[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 250 (Thursday, December 30, 2010)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 82370-82371]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-32967]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Parts 223 and 224

RIN 0648-XJ00 and RIN 0648-XN50


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Proposed Listing 
Determinations for Five Distinct Population Segments of Atlantic 
Sturgeon; Extension of Public Comment Period

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Proposed rule; extension of public comment period.

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SUMMARY: NMFS hereby extends the comment period on the proposed listing 
of five distinct population segments (DPSs) of Atlantic sturgeon as 
endangered or threatened until February 3, 2011. The five DPSs were 
proposed for listing in two separate proposed listing determinations, 
published on October 6, 2010.

DATES: Comments and information regarding the proposed rules published 
October 6, 2010 (75 FR 61872; 75 FR 61904) must be received by February 
3, 2011.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by RIN 0648-XJ00 or RIN 
0648-XN50, by any of the following methods:
    <bullet> Federal eRulemaking Portal: http//www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
    <bullet> Fax: To the attention of Lynn Lankshear at (978) 281-9394 
for RIN 0648-XJ00, or to Kelly Shotts at (727) 824-5309 for RIN 0648-
XN50.
    <bullet> Mail or hand-delivery: For RIN 0648-XJ00, submit written 
comments to the Assistant Regional Administrator for Protected 
Resources, NMFS, Northeast Regional Office, 55 Great Republic Drive, 
Gloucester, MA 01930. For RIN 0648-XN50, submit written comments to the 
Assistant Regional Administrator for Protected Resources, NMFS, 
Southeast Regional Office, 263 13th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 
33701.
    Instructions: All comments received are a part of the public record 
and will generally be posted to http://www.regulations.gov without 
change. All Personal Identifying Information (for example, name, 
address, etc.) voluntarily submitted by the commenter may be publicly 
accessible. Do not submit Confidential Business Information or 
otherwise sensitive or protected information.

[[Page 82371]]

    We will accept anonymous comments (enter ``n/a'' in the required 
fields if you wish to remain anonymous). Attachments to electronic 
comments will be accepted in Microsoft Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or 
Adobe PDF file formats only.
    The proposed rule, status review report, and other reference 
materials regarding this determination are available electronically at 
the NMFS Web sites http://www.nero.noaa.gov/prot_res/CandidateSpeciesProgram/cs.htm, and http://www.sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/sturgeon.htm.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lynn Lankshear, NMFS, Northeast 
Regional Office (978) 282-8473; Kimberly Damon-Randall, NMFS, Northeast 
Regional Office (978) 282-8485; Kelly Shotts, NMFS, Southeast Regional 
Office (727) 824-5312; or Lisa Manning, NMFS, Office of Protected 
Resources (301) 713-1401.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    On October 6, 2010, we, NMFS, published two proposed rules (75 FR 
61872; 75 FR 61904) to list the Gulf of Maine DPS of Atlantic sturgeon 
as threatened and the New York Bight, Chesapeake Bay, Carolina, and 
South Atlantic DPSs as endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 
1973 (ESA), as amended.
    NMFS subsequently received requests to extend the public comment 
period for an additional 90 days. NMFS has determined that an extension 
of 30 days, until February 3, 2011, making the full comment period 120 
days, will allow adequate time for the public to thoroughly review and 
comment on the proposed rules while still providing the agency with 
sufficient time to meet our statutory deadlines.

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.

    Dated: December 23, 2010.
Eric C. Schwaab,
Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2010-32967 Filed 12-29-10; 8:45 am]
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