[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 2 (Tuesday, January 4, 1994)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 288-289]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-89]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: January 4, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Part 17

RIN 1018-AB73

 

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Extension of 
Comment Period and Notice of Public Hearing on Proposed Endangered 
Status and Designation of Critical Habitat for the Alabama Sturgeon

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Proposed rule; extension of comment period and notice of public 
hearing.

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SUMMARY: The Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) gives notice that a 
second public hearing will be held on the proposed rule to determine 
endangered status and designate critical habitat for the Alabama 
sturgeon, Scaphirhynchus suttkusi. The comment period is extended to 
accommodate the public hearing.

DATES: The public hearing will be held from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. on 
January 13, 1994. The public comment period is extended through January 
31, 1994.

ADDRESSES: The public hearing will be held at South Hall # 1, 
Montgomery Civic Center, 300 Bibb Street, Montgomery, Alabama. Written 
comments and materials should be sent to the Field Supervisor, U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service, 6578 Dogwood View Parkway, suite A, Jackson, 
Mississippi 39213, or may be submitted at the public hearing. Comments 
and materials received will be available for public inspection, by 
appointment, during normal business hours at the above address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James H. Stewart, at the above address 
(601/965-4900).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
The Service proposed to determine the Alabama sturgeon, Scaphirhynchus 
suttkusi, to be an endangered species and to designate its critical 
habitat on June 15, 1993 (58 FR 33148). The Alabama sturgeon, a small 
sturgeon with a maximum length of about 30 inches, is endemic to the 
Mobile River system, Alabama and Mississippi. Its current range is 
restricted to the lower Alabama River and the Cahaba River in Alabama. 
Both of these areas and the free flowing portion of the lower Tombigbee 
River are proposed as critical habitat. Factors in the sturgeon's 
decline include dams, and possible adverse effects from altered water 
flows, channel maintenance and gravel dredging.
    A public hearing on the proposed rule was announced in the Federal 
Register of September 13, 1993 (58 FR 47851) and was held on October 4, 
1993 near Mobile, Alabama. The capacity of the facility selected for 
the public hearing was not sufficient for all the individuals that 
wished to attend. A second hearing was then announced in the Federal 
Register on October 25, 1993 (58 FR 55036). The second public hearing 
was scheduled for November 15, 1993, in Montgomery, Alabama, to allow 
additional oral statements to be presented and to receive comment on a 
scientific report prepared by experts on the taxonomy and on the 
likelihood of existence of the Alabama sturgeon.
    The November 15 hearing was canceled in response to a preliminary 
injunction issued on November 9, 1993, that restrained the Service and 
others from: (1) Disseminating the scientific report to the public; 
and, (2) utilizing or relying upon the scientific report or any product 
of the experts' deliberations in connection with the decision-making 
process on the proposal to list the Alabama sturgeon and to designate 
its critical habitat. Because the notice announcing the November 15 
hearing specifically addressed the availability of the scientific 
report and the Service's intent to receive comments on it, the Service 
decided to postpone the hearing until a revised notice could be 
published to announce the limitations imposed by, and to thereby avoid 
inadvertent violations of, the court order.
    On December 22, 1993, the court that issued the November 9 order 
issued another order providing, in most relevant part, as follows:

    Federal defendants and defendant-intervenor, and those acting in 
active concert with them, are hereby permanently enjoined from 
publishing, employing and relying upon the Advisory Committee report 
* * * for any purpose whatsoever, directly or indirectly, in the 
process of determining whether to list the Alabama sturgeon as an 
endangered species.

    Therefore, a second public hearing has now been scheduled for 
January 13, 1994, and will allow additional oral statements to be 
presented (of course, written comments will also be accepted and will 
be given equal consideration). The time allocated for individual oral 
statements may be limited if the number of parties present at the 
hearing, or if the conduct of the individual commenter, necessitate 
such a limitation. There is no limit, however, on the length or volume 
of written comments or materials presented at the hearing or mailed to 
the Service office in the ADDRESSES section.
    In keeping with the court restrictions issued in Alabama-Tombigbee 
Rivers Coalition v. Fish and Wildlife Service, Civ. No. 93-AR-2322-S, 
the Service considers itself compelled to enforce the following 
constraints on the submission of oral and written comments while the 
court restrictions remain in effect:
    (1) Individuals or organizations cannot refer to the scientific 
report, issued on November 5, 1993, or to any drafts or other product 
derived from the preparation of that report, in presenting any oral 
statement or written comment; and,
    (2) Individuals or organizations cannot attempt to bolster their 
oral or written comments or opinions by reference to the scientific 
report as authority.
    The Departmental hearing officer at the hearing on January 13, 
1994, will be authorized to terminate the opportunity to speak of any 
person making a statement if, in the judgment of the hearing officer, 
that person disregards the instructions not to address the scientific 
report or its contents. Written comments or materials that contain 
information that violates the above restrictions will be marked and 
thereafter excluded from the administrative record while the court 
restrictions remain in effect.
    The Service intends that any final action resulting from the 
proposed rule will be as accurate and as effective as possible. Except 
for the court-imposed restrictions set out above, the Service 
encourages the submission of all individual scientific opinions, 
biological data, and other relevant scientific data that will assist in 
arriving at the ``best scientific and commercial data available,'' as 
mandated by Section 4 of the Endangered Species Act.

    Authority: The authority for this action is the Endangered 
Species Act, 16 U.S.C. 1531-1544.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 17

    Endangered and threatened wildlife, Fish, Marine mammals, Plants 
(agriculture).

    Dated: December 20, 1993.
Richard N. Smith,
Acting Director, Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 94-89 Filed 1-3-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P