Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 185 / Tuesday, September 26, 2023 / Proposed Rules 65939 

October 6, 2023, and November 10, 

2023, respectively. 

Federal Communications Commission. 

Maureen Bizhko, 

Chief of Staff, Public Safety and Homeland 

Security Bureau. 

[FR Doc. 2023–20921 Filed 9–25–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

50 CFR Part 17 

[Docket No. FWS–R1–ES–2023–0123; 

FF09E21000 FXES1111090FEDR 234] 

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife 

and Plants; Species Status 

Assessment for the Northern 

California-Southern Oregon Distinct 

Population Segment of Fisher 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Request for new information. 

SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service (Service), notify the 

public that we are requesting new 

information to develop a species status 

assessment (SSA) for the Northern 

California-Southern Oregon (NCSO) 

distinct population segment (DPS) of 

fisher (Pekania pennanti). We plan to 

initiate a status review to determine 

whether the NCSO DPS of fisher is 

warranted for listing as an endangered 

or threatened species under the 

Endangered Species Act of 1973, as 

amended (Act). We request new 

information since 2019 regarding the 

NCSO DPS of fisher to inform our SSA. 

Per a court-approved settlement 

agreement, we will submit a new final 

listing determination to the Federal 

Register on or before August 21, 2025. 

DATES: To ensure our full consideration 

and incorporation of new information, 

the Service requests submittal of new 

information by October 26, 2023. 

Information submitted electronically 

using the Federal eRulemaking Portal 

(see ADDRESSES, below) must be 

received by 11:59 p.m. eastern time on 

the closing date. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit new 

information by one of the following 

methods: 

(1) Electronically: Go to the Federal 

eRulemaking Portal: https://

www.regulations.gov. In the Search box, 

enter FWS–R1–ES–2023–0123, which is 

the docket number for this rulemaking. 

Then, click on the Search button. On the 

resulting page, in the panel on the left 

side of the screen, under the Document 

Type heading, check the Proposed Rule 

box to locate this document. You may 

submit information by clicking on 

‘‘Comment.’’ 

(2) By hard copy: Submit by U.S. mail 

to: Public Comments Processing, Attn: 

FWS–R1–ES–2023–0123, U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service, MS: PRB/3W, 5275 

Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041– 

3803. 

We request that you send new 

information only by the methods 

described above. We will post all new 

information received on https://

www.regulations.gov. This generally 

means that we will post any personal 

information you provide us (see 

Information Requested, below, for more 

information). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jim 

Thrailkill, Field Supervisor, Roseburg 

Field Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service, 777 NW Garden Valley 

Boulevard, Roseburg, Oregon 97471; 

email: jim_thrailkill@fws.gov. 

Individuals in the United States who are 

deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have 

a speech disability may dial 711 (TTY, 

TDD, or TeleBraille) to access 

telecommunications relay services. 

Individuals outside the United States 

should use the relay services offered 

within their country to make 

international calls to the point-ofcontact in the United States. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

In 2014, we proposed to list the West 

Coast DPS of fisher (encompassing all 

fishers throughout California, Oregon, 

and Washington) as threatened under 

the Act (79 FR 60419, October 7, 2014). 

However, we withdrew that proposed 

rule on April 18, 2016 (81 FR 22710). 

The withdrawal was subsequently 

challenged by the Center for Biological 

Diversity, Environmental Protection 

Information Center, Klamath-Siskiyou 

Wildlands Center, and the Sierra Forest 

Legacy. The District Court for the 

Northern District of California 

remanded the Service’s final 

determination for reconsideration and 

preparation of a new determination. We 

reopened the comment period on 

January 31, 2019 (84 FR 645), followed 

by publication of a revised proposed 

listing rule on November 7, 2019, based 

on new information and a reevaluation 

of the best available information, 

including reconfiguration of multiple 

DPSs within the area previously 

described as a single DPS called the 

West Coast DPS of fisher (84 FR 60278). 

