Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 37 / Friday, February 23, 2001 / Proposed Rules 11243

5 CFR part 2640 that apply to federal

agencies generally, the Commission

proposes that current rule 103(b) be

deleted.

Public Comment

Any public comment directed toward

this proposal should be submitted

within 30 days of the publication of this

notice in the Federal Register.

Ordering Paragraphs

1. Public comment on the

Commission’s proposal to delete

paragraph (b) from current rule 103 of

its standards of conduct should be

submitted within 30 days of the

publication of this notice in the Federal

Register.

2. The Secretary is directed to cause

this notice of proposed rulemaking to

appear in the Federal Register.

Dated: February 16, 2001.

Margaret P. Crenshaw,

Secretary.

List of Subjects in 39 CFR Part 3000

Administrative practice and

procedure, Postal Service.

For the reasons stated in the

preamble, the Postal Rate Commission

proposes to amend 39 CFR part 3000 as

follows:

PART 3000—STANDARDS OF

CONDUCT

1. The authority citation for part 3000

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 39 U.S.C. 3603; E.O. 12674, 54

FR 15159, 3 CFR, 1989 Comp., p. 215, as

modified by E.O. 12731, 56 FR 42547, 3 CFR,

1990 Comp., p. 306; 5 CFR parts 2634 and

2636.

2. Revise § 3000.735–103 to read as

follows:

§ 3000.735–103 Financial interests.

An employee shall not, either directly

or indirectly, have any financial interest

(whether by ownership of any stock,

bond, security, or otherwise) in any

entity or person whose interests may be

significantly affected by rates of postage,

fees for postal services, the classification

of mail, or the operation of the Postal

Service. This paragraph does not

proscribe interests in an entity or person

whose use of the mail is merely an

incidental or a minor factor in the

general conduct of its business.

[FR Doc. 01–4432 Filed 2–22–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7710–FW–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

40 CFR Part 721

[OPPTS–50639B; FRL–6771–4]

RIN 2070–AD43

Perfluorooctyl Sulfonates (PFOS);

Notice of Public Meeting

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule; notice of public

meeting.

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA) will conduct a public

meeting on the proposed significant

new use rule (SNUR) on PFOS

published in the Federal Register issue

of October 18, 2000. At this meeting,

persons who filed written comments on

the proposed SNUR will have the

opportunity to clarify and expand on

their comments, and all interested

persons will be able to identify issues of

concern.

DATES: The public meeting will be held

from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on March 27, 2001.

Interested parties are requested to

contact the technical person on or

before Friday, March 16, 2001, to

schedule presentations at the meeting.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at

the Sheraton Crystal City Hotel, 1800

Jefferson Davis Hwy., Arlington, VA.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For

general information contact: Barbara

Cunningham, Acting Director,

Environmental Assistance Division,

Office of Pollution Prevention and

Toxics (7408), Environmental Protection

Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.,

Washington, DC 20460; telephone

number: (202) 554–1404; e-mail address:

TSCA-Hotline@epa.gov.

For technical information contact:

Annette Washington, Chemical Control

Division (7405), Office of Pollution

Prevention and Toxics, 1200

Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington,

DC 20460; telephone number: (202)

260–5315; e-mail address:

washington.annette@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. General Information

A. Does this Action Apply to Me?

This action is directed to the public

in general. This action may be of

particular interest to anyone who filed

written comments on the proposed

SNUR for PFOS (65 FR 62319, October

18, 2000) (FRL–6745–5), or who uses

products containing any of the 90 PFOS

chemicals identified in the proposed

SNUR. If you have any questions

regarding the applicability of this action

to a particular entity, consult the

technical person listed under FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

B. How Can I Get Additional

Information, Including Copies of this

Document or Other Related Documents?

1. Electronically. You may obtain

electronic copies of this document, and

certain other related documents that

might be available electronically, from

the EPA Internet Home Page at http://

www.epa.gov/. To access this

document, on the Home Page select

‘‘Laws and Regulations’’, ‘‘Regulations

and Proposed Rules,’’ and then look up

the entry for this document under the

‘‘Federal Register—Environmental

Documents.’’ You can also go directly to

the Federal Register listings at http://

www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/.

2. In person. The Agency has

established an official record for this

action under docket control number

OPPTS–50639B. The official record

consists of the documents specifically

referenced in this action, any public

comments received during an applicable

comment period, and other information

related to this action, including any

information claimed as Confidential

Business Information (CBI). This official

record includes the documents that are

physically located in the docket, as well

as the documents that are referenced in

those documents. The public version of

the official record does not include any

information claimed as CBI. The public

version of the official record, which

includes printed, paper versions of any

electronic comments submitted during

an applicable comment period, is

available for inspection in the TSCA

Nonconfidential Information Center,

North East Mall Rm. B–607, Waterside

Mall, 401 M St., SW., Washington, DC.

The Center is open from noon to 4 p.m.,

Monday through Friday, excluding legal

holidays. The telephone number of the

Center is (202) 260–7099.

II. Meeting Procedures

For additional information on the

scheduled meeting, including the

meeting agenda, contact the technical

person listed under FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT.

The meeting on the proposed PFOS

SNUR will be open to the public.

Interested parties are requested to

contact the technical person on or

before Friday, March 16, 2001, to

schedule presentations at the meeting.

Since seating for outside observers may

be limited, those wishing to attend the

meeting as observers are also

encouraged to contact the technical

person at the earliest possible date to

11244 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 37 / Friday, February 23, 2001 / Proposed Rules

ensure adequate seating arrangements.

Inquiries regarding oral presentations

and the submission of written

statements or chemical specific

information should be directed to the

technical person. A written meeting

summary, including an attendance list

and copies of all presentations made at

the meeting, will be included in the

official record of this proceeding

described in Unit I.B.2.

