Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 193 / Wednesday, October 7, 2009 / Notices 51553 

and Community Forestry Advisory 

Council, 201 14th St., SW., Yates 

Building (1 Central) MS–1151, 

Washington, DC 20250–1151, phone 

202–205–1054. 

Individuals who use 

telecommunication devices for the deaf 

(TDD) may call the Federal Information 

Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–800–877–8339 

between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern, 

Monday through Friday. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 2010 

U. S. Forest Service Urban and 

Community Forestry Challenge CostShare Grant instructions and 

application are posted on http:// 

www.grants.gov. The instructions only 

will be posted on the U.S. Forest Service 

Web site at: http://www.fs.fed.us/ucf. 

If interested applicants are not already 

registered in Grants.gov, they are 

encouraged to register now. The process 

may take up to 2 weeks to collect the 

required information. 

Dated: October 1, 2009. 

Robin L. Thompson, 

Associate Deputy Chief, State & Private 

Forestry. 

[FR Doc. E9–24137 Filed 10–6–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–11–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XR39 

Endangered and Threatened Species; 

Recovery Plans 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration, 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of availability; request 

for comments and notice of public 

meetings. 

SUMMARY: The National Marine 

Fisheries Service (NMFS) announces 

availability for public review and 

comment of the Draft Central Valley 

Salmon and Steelhead Recovery Plan 

(Draft Plan). The Draft Plan addresses 

the Sacramento River winter-run 

Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus 

tshawytscha) Evolutionarily Significant 

Unit (ESU), the Central Valley springrun Chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha) 

ESU, and the Distinct Population 

Segment (DPS) of Central Valley 

Steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss). 

NMFS is soliciting review and comment 

from the public and all interested 

parties on the Draft Plan. In addition, 

four public meetings will be held in 

October 2009 as opportunities for 

providing comments on the Draft Plan 

(dates to be determined). 

DATES: NMFS will consider and address 

all substantive comments received 

during the comment period. Comments 

must be received no later than 5 p.m. 

Pacific Standard Time on December 7, 

2009. Public meetings will also be held 

(see Public Meetings below). 

ADDRESSES: Please send written 

comments and materials to Brian Ellrott, 

National Marine Fisheries Service, 650 

Capitol Mall, Suite 8–300, Sacramento, 

CA 95816. Comments may also be 

submitted by e-mail to: 

CentralValleyPlan.SWR@noaa.gov. 

Include in the subject line of the e-mail 

comment the following identifier: 

‘‘Comments on Central Valley Salmon 

and Steelhead Draft Plan.’’ Comments 

may be submitted via facsimile (fax) to 

(916) 930–3629. 

Persons wishing to review the Draft 

Plan can obtain an electronic copy (i.e., 

CD-ROM) from Aimee Diefenbach by 

calling (916) 930–3600 or by e-mailing 

a request to aimee.diefenbach@noaa.gov 

with the subject line ‘‘CD-ROM Request 

for Central Valley Salmon and Steelhead 

Recovery Draft Plan.’’ Electronic copies 

of the Draft Plan are also available online on the NMFS website http:// 

swr.nmfs.noaa.gov/recovery/ 

centralvalleyplan.htm. 

The specific dates, times, and 

locations of public meetings will be 

posted on this website as they become 

available. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Brian Ellrott at (916) 930–3612 or 

Howard Brown, NMFS Sacramento 

River Basin Branch Chief at (916) 930– 

3608. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Recovery plans describe actions 

beneficial to the conservation and 

recovery of species listed under the 

Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA), 

as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). The 

ESA requires that recovery plans 

incorporate: (1) objective, measurable 

criteria which, when met, would result 

in a determination that the species is no 

longer threatened or endangered; (2) 

site-specific management actions 

necessary to achieve the plan’s goals; 

and (3) estimates of the time required 

and costs to implement recovery 

actions. The ESA requires the 

development of recovery plans for each 

listed species unless such a plan would 

not promote its recovery. 

