[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 117 (Friday, June 19, 2009)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 29300-29341]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-14268]



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Part II





Department of Commerce





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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration



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50 CFR Part 226



Endangered and Threatened Species; Designation of Critical Habitat for 
Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar) Gulf of Maine Distinct Population 
Segment; Final Rule

  Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 117 / Friday, June 19, 2009 / Rules 
and Regulations  

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 226

[Docket No. 0808061060-9710-02]
RIN 0648-AW77


Endangered and Threatened Species; Designation of Critical 
Habitat for Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar) Gulf of Maine Distinct 
Population Segment

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

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: We, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), issue a 
final rule designating critical habitat for the Atlantic salmon (Salmo 
salar) Gulf of Maine Distinct Population Segment (GOM DPS). We 
previously determined that naturally spawned and several hatchery 
populations of Atlantic salmon which constitute the GOM DPS warrant 
listing as endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as 
amended (ESA). We are required to designate critical habitat for the 
GOM DPS as a result of this listing. We hereby designate as critical 
habitat 45 specific areas occupied by Atlantic salmon at the time of 
listing that comprise approximately 19,571 km of perennial river, 
stream, and estuary habitat and 799 square km of lake habitat within 
the range of the GOM DPS and in which are found those physical and 
biological features essential to the conservation of the species. The 
entire occupied range of the GOM DPS in which critical habitat is 
designated is within the State of Maine. We exclude approximately 1,256 
km of river, stream, and estuary habitat and 100 square km of lake 
habitat from critical habitat pursuant to section 4(b)(2) of the ESA.

DATES: This rule becomes effective July 20, 2009.

ADDRESSES: Comments and materials received, as well as supporting 
documentation used in the preparation of this final rule, are available 
for public inspection by appointment, during normal business hours, at 
the National Marine Fisheries Service, NMFS, Protected Resources 
Division, 55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930-2276. The final 
rule, maps, and other materials relating to these designations can be 
found on our Web site at: http://www.nero.noaa.gov/prot_res/altsalmon/.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dan Kircheis, National Marine 
Fisheries Service, Maine Field Station, 17 Godfrey Drive, Orono, ME 
04473 at (207) 866-7320, or Marta Nammack at (301) 713-1401 ext. 180.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Organization of the Final Rule:
    This final rule describes the critical habitat designation for the 
GOM DPS of Atlantic salmon under the ESA. The pages that follow 
summarize the comments and information received in response to the 
proposed designation published on September 5, 2008 (73 FR 51747), 
describe any changes from the proposed designation, and detail the 
final designation for the GOM DPS of Atlantic salmon. To assist the 
reader, the content of the document is organized as follows:

I. Background and Previous Federal Action
II. Summary of Comments and Responses
    Biological Valuation
    Economic Analysis
    4(b)(2) Exclusion Analysis
    Miscellaneous Comments
    Comments Not Relevant to This Rule
    Remarks
III. Summary of Revisions
IV. Methods and Criteria Used to Identify Critical Habitat
    Atlantic Salmon Life History
    Identify the Geographic Area Occupied by the Species and 
Specific Areas Within the Geographic Area
    Physical and Biological Features in Freshwater and Estuary 
Specific Areas Essential to the Conservation of the Species
    Special Management Considerations or Protections
    Specific Areas Outside the Geographic Area Occupied by the 
Species * * * Essential to the Conservation of the Species
    Criteria
V. Application of ESA Section 4(a)(3)(B)(i) (Military Lands)
VI. Application of ESA Section 4(b)(2)
    Assigning Biological Value
    Consideration of Economic Impacts, Impacts to National Security, 
and Other Relevant Impacts
    Economic Impacts
    National Security and Other Relevant Impacts in Relation to 
Military Interests
    Other Relevant Impacts: Tribal Lands
    Determine Whether Exclusions Will Result in the Extinction of 
the Species
VII. Effects of Critical Habitat
    ESA Section 7 Consultation
    Activities That May Be Affected (Section 4(b)(8))
VIII. Classification
    Regulatory Planning and Review
    Regulatory Flexibility Act (U.S.C. 601 et seq.)
    Information Quality Act (IQA) (Section 515 of Pub. L. 106.554)
    Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.)
    National Environmental Policy Act
    Federalism
    Takings
IX. References Cited

I. Background and Previous Federal Action

    We are responsible for determining whether a species, subspecies, 
or distinct population segment (DPS) of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) 
is threatened or endangered, and for designating critical habitat for 
the species, subspecies, or DPS under the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). 
To qualify as a DPS, an Atlantic salmon population must be 
substantially reproductively isolated from other conspecific 
populations and represent an important component in the evolutionary 
legacy of the biological species.
    We are also responsible for designating critical habitat for 
species listed under our jurisdiction. Section 3 of the ESA defines 
critical habitat as (1) specific areas within the geographical area 
occupied by the species at the time of listing, on which are found 
those physical or biological features that are essential to the 
conservation of the listed species and that may require special 
management considerations or protection, and (2) specific areas outside 
the geographical area occupied by the species at the time of listing 
that are essential for the conservation of a listed species. Our 
regulations direct us to focus on the ``primary constituent elements,'' 
or PCEs, in identifying these physical or biological features. Section 
7(a)(2) of the ESA requires that each Federal agency, in consultation 
with and with the assistance of NMFS, ensure that any action 
authorized, funded, or carried out by such agency is not likely to 
jeopardize the continued existence of an endangered or threatened 
Atlantic salmon or result in the destruction or adverse modification of 
critical habitat. Section 4 of the ESA requires us to consider the 
economic impacts, impacts on national security, and other relevant 
impacts of specifying any particular area as critical habitat.
    NMFS and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS; collectively 
``the Services'') issued a final rule listing the GOM DPS of Atlantic 
salmon as endangered on November 17, 2000 (65 FR 69459). The GOM DPS 
was defined in the 2000 rule as all naturally reproducing wild 
populations and those river-specific hatchery populations of Atlantic 
salmon, having historical river-specific characteristics found north of 
and including tributaries of the lower Kennebec River to, but not 
including, the mouth of the St. Croix River at the U.S.-Canada border 
and the Penobscot

