Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 64 / Monday, April 4, 2022 / Proposed Rules 19463 

proposed rule (and subsequent final 

rule) that imposes substantial direct 

requirement costs on state and local 

governments, preempts state law, or 

otherwise has Federalism implications. 

We have reviewed this rule under these 

criteria of Executive Order 13132, and 

have determined that it will not impose 

substantial direct costs on state or local 

governments. 

I. Conclusion 

We estimate that aggregate payments 

to hospices in FY 2023 will increase by 

$580 million as a result of the market 

basket update, compared to payments in 

FY 2022. We estimate that in FY 2023, 

hospices in urban areas will experience, 

on average, a 2.7 percent increase in 

estimated payments compared to FY 

2022; while hospices in rural areas will 

experience, on average, a 2.6 percent 

increase in estimated payments 

compared to FY 2022. Hospices 

providing services in the Pacific and 

West South Central regions would 

experience the largest estimated 

increases in payments of 3.4 percent 

and 3.0 percent, respectively. Hospices 

serving patients in areas in the New 

England and West North Central regions 

would experience, on average, the 

lowest estimated increase of 2.2 percent 

in FY 2023 payments. 

Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, 

Administrator of the Centers for 

Medicare & Medicaid Services, 

approved this document on March 29, 

2022. 

List of Subjects in 42 CFR Part 418 

Health facilities, Hospice care, 

Medicare, Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements. 

For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, the Centers for Medicare & 

Medicaid Services proposes to amend 

42 CFR part 418 as set forth below. 

PART 418—HOSPICE CARE 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 418 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 1302 and 1395hh. 

■ 2. Section § 418.306 is amended by 

revising paragraph (c) to read as follows: 

§ 418.306 Annual update of the payment 

rates and adjustment for area wage 

differences. 

* * * * * 

(c) Adjustment for wage differences. 

(1) Each hospice’s labor market is 

determined based on definitions of 

Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) 

issued by OMB. CMS will issue 

annually, in the Federal Register, a 

hospice wage index based on the most 

current available CMS hospital wage 

data, including changes to the definition 

of MSAs. The urban and rural area 

geographic classifications are defined in 

§ 412.64(b)(1)(ii)(A) through (C) of this 

chapter. The payment rates established 

by CMS are adjusted by the Medicare 

contractor to reflect local differences in 

wages according to the revised wage 

data. 

(2) Beginning on October 1, 2022, 

CMS applies a cap on decreases to the 

hospice wage index such that the wage 

index applied to a geographic area is not 

less than 95 percent of the wage index 

applied to that geographic area in the 

prior fiscal year. 

* * * * * 

Dated: March 29, 2022. 

Xavier Becerra, 

Secretary, Department of Health and Human 

Services. 

[FR Doc. 2022–07030 Filed 3–30–22; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 4120–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

50 CFR Part 17 

[Docket No. FWS–HQ–ES–2020–0100; 

FF09E21000 FXES1111090FEDR 223] 

RIN 1018–BE92 

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife 

and Plants; Endangered Species 

Status for Amur Sturgeon 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Proposed rule; reopening of 

public comment period and 

announcement of public hearing. 

SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service (Service), are reopening 

the public comment period on our 

August 25, 2021, proposed rule to list 

the Amur sturgeon (Acipenser 

schrenckii), a fish species from the 

Amur River basin in Russia and China, 

as an endangered species under the 

Endangered Species Act of 1973, as 

amended (Act). We are taking this 

action to conduct a public hearing on 

the petition to list the Amur sturgeon. 

Comments previously submitted need 

not be resubmitted and will be fully 

considered in preparation of the final 

rule. 

DATES: 

Comment submission: The public 

comment period on the proposed rule 

that published on August 25, 2021, at 86 

FR 47457 is reopened. We will accept 

comments received or postmarked on or 

before May 4, 2022. 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, and comments submitted by U.S. 

mail must be postmarked by that date to 

ensure consideration. 

Public hearing: On April 19, 2022, we 

will hold a public hearing on the 

proposed rule to list the Amur sturgeon 

under the Act from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. 

Eastern Time, using the Zoom platform 

(for more information, see Public 

Hearing, below). 

ADDRESSES: 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–HQ–ES–2020–0100, which 

is the docket number for this 

rulemaking. Then, click on the Search 

button. On the resulting page, in the 

Search 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–HQ–ES–2020–0100, 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). 

Document availability: The proposed 

rule and supporting documents, 

including the species status assessment 

report, are available at https://

www.regulations.gov under Docket No. 

FWS–HQ–ES–2020–0100. 

Public hearing: Interested parties may 

present verbal testimony (formal, oral 

comments) at a public hearing, which 

will be held virtually using the Zoom 

platform. See Public Hearing, below, for 

more information. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Elizabeth Maclin, Chief, Branch of 

Delisting and Foreign Species, 

Ecological Services, U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service, MS: ES, 5275 Leesburg 

Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041–3803; 

telephone, 703–358–2171. 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 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with PROPOSALS
19464 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 64 / Monday, April 4, 2022 / Proposed Rules 

should use the relay services offered 

within their country to make 

international calls to the point-ofcontact in the United States. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

On August 25, 2021, we published a 

proposed rule (86 FR 47457) to list 

Amur sturgeon as an endangered 

species under the Endangered Species 

Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 

et seq.). The proposed rule opened a 60- 

day public comment period, ending 

October 25, 2021. During the open 

comment period, we received a request 

for a public hearing on the proposed 

rule. Therefore, we are announcing a 

public hearing and a reopening of the 

comment period (see DATES, above) to 

allow the public an additional 

opportunity to provide comments on the 

proposed rule to list the Amur sturgeon. 

For a description of previous Federal 

actions concerning the Amur sturgeon 

and information on the types of 

comments that would be helpful to us 

in promulgating this rulemaking action, 

please refer to the August 25, 2021, 

proposed rule (86 FR 47457). 

Public Hearing 

We are holding a public hearing to 

accept comments on the proposed rule 

to list the Amur sturgeon 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 hearing by 

Zoom or telephone. For information on 

how to register, or if technical problems 

occur joining Zoom on the day of the 

hearing, visit https://www.fws.gov/ 

event/public-hearing-proposed-listingamur-sturgeon. 

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/articles/ 

206618765-Zoom-video-tutorials) prior 

to the public hearing. 

The public hearing will provide 

interested parties an opportunity to 

present verbal testimony (formal, oral 

comments) regarding the August 25, 

2021, proposed rule to list the Amur 

sturgeon as an endangered species (86 

FR 47457). The public hearing will not 

be an opportunity for dialogue with the 

Service, but rather a forum for accepting 

formal verbal testimony. In the event 

there is a large attendance, the time 

allotted for oral statements may be 

limited. Therefore, anyone wishing to 

make an oral statement at the public 

hearing for the record 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 

make an oral statement at the public 

hearing must register before the hearing 

(https://www.fws.gov/event/publichearing-proposed-listing-amursturgeon). 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/event/public-hearingproposed-listing-amur-sturgeon 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 meeting and/or 

hearing should contact the person listed 

under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT at least 5 business days prior 

to the date of the meeting and hearing 

to help ensure availability. An 

accessible version of the Service’s 

public informational meeting 

presentation will also be posted online 

at https://www.fws.gov/event/publichearing-proposed-listing-amur-sturgeon 

prior to the meeting and hearing (see 

DATES, above). See https://www.fws.gov/ 

event/public-hearing-proposed-listingamur-sturgeon 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 document 

are the staff members of the Branch of 

Delisting and Foreign Species, 

Ecological Services Program. 

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. 2022–07064 Filed 4–1–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4333–15–P 


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