Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 114 / Monday, June 15, 1998 / Proposed Rules 32635

National Environmental Policy Act

No environmental impact statement is

required for this rule since section

702(d) of SMCRA [30 U.S.C. 1292(d)]

provides that agency decisions on

proposed State regulatory program

provisions do not constitute major

Federal actions within the meaning of

section 102(2)(C) of the National

Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C.

4332(2)(C)).

Paperwork Reduction Act

This rule does not contain

information collection requirements that

require approval by OMB under the

Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C.

3507 et seq.).

Regulatory Flexibility Act

The Department of the Interior has

determined that this rule will not have

a significant economic impact on a

substantial number of small entities

under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5

U.S.C. 601 et seq.). The State submittal

which is the subject of this rule is based

upon counterpart Federal regulations for

which an economic analysis was

prepared and certification made that

such regulations would not have a

significant economic effect upon a

substantial number of small entities.

Accordingly, this rule will ensure that

existing requirements previously

promulgated by OSM will be

implemented by the State. In making the

determination as to whether this rule

would have a significant economic

impact, the Department relied upon the

data and assumptions for the

counterpart Federal regulations.

Unfunded Mandates

This rule will not impose a cost of

$100 million or more in any given year

on any governmental entity or the

private sector.

List of Subjects in 30 CFR Part 948

Intergovernmental relations, Surface

mining, Underground mining.

Dated: June 4, 1998.

Tim L. Dieringer,

Acting Regional Director, Appalachian

Regional Coordinating Center.

[FR Doc. 98–15761 Filed 6–12–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–05–M

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Part 17

RIN 1018–AE

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife

and Plants; Reopening of Comment

Period and Notice of Public Hearings

on Proposed Threatened Status for the

Plant Helianthus Paradoxus (Pecos

Sunflower)

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service,

Interior.

ACTION: Proposed rule; notice of public

hearings and reopening of comment

period.

SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service (Service) provides notice that

three public hearings will be held on the

proposed determination of threatened

status for Helianthus paradoxus (Pecos

sunflower). This plant is dependent on

desert wetlands in New Mexico and

western Texas.

DATES: Public hearings will be held from

7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on July 8, 1998, in Fort

Stockton, Texas; July 9, 1998, in

Roswell, New Mexico; and July 13,

1998, in Grants, New Mexico. The

comment period, which originally

closed on June 1, 1998, is reopened and

now closes on August 13, 1998.

ADDRESSES: The public hearings will be

held at the large Community Hall in

James Rooney Memorial Park on U.S.

Highway 285 (Sanderson Highway) in

Fort Stockton, Texas; the Roswell Public

Library, 301 North Pennsylvania

Avenue, in Roswell, New Mexico; and

the City Hall Council Chambers, 600

West Santa Fe Avenue, in Grants, New

Mexico. Written comments and

materials should be sent to the Field

Supervisor, New Mexico Ecological

Services Field Office, U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service, 2105 Osuna Road, NE.,

Albuquerque, New Mexico 87113,

facsimile 505/346–2542. Comments and

materials received will be available for

public inspection during normal

business hours, by appointment, at the

above address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Charlie McDonald, Endangered Species

Botanist, at the above address or

telephone 505/346–2525, ext. 112;

facsimile 505/346–2542.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Pecos sunflower is a wetland plant

that grows in permanently saturated

soils. Areas that maintain these

conditions are mostly desert wetlands

(cienegas) associated with springs, but

they may also include stream margins

and the margins of impoundments.

When Pecos sunflowers are associated

with impoundments, the impoundments

typically have replaced natural cienega

habitats. Pecos sunflower is presently

known from 25 sites that occur in 5

general areas. These areas are Pecos and

Reeves counties, Texas, in the vicinity

of Fort Stockton and Balmorhea; Chaves

County, New Mexico, from Dexter to

just north of Roswell; Guadalupe

County, New Mexico, in the vicinity of

Santa Rosa; Valencia County, New

Mexico, along the lower part of the Rio

San Jose; and Cibola County, New

Mexico, in the vicinity of Grants.

Threats to Pecos sunflower include

drying of wetlands from groundwater

depletion; alteration of wetlands (e.g.

wetland fills, draining, impoundment

construction); competition with

nonnative plant species, particularly

saltcedar; excessive livestock grazing;

mowing; and highway maintenance.

On April 1, 1998, the Service

published a proposed rule to list the

Pecos sunflower as threatened under the

Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16

U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), as amended (Act).

Section 4(b)(5)(E) of the Act requires

that a public hearing be held if it is

requested within 45 days of the

publication of a proposed rule in the

Federal Register. Public hearing

requests were received within the

allotted time period from the New

Mexico Farm and Livestock Bureau;

New Mexico County Farm and

Livestock Bureaus in Colfax, CibolaMcKinley, and Santa Fe counties;

Production Credit Association of New

Mexico; Texas and Southwestern Cattle

Raisers Association; and Davis

Mountains Trans-Pecos Heritage

Association.

The Service has scheduled hearings

from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Fort Stockton,

Texas, on July 8, 1998, at the large

Community Hall in James Rooney

Memorial Park on U.S. Highway 285

(Sanderson Highway); in Roswell, New

Mexico, on July 9, 1998, at the Roswell

Public Library, 301 North Pennsylvania

Avenue; and in Grants, New Mexico, on

July 13, 1998, at the City Hall Council

Chambers, 600 West Santa Fe Avenue.

Anyone wishing to make an oral

statement for the record is encouraged

to provide a written copy of their

statement to be presented to the Service

at the start of the hearing. In the event

there is a large attendance, the time

allotted for oral statements may have to

be limited. Oral and written statements

receive equal consideration. There are

no limits to the length of written

comments presented at these hearings or
32636 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 114 / Monday, June 15, 1998 / Proposed Rules

mailed to the Service. Legal notices

announcing the dates, times, and

locations of the hearings are being

published in newspapers concurrently

with this Federal Register notice.

The comment period on the proposal

originally closed on June 1, 1998. In

order to accommodate the hearing, the

Service also reopens the public

comment period. Written comments

may now be submitted to the Service

until August 13, 1998, to the office

listed in the ADDRESSES section.

Author: The primary author of this

notice is Charlie McDonald, New

Mexico Ecological Services Field Office

(see ADDRESSES section).

Authority

The authority for this action is the

Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16

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

Dated: June 5, 1998.

Renne Lohoefener,

Acting Regional Director, Region 2.

[FR Doc. 98–15786 Filed 6–12–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P