[[Page 29301]]

River above the site of the former Bangor Dam.
    In September 2006, a new Status Review for Atlantic salmon in the 
United States (Fay et al., 2006) was made available to the public 
(http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/pdfs/statusreviews/atlanticsalmon.pdf). 
The 2006 Status Review identified the GOM DPS of Atlantic salmon as 
being comprised of all anadromous Atlantic salmon whose freshwater 
range occurs in the watersheds of the Androscoggin River northward 
along the Maine coast to the Dennys River, including all associated 
conservation hatchery populations used to supplement natural 
populations; currently, such populations are maintained at Green Lake 
National Fish Hatchery (GLNFH) and Craig Brook National Fish Hatchery 
(CBNFH). In September 2008 a proposed rule was published proposing to 
list the GOM DPS of Atlantic salmon as defined in the 2006 Status 
Review as endangered (73 FR 51415; September 3, 2008). In response to 
public comments received on the proposed listing rule, and in review of 
the critical habitat proposed rule, also published in September 2008 
(73 FR 51747; September 5, 2008), the Gulf of Maine DPS was re-defined 
to exclude those areas that were outside the historic range of the 
species. The final rule published by NMFS and the USFWS in today's 
Federal Register (see Endangered and Threatened Species; Determination 
of Endangered Status for the Gulf of Maine Distinct Population Segment 
of Atlantic Salmon) defines the GOM DPS as all anadromous Atlantic 
salmon whose freshwater range occurs in the watersheds from the 
Androscoggin River northward along the Maine coast to the Dennys River, 
and wherever these fish occur in the estuarine and marine environment. 
The following impassable falls delimit the upstream extent of the 
freshwater range: Rumford Falls in the town of Rumford on the 
Androscoggin River; Snow Falls in the town of West Paris on the Little 
Androscoggin River; Grand Falls in Township 3 Range 4 BKP WKR, on the 
Dead River in the Kennebec Basin; the un-named falls (impounded by 
Indian Pond Dam) immediately above the Kennebec River Gorge in the town 
of Indian Stream Township on the Kennebec River; Big Niagara Falls on 
Nesowadnehunk Stream in Township 3 Range 10 WELS in the Penobscot 
Basin; Grand Pitch on Webster Brook in Trout Brook Township in the 
Penobscot Basin; and Grand Falls on the Passadumkeag River in Grand 
Falls Township in the Penobscot Basin. The marine range of the GOM DPS 
extends from the Gulf of Maine, throughout the Northwest Atlantic 
Ocean, to the coast of Greenland. Included are all associated 
conservation hatchery populations used to supplement these natural 
populations; currently, such conservation hatchery populations are 
maintained at GLNFH and CBNFH. Excluded are landlocked salmon and those 
salmon raised in commercial hatcheries for aquaculture. The GOM DPS as 
defined in the final rule has been listed as endangered under the ESA.
    The most substantial difference between the 2000 GOM DPS and the 
GOM DPS described in the final rule published by NMFS and the USFWS in 
today's Federal Register (see Endangered and Threatened Species; 
Determination of Endangered Status for the Gulf of Maine Distinct 
Population Segment of Atlantic Salmon) is the inclusion of the 
Androscoggin, Kennebec, and Penobscot River basins.
    The timeline for completing the critical habitat designation 
described in this final rule was established pursuant to litigation 
between NMFS and the Center for Biological Diversity and the 
Conservation Law Foundation. Upon reaching a settlement agreement, NMFS 
has agreed to publish a final rule designating critical habitat for 
Atlantic salmon no later than June 1, 2009.

II. Summary of Comments and Responses

    As described in agency regulations at 50 CFR 424.16(c)(1), we 
requested that all interested parties submit written comments on the 
proposed critical habitat designation. We also contacted the 
appropriate Federal and State agencies, scientific organizations, and 
other interested parties and invited them to comment on the proposed 
rule. To facilitate public participation, we made the proposed rule 
available via the Internet as soon as the rule was published and 
accepted comments by standard mail, fax, e-mail or through http://www.regulations.gov. In addition we held two public hearings: One in 
Augusta, ME, on November 5, 2008; and one in Brewer, ME, on November 6, 
2008. During this time 37 parties or individuals submitted written 
comments on the critical habitat proposed rule. These comments were 
grouped into three categories as they related to the 3 primary sections 
of the Critical habitat designation: Biological Valuation; Economic 
Analysis; and 4(b)(2) exclusion analysis. A fourth category is included 
to address general comments and an overview of how comments were 
handled that were not directly related to the critical habitat 
designation. In section III we review comments and additional 
information that resulted in changes to the critical habitat rule and 
supporting documents.

