Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 74 / Tuesday, April 17, 2012 / Proposed Rules 22749 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Parts 223 and 224 

RIN 0648–XT12 

Petition To List 83 Species of Coral as 

Threatened or Endangered Under the 

Endangered Species Act (ESA) 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of availability of reports, 

request for information, and notice of 

public listening sessions and scientific 

workshops. 

SUMMARY: We, NMFS, issue this 

document to request information from 

the public on a Status Review Report 

and a draft Management Report we 

prepared in response to a petition from 

the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) 

to list 83 coral species as threatened or 

endangered under the Endangered 

Species Act (ESA) and to notify the 

public about future public listening 

sessions and scientific workshops on 

this topic. The Status Review Report 

examines the biology of, threats to, and 

extinction risk of 82 coral species, while 

the draft Management Report describes 

existing regulatory mechanisms and 

ongoing conservation efforts to manage 

and conserve these species throughout 

the Caribbean and Indo-Pacific. 

Collectively, these two reports 

constitute the best available scientific 

and commercial information that we 

have compiled to date on the 82 species 

of coral under review. 

The review of the status of these 

species is a major undertaking because 

of the large number and geographically 

dispersed nature of coral species 

involved. Therefore, with the approval 

of a federal court, NMFS and CBD have 

agreed to an extension of the previously 

approved deadline for issuing the 12- 

month finding on this petition. We are 

using this extension to allow additional 

opportunity for the public to provide us 

with information that may further 

inform our 12-month finding as to 

whether the petitioned action is or is 

not warranted. In addition, we will hold 

two public listening sessions and two 

public scientific workshops, during 

which we will explain the evaluation 

process and the public and experts will 

have opportunity to provide any 

additional relevant information on this 

matter. 

DATES: Comments on the documents 

and additional papers, reports, and 

information must be received by July 31, 

2012. Dates, times, and location 

information for public listening sessions 

and scientific workshops will be 

announced in a subsequent Federal 

Register document. 

ADDRESSES: You may obtain a copy of 

the Status Review Report of 82 

Candidate Coral Species Petitioned 

Under the U.S. Endangered Species Act 

(Status Review Report) and the draft 

Management Report for 82 Corals Status 

Review under the Endangered Species 

Act: Assessment of Existing Regulatory 

Mechanisms and Conservation Efforts 

(Management Report) by visiting the 

internet at: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/ 

stories/2012/04/ 

4_13_12corals_petition.html. 

The two reports may also be viewed, 

by appointment, during regular business 

hours, at: NMFS, Pacific Islands 

Regional Office, 1601 Kapiolani Blvd. 

Suite 1110, Honolulu, HI 96814; or 

NMFS, Southeast Regional Office, 263 

13th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 

33701. 

You may submit information, 

identified by 0648–XT12, on the Status 

Review Report and the draft 

Management Report by any of the 

following methods: 

• Electronic Submission: Submit all 

electronic information via electronic 

mail to NMFS.82Corals@noaa.gov. 

• Mail: Submit written comments to 

Regulatory Branch Chief, Protected 

Resources Division, National Marine 

Fisheries Service, Pacific Islands 

Regional Office, 1601 Kapiolani Blvd. 

Suite 1110, Honolulu, HI 96814, Attn: 

82 coral species; or to Assistant 

Regional Administrator for Protected 

Resources, NMFS, Southeast Regional 

Office, 263 13th Avenue South, St. 

Petersburg, FL 33701; Attn: 82 coral 

species. 

• Fax: 808–973–2941; Attn: Protected 

Resources Regulatory Branch Chief, or 

727–824–5309; Attn: Assistant Regional 

Administrator for Protected Resources. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Chelsey Young, NMFS, Pacific Islands 

Regional Office, 808–944–2137; Lance 

Smith, NMFS, Pacific Island Regional 

Office, 808–944–2258; Jennifer Moore, 

NMFS, Southeast Regional Office, 727– 

824–5312; or Marta Nammack, NMFS, 

Office of Protected Resources, 301–427– 

8469. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

This request for information is not 

part of any rulemaking action, but is 

issued to assist us in determining the 

most appropriate course of action on a 

petition we received to list 83 species of 

coral in the Caribbean and Indo-Pacific 

as threatened or endangered under the 

ESA. On February 10, 2010, we 

published a 90-day finding on the 

petition in the Federal Register, 

concluding that the petition presented 

substantial scientific or commercial 

information indicating that listing may 

be warranted for 82 of the 83 petitioned 

species (75 FR 6616). The 90-day 

finding was followed by a public 

comment period, during which we 

received approximately 400 public 

comments. 

