62522 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 175 / Tuesday, September 12, 2023 / Proposed Rules 

(b) The State plan shall be developed 

by the State entity in collaboration with 

APS programs. 

(c) The State plan shall be updated at 

least every five years but as frequently 

as every three years. 

(d) The State plan shall contain an 

assurance that all policies and 

procedures described herein will be 

developed and adhered to by the State 

APS system; 

(e) State plans will be reviewed and 

approved by the Director of the Office 

of Elder Justice and Adult Protective 

Services. Any State dissatisfied with the 

final decision of the Director of the 

Office of Elder Justice and Adult 

Protective Services may appeal to the 

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Aging 

within 30 calendar days of the date of 

the Director of the Office of Elder Justice 

and Adult Protective Services’ final 

decision and will be afforded the 

opportunity for a hearing. If the State is 

dissatisfied with the final decision of 

the Deputy Assistant Secretary for 

Aging, it may appeal to the Assistant 

Secretary for Aging within 30 calendar 

days of the date of the Deputy Assistant 

Secretary for Aging’s decision. 

Dated: September 6, 2023. 

Xavier Becerra, 

Secretary, Department of Health and Human 

Services. 

[FR Doc. 2023–19516 Filed 9–11–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4154–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Parts 224 and 226 

[Docket No. 230906–0211] 

RIN 0648–BL86 

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife 

and Plants; Designation of Critical 

Habitat for the Rice’s Whale, Public 

Hearing and Extension of Public 

Comment Period 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of public hearing, 

extension of comment period. 

SUMMARY: We, NMFS, have rescheduled 

a public hearing related to the proposed 

rule to designate critical habitat for the 

Rice’s whale under the Endangered 

Species Act (ESA). We are also 

extending the public comment period 

for this proposed rule to October 6, 

2023. 

DATES: A virtual public hearing on the 

proposed rule will be held online on 

September 28, 2023, from 3 p.m. to 5 

p.m. (Eastern Daylight Time). 

The proposed rule to designate 

critical habitat for the Rice’s whale 

under the ESA was published on July 

24, 2023 (88 FR 47453), and provided 

for a public comment period to 

September 22, 2023. The comment 

period is now extended to October 6, 

2023. Comments must be received by 

October 6, 2023. Comments received 

after this date may not be accepted. 

ADDRESSES: The public hearing will be 

conducted as a virtual meeting, and any 

member of the public can join by 

internet or phone regardless of location. 

You may join the virtual meeting using 

a web browser, a mobile app on a phone 

(app installation required), or—to listen 

only—using just a phone call, as 

specified at this link: https://

www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/

riceswhale#conservationmanagement. 

You may submit comments verbally at 

the public hearing. You may also submit 

comments in writing by any of the 

following methods: 

• Electronic Submissions: Submit all 

electronic comments via the Federal 

eRulemaking Portal. Go to https://

www.regulations.gov and enter NOAA– 

NMFS–2023–0028. Click on the 

‘‘Comment’’ icon, complete the required 

fields, and enter or attach your 

comments. 

• Mail: Submit written comments to 

Assistant Regional Administrator, 

Protected Resources Division, NMFS, 

Southeast Regional Office, 263 13th 

Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701. 

Instructions: Comments sent by any 

other method, to any other address or 

individual, or received after the end of 

the comment period might not be 

considered by NMFS. All comments 

received are a part of the public record 

and will generally be posted for public 

viewing on https://www.regulations.gov 

without change. All personal identifying 

information (e.g., name, address, etc.), 

confidential business information, or 

otherwise sensitive information 

submitted voluntarily by the sender will 

be publicly accessible. NMFS 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, or Adobe 

portable document format (PDF) formats 

only. 

Details on the virtual public hearing 

will be made available on our website 

at: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/ 

species/riceswhale#conservation

management. The Endangered Species 

Act Critical Habitat Report, geographic 

information system (GIS) data, and 

maps that were prepared to support the 

development of this proposed rule are 

available on our website at: https://

www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/

riceswhale#conservationmanagement. 

Previous rulemaking documents related 

to the listing of the species can also be 

obtained electronically on our website 

at: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/ 

species/rices-whale#conservation

management. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Grant Baysinger, NMFS Southeast 

Region, (727) 551–5790; or Lisa 

Manning, NMFS Office of Protected 

Resources, (301) 427–8466. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On July 

24, 2023, NMFS published a proposed 

rule to designate critical habitat for the 

endangered Rice’s whale (Balaenoptera 

ricei) under the ESA (88 FR 47453). In 

that notice, we also announced a 60-day 

public comment period, two virtual 

public hearings to be held on August 24, 

2023 and August 30, 2023, and an 

option to request an additional public 

hearing made in writing by September 

7, 2023. On August 24, 2023, we held 

a virtual public hearing. On August 28, 

2023, we canceled the public hearing 

scheduled for August 30, 2023, ahead of 

Hurricane Idalia’s expected landfall. We 

have now rescheduled that public 

hearing to September 28, 2023, from 3 

p.m. to 5 p.m. (Eastern Daylight Time), 

as described in this notice. To 

accommodate this second public 

hearing and provide additional time 

needed to submit public comments 

following the disruptions stemming 

from Hurricane Idalia, we are also 

extending the public comment period to 

October 6, 2023. 

Public Hearing 

The public hearing on September 28, 

2023, will be conducted online as a 

virtual meeting, as specified in 

ADDRESSES above. More detailed 

instructions for joining the virtual 

meeting are provided on our web page 

(see https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/ 

species/riceswhale#conservation

management). The hearing will begin 

with a brief presentation by NMFS that 

will give an overview of the proposed 

critical habitat designation under the 

ESA. After the presentation, there will 

be a question and answer session during 

which members of the public may ask 

NMFS staff questions about the 

proposed rule. Following the question 

and answer session, members of the 

public will have the opportunity to 

provide oral comments on the record 

regarding the proposed rule. In order to 


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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 175 / Tuesday, September 12, 2023 / Proposed Rules 62523 

ensure all participants have an 

opportunity to speak during the hearing, 

the time allotted for individual oral 

comments may be limited. Therefore, 

anyone wishing to make an oral 

statement at the public hearing for the 

record is encouraged to prepare a 

written copy of their comments. All oral 

comments will be recorded and added 

to the public comment record for this 

proposed rule. 

Written comments may also be 

submitted during the public comment 

period as described under DATES and 

ADDRESSES. 

Reasonable Accommodations 

People needing accommodations so 

that they may attend and participate at 

the public hearing should submit a 

request for reasonable accommodations 

as soon as possible, and no later than 7 

business days prior to the hearing date, 

by contacting Grant Baysinger (see FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT). 

Authority: The authority for this action is 

the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as 

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

Dated: September 6, 2023. 

Samuel D. Rauch, III, 

Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2023–19643 Filed 9–11–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 


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