64414 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 209 / Friday, October 27, 2000 / Proposed Rules

State City/town/county Source of flooding Location

#Depth in feet above

ground. *Elevation in feet

(NGVD)

Existing Modified

North River ....................... At a point approximately 7.2 miles downstream of U.S. Route 50.None *822

At a point approximately 3.3 miles upstream of U.S. Route 50.None *906

South Branch Potomac

River.

Upstream side of the Baltimore & Ohio

Railroad bridge.

None *559

Approximately 2.84 miles upstream of

confluence of Big Run.

None *686

Maps available for inspection at the Hampshire County Courthouse, Main Street, Romney, West Virginia 26757.

Send comments to Mr. John D. Sitar, President of the Hampshire County Board of Commissioners, P.O. Box 806, Romney, West Virginia

26757.

West Virginia ......... Romney (Town),

Hampshire County.

Big Run ............................. At a point approximately 225 feet downstream of State Route 28.None *738

At a point approximately 0.8 mile upstream of State Route 28.None *838

Maps available for inspection at the Romney Town Building, 260 School Street, Romney, West Virginia.

Send comments to The Honorable Hoy Shingleton, Mayor of the Town of Romey, 260 School Street, Romney, West Virginia 26757.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance No.

83.100, ‘‘Flood Insurance.’’)

Dated: October 16, 2000.

Michael J. Armstrong,

Associate Director for Mitigation.

[FR Doc. 00–27642 Filed 10–26–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6718–04–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Part 17

RIN 1018–AG13

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife

and Plants; Extension of Public

Comment Period and Notice of Public

Hearing on Proposed Critical Habitat

for Wintering Piping Plovers

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service,

Interior.

ACTION: Proposed Rule; Extension of

public comment period and notice of

public hearing.

SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service, provide notice that the

public comment period on the proposed

rule to designate critical habitat for

wintering piping plovers (Charadrius

melodius) is hereby extended, and that

we will hold an additional public

hearing on the proposal. Comments

previously submitted during the

comment period need not be

resubmitted as they will be incorporated

into the public record and will be fully

considered in the final determination on

the proposal.

DATES: The original comment period is

scheduled to close on October 30, 2000.

The comment period is hereby extended

until November 24, 2000. We will hold

a public hearing on the proposal on

November 14, 2000. An informal public

meeting will precede the hearing,

beginning at 5:30 PM. The public

hearing will run from 7 to 9 PM.

Comments from all interested parties

must be received by the closing date.

Any comments that are received after

the closing date may not be considered

in the final decision on this proposal.

ADDRESSES: The public hearing will be

held in the Grand Ballroom at the

Radisson Hotel, 500 Padre Boulevard,

South Padre Island, Texas 78597.

Written comments may be submitted to

the Field Supervisor, Ecological

Services Field Office, c/o TAMUCC, Box

338, 6300 Ocean Drive, Corpus Christi,

Texas 78412; by facsimile at (361) 994–

8262; or by email at

winterplovercomments@fws.gov.

Comments and materials received will

be available for public inspection, by

appointment, during normal business

hours at the above address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Allan Strand, Acting Field Supervisor,

at the above address (telephone 361/

994–9005).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The piping plover (Charadrius

melodius) is a small North American

shorebird that breeds in the Great

Plains, Great Lakes, and Atlantic Coast

states, and winters along the Atlantic

and Gulf coasts. The piping plover on

its wintering areas is listed as a

threatened species under the

Endangered Species Act of 1973, as

amended.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

proposed critical habitat for wintering

the piping plovers on July 6, 2000 (65

FR 41781). The proposal includes 146

areas along the coasts of North Carolina,

South Carolina, Georgia, Florida,

Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and

Texas. This includes approximately

2,734 kilometers (1,699 miles) of

shoreline along the Gulf and Atlantic

coasts and along margins of interior

bays, inlets, and lagoons.

Section 4(b)(2) of the Endangered

Species Act requires that we designate

or revise critical habitat based upon the

best scientific and commercial data

available and after taking into

consideration the economic impact, and

any other relevant impact, of specifying

any particular area as critical habitat.

We may exclude an area from critical

habitat if we determine that the benefits

of excluding the area outweigh the

benefits of including the area as critical

habitat, provided such exclusion will

not result in the extinction of the

species. Consequently, we have

prepared and made available a draft

economic analysis concerning the

proposed critical habitat designation,

which is available for review and

comment at the above Internet and

mailing addresses.

Public Comments Solicited

We solicit comments on all aspects of

the critical habitat proposal, including

the draft economic analysis. Our final

determination on the proposed critical

habitat will take into consideration

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 209 / Friday, October 27, 2000 / Proposed Rules 64415

comments and any additional

information received by the date

specified above. All previous comments

and information submitted during the

comment period need not be

resubmitted. The comment period is

extended to November 24, 2000. Written

comments may be submitted to the

Field Supervisor at the above address. The Endangered Species Act requires

that at least one public hearing be held

on this proposed rule if requested.

Given the interest this proposal has

generated, we have already held 10

public hearings throughout the

proposed critical habitat range.

However, significant public interest in

the proposal has led us to schedule

another public hearing (see DATES and

ADDRESSES).

Author

The primary author of this notice is

Steve Spangle, U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service, P.O. Box 1306, Albuquerque,

New Mexico 87103.