We also established a Biological 

Review Team (BRT) composed of 

Federal scientists to examine the status 

of the 82 coral species in question and 

evaluate, based on the best available 

scientific information, the extinction 

risk for each species. The BRT was not 

charged with making recommendations 

for listing. In September 2011, after 

being peer-reviewed by the Center for 

Independent Experts, we finalized the 

Status Review Report, which is a 

technical document approximately 450 

pages in length (excluding references). 

Separately, NMFS’ Pacific Islands and 

Southeast Regional offices drafted a 

Management Report (approximately 130 

pages, excluding references and an 

appendix) to evaluate management 

activities affecting coral species across 

their range, including existing 

regulatory mechanisms and 

conservation efforts. Together, these two 

reports constitute the best available 

scientific and commercial information 

that we have compiled to date on the 82 

species of coral under review. 

On September 27, 2011, CBD sued us 

challenging our failure to make a 12- 

month finding as to the 82 coral species. 

Shortly thereafter, we entered into a 

stipulated settlement agreement with 

CBD in which we agreed to submit our 

12-month finding to the Federal 

Register for publication on or before 

April 15, 2012. The U.S. District Court 

for the Northern District of California 

(court) entered this stipulated 

settlement agreement on November 8, 

2011. Subsequent discussions between 

CBD and us resulted in the court 

modifying the deadline to require us to 

submit our 12-month finding to the 

Federal Register on or before December 

1, 2012. The court also ordered that we 

publish the Status Review Report and 

draft Management Report for public 

comment on or before April 15, 2012. 

The response to the petition to list 83 

coral species is one of the most complex 

listing processes we have ever 

undertaken. Given the petition’s scale 

and the precedential nature of the 

issues, we have determined that our 

decision-making process would be 


wreier-aviles on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
22750 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 74 / Tuesday, April 17, 2012 / Proposed Rules 

strengthened if we take additional time 

to allow the public, non-federal experts, 

non-governmental organizations, state 

and territorial governments, and 

academics to review and provide 

information related to the Status Review 

Report and draft Management Report 

prior to issuing our 12-month finding. 

We will hold listening sessions and 

scientific workshops in the Southeast 

region and Pacific Islands region and 

will then consider the information 

gathered through these venues and 

through written submissions to inform 

our 12-month finding and, if 

appropriate, a proposed listing rule. 

We expect that this outreach effort 

will allow the public to understand 

more clearly the context in which this 

petition is being evaluated and the basis 

and rationale supporting our 12-month 

finding. We also expect this process will 

ensure that any additional relevant 

scientific information available is 

brought to our attention. This document 

is not part of the usual rulemaking 

process and is unique to NMFS’ 

response to the petition to list 83 coral 

species. Thus, the additional outreach 

conducted in this case does not 

establish precedent for any other ESAlisting process. 

Information Solicited 

We are particularly interested in 

receiving information on the following: 

(1) Relevant scientific information 

collected or produced since the 

completion of the Status Review Report 

(2011) or any relevant scientific 

information not included in the Report; 

and 

(2) Relevant management information 

not included in the draft Management 

Report, such as descriptions of 

regulatory mechanisms for greenhouse 

gas emissions globally, and for local 

threats in the 83 foreign countries and 

the U.S. (Florida, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, 

U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American 

Samoa, and Northern Mariana Islands), 

where the 82 coral species collectively 

occur. 