List of Subjects

Environmental protection, Chemicals,

Hazardous materials, Recordkeeping

and reporting requirements.

Dated: February 14, 2001.

Charles M. Auer,

Director, Chemical Control Division.

[FR Doc. 01–4404 Filed 2–22–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–S

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Part 17

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife

and Plants: 90-day Finding for a

Petition To List the Yellowstone

Cutthroat Trout as Threatened

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service,

Interior.

ACTION: Notice of 90-day petition

finding.

SUMMARY: The Fish and Wildlife Service

(Service) announces a 90-day finding for

a petition to list the Yellowstone

cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki

bouvieri) as threatened, under the

Endangered Species Act of 1973, as

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

review of the petition and all available

scientific and commercial information,

we find that the petition failed to

present substantial information

indicating that listing this subspecies of

fish may be warranted at this time.

DATES: The finding announced in this

document was made on February 15,

2001.

ADDRESSES: Requests for copies of the

petition, its accompanying attachments,

or other information pertaining to this

petition finding should be submitted to

Chief, Branch of Native Fishes

Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service, 4052 Bridger Canyon Road,

Bozeman, Montana 59715. The petition

and information used in support of the

petition finding are available for

inspection, during normal business

hours and by appointment, at that

address. The petition, as well as the

complete list of references for the

finding announced in the present

document, also may be obtained at our

Internet web site http://www.r6.fws.gov/

cutthroat/.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Lynn R. Kaeding at the above address,

or telephone 406/582–0717.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

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

Species Act of 1973, as amended (16

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

within 90 days of receipt of a petition,

to the maximum extent practicable, we

make a finding on whether a petition to

list, delist, or reclassify a species

presents substantial scientific or

commercial information indicating that

the requested action may be warranted.

The finding is based upon all

information provided or referenced in

the petition and all other information

available to us at the time the finding is

made. Such 90-day findings are to be

published promptly in the Federal

Register.

On August 18, 1998, we received a

formal petition to list the Yellowstone

cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki

bouvieri) as threatened where it

presently occurs in its historic range

and to designate critical habitat for this

subspecies of fish pursuant to the Act.

The petitioners are Biodiversity Legal

Foundation, Alliance for the Wild

Rockies, Montana Ecosystems Defense

Council, and Mr. George Wuerthner.

The Yellowstone cutthroat trout

(YCT) is one of 13 subspecies of

cutthroat trout recognized by Behnke

(1992) that are native to interior regions

of western North America. Cutthroat

trout owe their common name to the

distinctive red slash that occurs just

below both sides of the lower jaw. Also

among those 13 cutthroat trout

subspecies is the finespotted Snake

River cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus

clarki subsp.), the natural range of

which is principally in the far-west,

central region of Wyoming and almost

entirely surrounded by that of YCT

(Behnke 1992).

In their petition, the petitioners

considered the finespotted Snake River

cutthroat trout a morphological form of

YCT. Such merging of taxons is

supported by biochemical-genetic

studies (cited by Behnke 1992) that

revealed almost no differences between

the YCT and finespotted cutthroat trout

at the several gene loci examined.

Nonetheless, the YCT and finespotted

cutthroat trout are readily separated on

the basis of the sizes and patterns of

spots on the sides of the fish’s body. The

YCT has pronounced, medium to large

spots that are round in outline and

moderate in number, whereas the spots

of the finespotted cutthroat trout are the

smallest of any native trout in western

North America and so profuse they

resemble ‘‘a heavy sprinkling of ground

pepper’’ (Behnke 1992).

Although Behnke (1992) considers the

YCT and finespotted Snake River

cutthroat trout distinct taxonomic

entities, for the purposes of the finding

described in this notice we will follow

the position taken in the petition and

consider the YCT and finespotted Snake

River cutthroat trout to be a single

taxonomic entity, the YCT. However,

that position should not be considered

the opinion of the Federal government

with regard to the taxonomic validity of

the finespotted Snake River cutthroat

trout. Validation of such taxonomic

classifications remains altogether within

the domain of taxonomists, geneticists,

and other qualified scientists.

Furthermore, that position should not

be interpreted as our criticism of, or lack

of support for, ongoing management

actions that treat the finespotted Snake

River cutthroat trout as a unique

taxonomic entity (e.g., Wichers 2000a).

The historic range of YCT generally

consists of the waters of the Snake River

drainage (Columbia River basin)

upstream from Shoshone Falls, Idaho,

and those of the Yellowstone River

drainage (Missouri River basin)

upstream from and including the

Tongue River, in eastern Montana

(Behnke 1992). Historic range in the

Yellowstone River drainage thus

includes large regions of Wyoming and

Montana, whereas that of the Snake

River drainage includes large regions of

Wyoming and Idaho and small parts of

Utah and Nevada (Behnke 1992). During

their evolutionary history, YCT diverged

genetically and morphologically from

the other subspecies of cutthroat trout

while YCT inhabited only the waters of

the Columbia River basin. Soon after the

ice of the last glacial period (i.e., the

Pleistocene Epoch) receded, about 8,000

years ago, YCT from the Snake River

drainage gained entry into the

Yellowstone River drainage via

connected headwater streams in Two

Ocean Pass, south of present-day

Yellowstone National Park (Behnke

1992; Trotter 1987). Subsequently, YCT

spread downstream in the Yellowstone

River drainage. Today, various YCT

stocks remain in each of those major

river drainages in Montana, Wyoming,

Idaho, Utah, and Nevada.

On September 18, 1998, we notified

the petitioners that our Listing Priority

Guidance, published in the Federal