NMFS is responsible for developing 

and implementing ESA recovery plans 

for listed salmon and steelhead. In so 

doing, NMFS’ goal is to restore 

endangered and threatened Pacific 

salmonids to the point that they are 

again self-sustaining members of their 

ecosystems and no longer need the 

protections of the ESA. 

Recovery Plans developed under the 

ESA are guidance documents, not 

regulatory documents. However, the 

ESA envisions Recovery Plans as the 

central organizing tool for guiding the 

recovery of listed species. Recovery 

Plans also guide Federal agencies in 

fulfilling their obligations under section 

7(a)(1) of the ESA, which calls on all 

Federal agencies to ‘‘utilize their 

authorities in furtherance of the 

purposes of this Act by carrying out 

programs for the conservation of 

endangered species and threatened 

species.’’ In addition to outlining 

proactive measures to achieve species 

recovery, Recovery Plans provide a 

context and framework for 

implementing other provisions of the 

ESA with respect to a particular species, 

including consultations on Federal 

agency activities under section 7(a)(2) 

and the development of Habitat 

Conservation Plans in accordance with 

section 10(a)(1)(B). 

This Draft Plan serves as a guideline 

for achieving recovery criteria and goals 

by describing the criteria by which 

NMFS would measure species recovery, 

the strategy to achieve recovery, and the 

recovery actions necessary to achieve 

viable ESU’s of Sacramento River 

winter-run Chinook salmon and Central 

Valley spring-run Chinook salmon, and 

a viable DPS of Central Valley steelhead. 

Recovery Criteria 

Recovery criteria are built upon 

criteria recommended by the NMFS 

Technical Recovery Team (TRT) for the 

identification of viable anadromous 

salmonid populations and ESUs/DPSs. 

A viable population is defined as a 

population having a negligible risk 

(<5%) of extinction due to threats from 

demographic variation, non-catastrophic 

environmental variation, and genetic 

diversity changes over a 100–year time 

frame. A viable ESU/DPS is comprised 

of a sufficient number of viable 

populations sufficiently dispersed 

spatially, but well connected enough to 

maintain long-term (1,000–year) 

persistence and evolutionary potential 

(McElhany et al. 2000). The viability 

criteria are intended to describe 

characteristics of the species and its 

natural environments necessary for both 

individual populations and the ESU/ 

DPS as a whole to be viable, i.e., persist 

over a specific period of time. 

Recovery of winter-run Chinook 

salmon, spring-run Chinook salmon, 

and steelhead in the Central Valley will 


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51554 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 193 / Wednesday, October 7, 2009 / Notices 

require recovery of a sufficient number 

of viable populations of each species 

within each of the species’ historic 

diversity groups defined by the TRT. 

Recovery of individual populations is 

necessary to conserve the natural 

diversity (genetic, phenotypic, and 

behavioral), spatial distribution, and 

abundance of each species, and thus the 

long-term viability of each ESU/DPS as 

a whole. Additionally, the ESU/DPS as 

a whole must contain a minimal number 

of viable populations, or interacting 

trans-basin populations, within each 

diversity group in order to withstand 

environmental variation of the sort 

known to have occurred in the Central 

Valley over the last 500–1,000 years. 

Such variation has included natural 

catastrophes such as prolonged drought, 

volcanic eruptions, large wildfires, and 

anthropogenic impacts such as the 1991 

Cantara metam sodium spill. Therefore, 

for ESUs/DPSs to be considered viable, 

they should be able to persist if 

challenged by these types of 

catastrophes as well as anthropogenic 

climate change. 

