Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 71 / Tuesday, April 14, 2015 / Proposed Rules 19953 

* * * * * 

Dated: March 23, 2015. 

Michael Bean, 

Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish 

and Wildlife and Parks. 

[FR Doc. 2015–08277 Filed 4–13–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–C 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

50 CFR Part 17 

[Docket No. FWS–R8–ES–2014–0041; 

4500030113] 

RIN 1018–BA05 

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife 

and Plants; 6-Month Extension of Final 

Determination on the Proposed 

Threatened Status for the West Coast 

Distinct Population Segment of Fisher 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Proposed rule; reopening of the 

comment period. 

SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service (Service), announce a 

6-month extension of the final 

determination of whether to list the 

West Coast distinct population segment 

(DPS) of fisher (Pekania pennanti) as a 

threatened species. We also reopen the 

comment period on the proposed rule to 

list the species for an additional 30 

days. We are taking this action based on 

substantial disagreement regarding 

available information related to 

toxicants and rodenticides (including 

law enforcement information and trend 

data) and related to surveyed versus 

unsurveyed areas (including data on 

negative survey results) to help assess 

distribution and population trends. 

Comments previously submitted need 

not be resubmitted as they are already 

incorporated into the public record and 

will be fully considered in the final rule. 

We will submit a final listing 

determination to the Federal Register 

on or before April 7, 2016. 

DATES: We will accept comments 

received or postmarked on or before 

May 14, 2015. If you comment using the 

Federal eRulemaking Portal (see 

ADDRESSES), you must submit your 

comments by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time 

on the closing date. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by one of the following methods: 

(1) Federal eRulemaking Portal: 

http://www.regulations.gov. In the 

Search box, enter the docket number for 

this proposed rule, which is FWS–R8– 

ES–2014–0041. Then click on the 

Search button. You may submit a 

comment by clicking on ‘‘Comment 

Now!’’ Please ensure that you have 

found the correct rulemaking before 

submitting your comment. 

(2) U.S. mail or hand delivery: Public 

Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No. 

FWS–R8–ES–2014–0041; U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service, MS: BPHC; 5275 

Leesburg Pike; Falls Church, VA 22041– 

3803. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Erin 

Williams, Field Supervisor, U.S. Fish 

and Wildlife Service, Yreka Fish and 

Wildlife Office, 1829 South Oregon 

Street, Yreka, CA 96097; telephone 530– 

842–5763; facsimile 530–842–4517. 

Persons who use a telecommunications 

device for the deaf (TDD) may call the 

Federal Information Relay Service 

(FIRS) at 800–877–8339. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

On October 7, 2014, we published a 

proposed rule (79 FR 60419) to list the 

West Coast DPS of fisher as a threatened 

species under the Endangered Species 

Act of 1973, as amended (Act; 16 U.S.C. 

1531 et seq.). That proposal had a 90- 

day comment period, ending January 5, 

2015. On December 23, 2014, we 

extended the proposal’s comment 

period for an additional 30 days, ending 

February 4, 2015 (79 FR 76950). For a 

description of previous Federal actions 

concerning the West Coast DPS of 

fisher, please refer to the October 7, 

2014, proposed listing rule (79 FR 

60419). We also solicited and received 

independent scientific review of the 

information contained in the proposed 

rule from peer reviewers with expertise 

in the West Coast DPS of fisher or 

similar species biology, in accordance 

with our July 1, 1994, peer review 

policy (59 FR 34270). 

Section 4(b)(6) of the Act and its 

implementing regulations at 50 CFR 

424.17(a) require that we take one of 

three actions within 1 year of a 

proposed listing and concurrent 

proposed designation of critical habitat: 

(1) Finalize the proposed rule; (2) 

withdraw the proposed rule; or (3) 

extend the final determination by not 

more than 6 months, if there is 

substantial disagreement regarding the 

sufficiency or accuracy of the available 

data relevant to the determination. 

Since the publication of the October 

7, 2014, proposed listing rule, there has 

been substantial disagreement regarding 

available information related to 

toxicants and rodenticides (including 

law enforcement information and trend 

data) and related to surveyed versus 

unsurveyed areas (including data on 

negative survey results) to help assess 

distribution and population trends. 

We find that there is substantial 

scientific uncertainty and disagreement 

about certain data relevant to our listing 

determination. Therefore, in 

consideration of these disagreements, 

we have determined that a 6-month 

extension of the final determination for 

this rulemaking is necessary, and we are 

hereby extending the final 

determination for 6 months in order to 

solicit and consider additional 

information that will help to clarify 

these issues and to fully analyze data 

that are relevant to our final listing 

determination. With this 6-month 

extension, we will make a final 

determination on the proposed rule no 

later than April 7, 2016. 

Information Requested 

We will accept written comments and 

information during this reopened 

comment period on our proposed listing 

for the West Coast DPS of fisher that 

was published in the Federal Register 

on October 7, 2014 (79 FR 60419). We 

will consider information and 

recommendations from all interested 

parties. We intend that any final action 

resulting from the proposal be as 

accurate as possible and based on the 

best available scientific and commercial 

data. 

In consideration of the scientific 

disagreements about certain data, we are 

particularly interested in new 

information and comments regarding: 

(1) Information related to toxicants 

and rodenticides (including law 

enforcement information and trend 

data); 

(2) Information regarding areas that 

have been surveyed compared to areas 

that have not been surveyed. We are 

also interested in negative survey results 

to help assess distribution and 

population trends. 

If you previously submitted 

comments or information on the 

October 7, 2014, proposed rule, please 

do not resubmit them. We have 

incorporated previously submitted 

comments into the public record, and 

we will fully consider them in the 

preparation of our final determination. 

Our final determination concerning the 

proposed listing will take into 

consideration all written comments and 

any additional information we receive. 

You may submit your comments and 

materials concerning the proposed rule 

by one of the methods listed in the 

ADDRESSES section above. We request 

that you send comments only by the 

methods described in the ADDRESSES

section. 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
19954 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 71 / Tuesday, April 14, 2015 / Proposed Rules 

If you submit information via http:// 

www.regulations.gov, your entire 

submission—including any personal 

identifying information—will be posted 

on the Web site. 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 http://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 http://www.regulations.gov, or by 

appointment, during normal business 

hours, at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service, Yreka Fish and Wildlife Office 

(see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT). 

You may obtain copies of the proposed 

rule on the Internet at http://

www.regulations.gov at Docket No. 

FWS–R8–ES–2014–0041. Copies of the 

proposed rule are also available at 

http://www.fws.gov/cno/es/fisher/. 

Authority 

The authority for this action is the 

Endangered Species Act of 1973, as 

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

Dated: March 26, 2015. 

James W. Kurth, 

Acting Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service. 

[FR Doc. 2015–08275 Filed 4–13–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS