Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 132 / Wednesday, July 11, 2007 / Proposed Rules 37695 

action that affects the status of a 

geographical area and does not impose 

any new requirements on sources. Thus, 

the requirements of section 12(d) of the 

National Technology Transfer and 

Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 

272 note) do not apply. As required by 

section 3 of Executive Order 12988 (61 

FR 4729, February 7, 1996), in issuing 

this proposed rule, EPA has taken the 

necessary steps to eliminate drafting 

errors and ambiguity, minimize 

potential litigation, and provide a clear 

legal standard for affected conduct. EPA 

has complied with Executive Order 

12630 (53 FR 8859, March 15, 1988) by 

examining the takings implications of 

the rule in accordance with the 

‘‘Attorney General’s Supplemental 

Guidelines for the Evaluation of Risk 

and Avoidance of Unanticipated 

Takings’ issued under the executive 

order. 

This rule proposing to approve the 

redesignation of the Pittsburgh Area to 

attainment for the 8-hour ozone 

NAAQS, the associated maintenance 

plan, the 2002 base year inventory, and 

the MVEBs identified in the 

maintenance plan, does not impose an 

information collection burden under the 

provisions of the Paperwork Reduction 

Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). 

List of Subjects 

40 CFR Part 52 

Environmental protection, Air 

pollution control, Nitrogen dioxides, 

Ozone, Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Volatile organic 

compounds. 

40 CFR Part 81 

Air pollution control, National parks, 

Wilderness areas. 

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq. 

Dated: June 28, 2007. 

W.C. Early, 

Acting Regional Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 07–3325 Filed 7–10–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

50 CFR Part 17 

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife 

and Plants; 90-Day Finding on a 

Petition to List 12 Penguin Species as 

Threatened or Endangered under the 

Endangered Species Act 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of 90-day petition 

finding and initiation of status review. 

SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service (Service), announce a 

90-day finding on a petition to list 12 

penguin species: emperor penguin 

(Aptenodytes forsteri), southern 

rockhopper penguin (Eudyptes 

chrysocome), northern rockhopper 

penguin (Eudyptes moseleyi (E. 

chrysocome moseleyi)), fiordland 

crested penguin (Eudyptes 

pachyrhynchus), snares crested penguin 

(Eudyptes robustus), erect-crested 

penguin (Eudyptes sclateri), macaroni 

penguin (Eudyptes chrysolophus), royal 

penguin (Eudyptes schlegeli), whiteflippered penguin (Eudyptula 

albosignata (E. minor albosignata)), 

yellow-eyed penguin (Megadyptes 

antipodes), African penguin 

(Spheniscus demersus), and Humboldt 

penguin (Spheniscus humboldti) as 

threatened or endangered under the 

Endangered Species Act of 1973, as 

amended (Act). We find that the petition 

presents substantial scientific or 

commercial information indicating that 

listing 10 species of penguins may be 

warranted. We, therefore, are initiating 

a status review of 10 species of penguins 

to determine if listing under the Act is 

warranted. To ensure that the status 

review is comprehensive, we are 

soliciting scientific and commercial 

information regarding these species. We 

find the petition does not provide 

substantial scientific or commercial 

information indicating that listing of 

two species may be warranted: snares 

crested penguin and royal penguin. 

Therefore, we will not be initiating a 

status review for these two species in 

response to this petition. However, we 

ask the public to submit to us any new 

information that becomes available 

concerning the status of these two 

species or threats to them or their 

habitat at any time. 

DATES: We must receive your comments 

on or before September 10, 2007. 

ADDRESSES: Submit any comments, 

information, and questions by any one 

of the following methods: By mail to the 

Special Assistant to the Deputy 

Assistant Director, International Affairs, 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 4401 N. 

Fairfax Drive, Room 760, Arlington, VA 

22203; by fax to 703–358–2276; by email to DSApenguins@fws.gov; or 

through the Federal eRulemaking Portal 

at www.regulations.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. 

Peter O. Thomas at the above address, 

or by telephone, 703–358–1708; or email, DSApenguins@fws.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: If you 

submit information or comments, please 

include ‘‘Attn: Penguins’’ in the 

beginning of your message. Electronic 

attachments in standard formats (such 

as .pdf or .doc) are acceptable, but 

please name the software necessary to 

open any attachments in formats other 

than those given above. Also, please 

include 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, please submit your comments 

in writing using one of the alternate 

methods described above. 

Public Comments Solicited 

We intend that any final action 

resulting from this status review will be 

as accurate and as effective as possible. 

