[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]
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