[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 116 (Wednesday, June 17, 1998)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 33034-33035]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-16133]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Part 227

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 17


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 90-Day Finding for 
a Petition To List the Spruce Creek Snail of Florida as Threatened and 
Designate Critical Habitat

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior; National Marine Fisheries 
Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of 90-day petition finding.

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SUMMARY: The Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries 
Service (Services) announce a 90-day finding on a petition to list the 
Spruce Creek snail (Melongena sprucecreekensis) under the Endangered 
Species Act, as amended. The Services find the petition did not present 
substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that 
listing this species may be warranted.

DATES: The finding announced in this document was made on May 11, 1998, 
and concurred with by NFMS on May 28, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Questions, comments, data, or information concerning this 
petition should be submitted to the Field Supervisor, U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service, 6620 Southpoint Drive South, Suite 310, Jacksonville, 
Florida 32216; Regional Administrator, National Marine Fisheries 
Service, 9721 Executive Center Drive, St. Petersburg, Florida 33702-
2432, or Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected 
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service, 1315 East West Highway, 
Silver Spring, Maryland 20910. The petition finding, supporting data, 
and comments are available for public inspection, by appointment, 
during normal business hours at the above addresses.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Michael M. Bentzien, Assistant 
Field Supervisor, Jacksonville, Florida; telephone 904/232-2580, ext. 
106; facsimile 904/232-2404 or Colleen Coogan, Fishery Biologist, St. 
Petersburg, Florida, telephone 813/570-5312; facsimile 813/570-5517 
(see ADDRESSES section).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Section 4(b)(3)(A) of the Endangered Species Act (Act) of 1973, as 
amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), requires the Services to make a 
finding on whether a petition to list, delist, or reclassify a species 
presents substantial scientific or commercial information to 
demonstrate that the petitioned action may be warranted. This finding 
is to be based on all information available to the Services at the time 
the finding is made. To the maximum extent practicable, this finding 
shall be made within 90 days following receipt of the petition, and 
promptly published in the Federal Register. If the finding is that 
substantial information was presented, the Services are also required 
to promptly commence a review of the status of the species involved, if 
one has not already been initiated under the Service's internal 
candidate assessment process.
    On December 12, 1994, the Fish and Wildlife Service received a 
petition dated December 5, 1994, from R. P. Haviland, corresponding 
secretary of the Environmental Council of Volusia and Flagler counties, 
Florida. The petition requested the Service to list the Spruce Creek 
snail, Melongena sprucecreekensis, as a threatened species and 
designate its critical habitat. The petition stated that this recently 
described snail is restricted to Spruce Creek and associated waters in 
Volusia County, Florida, and is threatened by ongoing and potential 
development and natural factors.
    The Fish and Wildlife Service received a previous petition in 1985 
to list the species, then known as the Spruce Creek Kings Crown snail, 
as endangered. The Service found that petitioned action was not 
warranted due to the species' uncertain taxonomic

[[Page 33035]]

status, and published its finding on July 18, 1985 (50 FR 29238). In a 
follow-up letter to the petitioner, Mr. John Tucker of Cocoa, Florida, 
the Service indicated that a scientific description of the species in a 
peer-reviewed journal would increase the likelihood that it could make 
a positive finding on any future petition to list this species. Tucker 
(1994) subsequently described the Spruce Creek snail as a distinct 
species.
    A 1974 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Services sets 
forth jurisdictional responsibilities and listing procedures under the 
Act. As applied to the following petition, the MOU stipulates that the 
agencies shall jointly determine whether to list the petitioned 
species, and publish the results in a single Federal Register document.
    Because of the joint jurisdiction of this species, the National 
Marine Fisheries Service agreed to process this petition according to 
the Fish and Wildlife Service's Listing Priority Guidance for Fiscal 
Years 1998 and 1999, published on May 8, 1998 (63 FR 25502). The 
guidance clarifies the order in which the FWS will process rulemakings 
giving highest priority (Tier 1) to processing emergency rules to add 
species to the Lists of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants 
(Lists); second priority (Tier 2) to processing final determinations on 
proposals to add species to the Lists, processing new proposals to add 
species to the Lists, processing administrative findings on petitions 
(to add species to the Lists, delist species, or reclassify listed 
species), and processing a limited number of proposed or final rules to 
delist or reclassify species; and third priority (Tier 3) to processing 
proposed or final rules designating critical habitat. Processing of 
this petition is a Tier 2 action.
    The Spruce Creek snail is a large predatory gastropod belonging to 
the family Melongenidae. Its light-colored shell has two to three, 
brown to grey bands of varying width, and a distinct ratio of shell 
spines on its shoulder and anterior end (Tucker 1994). The snail occurs 
in brackish waters over a muddy sand substrate, where it feeds almost 
exclusively on oysters and often congregates in large numbers within 
oyster bars (congregation of oysters). The species, with an estimated 
population of less than 25,000 total individuals, is known only from 
five local areas within Spruce Creek and adjacent estuaries in Volusia 
County, Florida. Its prehistoric range is thought to have included 
neighboring Brevard County and may have extended as far south as Palm 
Beach County (Tucker in litt. 1985).
    The petition suggests that stormwater runoff carrying fertilizers, 
pesticides, and silt; dredging canals and boat channels; diking and 
draining mangrove swamps; removing seagrasses or mangroves to install 
revetments; and destruction of freshwater swamps pose threats to the 
snail and its habitat. Sea level rises and storm surges are natural 
factors cited as additional potential threats. The petitioner believes 
siltation produced by residential development along the adjacent Rose 
Bay drainage is responsible for the absence of oyster beds and possibly 
Spruce Creek snails from that area. Tucker (in litt. 1985) found the 
snail to be less common within parts of the Spruce Creek drainage near 
upland development. The petition concludes that future development or 
habitat alteration could lead to the extinction of the Spruce Creek 
snail.
    The Services have reviewed the petition, the literature cited in 
the petition, and information available in the Services' files, and 
made a 90-day finding. On the basis of the best scientific and 
commercial information available, the Services find the petition does 
not present substantial information indicating that listing the Spruce 
Creek snail may be warranted. The petition does not provide data on 
historic distribution and abundance, population trends, and the 
species' full range of habitat requirements. The threats discussed in 
the petition are speculative and are not correlated to any known 
population decline. The known range of the Spruce Creek snail is within 
Outstanding Florida Waters designated by the Florida Environmental 
Regulation Commission, pursuant to Chapter 62-302 of the Florida 
Administrative Code. This designation imposes water quality standards 
that, if maintained, should be compatible with the continued existence 
of oysters and the petitioned species.
    The petitioner's request for designation of critical habitat is not 
subject to the Act's petition provisions and is, therefore, not 
considered in this notice.

Reference Cited

Tucker, J.K. 1994. The crown conch (Melongena: Melongenidae) in 
Florida and Alabama with the description of Melongena 
sprucecreekensis, n. sp. Bull. Florida Mus. Nat. Hist. Biol. Sci. 
36(7):181-203.

    Authors: The primary author of this document is Mr. John F. 
Milio, FWS, Jacksonville Field Office (see ADDRESSES section).

Authority

    The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act (16 
U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).

    Dated: May 11, 1998.

Jamie Rappaport Clark,
Director, Fish and Wildlife Service.

    Dated: May 28, 1998.
Rolland A. Schmitten,
Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 98-16133 Filed 6-16-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P