Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 101 /Wednesday, May 27, 1998 / Proposed Rules 28963

EPA, with the concurrence of MDEQ,

believes that this criterion for deletion

has been met. Subsequently, EPA is

proposing deletion of this Site from the

NPL. Documents supporting this action

are available from the docket.

Dated: May 14, 1998.

David Ullrich,

Acting Regional Administrator, Region V.

[FR Doc. 98–13853 Filed 5–26–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Part 17

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife

and Plants; 12-Month Finding for a

Petition To List the Stone Mountain

Fairy Shrimp as Endangered and

Designate Critical Habitat

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service,

Interior.

ACTION: Notice of 12-month petition

finding.

SUMMARY: The Fish and Wildlife Service

(Service) announces a 12-month finding

for a petition to list the Stone Mountain

fairy shrimp (Branchinella lithaca)

under the Endangered Species Act, as

amended. After review of all available

scientific and commercial information,

the Service finds that listing this species

is not warranted. The Service will

continue to monitor the status of this

species and its habitat.

DATES: The finding announced in this

document was made on May 11, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Questions, comments, or

information concerning this petition

should be sent to the U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service, 6620 Southpoint Drive

South, Suite 310, Jacksonville, Florida

32216. The petition finding, supporting

data, and comments are available for

public inspection, by appointment,

during normal business hours at the

above address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.

John F. Milio (904/232–2580, ext. 112)

(see ADDRESSES section).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Section 4(b)(3)(B) of the Endangered

Species Act (Act) of 1973, as amended

(16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), requires that,

for any petition to list, delist, or

reclassify a species that contains

substantial scientific and commercial

information, the Service make a finding

within 12 months of receipt of the

petition on whether the petitioned

action is (a) not warranted; (b)

warranted; or (c) warranted but

precluded from immediate proposal by

other pending proposals of higher

priority. Such 12-month findings are to

be published promptly in the Federal

Register.

The processing of this petition

conforms with the Service’s listing

priority guidance published in the

Federal Register on December 5, 1996

(61 FR 64475), and extended on October

23, 1997, for fiscal year 1998 (62 FR

55268). Administrative findings for

listing petitions that are not assigned to

tier 1 (emergency listing actions) are

processed as a tier 3 priority. The

processing of this petition falls under

tier 3. At this time, the Southeast Region

has no pending tier 1 actions and has

completed its pending tier 2 actions

(resolving the status of outstanding

proposed listings).

On March 31, 1995, the Service

received a petition from Mr. Larry

Winslett, President of the ‘‘Friends of

Georgia,’’ Lithonia, Georgia. The

petition, dated March 29, 1995,

requested the Service to emergency list

the Stone Mountain fairy shrimp,

Branchinella lithaca, as endangered and

designate critical habitat. The petitioner

believed that previous and ongoing

impacts to vernal (temporary) pool

habitat at Stone Mountain, the shrimp’s

only known location, and potential

physical and chemical effects from a

then impending renovation project at

the mountain’s summit, threatened the

survival of the species. The Service, in

the 90-day finding, determined that the

petition presented substantial

information indicating that listing the

species may be warranted. The finding

concluded that an emergency listing

action was not appropriate, and noted

the Service would consider critical

habitat designation if it found at 12

months that listing was warranted. A

notice announcing the 90-day finding

and initiation of a status review of the

species was published in the Federal

Register on July 22, 1997 (62 FR 39210).

The Service has reviewed the petition,

the literature cited in the petition, other

available literature and information, and

consulted with species experts and

other researchers familiar with vernal

pool habitats. On the basis of the best

scientific and commercial information

available, the Service finds the petition

is not warranted at this time. The status

review documented habitat

modifications such as disturbance of

vernal pool sediments and physical

debris entering pools at and near the

mountain summit from recreational and

construction activities, and facility

operations. Solid wastes and liquid

discharges may also directly impact the

fairy shrimp. These modifications did

not appear to occur at all pools or to an

equal extent at affected pools. Due to

this variability, lack of current and

historic information on specific

distribution and abundance of B.

lithaca, and lack of historic data on the

habitat, the Service is not able to

confirm that these modifications, as

well as other manmade or natural

factors, threaten the continued existence

of the Stone Mountain fairy shrimp.