Recovery Strategy 

Achieving recovery of winter-run 

Chinook salmon, spring-run Chinook 

salmon, and steelhead will require a 

number of coordinated activities, such 

as: (1) implementing the strategic and 

threat-specific recovery actions 

identified in this Draft Plan, including 

actions directed at increasing the 

quantity and quality of habitat available 

to anadromous salmonids, minimizing 

hatchery effects, and improving harvest 

management; (2) monitoring the 

abundance and distribution of existing 

populations for all three species and 

their response to recovery actions; and 

(3) researching the diverse life-history 

patterns and adaptations of Central 

Valley steelhead to a highly dynamic 

environment (e.g., the ecological 

relationship between anadromous and 

non-anadromous life-history forms). 

There remain uncertainties regarding 

the level of recovery necessary to 

achieve population viability, therefore, 

additional research and monitoring of 

winter-run Chinook salmon, spring-run 

Chinook salmon, and steelhead in the 

Central Valley is an essential 

component of this Draft Plan. As this 

Draft Plan is implemented over time, 

additional information will become 

available to: (1) refine the viability 

criteria; (2) update and refine the 

species-specific threats assessments and 

related recovery actions; (3) determine 

whether individual threats have been 

abated; and (4) evaluate the overall 

viability of winter-run Chinook salmon, 

spring-run Chinook salmon, and 

steelhead in the Central Valley. There 

will be a review of the recovery actions 

implemented and population and 

habitat responses to these actions at the 

5–year and 10–year status reviews for 

each ESU/DPS. 

Effective implementation of recovery 

actions will also entail: (1) extensive 

public education (including the general 

public, non-governmental agencies, and 

local, regional, State, and Federal 

governmental agencies,) regarding the 

role and value of these species within 

the larger watershed environment; (2) 

development of cooperative 

relationships with private land owners, 

special districts, federally-recognized 

tribes, and local governments with 

direct control and responsibilities over 

non-federal land-use practices; (3) 

participation in the land use and water 

planning and regulatory processes of 

local, regional, State, and Federal 

agencies; (4) close cooperation with 

other state resource agencies such as the 

California Department of Fish and 

Game, California Department of Water 

Resources, CalTrans, and the California 

Department of Parks and Recreation, 

and (5) partnering with Federal resource 

agencies, including the U.S. Forest 

Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 

National Park Service, U.S. Bureau of 

Reclamation, U.S. Bureau of Land 

Management, U.S. Army Corps of 

Engineers, U.S. Department of 

Transportation, U.S. Department of 

Defense, and the U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency. 

Recovery Actions 

Many complex and inter-related 

biological, economic, social, and 

technological issues must be addressed 

in order to recover anadromous 

salmonids in the Central Valley. Policy 

changes at the Federal, state, and local 

levels will likely be necessary to 

implement many of the recovery actions 

identified in this Draft Plan. For 

example, without substantial strides in 

water conservation throughout 

California, flow conditions for 

anadromous salmonids will limit 

recovery. Similarly, recovery is unlikely 

without programs to restore properly 

functioning historic habitat such as 

estuaries, and access to upstream 

spawning and rearing habitat. 

Implementation and Cost Estimates 

Implementation of this Draft Plan by 

NMFS will take many forms. To achieve 

recovery, NMFS will need to promote 

the Draft Plan and provide needed 

technical information and assistance to 

other entities responsible for actions 

that may impact the species’ recovery. 

NMFS should work with key partners 

on planning and implementation of all 

high priority recovery actions. 

Additionally it will be important to 

work with local governments to ensure 

that protective measures consistent with 

recovery objectives are included in their 

general and local plans. NMFS should 

also work with state and Federal 

regional entities on Regional Water 

Control Board Basin Plans and U.S. 

Forest Service Plans. 

An implementation schedule 

describing time frames and costs 

associated with individual recovery 

actions is included in the Draft Plan and 

is continuing to be developed as 

information becomes available. 

Estimating total cost to recovery is much 

more challenging, if not impossible to 

estimate for a variety of reasons. These 

include the large geographic extent of 

the Central Valley; the long-term 

duration (e.g., likely decades) expected 

to achieve full recovery; and the 

uncertainty associated with population 

responses to changing environmental 

conditions. In some instances, however, 

NMFS is able to estimate the costs 

associated with certain common 

restoration activities such as those 

undertaken as part of the Calfed 

Ecosystem Restoration Program, the U.S. 

