify that the map in that entry is for informational purposes only.
This document makes the necessary correction to the critical habitat
designation for the Waccamaw silverside.
DATES: This correction is effective May 7, 2019.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carey Galst, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, MS: ES, 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803;
telephone 703-358-1954. If you use a telecommunications device for the
deaf (TDD), call the Federal Relay Service at 800-877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On May 1, 2012, we published in the Federal
Register (77 FR 25611) a final rule revising our regulations related to
publishing textual descriptions of proposed and final critical habitat
boundaries for codification in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)
(2012 rule). Specifically, for critical habitat designations published
after the effective date of the rule, the map(s), as clarified or
refined by any textual language within the rule, constitutes the
definition of the boundaries of a critical habitat. Each critical
habitat area is shown on a map, with more-detailed information
discussed in the preamble of the rulemaking documents published in the
Federal Register. The map published in the CFR is generated from the
coordinates and/or plot points corresponding to the location of the
boundaries. These coordinates and/or plot points are included in the
administrative record for the designation and are available to the
public either online or at the Service field office responsible for the
designation or both. In addition, if the Service concludes that
additional tools or supporting information are appropriate and would
help the public understand the official boundary map, we make the
additional tools and supporting information available on our internet
site and at the Service field office responsible for the critical
habitat designation.
The preamble to the 2012 rule explained that, for critical habitat
that had already been designated before the effective date of that
rule, ``we also intend to remove the textual descriptions of final
critical habitat boundaries set forth in the CFR in order to save the
annual reprinting cost, but we must do so in separate rulemakings to
ensure that removing the textual descriptions does not change the
existing boundaries of those designations'' (77 FR 25618). We have now
begun applying this approach by publishing a series of separate
rulemakings that remove textual descriptions for any critical habitat
designations promulgated prior to the effective date of the 2012 final
rule if the maps are sufficient to stand as the official delineation of
the boundaries. On April 27, 2018, we published the second such
rulemaking--a final rule to remove the textual descriptions of critical
habitat boundaries from those designations for mammals, birds,
amphibians, fishes, clams, snails, arachnids, crustaceans, and insects
for which the maps have been determined to be sufficient to stand as
the official delineation of critical habitat (83 FR 18698) (2018 rule).
That rule, which is codified at 50 CFR 17.94(b), set forth the
conditions under which a map appearing in a critical habitat entry for
any of those species is or is not considered the definition of the
boundaries of a critical habitat. It did not alter the locations of any
critical habitat boundaries.
In the 2018 rule, we mistakenly removed, rather than revised, a map
note in the critical habitat designation for the Waccamaw silverside at
50 CFR 17.95(e). Under 50 CFR 17.94(b), the omission of the map note in
the critical habitat designation for the Waccamaw silverside could
mislead readers into thinking that the map in that entry stands as the
official delineation of critical habitat, but it does not. Adding the
revised map note to the Waccamaw silverside designation is necessary to
clarify that the map in that entry is for informational purposes only.
This document makes the necessary correction to the critical habitat
designation for the Waccamaw silverside.
Administrative Procedure
As explained in the 2018 Rule and in the discussion above, neither
the 2018 rule nor this amendment alters the locations of any critical
habitat boundaries. However, there was an error in the 2018 Rule that
could be perceived as altering the critical habitat boundary for the
Waccamaw silverside, and this document is therefore necessary to
correct that error and ensure that there is no change to that critical
habitat boundary. Under these circumstances, we have determined,
pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 551(4) and 553(b)(3)(B), that prior notice and
opportunity for public comment are impractical and unnecessary. Public
comment could not inform this process in any meaningful way. We have
further determined that, under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3), the agency has good
cause to make this correction effective upon publication, which is to
comply with our regulations as soon as practicable.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 17
Endangered and threatened species, Exports, Imports, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements, Transportation.
For the reasons given in the preamble, we amend part 17, subchapter
B of chapter I, title 50 of the Code of Federal Regulations, with the
following correcting amendment:
[[Page 19878]]
PART 17--ENDANGERED AND THREATENED WILDLIFE AND PLANTS
0
1. The authority citation for part 17 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1361-1407; 1531-1544; and 4201-4245, unless
otherwise noted.
0
2. In Sec. 17.95, in paragraph (e), amend the entry for ``Waccamaw
Silverside (Menidia extensa)'' by adding a note above the map to read
as follows:
Sec. 17.95 Critical habitat--fish and wildlife.
* * * * *
(e) Fishes.
* * * * *
Waccamaw Silverside (Menidia extensa)
* * * * *
Note: The map provided is for informational purposes only. Map
follows:
* * * * *
Dated: April 8, 2019.
Margaret E. Everson,
Principal Deputy Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Exercising
the Authority of the Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2019-09356 Filed 5-6-19; 8:45 am]
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