The status review also did not reveal

any threats to the species from disease

or predation, or overutilization for

commercial, recreational, scientific, or

educational purposes. The Service does

not believe that existing regulatory

mechanisms are inadequate. Because of

likely habitat overlap between the Stone

Mountain fairy shrimp and two

federally-listed plants, the black-spored

quillwort (Isoetes melanospora) and

little amphianthus (Amphianthus

pusillus) at Stone Mountain, the Federal

and State regulations that protect and

conserve those plants and their vernal

pools are also benefitting B. lithaca. In

addition, special legislation passed in

1997 by the Georgia General Assembly

promotes the continuation of protection

and conservation for the designated

natural district at State-owned Stone

Mountain Park, as outlined in its

current Master Plan (Alice Richards,

Stone Mountain Memorial Association,

in litt. 1998). Since Stone Mountain and

its vernal pools all occur within the

park’s natural district, the Service

believes that this legislation provides

further protection for the Stone

Mountain fairy shrimp and its habitat.

Casual surveys to locate B. lithica at

Stone Mountain earlier this decade were

unsuccessful. The last documented

collection of the species was in 1951. At

the 90-day finding the Service felt that

a regular survey involving collection of

water and sediment samples at various

sites was needed to accurately

determine the species’ status. This

survey was conducted in 1997 and also

failed to find evidence of the species’

continued existence at Stone Mountain,

which may mean the species is extinct.

Despite this latest failure (A. Richards,

in litt. 1997, pers. comm. 1998, Denton

Belk, The World Conservation Union, in

litt. 1998), the erratic occurrence of

some anostracans (Donald 1983) led

Belk (in litt. 1998) to believe the species

may still exist at Stone Mountain. There

is also some potential that the species

may exist at locations other than Stone

Mountain (L. Winslett, Friends of

Georgia, in litt. 1996). Within the

Georgia Piedmont physiographic area

there are other rock outcrops whose
28964 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 101 /Wednesday, May 27, 1998 / Proposed Rules

invertebrate fauna has been little

studied (J. Spooner, University of South

Carolina, in litt. 1997), although

quarrying and other human activities

have destroyed or modified a number of

these sites (L. Winslett, Friends of

Georgia, in litt. 1996). The Service

supports continued monitoring and

protection of all temporary pools on

Stone Mountain, and encourages

systematic surveys of vernal pools at

other rock outcrops, particularly those

where the two federally-listed plants,

black-spored quillwort and little

amphianthus, are known to occur. The

Stone Mountain Memorial Association

(SMMA), manager of the natural district

and all vernal pools within Stone

Mountain Park, has fenced some habitat

in response to a recovery plan

recommendation for the listed plants

(U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1993).

The Friends of Georgia, Inc., with

technical assistance from the Service,

has prepared a conservation agreement

that it hopes to finalize this year with

the SMMA. The agreement stresses

continued surveying for B. lithaca;

additional site specific protection,

conservation, and recovery actions; and

public education.

The Service will continue to seek new

information on the biology, ecology,

distribution, and habitat of the Stone

Mountain fairy shrimp, as well as

threats to its continued survival. If

additional data become available in the

future to indicate that the species is

extant, the Service will reassess the

need for listing, including the need to

emergency list.

References Cited

Donald, D.B. 1983. Erratic occurrence

of anostracans in a temporary pond:

colonization and extinction or

adaptation to variations in annual

weather? Can. J. Zool. 61:1492–1498.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1993.

Recovery plan for three granite outcrop

plant species. Jackson, Mississippi. 41

pp.

Author

The primary author of this document

is Mr. John F. Milio, Jacksonville Field

Office (see ADDRESSES section).

Authority

The authority for this action is the

Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531

et seq.).

Dated: May 11, 1998.

Jamie Rappaport Clark,

Director, Fish and Wildlife Service.

[FR Doc. 98–13969 Filed 5–26–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P