[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 5 (Friday, January 7, 1994)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 997-998]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-520]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: January 7, 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 Rescheduling of Public Hearing on Proposed 
Endangered Status and Designation of Critical Habitat for the Alabama 
Sturgeon

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Extension of comment period and notice of rescheduling of 
public hearing.

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SUMMARY: The Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) gives notice that the 
second public hearing scheduled for January 13, 1994 (59 FR 288), on 
the proposed rule to determine endangered status and designate critical 
habitat for the Alabama sturgeon, Scaphirhynchus suttkusi, has been 
canceled and rescheduled for January 31, 1994. The comment period is 
extended until February 15 to accommodate the public hearing.

DATES: The public hearing that was scheduled to be held from 6 p.m. to 
10 p.m. on January 13, 1994, in Montgomery, Alabama, has been canceled. 
The hearing has been rescheduled and now will be held on January 31, 
1994, in Montgomery, Alabama. The public comment period is further 
extended through February 15, 1994.

ADDRESSES: The rescheduled 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 hearing announced in the Federal 
Register of January 4, 1994 (59 FR 288), is being canceled and 
rescheduled in order to provide more ample notice of the hearing to the 
public. The hearing is now scheduled to be held on January 31, 1994.
    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 strugeon'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 originally 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.

    In order to give more ample notice than a January 13, 1994, hearing 
would have allowed, the second public hearing is rescheduled for 
January 31, 1994. The hearing 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 31, 
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: 16 U.S.C. 1361-1407; 16 U.S.C. 1531-1544; 16 U.S.C. 
4201-4245; Pub. L. 99-625, 100 Stat. 3500; unless otherwise noted.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 17

    Endangered and threatened species, Exports, Imports, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements, and Transportation.

    Dated: January 5, 1994.
Richard N. Smith,
Acting Director, Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 94-520 Filed 1-6-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-M