[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 45 (Wednesday, March 7, 2001)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 13691-13692]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-5506]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Part 17

RIN 1018-AG71


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Reopening of 
Comment Period and Notice of Availability of the Draft Economic 
Analysis for Proposed Critical Habitat for 76 Plants From the Islands 
of Kauai and Niihau, HI

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Proposed rule; reopening of comment period and notice of 
availability of draft economic analysis.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the 
availability of the draft economic analysis for the proposed 
designations of critical habitat for 76 plants from the islands of 
Kauai and Niihau, Hawaii. We are also providing notice of the reopening 
of the comment period for the proposal to designate critical habitat 
for these 76 plants to allow all interested parties to comment 
simultaneously on the proposed rule and the associated draft economic 
analysis. Comments previously submitted need not be resubmitted as they 
will be incorporated into the public record as part of this reopened 
comment period and will be fully considered in the final rule.

DATES: We will accept public comments until April 6, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and information should be submitted to 
Field Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Pacific Islands 
Office, 300 Ala

[[Page 13692]]

Moana Blvd., P.O. Box 50088, Honolulu, HI 96850-0001. For electronic 
mail address and further instructions on commenting, refer to Public 
Comments Solicited section of this notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul Henson, Field Supervisor, Pacific 
Islands Office, at the above address (telephone: 808/541-3441; 
facsimile: 808/541-3470).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) have reconsidered 
our findings concerning whether designating critical habitat for 81 
federally protected plant species currently found on the islands of 
Kauai and Niihau is prudent. A total of 95 species historically found 
on these two islands were listed as endangered or threatened species 
under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), between 
1991 and 1996. Some of these species may also occur on other Hawaiian 
islands. At the time each plant was listed, we determined that 
designation of critical habitat was not prudent because designation 
would increase the degree of threat to the species and/or would not 
benefit the species.
    These not prudent determinations were challenged in Conservation 
Council for Hawaii v. Babbitt, 2 F. Supp. 2d 1280 (D. Haw. 1988). On 
March 9, 1998, the United States District Court for the District of 
Hawaii, directed us to review the prudency determinations for 245 
listed plant species in Hawaii, including these 95 species. On August 
10, 1998, the court ordered us to publish proposed critical habitat 
designations or non-designations for at least 100 species by November 
30, 2000, and to publish proposed designations or non-designations for 
the remaining 145 species by April 30, 2002 (24 F. Supp. 2d 1074). Due 
to this litigation, we reconsidered our previous prudency 
determinations for the 95 plants known historically from Kauai and 
Niihau. From this review, we proposed that critical habitat is prudent 
for 76 of these species because the potential benefits of designating 
critical habitat essential for the conservation of these species 
outweigh the risks of designation. On November 7, 2000, we published in 
the Federal Register (65 FR 66807) a proposed rule to designate 
critical habitat for 76 plants from the islands of Kauai and Niihau. In 
addition, we proposed that the designation of critical habitat is not 
prudent for five species which are either no longer extant in the wild 
and such designation would not be beneficial to the species, or because 
we believe that designation of critical habitat would likely increase 
the threat to the species from vandalism or collection. The remaining 
14 species historically found on Kauai and/or Niihau, no longer occur 
on these islands. However, these species do occur on other islands, so 
proposed prudency determinations will be made in future rules 
addressing plants on those islands. The original comment period closed 
on January 8, 2001. Based on a request to hold a public hearing, we 
reopened the comment period until February 19, 2001. The public hearing 
was held on February 6, 2001 in Lihue, Kauai.
    We have proposed to designate a total of 23 critical habitat units, 
21 units on Kauai and 2 units on Niihau, covering 24,348.68 hectares 
(ha) (60,165.57 acres (ac)) on Kauai and 190.55 ha (470.85 ac) on 
Niihau.
    Critical habitat receives protection from destruction or adverse 
modification through required consultation under section 7 of the Act 
(16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) with regard to actions carried out, funded, or 
authorized by a Federal agency. Section 4(b)(2) of the Act requires 
that the Secretary shall designate or revise critical habitat based 
upon the best scientific and commercial data available, and after 
taking into consideration the economic impact of specifying any 
particular area as critical habitat. Based upon the previously 
published proposal to designate critical habitat for 76 plants from 
Kauai and Niihau, and comments received during the previous comment 
periods, we have prepared a draft economic analysis of the proposed 
critical habitat designations. The draft economic analysis is available 
at the Internet and mailing addresses in the Public Comments Solicited 
section below.

Public Comments Solicited

    We will accept written comments and information during this re-
opened comment period. If you wish to comment, you may submit your 
comments and materials concerning this proposal by any of several 
methods:
    (1) You may submit written comments and information to the Field 
Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Pacific Islands Office, 300 
Ala Moana Blvd., P.O. Box 50088, Honolulu, HI 96850-0001.
    (2) You may send comments by electronic mail (e-mail) to: fw1pie_ 
kauai_niihau_crithab @r1.fws.gov. If you submit comments by e-mail, 
please submit them as an ASCII file and avoid the use of special 
characters and any form of encryption. Please also include ``Attn: RIN 
1018-  '' and your name and return address in your e-mail message. If 
you do not receive a confirmation from the system that we have received 
your e-mail message, contact us directly by calling our Honolulu Fish 
and Wildlife Office at telephone number 808/541-3441.
    (3) You may hand-deliver comments to our Honolulu Fish and Wildlife 
Office at the address given above.
    Comments and materials received, as well as supporting 
documentation used in preparation of the proposal to designate critical 
habitat, will be available for inspection, by appointment, during 
normal business hours at the address under (1) above. Copies of the 
draft economic analysis are available on the Internet at 
www.r1.fws.gov/pacific/wesa/endspindex.html or by request from the 
Field Supervisor at the address and phone number under (1 and 2) above.

Author(s)

    The primary author of this notice is Christa Russell (see ADDRESSES 
section).

Authority

    The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act of 
1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).


    Dated: February 26, 2001.
Rowan W. Gould,
Regional Director, Region 1, Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 01-5506 Filed 3-6-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P