[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 174 (Thursday, September 9, 2004)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 54620-54621]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-20425]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Parts 223 and 224

[I.D. 090204F]


Endangered and Threatened Species: Notice of Public Hearings on 
Proposed Listing Determinations for Salmonids in California

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

ACTION: Notice of public hearings.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In June 2004, NMFS proposed new listing determinations for 27 
Evolutionarily Significant Units (ESUs) of salmon and O. mykiss as 
threatened and endangered under the ESA, including 10 ESUs in 
California. NMFS recently extended the public comment period for these 
proposals to October 20, 2004, and also announced a series of eight 
public meetings/hearings that will be held 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 subject proposals.

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

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on the proposed listing 
determinations for 27 ESUs of West Coast Salmon and O. mykiss (69 FR 
33101; June 14, 2004) by any of the following methods:
    E-mail: The mailbox address for submitting e-mail comments on the 
new listing determination proposals is [email protected]. Please 
include in the subject line of the e-mail comment the document 
identifier ``Proposed Listing Determinations.''
    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 ``Proposed Listing Determinations.''
    Fax: 562-980-4027. Please identify whether the fax comment as 
regarding the ``Proposed Listing Determinations.''
    Copies of the Federal Register notices cited herein and additional 
salmon-related materials are available on the Internet at http://www.nwr.noaa.gov.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On June 14, 2004, NMFS published proposed new ESA listing 
determinations for 27 salmon and O. mykiss ESUs, including ten ESUs 
that occur in California (69 FR 33101). The 27 proposed listing 
determinations include 162 total hatchery programs, as part of four 
ESUs being proposed for endangered status and 23 ESUs being proposed 
for threatened status. In addition, NMFS proposed amendments to the 
existing 4(d) protective regulations for the proposed threatened ESUs.

Extension of Public Comment Period

    Several requests were received to extend the comment period for the 
proposed listing determinations for the 27 ESUs. The original comment 
period for the proposed listing determinations was to end on September 
13, 2004, but has recently been extended to October 20, 2004 (69 FR 
53031), 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 additional opportunity 
provide comments on these new listing determination proposals, 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 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 these proposals. 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.

[[Page 54621]]

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,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 04-20425 Filed 9-3-04; 2:49 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S