Biological Valuation

    Comment 1: One commenter stated that assuming the standard habitat 
needs of salmon (240 eggs per unit, 7,200 eggs per female, 1:1 sex 
ratio) and using the calculations described in the document, the 
historic run size of 150,000 fish would have required 2,250,000 units 
of habitat (75,000 females (assuming 1:1 sex ratio) x 7,200 eggs per 
female/240 eggs per unit of habitat); seven times the amount of habitat 
in the entire Penobscot Salmon Habitat Recovery Unit (SHRU).
    Response: Conservation Spawning Escapement or CSE is often used as 
a tool to describe the minimum number of spawners needed to provide 
sufficient quantities of eggs needed to fully seed the available 
habitat. The estimation of CSE is not meant to predict run sizes. The 
minimum number of eggs to fully seed the habitat is 240 eggs per unit 
of habitat where one unit of habitat is equivalent to 100 meters 
squared. The equation described by the commenter: ( of females 
x 7,200 eggs per female/240 eggs per unit of habitat = units of 
habitat) incorporates the same values used to estimate the minimum 
spawner requirement or CSE for a river in both national and 
international forums. CSE estimates do not take into account that, in 
healthy robust populations, animals are often produced in numbers 
greater than what is needed to fully seed the habitat, and, therefore, 
only those animals that are most fit for the given environment 
successfully contribute to the next generation. This is why historic 
estimates of over 100,000 adults in the Penobscot River far exceed the 
minimum spawning requirement or CSE for the Penobscot of 6,838 adult 
spawners. Despite the estimations that the Penobscot River had run 
sizes in the 10's of thousands or even 100's of thousands, only a 
fraction of the entire run would be expected to actually contribute to 
the next generation due to natural selection factors (i.e., not all 
adults will successfully spawn, and, of those that do, not all of the 
juveniles will successfully reach maturity). We refer to this historic 
estimate provided by Atkins and Foster (1868) as a reference point to 
what the run potential for the Penobscot SHRU could be; not the minimum 
number of spawners that would be needed to fully seed the habitat. 
Furthermore, the historic estimates of 150,000 adult returns (males and 
females) was not a factor in determining the run size of 2,000 adult

[[Page 29302]]

spawners (1,000 males and 1,000 females assuming a 1:1 sex ratio) used 
as a recovery goal to project critical habitat for each SHRU.
    Comment 2: One commenter stated that the 240 eggs per unit was 
derived as a way to estimate the number of spawners needed to populate 
salmon habitat with juveniles to produce 2, 3, and 4 year old smolts, 
and was never intended to be used to calculate the amount of habitat 
required by a given number of spawners. The commenter stated that it 
was their belief that using the 240 eggs per unit of habitat to predict 
habitat is an incorrect application of the work of Elson (1975) and 
Symons and Heland (1978), and is very likely to greatly overestimate 
the amount of habitat required to achieve recovery.
    Response: As described in the response to comment 1, the 240 eggs 
per unit is a target egg deposition needed to fully seed a river 
(Elson, 1975) and is the same number that is used to predict CSE of a 
river. The CSE is most often used to establish a conservation goal for 
a river based on the amount of habitat that is available to the species 
and widely used to describe the status of individual Atlantic salmon 
populations. Absent better information we believe that the equation 
used to estimate CSE can be applied inversely ( of females x 
7,200 eggs per female/240 eggs per unit = units of habitat) to estimate 
habitat needed to support the offspring from a pre-determined number of 
females. We do not believe that the estimates we provide are an over 
estimation, as the 240 eggs per unit were intended to take into account 
natural selection factors that would limit survival of the species. In 
some site specific cases, there are likely to be river reaches that 
could support far more than 240 eggs per unit and conversely, there are 
likely some reaches that can support fewer than 240 eggs per unit.
    Comment 3: Some commenters supported the designation of critical 
areas for the protection of Atlantic salmon in the Gulf of Maine, but 
felt that this designation did not extend far enough. The commenters 
stated that a critical habitat designation must include all habitat 
within the historical range of the GOM DPS of Atlantic salmon. Some 
commenters believed that the proposed critical habitat designation 
arbitrarily excluded most of the historic, suitable Atlantic salmon 
habitat and should include more specific areas in the Kennebec River, 
the Androscoggin River main stem and its tributaries all the way to 
Rumford, the entire West Branch of the Penobscot and its tributaries, 
and the Passadumkeag River. Some commenters also stated that critical 
habitat designation should include the Presumpscot River and the Sebago 
Lake watershed. Alternatively, some commenters were opposed to the 
proposed critical habitat designation on the Androscoggin River.
    Response: Sections 3(5)(A)(i) and (ii) of the ESA define critical 
habitat for a threatened or endangered species as the specific areas 
within the geographical area occupied by the species, at the time it is 
listed in accordance with the provisions of Section 4 of the ESA, on 
which are found those physical or biological features (I) essential to 
the conservation of the species and (II) which may require special 
management considerations or protection; and specific areas outside of 
the geographical area occupied by the species at the time it is listed 
in accordance with the provisions of section 4 of the ESA, upon a 
determination by the Secretary that such areas are essential for the 
conservation of the species. We determined in the Biological Valuation 
process that no additional areas outside of the geographical area 
occupied by the species at the time it is listed were essential for the 
conservation of the species because sufficient quantities of habitat 
are available to achieve conservation in the currently occupied range 
(NMFS, 2009a). Therefore, we concluded that unoccupied areas, including 
those specific areas within the Kennebec River above the Sandy River, 
the Androscoggin River above Lewiston Falls, and the entire West Branch 
of the Penobscot, did not qualify for critical habitat designation.
    The Presumpcot River and Sebago Lake watershed are not included in 
the geographic range of the GOM DPS, and therefore are not eligible for 
designation as critical under section 3(5)(A) of the ESA.
    Comment 4: Several commenters felt that our review of habitat 
requirements focused on activities or conditions that may affect salmon 
habitat but did not focus on activities that have impacted habitat. 
Additionally, commenters stated concerns with our identification of 
activities that may affect primary constituent elements and therefore 
may require special management consideration. Commenters specifically 
stated concerns with the following three statements: (1) The most 
direct effect of logging on stream temperature is the reduction in 
shade provided by riparian vegetation; (2) agricultural practices 
influence all specific areas proposed for designation and negatively 
impact PCE sites for spawning and rearing and migration; and (3) timber 
harvesting and preparation of soil for forestry practices can decrease 
large woody debris as well as increase soil erosion.
    Response: We do not state explicitly that any activities are 
negatively impacting Atlantic salmon habitat, but rather we list 
activities that may negatively impact Atlantic salmon habitat. Section 
4(b)(8) of the ESA states that in general we * * * ``are to include a 
brief description and evaluation of those activities (whether public or 
private) which, in the opinion of the Secretary, if undertaken, may 
adversely modify such habitat, or may be affected by such 
designation.'' The word ``may'' gives us the discretion to identify 
activities that are currently affecting critical habitat as well as 
activities that have the potential to affect critical habitat. In our 
description of activities and the types of effects that the activities 
have on critical habitat, we state that the activities may affect 
critical habitat recognizing that, at times, the activity can occur and 
have no affect on critical habitat, while in other circumstances the 
activity may have an affect on critical habitat. Activities that may 
affect critical habitat and are carried out, funded, or authorized by a 
Federal agency, will require an ESA section 7 consultation. In this 
rule, we identify activities and how they may affect critical habitat; 
a more detailed description of activities that may affect salmon 
habitat is available in our supporting document: Habitat requirements 
and management considerations for Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) in the 
Gulf of Maine Distinct Population Segment (GOM DPS).
    Comment 5: One commenter stated that based on the 500 fish 
criterion, the Penobscot SHRU is certainly not in any danger of 
extinction.
    Response: In the recovery criteria we state that in order for the 
DPS to be considered recovered, all three SHRUs must meet or exceed the 
criteria that we have established: (1) The adult spawner population of 
each SHRU must be 500 or greater in an effort to maintain sufficient 
genetic variability within the population for long-term persistence. 
This is to be determined or estimated through adults observed at 
trapping facilities or redd counts; (2) The GOM DPS must demonstrate 
self-sustaining persistence where each SHRU has less than a 50 percent 
probability of falling below 500 adult spawners in the next 15 years 
based on population viability analysis (PVA) projections (NMFS, 2009, 
appendix A). The 50 percent assurance threshold satisfies the criterion 
that the population is ``not likely'' to become an endangered

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species, while 15 years represents the ``foreseeable future'' for which 
we have determined that we can make reasonable projections based on 
past demographic data available to us; (3) The entire GOM DPS must 
demonstrate consistent positive population growth for at least 2 
generations (10 years) before the decision to delist is made. Ten years 
of pre-decision data that reflect positive population trends provide 
some assurance that recent population increases are not happenstance 
but more likely a reflection of sustainable positive population growth; 
(4) A recovered GOM DPS must represent the natural population (i.e., 
adult returns must originate from natural reproduction that has 
occurred in the wild); hatchery product cannot be counted towards 
recovery because a population reliant upon hatchery product for 
sustainability is indicative of a population that continues to be at 
risk; (5) In order to delist the GOM DPS, the threats identified at the 
time of listing must be addressed through regulatory or any other 
means. These threats are identified in the five factors specified in 
section 4(a)(1) of the ESA as described in the 2006 Status Review (Fay 
et al., 2006). Though the Penobscot River has consistently retained a 
census population of over 500 adult spawners, for the period between 
1997 to 2006 approximately 9.6 percent of the Penobscot run resulted 
from wild spawning or fry stocked fish with the greatest wild origin 
adult return recorded in 1997 estimated at 160 adults (USASAC, 2007). 
Due to the low numbers of wild origin adult returns, the entire GOM 
DPS, including the Penobscot, fails to meet the objectives of recovery 
on the one principle point that none of the SHRUs have a wild spawning 
population greater than 500 adult spawners.
    Comment 6: One commenter agreed with the analysis of choosing 500 
adult spawners (both male and female) for an effective population size, 
and 2,000 spawners as a number that can weather downturns in survival 
as reasonable estimates for the large rivers such as those in the 
Merrymeeting Bay and Penobscot SHRUs (73 FR 51747; September 5, 2008, 
51760-51761), but did not agree that these are appropriate numbers for 
the Downeast Coastal SHRU. The commenter urged us to consider reducing 
the numbers required for an effective population size for the Downeast 
Coastal SHRU to be more representative of these smaller rivers, smaller 
habitat, and historically far smaller salmon numbers than the larger 
rivers that make up the two other SHRUs.
    Response: We believe that each of the three SHRUs, including the 
Downeast Coastal SHRU, is easily capable of supporting an effective 
population of 500 adult spawners. Furthermore, we believe using the 
criterion that each SHRU must have enough habitat to support the 
offspring of 2,000 adult spawners (See ``Specific areas outside the 
geographical area occupied by the species . . . essential to the 
conservation of the species'' section of this document) as a means of 
buffering against downturns in survival is also very attainable and not 
unreasonable for any of the three SHRUs. In the biological valuation we 
estimate that there are approximately 61,400 units of historical 
spawning and rearing habitat in the Downeast Coastal SHRU. Using the 
methods described by Elson (1975) to establish a minimum spawning 
requirement, otherwise known as the CSE, for 61,400 units of habitat, 
an estimated 4,094 adult spawners is needed to fully seed the Downeast 
Coastal SHRU (61,400 units / 7,200 eggs per female x 240 eggs per unit 
needed to fully seed the habitat = 2,047 females or 4,094 adult 
spawners assuming 1:1 sex ratio). We chose 500 adult spawners as the 
minimum effective population size not in respect to the size of the 
area, but rather in respect to the number of fish that we believe is 
the minimum number needed to retain sufficient genetic diversity within 
a SHRU. This is the case for all three SHRUs.
    Comment 7: One commenter stated that recovery criteria should not 
be set that cannot be met. Based on the Services' calculations, the 
Downeast SHRU does not have enough functional habitat to meet recovery 
criteria.
    Response: There are approximately 61,400 units of habitat in the 
Downeast Coastal SHRU which are considered to be equivalent to 
approximately 29,111 functional units. The reduced functional value of 
habitat in the Downeast SHRU is based on a reduction of habitat quality 
or the presence of dams or a combination of both as described in the 
biological valuation (NMFS, 2009). This means that the occupied areas 
in the Downeast Coastal SHRU are functioning at approximately 47 
percent of their potential. We do recognize that not all Atlantic 
salmon habitat may have functioned historically at its fullest 
potential due to natural factors. In Downeast Maine, habitat 
degradation from roads and road crossings, dams, historic log drives, 
and introduction of non-indigenous species are all factors that have 
been identified as factors that reduce the functional value of habitat 
(NRC, 2004; Fay et al., 2006). Improvements in habitat quality can 
increase the functional value of habitat for the Downeast SHRU (e.g., 
Project SHARE's ongoing efforts that enhance fish passage and habitat 
quality by improving or removing bridges, culverts, and roads adjacent 
to or crossing streams). Given improvements to degraded habitat in the 
occupied areas, functional habitat quantities in the Downeast SHRU 
would be sufficient to meet recovery goals.
    Comment 8: One commenter expressed difficulty in understanding how 
we determined fractions of dams for HUC 10s.
    Response: Dams were discounted based on their location within a HUC 
10 watershed and the degree to which it was estimated they would impede 
downstream migration of smolts. Dams with turbines were estimated to 
reduce the functional capacity habitat by 15 percent based on the 
findings of several studies (GNP, 1995; GNP, 1997; Holbrook, 2007; 
Shepard, 1991; Spicer et al., 1995). Mainstem dams without turbines are 
not expected to affect smolts in the same way as dams with turbines, 
but can result in direct or indirect mortality from delays in migration 
and by increased predation from predators that congregate around dams. 
Therefore, dams without turbines were estimated to reduce the 
functional capacity of habitat units by 7.5 percent (one half of 15 
percent). Dams located at roughly the midpoint of habitat within a HUC 
10 watershed were estimated to affect passage of roughly half the fish 
in the HUC 10 watershed (e.g., located half way up the HUC 10 
watershed) and therefore were discounted accordingly (e.g., 7.5 percent 
for dams with turbines).
    Comment 9: A commenter stated that we were unclear as to why dams 
were treated differently than other factors that influence survival of 
salmon. The commenter stated that dam mortality is applied using a 
quantitative approach while all other factors are applied using an 
index number. It would therefore take approximately seven dams to have 
an equal effect as a quality rating of 1 (e.g., approximately 33 
percent). This seems to greatly underestimate the relative effects of 
dams compared to other factors (or vice-versa).
    Response: Habitat quality scores address localized impacts and, 
therefore, only influence the functional habitat units within a HUC 10 
for which the habitat quality score is assigned. Dams were figured into 
our calculations differently than habitat quality scores because they 
affect not only the HUC 10 in which they are present, but also every

[[Page 29304]]

HUC 10 upstream of their location. Depending on the geographic location 
of the dam in regards to habitat, a dam may influence a much larger 
quantity of habitat than an individual habitat quality score.
    Comment 10: A commenter stated that some habitat scores within the 
Penobscot SHRU were underestimated because the Penobscot River 
Restoration Project was not included in the critical habitat 
designation.
    Response: We did not formulate habitat estimates that included the 
Penobscot River Restoration Project because it has not been completed 
at this point and there is not certainty that the project will be 
completed because neither the permitting nor funding has been fully 
secured.
    Comment 11: One commenter stated that the HUC 10 scale is too 
coarse. The HUC 12 scale would be better suited to identifying critical 
habitat.
    Response: We considered analyzing at the HUC 12 scale in an attempt 
to gain higher resolution for critical habitat designation, but we 
determined that we had insufficient information to evaluate the PCEs at 
the HUC 12 scale for the entire GOM DPS. In order to provide fair 
representation across the GOM DPS, we determined that it would not be 
appropriate to evaluate some areas at the HUC 10 scale and some areas 
at the HUC 12 scale.
    Comment 12: One commenter stated that the habitat amounts in some 
rivers were suspect. For example, the Dennys has 1,717 units compared 
to the Pleasant that is shown to have 3,025 units of habitat. Field 
habitat surveys indicate that the Dennys has approximately twice the 
number of habitat units as the Pleasant River. Some differences are 
valid due to un-surveyed small streams; however, the gross differences 
are surprising and need to be assessed.
    Response: In our evaluation, we relied on a GIS based habitat 
prediction model to estimate habitat for the entire GOM DPS described 
in Appendix C of the Biological Valuation. Even though in some areas we 
have fairly comprehensive field surveys of habitat, most of the DPS 
range does not have this level of information. In constructing the 
model, the outputs were cross referenced to existing habitat surveys 
and were determined to be roughly 75 percent accurate at the reach 
level. As the commenter stated, the field surveys often only take into 
account mainstem habitat and major tributaries and do not take into 
account minor tributaries, while the GIS based model does. In the 
Pleasant River, Western Little River, Taylor Brook and a significant 
portion of Eastern Little River contain fairly significant amounts of 
habitat, but are not included in the field survey, and, therefore, may 
account for some of the discrepancy between the two survey methods. 
Over time as more information becomes available, we will be able to 
increase the accuracy of this model, but for now this is the best 
available information.
    Comment 13: One commenter stated that the Nezinscot River HUC 10 
watershed was assigned a final biological value of ``3'' even though 
the Nezinscot is a destination and not a migratory corridor, and 
another commenter stated that we designated the Little Androscoggin 
River which is not occupied but arbitrarily did not include any other 
unoccupied, but historically occupied, watersheds in either the 
Androscoggin Basin or the Kennebec Basin.
    Response: The Nezinscot River HUC 10 watershed includes the 
mainstem Androscoggin River between the Little Androscoggin River HUC 
10 and the Androscoggin River at Riley Dam and therefore is an 
important migratory corridor.
    The Little Androscoggin River HUC 10 watershed does not actually 
include the Little Androscoggin River. This particular HUC 10 watershed 
includes only the Androscoggin River and its tributaries from the 
confluence with the Kennebec up to, but not including, the Little 
Androscoggin River. These comments reflect confusion expressed by many 
commenters about the names of HUC 10s as they relate to the location of 
the HUC 10. In section III of this rule, we describe how we have 
attempted to alleviate this confusion.
    Comment 14: A commenter stated that historically inaccessible 
habitat should be removed from critical habitat.
    Response: No specific areas in the range of the GOM DPS where the 
entire specific area was historically inaccessible were proposed as 
critical habitat. However, in some cases there may be small stream 
segments within a specific area identified as occupied that 
historically were, and still may be, inaccessible. We are unable to 
specifically identify the stream segments where critical habitat is 
proposed that may have been historically inaccessible because of 
insufficient information on where these barriers exist and whether they 
are full barriers to migration or partial barriers to migration. As 
activities occur in these areas, the section 7 consultation process 
will allow us to further evaluate stream segments that may have been 
historically inaccessible, and a determination of ``effect'' on the 
habitat will be made accordingly. If the activity is determined to be 
outside the historic range of the species, and the activity is not 
believed to affect critical habitat downstream of the migration 
barrier, then a determination of ``no effect'' or ``not likely to 
affect'' critical habitat may be made.
    Comment 15: A commenter stated that the biological value score of 
the lower river migration corridors should not be based on the 
biological value scores of watersheds outside the currently occupied 
range.
    Response: We discussed assigning biological values using two 
approaches: assigning scores based on the value of habitat only within 
the currently occupied range or assigning biological value based on the 
historic range of the species within the GOM DPS. We concluded that 
biological value scores should be assigned to HUC 10 watersheds based 
on the historic range of the species regardless of the presence of dams 
because areas with dams should not be under valued in terms of their 
relative importance to Atlantic salmon recovery. Hence, when evaluating 
the biological value of habitat, we asked biologists not to consider 
dams as part of their evaluation, but they were to score areas as ``0'' 
if they believed the area to be historically inaccessible due to 
natural barriers.
    Comment 16: A commenter stated that the SHRU does not function as a 
true population but rather as a collection of independent populations, 
stating that this is evident by the genetic information presented in 
studies by King et al. (2000, 2001) and Spidle et al. (2001, 2003).
    Response: The studies by King and Spidle were referred to 
extensively in our analysis of DPS structure within the Gulf of Maine 
as well as the review provided by the NRC (2003). In each of these 
studies, the authors do not imply that there is more than one 
independent population within the Gulf of Maine DPS. Spidle et al. 
(2003) and King et al. (2001) do describe Maine populations as 
independent from other North American populations and may reflect a 
limited number of metapopulations (a spatially separated group of 
populations of the same species that interact at some level). The 
National Research Council (NRC; 2004) does state that Maine rivers 
appear to reflect a metapopulation structure whereby the GOM DPS 
represents ``a set of local breeding populations connected by exchange 
of some individuals''. The NRC, however, avoids referring to these 
populations as independent populations. We discussed this issue with 
Tim King (personal communication, December 9, 2008), and