The new delineation of DPSs included 

two original native populations (the 

NCSO and Southern Sierra Nevada 

(SSN) DPSs) and three reintroduced 

populations (Northern Sierra Nevada, 

Southern Oregon Cascades, and the 

Olympic Peninsula). On May 15, 2020, 

we issued a final rule that added the 

SSN DPS as an endangered species to 

the List of Endangered and Threatened 

Wildlife, and we presented our finding 

that the NCSO DPS did not warrant 

listing under the Act (85 FR 29532). 

On September 13, 2022, the Center for 

Biological Diversity, Environmental 

Protection Information Center, and 

Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center 

filed a complaint in the United States 

District Court, Northern District of 

California, alleging that our 

determination on the NCSO DPS of 

fisher violated the Act. Per the 

stipulated settlement agreement dated 

June 7, 2023, which the court approved 

on June 8, 2023, the Service will submit 

to the Office of the Federal Register by 

August 21, 2025, a new 12-month 

finding as to whether listing the NCSO 

DPS of fisher as an endangered or 

threatened species is warranted under 

the Act. The terms of the settlement 

agreement include publication of this 

document ‘‘as soon as practicable’’ to 

announce a public comment period 

seeking new information to assist with 

reevaluation of the NCSO DPS of fisher 

and preparation of a new determination. 

Additional information on Federal 

actions concerning the DPSs of fisher 

are outlined in the following Federal 

Register documents: a final rule of May 

15, 2020 (85 FR 29532) and a proposed 

rule of October 7, 2014 (79 FR 60419). 

Information Requested 

Although an analysis and biological 

report were completed in 2016 for 

fishers throughout Washington, Oregon, 

and California (Service 2016a, entire), a 

scientific analysis using the SSA 

framework (which considers the 

principles of resiliency, redundancy, 

and representation; Service 2016b, 

entire) has not been developed for the 

NCSO DPS of fisher. New information 

from 2016 through 2019 was 

incorporated into our May 15, 2020, 

final rule (85 FR 29532). We will 

reevaluate the information already 

included in our files, along with any 

new information received, for an SSA. 

At this time, we are seeking new 

information that has become available 

after 2019 regarding the NCSO DPS of 

fisher. The range of this DPS for which 

we seek information is approximately 

southwest Oregon (west of Klamath 

Falls and south of approximately the 

Rogue River), the northern California 

coast as far south as Point Reyes 

National Seashore and inland through 

the Northern Coast Ranges of California, 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
65940 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 185 / Tuesday, September 26, 2023 / Proposed Rules 

the Klamath-Siskiyou Mountains, and 

continuing east through the Southern 

Cascades (excluding the Sacramento 

Valley). This geographic area includes 

the following counties for new 

information: Coos, Curry, Douglas, 

Josephine, Jackson, Klamath, and Lane 

Counties in southern Oregon; and Butte, 

Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, 

Plumas, Shasta Siskiyou, Tehama, and 

Trinity Counties in northern California. 

We will consider information from all 

interested parties. We are particularly 

interested in information concerning: 

(1) The historical and current status, 

range, distribution, and population size 

of this DPS, including information on 

denning sites. This includes information 

regarding population trend studies or 

occurrence data specific to this DPS, 

information regarding areas that have 

been surveyed compared to areas that 

have not been surveyed, and all positive 

and negative survey results to help us 

assess distribution and population 

trends. 

(2) The biological or ecological 

requirements for fishers, as well as 

information on population connectivity 

between occurrences of fishers across 

the NCSO DPS range. 

(3) Anticoagulant and neurotoxicant 

rodenticides, and other toxicants, 

including law enforcement information 

and trend data. 

(4) The threat of wildfire, including 

studies or information pertaining to 

current and future trends in wildfire 

frequency and severity, as well as 

information pertaining to the response 

of fishers to post-fire landscapes in the 

NCSO DPS of fisher. 

(5) Changes in low- to mid-elevation 

forests within the range of the NCSO 

DPS of fisher, including scope and 

extent of vegetation management on 

Federal and non-Federal lands. 

(6) The projected and reasonably 

likely impacts of climate change on the 

NCSO DPS of fisher and its habitat, 

including impacts to reproductive 

habitat. 