Therefore, we solicit comments or 

suggestions from the public, concerned 

governmental agencies, the scientific 

community, industry, or any other 

interested party. We are opening a 60- 

day public comment period to allow all 

interested parties an opportunity to 

provide information on the statuses of 

10 species of penguins: emperor 

penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri), southern 

rockhopper penguin (Eudyptes 

chrysocome), northern rockhopper 

penguin (Eudyptes moseleyi (E. 

chrysocome moseleyi)), fiordland 

crested penguin (Eudyptes 

pachyrhynchus), erect-crested penguin 

(Eudyptes sclateri), macaroni penguin 

(Eudyptes chrysolophus), whiteflippered penguin (Eudyptula 

albosignata (E. minor albosignata)), 

yellow-eyed penguin (Megadyptes 

antipodes), African penguin 

(Spheniscus demersus), and Humboldt 

penguin (Spheniscus humboldti) 

throughout their range, including: 

(1) Information on taxonomy, 

distribution, habitat selection and 

trends (especially breeding and foraging 

habitats), diet, and population 

abundance and trends (especially 

current recruitment data) on these 

species; 

(2) Information on the effects of 

climate change and changing ocean or 

land or sea ice conditions on the 

distribution and abundance of these 

species and their principal prey species 

over the short and long term (especially 

information on known prey 

substitutions, and what their effects 

would be on these species); 

(3) Information on the effects of other 

potential threat factors, including 

commercial fishing activities, 

contaminants, habitat loss, harvest, 

predation by other animals, and 

diseases of these species or their 


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37696 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 132 / Wednesday, July 11, 2007 / Proposed Rules 

principal prey over the short and long 

term; 

(4) Information on management 

programs for penguin conservation, 

including mitigation measures related to 

conservation programs, fisheries 

management, and any other private, 

tribal, or governmental conservation 

programs which benefit these species; 

and 

(5) Information relevant to whether 

any populations of the species may 

qualify as distinct population segments. 

We will base our finding on a review 

of the best scientific and commercial 

information available, including all 

information received during the public 

comment period. 

Public Availability of Comments 

Before including your address, phone 

number, e-mail address, or other 

personal identifying information in your 

comment, you should be aware that 

your entire comment—including your 

personal identifying information—may 

be made publicly available at any time. 

While you can ask us in your comment 

to withhold your personal identifying 

information from public review, we 

cannot guarantee that we will be able to 

do so. 

All comments and supporting 

information will be available for public 

inspection, by appointment, Monday 

through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

(see ADDRESSES). 

Background 

Our standard for substantial scientific 

or commercial information within the 

Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) with 

regard to a 90-day petition finding is 

‘‘that amount of information that would 

lead a reasonable person to believe that 

the measure proposed in the petition 

may be warranted’’ (50 CFR 424.14(b)). 

If we find that substantial information 

was presented, we are required to 

promptly commence a review of the 

status of the species. 

In making this finding we relied on 

information provided by the petitioner 

and evaluated that information in 

accordance with 50 CFR 424.14(b). Our 

process of making a 90-day finding 

under section 4(b)(3)(A) of the Act and 

section 424.14(b) of our regulations is 

limited to a determination of whether 

the information in the petition meets the 

‘‘substantial information’’ threshold. 

On November 29, 2006, the Service 

received a petition dated November 28, 

2006, from the Center for Biological 

Diversity to list 12 penguin species 

under the Act. The 12 penguin species 

range from Antarctica, Argentina, 

Australian Territory Islands, Chile, 

French Territory Islands, Namibia, New 

Zealand, Peru, South Africa, and United 

Kingdom Territory Islands. The petition, 

which was clearly identified as such, 

contains detailed information on the 

natural history, biology, status, and 

distribution of each of the 12 species. It 

also contains information on what the 

petitioner reported as potential threats 

to the species from climate change and 

changes to the marine environment, 

commercial fishing activities, 

contaminants and pollution, guano 

extraction, habitat loss, hunting, 

nonnative predator species, and other 

factors. The petition also discusses 

existing regulatory mechanisms and the 

perceived inadequacies to protect these 

species. 

We have determined that the petition 

presents substantial scientific or 

commercial information to indicate that 

listing 10 species of penguins as 

endangered or threatened may be 

warranted: emperor penguin, southern 

rockhopper penguin, northern 

rockhopper penguin, fiordland crested 

penguin, erect-crested penguin, 

macaroni penguin, white-flippered 

penguin, yellow-eyed penguin, African 

penguin, and Humboldt penguin. 

Therefore, we are initiating a status 

review to determine if listing each of the 

10 species is warranted. To ensure that 

the status review is comprehensive, we 

are soliciting scientific and commercial 

information regarding these 10 species. 

Under section 4(b)(3)(B) of the Act, we 

are required to make a finding as to 

whether listing each of the 10 species of 

penguins is warranted, not warranted, 

or warranted but precluded by pending 

listing proposals by November 29, 2007. 