Although this action is not a 

rulemaking, we will accept information 

received in response to this solicitation 

and will take such information into 

account, along with the information 

received on the 90-day finding (75 FR 

6616; February 10, 2010), when we 

make our 12-month finding on whether 

CBD’s petitioned action is warranted. If 

you have submitted information during 

the previous comment period, there is 

no need to re-submit it. We request that 

all information submitted be 

accompanied by supporting 

documentation such as maps, 

bibliographic references, or reprints of 

pertinent publications. If possible, 

comments should include the heading 

of the relevant section of the Status 

Review Report or draft Management 

Report. Please submit any information 

to the ADDRESSES listed above. 

Public Listening Sessions and Scientific 

Workshops 

In addition to soliciting input from 

the public on the Status Review Report 

and draft Management Report, we will 

hold one public listening session and 

one scientific workshop in each of the 

two relevant regions: the Southeast and 

Pacific Islands, during which we will 

explain the evaluation process and the 

public and experts will have 

opportunity to provide any additional 

relevant information on this matter. 

Dates, times, and locations of these 

meetings will be announced in a 

subsequent Federal Register document 

and on our Web site at: http:// 

www.nmfs.noaa.gov/stories/2012/04/ 

4_13_12corals_petition.html. 

We have not yet published a proposed 

listing rule for the 82 coral species. 

Therefore, we cannot consider 

comments on whether a determination 

should be made as to whether some or 

all of the petitioned corals are an 

endangered or threatened species. The 

ESA also prohibits us from taking 

economic or social impacts into 

consideration in any listing decisions. 

Accordingly, we cannot consider 

comments on these matters. 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq. 

Dated: April 12, 2012. 

Alan D. Risenhoover, 

Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2012–9243 Filed 4–16–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 679 

RIN 0648–XA975 

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic 

Zone Off Alaska; Groundfish Fisheries 

in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; intent to prepare an 

environmental impact statement, 

request for comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS, in consultation with 

the North Pacific Fishery Management 

Council (Council), announces its intent 

to prepare an environmental impact 

statement (EIS) on Steller sea lion 

protection measures for the Bering Sea 

and Aleutian Islands management area 

(BSAI) groundfish fisheries, in 

accordance with the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969. The 

proposed action would restrict 

groundfish fishing in the BSAI to ensure 

the groundfish fisheries are not likely to 

result in jeopardy of continued 

existence or adverse modification or 

destruction of designated critical habitat 

(JAM) for the western distinct 

population segment (DPS) of Steller sea 

lions. The western DPS of Steller sea 

lions is listed as endangered under the 

Endangered Species Act (ESA) and 

NMFS must ensure that the groundfish 

fisheries are not likely to result in JAM 

for this DPS. NMFS intends to work 

with stakeholders to develop fisheries 

restrictions that avoid the likelihood of 

JAM and minimize the potential 

economic impact on the fishing industry 

to the extent practicable while meeting 

the requirements of the ESA. The 

analysis in the EIS will determine the 

impacts to the human environment 

resulting from this proposed action and 

the alternatives. In scoping for the EIS, 

NMFS will accept written comments 

from the public to determine the issues 

of concern; the appropriate range of 

management alternatives; and the direct, 

indirect, and cumulative impacts. 

NMFS, in coordination with the 

Council, will conduct a public meeting 

at the October 2012 Council meeting to 

inform the public of this proposed 

action and alternatives, present issues 

and potential impacts, and gather public 

comment. 

DATES: Written comments must be 

received by 5 p.m. Alaska Standard 

Time (AST), October 15, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

on this action, identified by NOAA– 

NMFS–2012–0013, by any of the 

following methods: 

• Electronic Submission: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal e-Rulemaking Portal 

www.regulations.gov. To submit 

comments via the e-Rulemaking Portal, 

first click the ‘‘submit a comment’’ icon, 

then enter NOAA–NMFS–2012–0013 in 

the keyword search. Locate the 

document you wish to comment on 

from the resulting list and click on the 

‘‘Submit a Comment’’ icon on that line. 

• Mail: Address written comments to 

Glenn Merrill, Assistant Regional 

Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries 

Division, Alaska Region NMFS, Attn: 


wreier-aviles on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS