15646 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 63 / Wednesday, April 2, 1997 / Proposed Rules

Public Comments Solicited

The Service intends that any final

action resulting from this proposal will

be as accurate and as effective as

possible. Therefore, comments or

suggestions from the public, other

concerned governmental agencies, the

scientific community, industry, or any

other interested party concerning this

proposed rule are hereby solicited.

Comments particularly are sought

concerning—

(1) Biological, commercial trade, or

other relevant data concerning threat (or

lack thereof) to this species;

(2) The location of any additional

populations of this species and the

reasons why any habitat should or

should not be determined to be critical

habitat as provided by section 4 of the

Act;

(3) Additional information concerning

the range, distribution, and population

size of this species; and

(4) Current or planned activities in the

subject area and their possible impacts

on this species.

Final promulgation of the regulations

on this species will take into

consideration the comments and any

additional information received by the

Service, and such communications may

lead to a final regulation that differs

from this proposal.

The Endangered Species Act provides

for one or more public hearings on this

proposal, if requested. Requests must be

received within 45 days of the date of

publication of the proposal in the

Federal Register. Such requests must be

made in writing and be addressed to the

Ecoregion Manager (See ADDRESSES

section).

National Environmental Policy Act

The Fish and Wildlife Service has

determined that Environmental

Assessments and Environmental Impact

Statements, as defined under the

authority of the National Environmental

Policy Act of 1969, need not be

prepared in connection with regulations

adopted pursuant to section 4(a) of the

Endangered Species Act of 1973, as

amended. A notice outlining the

Service’s reasons for this determination

was published in the Federal Register

on October 25, 1983 (48 FR 49244).

Required Determinations

The Service has examined this

regulation under the Paperwork

Reduction Act of 1995 and found it to

contain no information collection

requirements. This rulemaking was not

subject to review by the Office of

Management and Budget under

Executive Order 12866.

References Cited

A complete list of all references cited

herein, as well as others, is available upon

request from the Pacific Islands Office (see

ADDRESSES above).

Author: The primary author of this

document is Adam Asquith, Ecological

Services, Pacific Islands Ecoregion, U.S.

Fish and Wildlife Service, 300 Ala

Moana Boulevard, Room 6307, P.O. Box

50167, Honolulu, Hawaii 96850 (808/

541–3441).

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 17

Endangered and threatened species,

Exports, Imports, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements, and

Transportation.

Proposed Regulation Promulgation

Accordingly, the Service hereby

proposes to amend part 17, subchapter

B of chapter I, title 50 of the Code of

Federal Regulations, as set forth below:

PART 17—[AMENDED]

1. The authority citation for part 17

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1361–1407; 16 U.S.C.

1531–1544; 16 U.S.C. 4201–4245; Pub. L. 99–

625, 100 Stat. 3500; unless otherwise noted.

2. Section 17.11(h) is amended by

adding the following, in alphabetical

order under INSECTS, to the List of

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife to

read as follows:

§ 17.11 Endangered and threatened

wildlife.

* * * * *

(h) * * *

Species

Historic range

Vertebrate population where endangered or threatened

Status When listed Critical

habitat

Special

rules Common name Scientific name

* * * * * * *

INSECTS

* * * * * * *

Moth, Blackburn’s

Sphinx.

Manduca blackburni U.S.A. (HI) .............. NA ........................... E NA NA NA

* * * * * * *

Dated: February 12, 1997.

John G. Rogers,

Acting Director, Fish and Wildlife Service.

[FR Doc. 97–8350 Filed 4–1–97; 8:45 am]

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50 CFR Part 17

RIN 1018–AD09

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife

and Plants; Notice of Reopening of

Comment Period on Proposed Rule To

List Five Plants and a Lizard From

Monterey County, California, as

Endangered or Threatened

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service,

Interior.

ACTION: Proposed rule; Notice of

reopening of comment period.

SUMMARY: The Fish and Wildlife Service

(Service), pursuant ot the Endangered

Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act),

gives notice that the comment period is

reopened on the proposed rule to list

Astragalus tener var. titi (coastal dunes

milk-vetch), Piperia yadonii (Yadon’s

piperia), Potentilla hickmanii

(Hickman’s potentilla), Trifolium

trichocalyx (Monterey clover) and the

black legless lizard (Anniella pulchra

nigra) as endangered; and Cupressus

goveniana ssp. goveniana (Gowen

cypress) as threatened. The comment

period has been reopened to allow all

interested parties to submit new

information on the proposal and to

provide opportunity for comment on the
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 63 / Wednesday, April 2, 1997 / Proposed Rules 15647

new information on distribution and

abundance of Piperia yadonii that was

submitted at the end of the previous

comment period.

DATES: The public comment period

closes on May 2, 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 directly to the Field

Supervisor, Ventura Field Office, 2493

Portola Road, Suite B, Ventura,

California, 93003. Comments and

materials received will be available for

inspection, by appointment, during

normal business hours at the above

address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Diane Steeck of the Ventura Field Office

(see ADDRESSES section) at (805)644–

1766 or facsimile (805)644–3958).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On August 2, 1995, the Service

published a rule proposing endangered

status for Astragalus tener var. titi

(coastal dunes milk-vetch), Piperia

yadonii (Yadon’s piperia), Potentilla

hickmanii (Hickman’s potentilla),

Trifolium trichocalyx (Monterey clover)

and the black legless lizard (Anniella

pulchra nigra); and threatened status for

Cupressus goveniana ssp. goveniana

(Gowen cypress).

These six taxa are currently found

primarily along the coast of northern

Monterey County, California. An extant

population of Potentilla hickmanii is

also known from San Mateo County.

The five plant taxa and the lizard are

threatened by one or more of the

following: alteration, destruction, and

fragmentation of habitat resulting from

urban and golf course development;

recreational activities; military

activities; competition with non-native

species; and alteration of natural fire

cycles. Due to their small number of

individuals, several taxa are also

threatened with extinction due to

random natural events or unforseen

human activities.

The initial comment period closed on

October 9, 1995. Although a public

hearing was requested, a hearing could

not be held during the initial comment

period, due to a Federal moratorium on

final listing actions (Pub. L. 104–6),

which had taken effect on April 10,

1995 and stipulated that no funds could

be used to make final listing or critical

habitat determinations. Once the

Federal moratorium was lifted, on April

26, 1996, and funding was restored, the

Service scheduled the public hearing

and reopened the comment period. The

public hearing was held on August 20,

1996, and the comment period closed

on August 30, 1996. At the public

hearing, new information was presented

on the distribution and abundance of

Piperia yadonii. This information was

included in a report received by the

Service on August 30, 1996. The Service

believes that the new information on the

distribution and abundance of Piperia

yadonii is significant and is providing

the public an opportunity to comment

on it. In addition to comments on

Piperia yadonii, the Service requests

any additional information on the

species listed in the proposed rule,

including:

(1) Biological, commercial, or other

relevant data on any threats (or lack

thereof) to any of the species, and;

(2) Additional information on the

size, number or distribution of

populations of any of the species.

Comments may be submitted through

May 2, 1997 to the Service office in the

ADDRESSES section.

Author

The primary author of this notice is

Diane Steeck (see ADDRESSES section).

Authority: The authority for this action is

the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16

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

Dated: March 17, 1997.

Michael J. Spear,

Regional Director, Region 1, Fish and Wildlife

Service.

[FR Doc. 97–7448 Filed 4–1–97; 8:45 am]

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