(7) Any effects associated with 

population size and isolation relevant to 

the NCSO DPS of fisher (e.g., low 

reproductive capacity, inbreeding 

depression, demographic and 

environmental stochasticity), and 

information on genetic diversity on the 

fisher. 

(8) Any conservation efforts designed 

to benefit fishers and their habitat 

within the NCSO DPS that have been 

planned or implemented after 2019, 

including both current, ongoing, or 

planned activities and possible effects of 

these activities on the species or its 

habitat. 

Please include sufficient information 

with your submission (such as scientific 

journal articles or other publications) to 

allow us to verify any scientific or 

commercial information you include. 

You may submit information by one 

of the methods listed in ADDRESSES. We 

request that you send information only 

by the methods described in ADDRESSES. 

If you submit information via https:// 

www.regulations.gov, your entire 

submission—including any personal 

identifying information—will be posted 

on the website. If your submission is 

made via a hardcopy that includes 

personal identifying information, you 

may request at the top of your document 

that we withhold this information from 

public review. However, we cannot 

guarantee that we will be able to do so. 

We will post all hardcopy submissions 

on https://www.regulations.gov. 

Information and materials we receive 

will be available for public inspection 

on https://www.regulations.gov at 

Docket No. FWS–R1–ES–2023–0123. 

Authors 

The primary authors of this document 

are the staff members of the Fish and 

Wildlife Service’s Species Assessment 

Team. 

Authority 

The authority for this action is the 

Endangered Species Act of 1973, as 

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

Martha Williams, 

Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 

[FR Doc. 2023–20826 Filed 9–25–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4333–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 226 

[Docket No. 230914–0218; RTID 0648– 

XR122] 

Listing Endangered or Threatened 

Species; 12-Month Finding on a 

Petition To Revise the Critical Habitat 

Designation for the North Pacific Right 

Whale 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Department of Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of 12-month petition 

finding. 

SUMMARY: We, NMFS, announce a 12- 

month determination on a petition to 

revise the critical habitat designation for 

the North Pacific right whale 

(Eubalaena japonica) under the 

Endangered Species Act (ESA). Based 

on our review of the best available 

information on North Pacific right 

whale habitat use, we intend to revise 

the critical habitat. This finding 

describes how we intend to proceed, 

particularly regarding analysis and 

review of the relevant data and 

information that have become available 

since North Pacific right whale critical 

habitat was designated in 2008. 

DATES: The finding announced in this 

document was made on September 26, 

2023. 

ADDRESSES: Copies of the petition, 90- 

day finding, and list of references for 

this 12-month finding are available 

online at: https://www.regulations.gov 

or from the NMFS website (see https:// 

www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/criticalhabitat-north-pacific-right-whales). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Jenna Malek, NMFS Alaska Region, 

jenna.malek@noaa.gov or (907) 271– 

1332. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

In April 2008, we issued a final rule 

designating approximately 95,325 

square kilometers (36,800 square miles) 

of critical habitat for North Pacific right 

whales in the Gulf of Alaska and the 

Southeast Bering Sea (73 FR 19000, 

April 8, 2008). On March 10, 2022, 

NMFS received a petition from the 

Center for Biological Diversity and Save 

the North Pacific Right Whale 

requesting revision to the critical habitat 

designation for the North Pacific right 

whale. The requested revision triggers a 

process for agency response as outlined 

in the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and 

explained below. 

The ESA defines critical habitat as: (i) 

The specific areas within the 

geographical area occupied by the 

species, at the time it is listed . . . on 

which are found those physical or 

biological features (I) essential to the 

conservation of the species and (II) 

which may require special management 

considerations or protection; and (ii) 

specific areas outside the geographical 

area occupied by the species at the time 

it is listed . . . upon a determination by 

the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) 

that such areas are essential for the 

conservation of the species (16 U.S.C. 

1532(5)(A)). Joint NMFS–U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service regulations for 

designating critical habitat at 50 CFR 

424.12(b)(1)(ii) state that the agencies 

will identify physical and biological 

features essential to the conservation of 

the species at an appropriate level of 

specificity using the best available 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with PROPOSALS1