[[Page 29305]]

he concurred that he was not aware of substantive information that 
would suggest that there is a collection of independent populations 
within the GOM DPS, and he agreed with NRC's interpretation that these 
populations reflect meta-population structure. McElhany et al. (2000) 
describes independent populations quite clearly as ``any collection of 
one or more local breeding units whose population dynamics or 
extinction risk over a 100-year time period is not substantially 
altered by exchanges of individuals with other populations.'' He goes 
on to state that independent populations are often smaller than the 
Evolutionarily Significant Unit (ESU; similar to the scale to a DPS) 
and more likely to inhabit a geographic range on the scale of an entire 
river basin or major sub-basin. In the Gulf of Maine DPS there are four 
HUC 6 river basins which are the Penobscot, Kennebec, Androscoggin, and 
the Downeast Coastal Basin. Though we recognize that the genetic 
evidence presented by King and Spidle clearly indicates populations 
with strong river specificity, we do not believe that there is 
compelling evidence to determine the presence of an independent 
population structure in the GOM DPS whereby an independent population 
is a population whose extinction risk over a 100-year time period is 
not substantially altered by exchanges of individuals with other 
populations.
    Comment 17: A commenter stated that assigning a single population 
criterion of an effective population size (Ne) of 500 adult spawners 
(male and female) for each SHRU is not appropriate because each SHRU 
does not function as a true population but rather a collection of 
independent populations.
    Response: The SHRUs are established as a geographic framework for 
recovery. We did not use effective population size as a criterion for 
recovery. Rather, we use the breeding population size in conjunction 
with other criteria because of the inherent difficulties of calculating 
effective population size for natural populations, and the further 
complication of having a group of local breeding populations in which 
there is limited straying among them.
    We believe that assigning a single population criterion for an 
entire SHRU is more appropriate than trying to allocate population 
sizes on a per river basis. Assigning population values at the SHRU 
level allows flexibility in recovery such that recovery can take place 
anywhere within the SHRU as long as all of the criteria that we have 
established are met. Therefore, a recovered population could be spread 
out among multiple rivers within the SHRU or all in one river. Either 
scenario would allow for a recovery determination as long as all the 
criteria are met for delisting the DPS. If we assigned specific values 
or goals for specific rivers, low populations in one river could 
conceivably delay removing the DPS from the list.
    In contrast, we do not believe that assigning population criteria 
to the entire DPS is sufficient enough to allow for recovery to occur. 
Assigning a population criterion without reference to geographic 
distribution could allow for recovery to occur in one river for the 
entire DPS. Recovery in one river could increase the population's 
vulnerability to losses in genetic diversity as the population would be 
exposed to less habitat diversity. Recovery in one river could also 
increase the population's vulnerability to geographic stochasticity 
(e.g., a catastrophic event such as a drought or flood that could 
severely impact the population) and demographic stochasticity (e.g., a 
significant decline in a population where recovery may require some 
straying from nearby populations to increase the population size or to 
increase genetic diversity to prevent inbreeding depression) (see NMFS, 
2009, appendix A).
    Recovery criteria were developed to aid in designating critical 
habitat (NMFS, 2009, appendix A), though final recovery criteria will 
be more fully developed as part of the recovery planning process 
following the final listing.
    Comment 18: A commenter stated that many extant populations in 
Maine have not regularly achieved Ne > 500 nor Nb (breeding population) 
> than 500 over the last 100 years or more, and clearly many extant 
populations would have been unlikely to ever exceed the 1,000-2,000 
fish level that may be needed to achieve delisting under the proposed 
criteria.
    Response: We agree that many extant breeding populations may not 
have exceeded 1,000-2,000 spawners historically, but we do believe that 
1,000-2,000 spawners within a SHRU is a realistic goal given the number 
of breeding populations within a SHRU. Even though we have little 
population data that pre-dates dam construction on any of the rivers in 
Maine, Atkins' assessments of populations in both the Kennebec and 
Penobscot (estimates range between 100,000 and 200,000 adult spawners 
annually for the Penobscot and Kennebec) (Foster and Atkins, 1869) are 
reasonable estimates given that these were based on harvest estimates. 
We also avoid stating that only extant populations within the SHRUs can 
be used to recover the SHRUs, understanding that, given current low 
abundances, especially in the Merrymeeting Bay SHRU, common garden 
experiments that use a mixed stock of fish from populations outside the 
SHRU may be the most appropriate means to re-establish populations. 
This concept fits well with the metapopulation paradigm, where limited 
straying does occur between populations, and in fact is necessary in 
supporting genetic diversity as well as re-colonization of populations 
that have been extirpated or face near extirpation. We do state 
however, that in most circumstances it would be appropriate, given 
metapopulation dynamics, to use nearby or proximate populations as a 
source of fish for re-establishing depleted stocks, as these fish are 
most likely to retain the genetic and physical characteristics most 
suitable for re-establishing the targeted river.
    Comment 19: A commenter felt that the PVA simulation used to 
project habitat needed to support a recovered population seems overly 
pessimistic since it uses return rates from 1991-2006 to model a 50-
year time horizon. The commenter suggested that it would be more 
realistic to use a longer time series of return rates to better reflect 
the types of variability likely to be seen over 50 years.
    Response: In Appendix B of the Biological Valuation, an example is 
given of the PVA model and how it is used to project extinction risks 
using a time horizon of 50 years. For the actual calculations, the PVA 
was used in conjunction with the DRAFT Recovery Criteria to estimate 
how many spawners would be needed in each SHRU to withstand a period of 
low marine survival as experienced between the years of 1991 to 2006. 
The output of the model was then used in the critical habitat analysis 
to determine how much habitat in each SHRU would be needed to support a 
population capable of withstanding the period of low marine survival as 
experienced between the years of 1991 and 2006. This period of 
reference was used to reflect what we have seen as a worst case 
scenario. The outcome of the model revealed that 2,000 adult spawners 
would be needed in each SHRU in order to ensure that the population of 
each SHRU is ``not likely'' (<50 percent) to fall below 500 adult 
spawners in the ``foreseeable future'' (15 years or 3 generations). 
This particular time frame was used because our goal was to determine 
how much habitat we would need to support a population that could 
withstand another period of low marine survival such as experienced