Fish and Wildlife Service Anadromous 

Fish Restoration Program, or the 

California Department of Water 

Resource’s Fish Passage Improvement 

Program. An appendix to the Draft Plan 

contains estimates for these categories of 

typical watershed restoration actions. 

The criteria and recovery actions 

identified in the Draft Plan provide a 

comprehensive road-map for recovery 

and are consistent with many ongoing 

activities intended to protect and or 

restore ecosystem functions in Central 

Valley watersheds. As a result, many of 

these recovery actions will be 

undertaken by local, state and Federal 

agencies, as well as non-governmental 

organizations and other private entities 

as a part of their local ecosystem 

protection efforts. Also, the wide variety 

of threats to Central Valley salmon and 

steelhead provide for a variety of 

potential funding sources available to 

develop and implement these recovery 

actions, often as part of other ongoing 

natural resource restoration, 

management, and mitigation programs. 

Public Comments Solicited 

NMFS solicits written comments on 

the Draft Plan. All comments received 

by the date specified above will be 

considered prior to NMFS’ decision 

whether to approve the Draft Plan. 

NMFS seeks comments particularly in 

the following areas: (1) the analysis of 

limiting factors and threats; (2) the 


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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 193 / Wednesday, October 7, 2009 / Notices 51555 

1Pursuant to the Antidumping Methodologies 

Notice, 71 FR 61722, the Department intends to 

publish the annual revisions of the expected NME 

wage rates on its Web site in the fall. Since there 

is no fixed deadline for the submission of the 

relevant country data to the World Bank and ILO, 

the Department cannot specify a date certain by 

which the revision will be published. We can say, 

however, that because not all countries submit their 

data at the same time and because the Department 

must wait until all relevant data is submitted, 

publication of the revision will likely take place in 

late fall. 

recovery objectives, strategies, and 

actions, especially in regard to the 

selection of core populations, priority 

areas for reintroduction, and critical 

recovery actions; (3) the criteria for 

removing ESUs/DPSs from the Federal 

list of endangered and threatened 

wildlife and plants; and (4) estimates of 

time and cost to implement recovery 

actions. NMFS will also hold public 

meetings to provide an opportunity for 

the public to learn more about the Draft 

Plan, ask questions of NMFS staff, and 

submit oral or written comments on the 

Draft Plan. 

Public Meetings 

Four public meetings will be held, 

two in Chico, CA and two in 

Sacramento, CA . The two Chico 

meetings will occur on the same date 

with one three-hour meeting during the 

day followed by one two-hour meeting 

in the evening. The Sacramento 

meetings will follow this same day/ 

evening approach. The meetings will be 

targeted toward receiving comments 

from key stakeholders and salmon 

recovery ‘‘practitioners’’ such as local 

jurisdiction officials, state and local 

agency personnel, industry 

representatives, public and non-profit 

interest representatives, and others who 

have a professional involvement and 

knowledge of salmon recovery issues, as 

well as general public and other 

constituencies. 

Literature Cited 

McElhany, P., Ruckelshaus, M.H., 

Ford, M.J., Wainwright, T.C., and 

Bjorkstedt, E.P. 2000. Viable Salmonid 

Populations and the Conservation of 

Evolutionarily Significant Units. U.S. 

Department of Commerce. NOAA 

Technical Memorandum. NMFS 

NWFSC 42. Seattle, WA.Authority: 16 

U.S.C. 1531 et seq. 

Dated:September 30, 2009. 

Angela Somma, 

Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office 

of Protected Resources, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E9–24224 Filed 10–6–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

International Trade Administration 

Expected Non-Market Economy 

Wages: Request for Comments on 

2009 Calculation 

AGENCY: Import Administration, 

International Trade Administration, 

Department of Commerce. 

ACTION: Request for comments. 

