Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 23 / Tuesday, February 4, 1997 / Proposed Rules 5199

date not later than January 31, 2002. The

Coast Guard will issue STCW

certificates and endorsements for

service beyond January 31, 2002, only to

those who meet certain new

requirements under the 1995

Amendments to STCW. The interim rule

will be published in the near future and

will identify those requirements, which

must be met to attain a certificate or

endorsement for service beyond

February 1, 2002.

Dated: January 30, 1997.

R.D. Herr,

Vice Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Acting

Commandant.

[FR Doc. 97–2796 Filed 1–31–97; 10:53 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–14–M

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Part 17

RIN 1018–AC99

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife

and Plants; Notice of 30-Day Extension

and Reopening of Public Comment

Period on the Proposed Rule To List 10

Plants From the Foothills of the Sierra

Nevada Mountains as Threatened or

Endangered

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service,

Interior.

ACTION: Notice of extension and

reopening of comment period on

proposed rule.

SUMMARY: The Fish and Wildlife Service

(Service), pursuant to the Endangered

Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act),

provides notice of reopening of the

comment period on the proposed

endangered status for Brodiaea pallida

(Chinese Camp brodiaea), Calyptridium

puchellum (Mariposa pussypaws),

Lupinus citrinus var. deflexus (Mariposa

lupine) and Mimulus shevockii (Kelso

Creek monkeyflower) and proposed

threatened status for Allium

tuolumnense (Rawhide Hill onion),

Carpenteria californica (carpenteria),

Clarkia springvillensis (Springville

clarkia), Fritillaria striata (striped adobe

lily), Navarretia setiloba (Piute

Mountains navarretia), and Verbena

californica (California vervain). The

comment period is reopened to acquire

new and updated information from

interested parties on these 10 plants.

DATES: The public comment period

closes March 6, 1997. Any comments

received by the closing date will be

considered in the final decision on this

proposal.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and

materials concerning this proposal

should be sent to the Field Supervisor,

Sacramento Field Office, 3310 El

Camino Avenue, Suite 130, Sacramento,

California 95821–6340. Comments and

materials received will be available for

inspection, by appointment, during

normal business hours at the above

address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ken

Fuller of the Sacramento Field Office

(see ADDRESSES section) at (916) 979–

2120.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On October 4, 1994, the Service

published a rule proposing endangered

status for Brodiaea pallida,

Calyptridium puchellum, Lupinus

citrinus var. deflexus and Mimulus

shevockii and proposed threatened

status for Allium tuolumnense,

Carpenteria californica, Clarkia

springvillensis, Fritillaria striata,

Navarretia setiloba, and Verbena

californica. The original comment

period closed on December 5, 1994. On

December 29, 1994, the comment period

was reopened and extended until

February 13, 1995 (59 FR 67268) to

accommodate the public hearing that

was requested. Due to requests for

additional time, the comment period

was extended until June 4, 1995 (60 FR

8342).

These 10 plants and their habitats are

known from annual grasslands,

chaparral, Joshua tree, pinyon-juniper,

blue oak, and digger pine woodland

communities in the foothills of the

Sierra Nevada Mountains in central

California. These plants are threatened

by one or more of the following:

agricultural land conversion,

urbanization, logging, highway

construction and road maintenance

activities, inappropriate grazing, offhighway vehicle use, mining, insect

predation, inadequate regulatory

mechanisms, stochastic extinction from

random natural events, and

incompatible fire management

activities.

The Service was unable to make a

final listing determination on these

species because a moratorium on listing

actions (Public Law 104–6), which took

effect on April 10, 1995, stipulated that

no funds could be used to make final

listing determinations or critical habitat

determinations. With the lifting, on

April 26, 1996, of the moratorium on

final listing actions and the restoration

of significant funding for listing through

passage of the omnibus budget

reconciliation law on, the Service is

proceeding with a final determination

for these species. Due to the length of

time that has elapsed since the close of

the last comment period, the comment

period is being reopened. Changes in

procedural and biological

circumstances, and the need to consider

the best scientific information available

in this rulemaking process necessitate

this action. The Service believes that

updated threat information may be

available that may significantly affect

final listing determinations. For these

reasons, the Service seeks information

made available in the last 2 years

concerning:

(1) Biological, commercial, or other

relevant data on any threats (or lack

thereof) to any of these 10 species, but

particularly for Calyptridium

puchellum, Fritillaria striata, Lupinus

citinus var. deflexus, and Navarretia

setiloba;

(2) Additional information on the

size, number or distribution of

populations; and

(3) Specific information concerning

the known or potential effects of fire

suppression and general fire

management practices on Carpenteria

californica.

Written comments may be submitted

through March 6, 1997 to the Service

office in the ADDRESSES section.

Author

The primary author of this notice is

Ken Fuller (see ADDRESSES section).

Authority

The authority for this action is the

Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16

U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).

Dated: January 28, 1997.

Thomas J. Dwyer,

Acting Regional Director.

[FR Doc. 97–2679 Filed 2–3–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P