[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] ======================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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