3110 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 12 / Wednesday, January 19, 2000 / Proposed Rules

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Part 17

RIN 1018–AF81

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife

and Plants; Proposal To List the Santa

Barbara County Distinct Population of

the California Tiger Salamander as

Endangered

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service,

Interior.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: We, the Fish and Wildlife

Service (Service), propose to list the

Santa Barbara County Distinct

Vertebrate Population Segment of the

California tiger salamander,

(Ambystoma californiense), as

endangered pursuant to the Endangered

Species Act (Act) of 1973, as amended

(Act). An emergency rule listing the

population is published concurrently in

this issue of the Federal Register. The

Santa Barbara County population

segment of the California tiger

salamander is endemic to low elevation

(typically below 300 meters (1,000 feet))

vernal pools and seasonal ponds and the

surrounding grasslands, oak woodlands,

and coastal scrub of Santa Barbara

County, California, and is imperiled

primarily by habitat loss from

conversion of natural habitat to

intensive agriculture and urban

development, habitat fragmentation, and

agricultural contaminants.

DATES: Comments from all interested

parties must be received by March 20,

2000. Public hearing requests must be

received by March 6, 2000.

ADDRESSES: If you wish to comment,

you may submit your comments and

materials concerning this proposal by

any one of several methods.

1. You may submit written comments

to Field Supervisor, Ventura Fish and

Wildlife Office, 2493 Portola Road,

Suite B, Ventura, California, 93003

2. You may send comments by e-mail

to sbsalamander@r1.fws.gov. Please

submit these comments as an ASCII file

and avoid the use of special characters

and any form of encryption. Please also

include ‘‘Attn: [RIN number]’’ 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

Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office at

phone number 805/644–1766.

3. You may hand-deliver comments to

our Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office,

2493 Portola Road, Suite B, Ventura,

California, 93003.

Comments and materials received, as

well as supporting documentation used

in the preparation of this proposed rule,

will be available for public inspection,

by appointment, during normal business

hours at the above address. The

complete file for this proposed rule is

available for inspection, by

appointment, during normal business

hours at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service, Ventura Fish and Wildlife

Office, 2493 Portola Road, Suite B,

Ventura, California, 93003.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Grace McLaughlin or Carl Benz, Ventura

Fish and Wildlife Office at the address

listed above (telephone: 805/644–1766;

facsimile: 805/644–3958).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

For a discussion of biological

background information, previous

Federal actions, factors affecting the

species, critical habitat, and

conservation measures available to

listed and proposed species, consult the

emergency rule for the Santa Barbara

County distinct population of the

California tiger salamander published

concurrently in this issue of the Federal

Register.

Public Comments Solicited

We intend that any final action

resulting from this proposal be as

accurate and as effective as possible.

Therefore, we request comments or

suggestions from the public, other

concerned governmental agencies, the

scientific community, industry, or any

other interested party concerning this

proposed rule. Comments particularly

are sought concerning:

(1) Biological, commercial trade, or

other relevant data concerning any

threat (or lack thereof) to the Santa

Barbara County California tiger

salamander;

(2) The location of any additional

populations of the Santa Barbara County

distinct population of California tiger

salamanders and the vernal pools and

associated upland habitats (including

specific vegetation and soil type) used

by such populations, and reasons why

any habitat should or should not be

determined to be critical habitat as

provided by section 4 of the Act;

(3) Additional information concerning

the range, distribution, and population

size of this distinct population; and

(4) Current or planned activities in the

subject area and their possible impacts

on this distinct population.

Final promulgation of the regulation

on the Santa Barbara County California

tiger salamander will take into

consideration the comments and any

additional information received by us.

Such communications may lead to a

final regulation that differs from this

proposal.

The Act provides for one or more

public hearings on this proposal, if

requested. Requests must be received

within 45 days of the date of publication

of the proposal in the Federal Register.

Such requests must be made in writing

and be addressed to the Field

Supervisor, Ventura Fish and Wildlife

Office (see ADDRESSES section).

National Environmental Policy Act

We have determined that

environmental assessments as defined

under the authority of the National

Environmental Policy Act of 1969, need

not be prepared in connection with

regulations adopted pursuant to section

4(a) of the Act. We published a notice

outlining our reasons for this

determination in the Federal Register

on October 25, 1983 (48 FR 49244).

Paperwork Reduction Act

This rule does not contain any

collections of information that require

Office of Management and Budget

(OMB) approval under the Paperwork

Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.

An information collection related to the

rule pertaining to permits for

endangered and threatened species has

OMB approval and is assigned clearance

number 1018–0094. This rule does not

alter that information collection

requirement. For additional information

concerning permits and associated

requirements for endangered wildlife,

see 50 CFR 17.22 and 17.23.

References Cited

A complete list of all references cited

in this document, is available upon

request from the Ventura Fish and

Wildlife Office (see ADDRESSES section).

Author

The primary author of this proposed

rule is Grace McLaughlin of the Ventura

Fish and Wildlife Office (see ADDRESSES

section).

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 17

Endangered and threatened species,

Exports, Imports, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements,

Transportation.

Proposed Regulation Promulgation

For the reasons given in the preamble

to the emergency rule listing the Santa

Barbara County distinct population of

the California tiger salamander as

endangered, published concurrently in

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 12 / Wednesday, January 19, 2000 / Proposed Rules 3111

this issue of the Federal Register, we

propose to amend part 17, subchapter B

of chapter I, title 50 of the Code of

Federal Regulations, as set forth below:

PART 17—[AMENDED]

1. The authority citation for part 17

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1361–1407; 16 U.S.C.

1531–1544; 16 U.S.C. 4201–4245; Pub. L. 99–

625, 100 Stat. 3500, unless otherwise noted.

2. Amend § 17.11(h) by adding the

following, in alphabetical order under

AMPHIBIANS, to the List of Endangered

and Threatened Wildlife:

§ 17.11 Endangered and threatened

wildlife.

(h) * * *

Species

Historic range

Vertebrate

population

where endangered or

threatened

Status When listed Critical habitat

Special

rules Common name Scientific name

Amphibians

*******

Salamander, California

tiger.

Ambystoma

californiense.

U.S.A. (CA) ............... U.S.A.,

(CA—

Santa Barbara

County).

E .................... NA NA

*******

December 20, 1999.

Jamie Rappaport Clark,

Director, Fish and Wildlife Service.

[FR Doc. 00–1157 Filed 1–18–00; 8:45 am]

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