2024-07331. Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Threatened Species Status for Coal Darter With Section 4(d) Rule

AGENCY:

Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION:

Proposed rule; reopening of comment period.

SUMMARY:

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are reopening the comment period on our December 21, 2023, proposed rule to list the coal darter ( Percina brevicauda), a benthic freshwater fish native to the Mobile River Basin in Alabama, as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). We are reopening the proposed rule's comment period for 30 days to give all interested parties an additional opportunity to comment on the proposed rule. Comments previously submitted will be fully considered in our final determination and do not need to be resubmitted.

DATES:

The comment period on the proposed rule published on December 21, 2023, at 88 FR 88338, is reopened. We will accept comments received or postmarked on or before May 8, 2024. Comments submitted using the Federal eRulemaking Portal (see ADDRESSES , below) must be received by 11:59 p.m. eastern time on the closing date.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit 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-2023-0220, which is the docket number for the December 21, 2023, proposed rule and this document. 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 the correct document. You may submit a comment by clicking on “Comment.”

(2) By hard copy: Submit by U.S. mail to: Public Comments Processing, Attn: FWS-R4-ES-2023-0220, 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).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

William Pearson, Field Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Alabama Ecological Services Field Office, 1208 Main Street, Daphne, AL 36526; telephone [phone]. 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. Please see Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2023-0220 on https://www.regulations.gov for a document that summarizes the December 21, 2023, proposed rule.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On December 21, 2023, we published a proposed rule (88 FR 88338) to list the coal darter as a threatened species under the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). The proposed rule opened a 60-day comment period, ending February 20, 2024. Between February 2, and February 16, 2024, we received several requests to extend the public comment period that could not be accommodated before the comment period ended. With this document, we reopen the public comment period for an additional 30 days, as specified above in DATES . For a description of previous Federal actions concerning the coal darter and information on the types of comments that would be helpful to us in making a final determination on our proposal, please refer to the December 21, 2023, proposed rule (88 FR 88338).

Public Comments

We will accept written comments and information during the reopened comment period on our December 21, 2023, proposed rule to list the coal darter. We will consider information and recommendations from all interested parties. We intend that any final action resulting from the proposed rule will be based on the best scientific and commercial data available and will be as accurate and as effective as possible. Our final determination will take into consideration all comments and any additional information we receive during both comment periods on the proposed rule.

Because we will consider all comments and information we receive during both open comment periods, our final determination may differ from our December 21, 2023, proposed rule (88 FR 88338). Based on the new information we receive (and, if relevant, any comments on that new information), we may conclude that the coal darter is endangered instead of threatened, or we may conclude that the species does not warrant listing as either an endangered species or a threatened species. In addition, we may change the parameters of the prohibitions or the exceptions to those prohibitions in the proposed rule issued under section 4(d) of the Act if we conclude it is appropriate in light of comments and new information received. For example, we may expand the prohibitions to include prohibiting take resulting from additional activities if we conclude that those additional activities are not compatible with the conservation of the species. Conversely, we may establish additional exceptions to the prohibitions in the final rule if we conclude that the activities would facilitate or are compatible with the conservation and recovery of the species. In our final rule, we will clearly explain our rationale and the basis for our final decision, including why we made changes, if any, that differ from the December 21, 2023, proposed rule.

If you already submitted comments or information on the December 21, 2023, proposed rule, please do not resubmit them. Any such comments are incorporated as part of the public record of the rulemaking proceeding, and we will fully consider them in the preparation of our final determination.

Comments should be as specific as possible. Please include sufficient information with your submission (such as scientific journal articles or other publications) to allow us to verify any scientific or commercial information you assert. Please note that submissions merely stating support for, or opposition to, the action under consideration without providing supporting information, although noted, will not be considered in making a determination, as section 4(b)(1)(A) of the Act directs that determinations as to whether any species is an endangered species or a threatened species must be made “solely on the basis of the best scientific and commercial data available.”

We request that you send comments only by the methods described in ADDRESSES . If you submit information via https://www.regulations.gov, your entire submission—including your personal identifying information—will be posted on the website. If your submission is made via a hardcopy 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 at FWS-R4-ES-2023-0220.

Authors

The primary authors of this document are the staff members of the Fish and Wildlife Service's Species Assessment Team and the Alabama Ecological Services Field Office.

Authority

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

Martha Williams,

Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.