[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 98 (Monday, May 23, 2005)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 29471-29472]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-10245]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Part 17


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 90-Day Finding on 
a Petition To List a Karst Meshweaver, Cicurina cueva, as an Endangered 
Species

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Proposed Rule; reopening of public comment period.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the 
reopening of the public comment period for the status review initiated 
by the 90-day finding on a petition to list Cicurina cueva as an 
endangered species (February 1, 2005; 70 FR 5123). This action will 
allow all interested parties an opportunity to provide information on 
the status of the species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as 
amended (Act).

DATES: Comments must be submitted directly to the Service (see 
ADDRESSES section) on or before June 22, 2005. Any comments received 
after the closing date may not be considered in the 12-month finding.

ADDRESSES: If you wish to comment, you may submit your comments and 
materials by any one of the following methods:
    1. You may submit written comments and information by mail to 
Robert Pine, Field Supervisor, Austin Ecological Services Field Office, 
10711 Burnet Road, Suite  200, Austin, Texas 78758.
    2. You may hand-deliver written comments and information to our 
Austin Ecological Services Field Office, at the above address, or fax 
your comments to 512-490-0974.
    All comments and materials received, as well as supporting 
documentation used in preparation of the 90-day finding, will be 
available for public inspection, by appointment, during

[[Page 29472]]

normal business hours at our Austin Ecological Services Field Office at 
the above address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert Pine, Field Supervisor, Austin 
Ecological Services Office (telephone 512-490-0057, facsimile 512-490-
0974).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Section 4(b)(3)(B) of the Act requires that for any petition to 
revise the List of Threatened or Endangered Species that contains 
substantial scientific and commercial information that listing may be 
warranted, we make a finding within 12 months of the date of the 
receipt of the petition on whether the petitioned action is (a) not 
warranted, or (b) warranted, or (c) warranted but the immediate 
proposal of a regulation is precluded by other pending proposals to 
determine whether any species is threatened or endangered.
    On July 8, 2003, we received a petition requesting that we list 
Cicurina cueva (no common name) as an endangered species with critical 
habitat. On May 25, 2004, Save Our Springs Alliance (SOSA) filed a 
complaint against the Secretary of the Interior and the Service for 
failure to make a 90-day petition finding under section 4 of the Act 
for Cicurina cueva. In our response to Plaintiff's motion for summary 
judgment on October 15, 2004, we informed the court that we believed 
that we could complete a 90-day finding by January 20, 2005, and if we 
determined that the 90-day finding provided substantial information 
that listing may be warranted, we could make a 12-month finding by 
December 8, 2005. On March 18, 2005, the District Court for the Western 
District of Texas, Austin Division, adopted our schedule and ordered 
the Service to issue a 12-month finding on or before December 8, 2005.
    On February 1, 2005 (70 FR 5123), we published a 90-day finding and 
initiation of status review on a petition to list Cicurina cueva as an 
endangered species. Our 90-day finding stated that we found the 
petition presented substantial scientific and commercial information 
indicating that listing Cicurina cueva may be warranted. Additional 
background information, including information on the species, factors 
affecting the species, and our 90-day finding, is available in the 
February 1, 2005, publication. The comment period for providing 
information for our status review closed on May 15, 2005.
    Pursuant to 50 CFR 424.16(c)(2), we may extend or reopen a comment 
period upon finding that there is good cause to do so. We are currently 
gathering information that will be used in making a determination 
whether Cicurina cueva should be listed as endangered. It is our 
intention to extend the public comment period as additional information 
from a genetic analysis and additional survey work for Cicurina species 
in southern Travis County became available near the end of the original 
comment period and information from the Texas Department of 
Transportation and the Regents School of Austin are in progress and may 
not be completed by May 15, 2005. The report is titled, ``Genetic and 
morphological analysis of species limits in Cicurina spiders (Araneae, 
Dictynidae) from southern Travis and northern Hays counties, with 
emphasis on Cicurina cueva Gertsch and relatives.'' We believe these 
documents contain significant information that may effect our 
determination of the status of the species and allowing the comment 
period to expire before they are available could result in hurried and 
incomplete comments. We deem these considerations as sufficient cause 
to reopen the comment period. This reopening of the comment period will 
not result in an extension of the court-ordered date by which the 
Service must make its 12-month finding.

Public Comments Solicited

    We are required by court order to make a 12-month finding on 
whether to list Cicurina cueva by December 8, 2005. To meet this date, 
all information on the status of the species must be submitted by June 
22, 2005, as specified in the DATES section of this document.
    Our practice is to make comments, including names and home 
addresses of respondents, available for public review during regular 
business hours. Individual respondents may request that we withhold 
their home address, which we will honor to the extent allowable by law. 
If you wish us to withhold your name or address, you must state this 
request prominently at the beginning of your comments. However, we will 
not consider anonymous comments. To the extent consistent with 
applicable law, we will make all submissions from organizations or 
businesses, and from individuals identifying themselves as 
representatives or officials of organizations or businesses, available 
for public inspection in their entirety.
    Comments and materials received, as well as supporting 
documentation used in preparation of the 12-month finding, will be 
available for public inspection, by appointment, during normal business 
hours at the Austin Ecological Services Field Office (see ADDRESSES 
section).

Authority

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

    Dated: May 13, 2005.
Marshall Jones Jr.,
Acting Director, Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 05-10245 Filed 5-20-05; 8:45 am]
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