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce 

(‘‘Department’’’) has a longstanding 

practice of calculating expected nonmarket economy (‘‘NME’’) wages for use 

as the surrogate value for direct labor in 

antidumping proceedings involving 

NME countries. These expected NME 

wages are calculated annually in 

accordance with the Department’s 

regulations, see 19 CFR 351.408(c)(3). 

This notice constitutes the Department’s 

2009 expected NME wages, which were 

calculated from 2007 data made 

available in 2009 according to the 

Department’s revised methodology 

described in the Federal Register notice 

entitled Antidumping Methodologies: 

Market Economy Inputs, Expected NonMarket Economy Wages, Duty 

Drawback; and Request for Comments, 

71 FR 61716, Oct. 19, 2006 (hereafter, 

the Antidumping Methodologies notice). 

The Department further provides the 

public with an opportunity to comment 

on potential clerical errors in the 

calculation. Id. 

DATES: Any comments must be 

submitted no later than 10 days after 

publication of this notice. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments (original 

and six copies) should be sent to Ronald 

Lorentzen, Acting Assistant Secretary 

for Import Administration, U.S. 

Department of Commerce, Central 

Records Unit, Room 1870, 14th Street 

and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., 

Washington, DC 20230. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Bobby Wong, Senior International Trade 

Analyst, China/NME Group, Import 

Administration, U.S. Department of 

Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution 

Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230, 

(202) 482–0409. 

Background 

The Department’s regulations 

generally describe the methodology by 

which the Department calculates 

expected NME wages. For labor, the 

Secretary will use regression-based 

wage rates reflective of the observed 

relationship between wages and 

national income in market economy 

countries. The Secretary will calculate 

the wage rate to be applied in nonmarket economy proceedings each 

year.1 The calculation will be based on 

current data, and will be made available 

to the public. See 19 CFR 351.408(c)(3). 

The Department’s expected NME 

wages are calculated each year in two 

steps. First, the relationship between 

hourly wage rates (obtained from the 

International Labour Organization’s 

(‘‘ILO’’) Yearbook of Labour Statistics) 

and per-capita gross national income 

(‘‘GNI’’) (obtained from the World Bank) 

is estimated using ordinary least squares 

(‘‘OLS’’) regression analysis. Second, the 

GNI of each of the countries designated 

by the Department to be an NME is 

applied to the regression, which yields 

an expected hourly wage rate for each 

NME. 

The Department published a notice in 

the Federal Register on October 19, 

2006, which detailed its revised 

methodology for calculating expected 

NME wages in antidumping proceedings 

involving NME countries. See the 

Antidumping Methodologies notice. In 

that notice, the Department stated that 

‘‘{e}ach year, the Department’s annual 

calculation will be subject to public 

notice prior to the adoption of the 

resulting expected NME wage rates for 

use in antidumping proceedings. 

Comment will be requested only with 

regard to potential clerical errors in the 

Department’s calculation.’’ 

Antidumping Methodology notice, 71 

FR 61722. This notice constitutes the 

Department’s 2009 calculation of 

expected NME wages in Attachment 1, 

which were calculated from 2007 data 

made available in 2009 according to the 

Department’s revised methodology 

described in the Antidumping 

Methodologies notice. The Department 

is requesting public comment only on 

the potential clerical errors in the 

calculation. Comments with regard to 

the methodology were addressed in the 

Antidumping Methodologies notice and 

will not be considered. 

In order to facilitate a full opportunity 

for comment, and because the 

underlying data are voluminous, the 

preliminary results and underlying data 

for the preliminary 2009 expected NME 

wages calculation have been posted on 

the Import Administration Web site 

(http://www.ia.ita.doc.gov). This 

preliminary calculation will not be used 

for antidumping purposes until it has 

been finalized by the Department 

following the public comment period. 

Submission of Comments 

Persons wishing to comment on 

clerical errors in the Department’s 2009 

calculation of expected NME wages 

presented in Attachment 1 should file 


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