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Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Reopening of Comment Period and Notice of Availability of the Draft Economic Analysis for Proposed Critical Habitat for 76 Plants From the Islands of Kauai and Niihau, HI

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[Federal Register: March 7, 2001 (Volume 66, Number 45)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 13691-13692]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr07mr01-16]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Part 17

RIN 1018-AG71


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Reopening of
Comment Period and Notice of Availability of the Draft Economic
Analysis for Proposed Critical Habitat for 76 Plants From the Islands
of Kauai and Niihau, HI

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Proposed rule; reopening of comment period and notice of
availability of draft economic analysis.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the
availability of the draft economic analysis for the proposed
designations of critical habitat for 76 plants from the islands of
Kauai and Niihau, Hawaii. We are also providing notice of the reopening
of the comment period for the proposal to designate critical habitat
for these 76 plants to allow all interested parties to comment
simultaneously on the proposed rule and the associated draft economic
analysis. Comments previously submitted need not be resubmitted as they
will be incorporated into the public record as part of this reopened
comment period and will be fully considered in the final rule.

DATES: We will accept public comments until April 6, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and information should be submitted to
Field Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Pacific Islands
Office, 300 Ala

[[Page 13692]]

Moana Blvd., P.O. Box 50088, Honolulu, HI 96850-0001. For electronic
mail address and further instructions on commenting, refer to Public
Comments Solicited section of this notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul Henson, Field Supervisor, Pacific
Islands Office, at the above address (telephone: 808/541-3441;
facsimile: 808/541-3470).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) have reconsidered
our findings concerning whether designating critical habitat for 81
federally protected plant species currently found on the islands of
Kauai and Niihau is prudent. A total of 95 species historically found
on these two islands were listed as endangered or threatened species
under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), between
1991 and 1996. Some of these species may also occur on other Hawaiian
islands. At the time each plant was listed, we determined that
designation of critical habitat was not prudent because designation
would increase the degree of threat to the species and/or would not
benefit the species.
    These not prudent determinations were challenged in Conservation
Council for Hawaii v. Babbitt, 2 F. Supp. 2d 1280 (D. Haw. 1988). On
March 9, 1998, the United States District Court for the District of
Hawaii, directed us to review the prudency determinations for 245
listed plant species in Hawaii, including these 95 species. On August
10, 1998, the court ordered us to publish proposed critical habitat
designations or non-designations for at least 100 species by November
30, 2000, and to publish proposed designations or non-designations for
the remaining 145 species by April 30, 2002 (24 F. Supp. 2d 1074). Due
to this litigation, we reconsidered our previous prudency
determinations for the 95 plants known historically from Kauai and
Niihau. From this review, we proposed that critical habitat is prudent
for 76 of these species because the potential benefits of designating
critical habitat essential for the conservation of these species
outweigh the risks of designation. On November 7, 2000, we published in
the Federal Register (65 FR 66807) a proposed rule to designate
critical habitat for 76 plants from the islands of Kauai and Niihau. In
addition, we proposed that the designation of critical habitat is not
prudent for five species which are either no longer extant in the wild
and such designation would not be beneficial to the species, or because
we believe that designation of critical habitat would likely increase
the threat to the species from vandalism or collection. The remaining
14 species historically found on Kauai and/or Niihau, no longer occur
on these islands. However, these species do occur on other islands, so
proposed prudency determinations will be made in future rules
addressing plants on those islands. The original comment period closed
on January 8, 2001. Based on a request to hold a public hearing, we
reopened the comment period until February 19, 2001. The public hearing
was held on February 6, 2001 in Lihue, Kauai.
    We have proposed to designate a total of 23 critical habitat units,
21 units on Kauai and 2 units on Niihau, covering 24,348.68 hectares
(ha) (60,165.57 acres (ac)) on Kauai and 190.55 ha (470.85 ac) on
Niihau.
    Critical habitat receives protection from destruction or adverse
modification through required consultation under section 7 of the Act
(16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) with regard to actions carried out, funded, or
authorized by a Federal agency. Section 4(b)(2) of the Act requires
that the Secretary shall designate or revise critical habitat based
upon the best scientific and commercial data available, and after
taking into consideration the economic impact of specifying any
particular area as critical habitat. Based upon the previously
published proposal to designate critical habitat for 76 plants from
Kauai and Niihau, and comments received during the previous comment
periods, we have prepared a draft economic analysis of the proposed
critical habitat designations. The draft economic analysis is available
at the Internet and mailing addresses in the Public Comments Solicited
section below.

Public Comments Solicited

    We will accept written comments and information during this re-
opened comment period. If you wish to comment, you may submit your
comments and materials concerning this proposal by any of several
methods:
    (1) You may submit written comments and information to the Field
Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Pacific Islands Office, 300
Ala Moana Blvd., P.O. Box 50088, Honolulu, HI 96850-0001.
    (2) You may send comments by electronic mail (e-mail) to: fw1pie_
kauai_niihau_crithab @r1.fws.gov. If you submit comments by e-mail,
please submit them as an ASCII file and avoid the use of special
characters and any form of encryption. Please also include ``Attn: RIN
1018-  '' and your name and return address in your e-mail message. If
you do not receive a confirmation from the system that we have received
your e-mail message, contact us directly by calling our Honolulu Fish
and Wildlife Office at telephone number 808/541-3441.
    (3) You may hand-deliver comments to our Honolulu Fish and Wildlife
Office at the address given above.
    Comments and materials received, as well as supporting
documentation used in preparation of the proposal to designate critical
habitat, will be available for inspection, by appointment, during
normal business hours at the address under (1) above. Copies of the
draft economic analysis are available on the Internet at
www.r1.fws.gov/pacific/wesa/endspindex.html or by request from the
Field Supervisor at the address and phone number under (1 and 2) above.

Author(s)

    The primary author of this notice is Christa Russell (see ADDRESSES
section).

Authority

    The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act of
1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).

    Dated: February 26, 2001.
Rowan W. Gould,
Regional Director, Region 1, Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 01-5506 Filed 3-6-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P

 
 

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