Furthermore, we have also 

determined that the petition does not 

provide substantial scientific or 

commercial information indicating that 

listing the snares crested penguin and 

the royal penguin as threatened or 

endangered may be warranted at this 

time. 

The snares crested penguin is 

endemic to Snares Island, New Zealand. 

The petition states that the population 

of snares crested penguin was 

‘‘estimated at 23,250 breeding pairs in 

1995–1986.’’ No current population data 

were provided. The Department of 

Conservation of New Zealand in its 

Action Plan for Seabird Conservation in 

New Zealand (Taylor 2000) cited by the 

petitioner, ranks snares crested 

penguins as a third priority species for 

conservation action. In contrast, other 

New Zealand endemic penguins 

included in the petition are ranked 

within the New Zealand Action Plan as 

second priority threatened species. This 

lower priority conservation status for 

the snares crested penguin reflects the 

statement in the Action Plan that 

‘‘possibly the population is stable or has 

increased slightly since the 1960s.’’ As 

quoted in the petition, the action plan 

cites no human disturbance of colonies 

and no records of snares crested 

penguins being caught in trawl nets, as 

well as the absence of introduced 

mammalian predators on the Snares 

Islands. Unlike some of the other 

penguin species included in the 

petition, competition with fisheries for 

prey species has not been documented 

for this species. The petitioner reports 

that the greatest threat to this species is 

reduced prey availability due to 

changing ocean conditions; however, 

specific data to support this are not 

provided. Citations in the petition on 

possible specific or general impacts of 

climate change on penguins at various 

Antarctic and sub-Antarctic latitudes do 

not mention the snares crested penguin, 

yet the petitioners assert the species will 

be affected on the basis of inferred 

similarity with other species for which 

the petitioner cites such impacts. We 

note that the petitioners do not include 

all penguin species in the petition. This 

indicates a conclusion by the petitioners 

that not all penguin species are equally 

under threat from the cited climate 

change factors and reduces confidence 

in the extrapolation of information, 

whether general, or directly tied to other 

specific locations or other species, to 

species included in the petition for 

which no specific information on these 

factors is provided. On the basis of the 

information provided on population 

data, trends, and threats, we find that 

the petitioner does not present 

substantial scientific or commercial 

information to indicate that listing the 

snares crested penguin may be 

warranted at this time. 

The petitioners present information 

on the distribution and abundance of 

the royal penguin. The royal penguin is 

endemic to Macquarie Island, Australia. 

This information indicates that 

population levels are stable for this 

species which has recovered from heavy 

exploitation for their oil in the 19th and 

early 20th Centuries to a stable 

population of approximately 850,000 

pairs, located in 57 colonies ranging 

from 60 to 160,000 pairs primarily on 

Macquarie Island and a few nearby 

islands. The petitioners cite a number of 

general references describing possible 

threats to the species. Unlike other 

species included in the petition, 

substantial evidence of current or recent 

population declines or of large scale or 

significant local impacts on this species 

from the possible threat factors cited in 

the petition are not presented. With 


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Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 132 / Wednesday, July 11, 2007 / Proposed Rules 37697 

respect to the threat of nest predation by 

introduced predators which is 

documented as a serious threat by the 

petitioner in citations for other endemic 

species, the IUCN Red List of 

Threatened Species citation for this 

species, based on a 2005 assessment, 

states for the royal penguin that ‘‘rats 

take some eggs and young’’ but goes on 

to state that ‘‘feral cats have now been 

eliminated from Macquarie Island.’’

This suggests that conservation actions 

related to removing introduced 

predators prescribed in the Penguin 

Conservation Assessment and 

Management Plan for the royal penguin 

cited by the petitioner (Ellis 1999) are 

being successfully implemented. In fact, 

this recommendation regarding 

removing introduced predators is not 

included in the 2005 update of the 

IUCN Red List citation (Birdlife 

International 2006). Similarly, according 

to this cited source, the threat of human 

disturbance is being managed; ‘‘tourists 

on breeding islands are managed to 

prevent disturbance.’’ Citations in the 

petition on possible specific or general 

impacts of climate change on penguins 

at various Antarctic and sub-Antarctic 

latitudes do not mention the royal 

penguin, yet the petitioners assert the 

species will be affected on the basis of 

inferred similarity with other species for 

which the petitioner cites such impacts. 

We note that the petitioners do not 

include all penguin species in the 

petition. This indicates a conclusion by 

the petitioners that not all penguin 

species are equally under threat from 

the cited climate change factors and 

reduces confidence in the extrapolation 

of information, whether general, or 

directly tied to other specific locations 

or other species, to species included in 

the petition for which no specific 

information on these factors is provided. 