[[Page 29306]]

during the time period between 1991 and 2006.
    Comment 20: One commenter stated that while the concept of 
effective population size (Ne) of 500 adult spawners is established in 
the literature, the decision to use a census size of 500 adult spawners 
as a minimum does not seem defensible.
    Response: We recognize the difference between effective population 
size (the number of individuals in a population who contribute 
offspring to the next generation) and census population size (the 
actual population, in this case the actual number of adult spawners) 
and acknowledge the difficulties in calculating the effective 
population size for Atlantic salmon throughout the range of the Gulf of 
Maine DPS. In most circumstances though, the effective population size 
of a species is much smaller than the actual census population size, 
given that not all breeders are likely to contribute to the next 
generation of breeders (e.g., a census population of 1,000 individuals 
may only have 800 individuals that are effective breeders) (Allendorf 
and Luikart, 2007). However, for Atlantic salmon where the breeding 
population consists of multiple generations, including parr, 1 sea 
winter, 2 sea winter, and multi-sea winter spawners, calculating the 
effective population size relative to the census population size is far 
more difficult than if all individuals were to reach maturity at the 
same age. Furthermore, the ratio of effective population size to census 
population size of adult spawner may be much closer to one for 
populations with multiple generations (including parr) participating in 
spawning activities than for populations that all mature at the same 
age.
    Genetic data is one means of calculating the effective population 
size of natural populations, though extensive genetic data from all the 
breeding populations across the DPS would need to be gathered to 
accurately make these calculations. In this case, we make an assumption 
that the census population size is equal to the effective population 
size, and assume that all returning adults will be effective spawners. 
The census population size of adult returns determined through redd 
counts or adult trap catch is what the State of Maine and the Federal 
agencies have principally relied upon as a gauge to describe population 
health of Atlantic salmon in Maine and elsewhere throughout the United 
States (USASAC 2007), and, therefore, we believe that using this same 
metric to calculate recovery is reasonable. For lack of better 
information, we believe that a census population size of 500 fish with 
the added criterion identified in the recovery criteria is a very 
reasonable goal and adequate enough to maintain within population 
spatial structure and sufficient genetic diversity within each of the 
three SHRUs.
    Comment 21: One commenter stated that the GIS-based Atlantic salmon 
model promises to be a powerful tool for making fisheries management 
decisions and directing habitat restoration or protections. The 
commenter went on to state though that several improvements to this 
model and data set could be made, including: use a digital elevation 
model to estimate drainage areas in the smaller basins; investigate the 
discrepancies and identify variables that appear to underestimate 
stream widths and, therefore, appear to underestimate salmon habitat in 
some reaches; validate the GIS model with existing field habitat 
surveys; check the GIS model for missing line segments; and check the 
model to exclude areas above known, impassible natural barriers.
    Response: The GIS based habitat prediction model development was 
expedited for the purpose of designating critical habitat. We do 
recognize that there are many attributes that could improve the output 
of the model. These improvements could not be completed in the time 
available for critical habitat designation given the schedule for 
publishing the final critical habitat designation outlined in the 
settlement agreement negotiated in the Conservation Law Foundation and 
Center for Biological Diversity lawsuit. Regardless, the model output 
conservatively predicts the presence of habitat to near 75 percent 
accuracy and, as the commenter indicates, the model slightly 
underestimates habitat because of some underestimation of stream 
widths. We feel that the 75 percent accuracy provides us with the best 
available information at this time and is sufficient to designate 
critical habitat for Atlantic salmon at the HUC 10 level (NMFS, 2009, 
Appendix C).
    Comment 22: One commenter stated that factors outside of forestry 
and land management appear to be the major limiting factors to northern 
Atlantic salmon populations and stated that climate change may be 
having an even larger effect on the species by changing runoff timing, 
raising stream temperatures, and changing the timing of salmon runs. 
Critical habitat designation does not address these issues and instead 
places greater emphasis on secondary or historic practices that are 
having at most a minor impact on the species.
    Response: The statutory language of the ESA states that we shall 
identify and evaluate those activities (whether private or public) 
which, in the opinion of the Secretary, if undertaken, may adversely 
modify such habitat, or may be affected by such designation.
    Climate change in itself is not an activity, but rather a term that 
describes the cumulative effects of many activities on the environment. 
Even though Atlantic salmon managers and scientists are concerned about 
the potential impacts of climate change on Atlantic salmon, at this 
point we have very little evidence on the effects that climate change 
has had or may have on Atlantic salmon in the GOM DPS. Furthermore, we 
are unable to support the inclusion of the activities that contribute 
to climate change due to a lack of scientific evidence that links the 
impact of a specific activity that contributes to climate change to an 
adverse modification of the physical and biological features essential 
to the conservation of the GOM DPS.
    We also do not believe that we placed greater emphasis on secondary 
or historic practices that are having only minor impacts on the 
species. In our assessment, we focused on those activities that may 
affect critical habitat. Most notably, dams represent one activity that 
we have identified as having an effect on critical habitat. The NRC 
report (2004) concluded that ``the greatest impediment to the increase 
of salmon populations in Maine is the obstruction of their passage up 
and down streams and degradation of their habitat caused by dams.'' The 
importance of dams in limiting Atlantic salmon recovery is further 
elaborated in Fay et al. (2006). In conclusion, we believe that we are 
focusing our efforts on activities that have the potential to impact 
salmon habitat, as supported by observation and scientific data.