Authority: The authority for this action is

the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16

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

Geoffrey L. Haskett,

Regional Director, Region 2, Fish and Wildlife

Service.

[FR Doc. 00–27628 Filed 10–26–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–U

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 229

[Docket No. 001011283–0283–01; I.D.

082200C]

RIN 0648–AO30

Taking of Marine Mammals Incidental

to Commercial Fishing Operations;

Harbor Porpoise Take Reduction Plan

Regulations; Change to the List of

Exempted Waters and Request for

Comments

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

SUMMARY: NMFS proposes to amend the

Harbor Porpoise Take Reduction Plan

(HPTRP) to include Delaware Bay,

landward of the 72 COLREGS line

(International Regulations for

Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972), in

the list of exempted waters. Members of

the Mid-Atlantic Harbor Porpoise Take

Reduction Team (MATRT)

recommended by consensus that NMFS

redefine the list of exempted waters

because harbor porpoise stranding and

observer data did not justify subjecting

fishers in Delaware Bay to the HPTRP

gear restrictions. This proposed rule

would exempt fishers operating in

Delaware Bay from the HPTRP

regulation. NMFS also requests

comments on a recommendation from

the MATRT to change the definition of

small mesh gillnet.

DATES: Comments must be received at

the appropriate address (see ADDRESSES)

by November 27, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Comments on this proposed

rule should be sent to Chief, Marine

Mammal Division, National Marine

Fisheries Service, 1315 East-West

Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Gregg LaMontagne, NMFS, Northeast

Region, 978–281–9291; Diane

Borggaard, NMFS, Southeast Region,

727–570–5312; or Emily Hanson, NMFS

Office of Protected Resources, 301–713–

2322, ext. 101.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On

December 2, 1998, NMFS published a

final rule (63 FR 66464) implementing

the HPTRP. Among other measures, the

final rule identified those waters that

are exempt from the HPTRP (50 CFR

229.34).

Section 118(f)(9) of the Marine

Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) allows

NMFS to issue regulations to implement

a take reduction plan or amendments to

a take reduction plan that, among other

things, restricts fishing by time or area.

In addition, NMFS’ regulations

implementing the HPTRP allow the

Assistant Administrator for Fisheries,

NOAA to revise the requirements of the

plan through notification published in

the Federal Register if NMFS

determines that the boundary of a

closed area is not appropriate. The MATRT met on January 13 and

14, 2000, in Alexandria, Virginia. The

MATRT recommended by consensus

that the line defining the exempted

waters of Delaware Bay be moved

seaward from the published position of

39° 16.70’N 75° 14.6’W TO 39° 11.25’N

75° 23.90’W (southern point of

Nantuxent Cove, NJ to the southern end

of Kelly Island, Port Mahon, DE) and be

redefined as a line from Cape May Canal

to the Lewes Ferry Terminal. The

MATRT concluded that there was no

compelling reason for the existing

position of the line in Delaware Bay,

compared to other large bays in the MidAtlantic region (e.g., Chesapeake Bay

and Long Island Sound), which

typically establish the exempted waters

as landward of the mouth of an inlet or

the 72 COLREGS line. The MATRT

believed that the existing line imposed

unnecessary requirements on the

Delaware Bay fishing community

because harbor porpoise stranding data

and observer data did not justify

imposing HPTRP gear restrictions on the

fishers in Delaware Bay.

This proposed rule would redefine

exempted waters for Delaware Bay to

include all marine and tidal waters

landward of the 72 COLREGS

demarcation line, as depicted or noted

on nautical charts published by NOAA

(Coast Charts 1:80,000 scale), and as

described in 33 CFR part 80. Using the

COLREGS line is a slight deviation from

the MATRT’s consensus

recommendation. The 72 COLREGS line

was selected instead of the line

recommended by the MATRT because

the 72 COLREGS line is a well known

and widely published line of

demarcation. The actual difference

between the COLREGS line and the

MATRT recommended line is a seaward

shift of approximately 1 nautical mile.

NMFS used observer data and harbor

porpoise stranding data for Delaware

and New Jersey to analyze the MATRT’s

consensus recommendation. Sea

sampling observer data from inside the

Delaware Bay for 1995 (23 observed

hauls) and 1999 (12 observed hauls)

were analyzed. During these 35

observed hauls no harbor porpoise

interactions occurred. There has been 1

documented take of a harbor porpoise in

a shad gillnet as explained in the

Environmental Assessment prepared on

November 24, 1998. Additional

information was provided by a letter

dated March 3, 2000, from the New

Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife,

which stated that during 11 years of

netting and tagging shad and striped

bass in Delaware Bay there were no

harbor porpoise interactions or

sightings.

Stranding data from 1992–1999

revealed a total of 21 stranded harbor

porpoise, with 17 stranded on the

Delaware side of Delaware Bay and four

stranded on the New Jersey side of

Delaware Bay. The four New Jersey

strandings exhibited no evidence of

fishery interactions, although the

animals were either emaciated or the

cause of death could not be determined.

Six of the 17 Delaware strandings

displayed evidence of fishery

interactions. The majority of the

strandings occurred in the Lewes and

Broadkill Beach areas near the mouth of

Delaware Bay, suggesting that the

strandings may have occurred as a result

of interaction with dogfish and

monkfish fishing activities outside of

Delaware Bay, with the animals