Because the petitioner provided no 

information indicating population 

declines or documenting specific threats 

to the species supported by scientific 

data or studies, we find that the 

petitioner does not present substantial 

scientific or commercial information to 

indicate that listing the royal penguin as 

threatened or endangered may be 

warranted at this time. 

Finding 

We have determined that the petition 

presents substantial scientific or 

commercial information to indicate that 

listing 10 species of penguins as 

endangered or threatened may be 

warranted. We find the petition does not 

present substantial scientific or 

commercial information to indicate that 

listing the snares crested penguin and 

the royal penguin as threatened or 

endangered may be warranted at this 

time. 

References Cited 

Birdlife International (Birdlife). 2006. In 

IUCN 2006. 2006 IUCN Red List of 

Threatened Species. Available at: http:// 

www.iucnredlist.org. 

del Hoyo, J., A. Elliott, and J. Sargatal 

(Eds.). 2002. Handbook of the Birds of the 

World. Vol. 1. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. 

Ellis, S. 1999. The Penguin Conservation 

Assessment and Management Plan: a 

Description of the Process. Marine 

Ornithology 27:163–169. 

Author 

The primary author of this notice is 

Pat Ford, Division of Scientific 

Authority, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service. 

Authority 

The authority for this action is the 

Endangered Species Act of 1973, as 

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

Dated: July 3, 2007. 

H. Dale Hall, 

Director, Fish and Wildlife Service. 

[FR Doc. 07–3355 Filed 7–6–07; 11:47 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 224 

[I.D. 021607C] 

Endangered and Threatened Species; 

Proposed Endangered Status for the 

Cook Inlet Beluga Whale; Public 

Hearing 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of public hearing. 

SUMMARY: On April 20, 2007, NMFS 

proposed the listing of the Cook Inlet 

beluga whale as an endangered species 

under the Endangered Species Act of 

1973 (ESA), as amended. As part of that 

proposal, NMFS announced a public 

comment period to end on June 19, 

2007, and then extended the comment 

period to August 3, 2007. NMFS has 

received requests for public hearings on 

this issue. In response, NMFS 

announced two public hearings to be 

held in Alaska and one public hearing 

to be held in Maryland in two previous 

Federal Register notices. In addition, 

NMFS is announcing a separate hearing 

in this notice that will be held in 

Soldotna, Alaska, in order to provide 

greater opportunity for public comment. 

DATES: The hearing will be held on July 

27, 2007, from 6 to 9 p.m. in Soldotna, 

AK. Written comments must be received 

by August 3, 2007. 

ADDRESSES: The July 27, 2007, hearing 

will be held at the Kenai Peninsula 

Borough Assembly chambers, 144 North 

Binkley Street, Soldotna, AK. 

Written comments can be sent to Kaja 

Brix, Assistant Regional Administrator, 

Protected Resources Division, Alaska 

Region, NMFS, Attn: Ellen Sebastian. 

Comments may be submitted by: 

• E-mail: CIB-ESAEndangered@noaa.gov. Include in the 

subject line the following document 

identifier: Cook Inlet Beluga Whale PR. 

E-mail comments, with or without 

attachments, are limited to 5 megabytes. 

• Webform at the Federal 

eRulemaking Portal: 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions at that site for submitting 

comments. 

• Mail: P. O Box 21668, Juneau, AK 

99802. 

• Hand delivery to the Federal 

Building: 709 W. 9th Street, Juneau, AK. 

• Fax: (907) 586–7557. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brad 

Smith, NMFS, 222 West 7th Avenue, 

Anchorage, AK 99517, telephone (907) 

271–5006; Kaja Brix, NMFS, (907) 586–

7235; or Marta Nammack, NMFS, (301) 

713–1401. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

On April 20, 2007, NMFS published 

a proposed rule to list the Cook Inlet 

beluga whale as an endangered species 

under the Endangered Species Act of 

1973 (ESA), as amended (72 FR 19854). 

This action followed completion of the 

Cook Inlet beluga whale status review, 

which found this population to be at 

risk of extinction within the next 100 

years and described NMFS= 

determination that this population 

constitutes a ‘‘species’’, or distinct 

population segment under the ESA. 

Following the publication of the 

proposed rule to list the Cook Inlet 

beluga whale as endangered, NMFS 

received requests to schedule public 

hearings on this issue. In response to 

these requests, NMFS published two 

separate notices in the Federal Register 

announcing public hearings in Alaska 

(72 FR 32605; June 13, 2007) and 

Maryland (72 FR 34661; June 25, 2007). 

Following these announcements, NMFS 

received an additional request for a 

public hearing to be held in Soldotna, 

AK. NMFS has decided to honor the 

request in order to provide additional 

opportunities for public comment. 


cprice-sewell on PROD1PC72 with PROPOSALS