77770 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 248 / Tuesday, December 28, 2004 / Notices 

1988, and extended through Public Law 

105–355, November 13, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: C. 

Allen Sachse, Executive Director, 

Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage 

Corridor Commission, 1 South Third 

Street, 8th Floor, Easton, PA 18042, 

(610) 923–3548.

Dated: December 21, 2004. 

C. Allen Sachse, 

Executive Director, Delaware & Lehigh 

National Heritage Corridor Commission.

[FR Doc. 04–28379 Filed 12–27–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6820–PE–M

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of the Secretary 

Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council; 

Notice of Meeting

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, 

Department of the Interior.

ACTION: Notice of meeting.

SUMMARY: The Department of the 

Interior, Office of the Secretary is 

announcing a public meeting of the 

Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Public Advisory 

Committee.

DATES: January 27, 2005, at 9 a.m.

ADDRESSES: Hilton Anchorage, 500 West 

3rd Avenue, Anchorage, Alaska.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Douglas Mutter, Department of the 

Interior, Office of Environmental Policy 

and Compliance, 1689 ‘‘C’’ Street, Suite 

119, Anchorage, Alaska, 99501, (907) 

271–5011.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Public Advisory Committee was created 

by Paragraph V.A.4 of the Memorandum 

of Agreement and Consent Decree 

entered into by the United States of 

America and the State of Alaska on 

August 27, 1991, and approved by the 

United States District Court for the 

District of Alaska in settlement of 

United States of America v. State of 

Alaska, Civil Action No. A91–081 CV. 

The meeting agenda will feature an 

orientation for new Committee members 

and discussions about the Trustee 

Council’s proposed invitation to bid on 

projects for fiscal year 2006.

Dated: December 21, 2004. 

Willie R. Taylor, 

Director, Office of Environmental Policy and 

Compliance.

[FR Doc. 04–28279 Filed 12–27–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–RG–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service 

Recovery Plan for Deinandra 

conjugens (Otay tarplant)

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior.

ACTION: Notice of document availability.

SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service (we) announces the availability 

of the Recovery Plan for Deinandra [= 

Hemizonia] conjugens (Otay tarplant). 

This plant species is found in 

southwestern San Diego County, 

California, and northwestern Baja 

California, Mexico.

ADDRESSES: Printed copies of this 

recovery plan are available by request 

from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office, 6010 

Hidden Valley Road, Carlsbad, 

California 92009 (telephone: 760–431–

9440). An electronic copy of the 

recovery plan is available on the World 

Wide Web at: http://

endangered.fws.gov/recovery/

index.html#plans.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Field Supervisor, at the above Carlsbad 

address.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Recovery of endangered or threatened 

animals and plants is a primary goal of 

the Endangered Species Act (ESA) (16 

U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and our endangered 

species program. Recovery means 

improvement of the status of listed 

species to the point at which listing is 

no longer required under the criteria set 

out in section 4(a)(1) of the Act. 

Recovery plans describe actions 

considered necessary for the 

conservation of the species, establish 

criteria for downlisting or delisting 

listed species, and estimate time and 

cost for implementing the measures 

needed for recovery. 

The ESA requires the development of 

a recovery plan for endangered or 

threatened species unless such a plan 

would not promote the conservation of 

the species. Section 4(f) of the ESA 

requires that public notice, and an 

opportunity for public review and 

comment, be provided during recovery 

plan development. The Draft Recovery 

Plan for Deinandra conjugens was 

available for public comment from 

December 18, 2003, to March 2, 2004 

(68 FR 70526). Information presented 

during the public comment period has 

been considered in the preparation of 

this final recovery plan. 

We listed Deinandra conjugens as a 

federally threatened species on October 

13, 1998 (63 FR 54938); we designated 

critical habitat on December 10, 2002 

(67 FR 76030). Deinandra conjugens is 

annual plant typically found on clay 

soils in grasslands, open coastal sage 

scrub, and maritime succulent scrub. It 

is restricted to southwestern San Diego 

County, California, and northwestern 

Baja California, Mexico; its status in 

Mexico is unclear. 

Urban development and agricultural 

activities, invasion of nonnative species, 

and habitat fragmentation and 

degradation have resulted in the loss of 

suitable habitat across the Deinandra 

conjugens’ range. The species annual 

habit and self-incompatible breeding 

system potentially create additional 

threats from population fluctuations, 

reduced populations of pollinators, and 

a decline in genetic variation. 

Maintenance of the genetic variability 

within the species, through crosspollination, may be critical to long-term 

survival. The extensive fragmentation of 

remaining populations may exacerbate 

these threats by reducing connectivity 

between populations and potentially 

limiting suitable pollinators, and hence 

gene flow between populations. 

Deinandra conjugens is a species that 

receives benefit from multi-species 

preservation and management under the 

Multiple Species Conservation Program, 

a regional habitat conservation program 

in southwestern San Diego County, 

California. 

The objective of this plan is to 

provide a framework for the recovery of 

Deinandra conjugens so that protection 

by the ESA is no longer necessary. 

Actions necessary to accomplish this 

objective include: (1) Stabilize and 

protect habitat supporting known 

populations; (2) assess the status of all 

known populations; (3) conduct surveys 

to search for new populations and 

implement actions to protect 

populations outside of established 

reserves when necessary; (4) adaptively 

manage and monitor conserved areas; 

(5) identify research needs and conduct 

studies on the biology and ecology of 

Deinandra conjugens; and (6) develop 

and implement a community outreach 

program. 

Authority 

The authority for this action is section 

4(f) of the Endangered Species Act, 16 

U.S.C. 1533(f).