[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 174 (Thursday, September 9, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54647-54648]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-20424]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 090204E]


Endangered and Threatened Species: Notice of Public Hearings on 
Proposed Hatchery Listing Policy

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of public hearings.

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SUMMARY: In June 2004, NMFS proposed a new policy for the consideration 
of hatchery salmon (chum, Oncorhynchus keta; coho, O. kisutch, sockeye, 
O. nerka; chinook, O. tshawytscha;) and O. mykiss (inclusive of 
anadromous steelhead and resident rainbow trout) in Endangered Species 
Act (ESA) listing determinations. NMFS recently extended the public 
comment period for this proposed new policy to October 20, 2004, and 
also announced a series of public hearings in the Pacific Northwest. In 
this notice, NMFS is announcing that public hearings will also be held 
at six locations in California from late September through mid-October 
to provide additional opportunities for the public and other interested 
parties to comment on the proposed policy.

DATES: Written comments must be received by October 20, 2004. See 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for the specific public hearing dates.

[[Page 54648]]


ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on the proposed hatchery listing 
policy (69 FR 31354; June 3, 2004) by any of the following methods:
    E-mail: The mailbox address for submitting e-mail comments on the 
hatchery listing policy is [email protected]. Please include in the 
subject line of the e-mail comment the document identifier ``Hatchery 
Listing Policy.''
    Mail: Submit written comments and information to Assistant Regional 
Administrator, NMFS, Protected Resources Division, 501 W. Ocean Blvd., 
Suite 4200, Long Beach, California, 90802-4213. Please identify the 
comment as regarding the ``Hatchery Listing Policy.''
    Fax: 562-980-4027. Please identify the fax comment as regarding the 
``Hatchery Listing Policy.''
    Copies of the Federal Register notices cited herein and additional 
salmon-related materials are available on the Internet at http://www.nwr.noaa.gov.
    See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for hearing locations.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Craig Wingert, NMFS, Southwest Region, 
(562) 980-4021.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On June 3, 2004, NMFS published a proposed policy addressing the 
role of hatchery produced Pacific salmon and O. mykiss in ESA listing 
determinations (69 FR 31354; ``proposed hatchery listing policy''). The 
proposed hatchery listing policy would supersede NMFS' 1993 Interim 
Policy on salmonid artificial (hatchery) propagation (58 FR 17573; 
April 5, 1993), which requires revision following the 2001 U.S. 
District Court ruling in Alsea Valley Alliance v. Evans (161 F. Supp. 
2d 1154, D. Oreg. 2001;appeal dismissed, 358 F.3d 1181 (9th Cir. 2004); 
Alsea ruling). The Alsea ruling held that NMFS had made an improper 
distinction under the ESA by not listing certain artificially 
propagated salmon populations determined to be part of the same ESU as 
listed natural populations. Under the proposed hatchery listing policy: 
hatchery fish with a level of genetic divergence relative to local 
natural populations that is no more than would be expected between 
closely related populations within the ESU would be included as part of 
the ESU; within-ESU hatchery fish would be considered in determining 
whether the ESU should be listed under the ESA; and within-ESU hatchery 
fish would be included in any listing of the ESU. NMFS applied this 
proposed policy in conducting its comprehensive review of ESA listing 
status for 26 previously listed ESUs, and one candidate ESU, of West 
Coast salmon and O. mykiss.

Extension of Public Comment Period

    Several requests were received to extend the comment period for the 
proposed hatchery listing policy . The original comment period for the 
new policy was September 1, 2004, but has recently been extended to 
October 20, 2004 (69 FR 53039) to allow additional opportunity for 
public comment (see DATES and ADDRESSES).

Public Hearings

    Joint Commerce-Interior ESA implementing regulations state that the 
Secretary shall promptly hold at least one public hearing if any person 
requests one within 45 days of publication of a proposed regulation to 
list a species or to designate critical habitat (see 50 CFR 
424.16(c)(3)). In order to provide the public an opportunity to provide 
public comments on the new hatchery listing proposal, NMFS will be 
holding six public hearings in California at the specific dates and 
locations listed below:
    (1) September 22, 2004; 6:30-9:30pm at the North Coast Inn, 4975 
Valley West Blvd., Arcata, CA 95521
    (2) September 23, 2004; 6:30-9:30pm at the DoubleTree Hotel Sonoma 
Wine Country, One DoubleTree Drive, Rohnert Park, CA 94928
    (3) September 28, 2004; 6:30-9:30pm at the Best Western Hilltop 
Inn, 2300 Hilltop Drive, Redding, CA 96002
    (4) September 28, 2004; 6:30-9:30pm at the Monterey Beach Resort, 
2600 Sand Dunes Drive, Monterey, CA 93940
    (5) October 12, 2004; 6:30-9:30pm at the Radisson Hotel Sacramento, 
500 Leisure Lane, Sacramento, CA 95815
    (6) October, 12, 2004; 6:30-9:30pm at the Fess Parker's DoubleTree 
Resort, 633 East Cabrillo Blvd., Santa Barbara, CA 93103
    NMFS has scheduled these hearings to allow affected stakeholders 
and members of the public the opportunity to provide comments directly 
to agency staff during the comment period. However, these public 
meetings are not the only opportunity for the public to provide input 
on this proposal. The public and stakeholders are encouraged to 
continue to comment and provide input to NMFS on the proposals (via 
correspondence, e-mail, and the Internet; see ADDRESSES, above) up 
until the scheduled close of the comment period on October 20, 2004.

References

    Copies of the Federal Register notices and related materials cited 
herein are available on the Internet at http://nwr.noaa.gov, or upon 
request (see ADDRESSES section above).

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.

    Dated: September 3, 2004.
Laurie K. Allen,
Acting Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 04-20424 Filed 9-3-04; 2:55 pm]
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