[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 226 (Monday, November 27, 2023)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 82817-82818]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-25597]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Part 17

[Docket No. FWS-R2-ES-2023-0023; FF09E21000 FXES1111090FEDR 245]
RIN 1018-BH13


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Designation of 
Critical Habitat for Sacramento Mountains Checkerspot Butterfly

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Proposed rule; reopening of comment period and announcement of 
public hearing.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are 
reopening the public comment period on our August 10, 2023, proposed 
rule to designate critical habitat for the Sacramento Mountains 
checkerspot butterfly (Euphydryas anicia cloudcrofti), a butterfly from 
New Mexico, under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). 
We are taking this action to conduct a public hearing and to allow all 
interested parties additional time to comment on the proposal to 
designate critical habitat for the Sacramento Mountains checkerspot 
butterfly. Comments previously submitted need not be resubmitted and 
will be fully considered in preparation of the final rule.

DATES: 
    Comment submission: The comment period on the proposed rule that 
published August 10, 2023 (88 FR 54263), is reopened. We will accept 
comments received or postmarked on or before December 27, 2023. Please 
note that comments submitted electronically using the Federal 
eRulemaking Portal (see ADDRESSES, below) must be received by 11:59 
p.m. eastern time on the closing date to ensure consideration.
    Public hearing: On December 12, 2023, we will hold a public hearing 
on the proposed critical habitat designation for the Sacramento 
Mountains checkerspot butterfly from 5 to 8 p.m., Mountain time, using 
the Zoom online platform (for more information, see Public Hearing, 
below).

ADDRESSES: 
    Availability of documents: You may obtain copies of the August 10, 
2023, proposed rule and associated documents on the internet at https://www.regulations.gov under Docket No. FWS-R2-ES-2023-0023.

[[Page 82818]]

    Written comments: You may submit comments by one of the following 
methods:
    (1) Electronically: Go to the Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. In the Search box, enter FWS-R2-ES-2023-0023, 
which is the docket number for the proposed rule. 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 a comment by clicking on 
``Comment.''
    (2) By hard copy: Submit by U.S. mail to: Public Comments 
Processing, Attn: FWS-R2-ES-2023-0023, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 
MS: PRB/3W, 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.
    We request that you send comments only by the methods described 
above. We will post all comments on https://www.regulations.gov. This 
generally means that we will post any personal information you provide 
us (see Public Comments, below, for more information).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shawn Sartorius, Field Supervisor, 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, New Mexico Ecological Services Field 
Office, 2105 Osuna Road NE, Albuquerque, NM 87113; telephone 505-346-
2525. 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-of-contact in 
the United States. Please see Docket No. FWS-R2-ES-2023-0023 on https://www.regulations.gov for a document that summarizes the August 10, 
2023, proposed rule.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On August 10, 2023, we published a proposed rule (88 FR 54263) to 
designate critical habitat for the Sacramento Mountains checkerspot 
butterfly under the Act. The proposed rule opened a 60-day public 
comment period, ending October 10, 2023. During the open comment 
period, we received a request for a public hearing. Therefore, we are 
reopening the comment period and announcing a public hearing to allow 
the public an additional opportunity to provide comments on the 
proposed rule.
    For a description of previous Federal actions concerning critical 
habitat for the Sacramento Mountains checkerspot butterfly and 
information on the types of comments that would be helpful to us in 
promulgating this rulemaking action, please refer to the August 10, 
2023, proposed rule (88 FR 54263).

Public Hearing

    We are holding a public hearing to accept comments on the proposed 
rule to designate critical habitat for the Sacramento Mountains 
checkerspot butterfly on the date and at the time listed in DATES. We 
are holding the public hearing via the Zoom online video platform and 
via teleconference so that participants can attend remotely. For 
security purposes, registration is required. All participants must 
register in order to listen and view the hearing via Zoom, listen to 
the hearing by telephone, or provide oral public comments at the public 
hearing by Zoom or telephone.
    For information on how to register, or if you encounter problems 
joining Zoom the day of the meeting, visit https://www.fws.gov/office/new-mexico-ecological-services. Registrants will receive the Zoom link 
and the telephone number for the public hearing. If applicable, 
interested members of the public not familiar with the Zoom platform 
should view the Zoom video tutorials (https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/categories/200101697-Getting-Started-with-Zoom) prior to the public 
hearing.
    The public hearing will provide interested parties an opportunity 
to present verbal testimony (formal, oral comments) regarding the 
August 10, 2023, proposed rule to designate critical habitat for the 
Sacramento Mountains checkerspot butterfly (88 FR 54263). The purpose 
of the public hearing is to provide a forum for accepting formal verbal 
testimony, which will then become part of the record for the proposed 
rule. In the event there is a large attendance, the time allotted for 
verbal testimony may be limited. Therefore, anyone wishing to provide 
verbal testimony at the public hearing is encouraged to provide a 
prepared written copy of their statement to us through the Federal 
eRulemaking Portal or U.S. mail (see ADDRESSES, above). There are no 
limits on the length of written comments submitted to us. Anyone 
wishing to provide verbal testimony at the public hearing must register 
before the hearing.
    For information on how to register, visit https://www.fws.gov/office/new-mexico-ecological-services. The use of a virtual public 
hearing is consistent with our regulations at 50 CFR 424.16(c)(3).

Reasonable Accommodation

    The Service is committed to providing access to the public hearing 
for all participants. Closed captioning will be available during the 
public hearing. Further, a full audio and video recording and 
transcript of the public hearing will be posted online at https://www.fws.gov/office/new-mexico-ecological-services after the hearing. 
Participants will also have access to live audio during the public 
hearing via their telephone or computer speakers. Persons with 
disabilities requiring reasonable accommodations to participate in the 
hearing should contact the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT at least 5 business days prior to the date of the hearing to 
help ensure availability. An accessible version of the Service's public 
hearing presentation will also be posted online at https://www.fws.gov/office/new-mexico-ecological-services prior to the hearing (see DATES, 
above). See https://www.fws.gov/office/new-mexico-ecological-services 
for more information about reasonable accommodation.

Public Comments

    If you submit information via https://www.regulations.gov, your 
entire submission--including your 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.
    Comments and materials we receive, as well as supporting 
documentation we used in preparing the proposed rule, will be available 
for public inspection on https://www.regulations.gov.

Authors

    The primary authors of this proposed rule are the staff members of 
the Fish and Wildlife Service's Species Assessment Team and the New 
Mexico Ecological Services Field Office.

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. 2023-25597 Filed 11-24-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P