Economic Analysis

    Comment 23: Several commenters stated that the economic analysis 
fails to address the potential cost of lost generation due to the 
diversion of flows for fishway operation. While it may be difficult to 
predict the costs associated with the potential for changes in minimum 
flows and similar operation changes, one commenter argued that the loss 
in generation value due to fishway flows can and should be quantified 
in the economic analysis. For example, a number of commenters assert 
that the Services' own ``rule of thumb'' is that they may recommend 
licensees divert approximately three to four percent of the turbine 
hydraulic capacity for use as fish passage flows. The commenters

[[Page 29307]]

further assert that this equates directly to a loss of electric 
generation at these facilities, thereby increasing costs born to hydro-
electric operators.
    Response: Section 3.4.2 of the draft economic analysis describes 
qualitatively and quantitatively potential impacts associated with 
operational changes. This section explains that, absent information 
regarding how NMFS may regulate flows at specific dam sites following a 
critical habitat designation, impacts associated with potential 
operational changes are not included in the total estimated impacts 
presented in the report. To provide context on the potential magnitude 
of operational impacts, the analysis considers a hypothetical scenario 
in which all hydropower operations within the study area are precluded 
from generating power during the month of May (peak season for 
downstream smolt migration). According to this scenario, energy costs 
could be expected to increase by up to $11.3 million.
    The final economic analysis includes in its impact estimates a 
scenario incorporating a three to four percent loss of electric 
generation at the projects for which fish passage costs are estimated. 
The analysis also incorporates a discussion on the uncertainties 
associated with these impacts.
    Comment 24: One commenter stated that the economic analysis needs 
to consider additional costs associated with fish passage facilities 
including: operational and maintenance costs, costs of effectiveness 
studies, stocking and managing for the species, and incremental costs 
of consultation.
    Response: As described in Exhibit 3-6, the draft economic analysis 
quantifies the following costs associated with fish passage facilities: 
installation, species survival studies, installation and maintenance of 
fish screens, and water quality and temperature controls. The analysis 
also includes administrative costs of consultation. The final economic 
analysis incorporates new information on the potential operation and 
maintenance costs for fish passage facilities. Stocking and management 
of the species is not considered to be related to critical habitat and 
is, therefore, appropriately not quantified in the economic analysis.
    Comment 25: Verso Paper Corporation comments that it operates four 
hydropower dams to power its mill on the Androscoggin. The draft 
economic analysis estimated that the cost of constructing fish lifts 
for fish passage at each dam would be approximately $2.5 million each. 
While $2.5 million constitutes only a moderate impact according to the 
NMFS 4(b)(2) report, the combined effect of $10 million for all four 
dams is a significant economic impact. Further, these estimates do not 
include costs of conducting species survival or water quality studies, 
or installing fish screens. These costs, along with increases in energy 
costs and impacts of programmatic changes, make it clear that the 
economic impacts to the Androscoggin mill are very high.
    Response: The 4(b)(2) analysis was not conducted on a project-by-
project basis, but on the sub-watershed (ten digit hydrologic unit 
code, or HUC) scale. That is, the total economic impacts of salmon 
conservation to all economic activities were summed by HUC. Of the four 
dams discussed here that support the Androscoggin mill, three (Riley, 
Jay, and Livermore) occur within the same HUC; the remaining dam (Otis) 
occurs in a separate HUC. Economic impacts by HUC therefore include the 
costs of fish lift construction for all dams within the HUC, as well as 
the impacts of conducting species survival and water quality studies, 
and installing fish screens (see exhibit 3-8 of IEc, 2009). As 
described in the economic analysis, to the extent that programmatic 
changes may also be requested as a result of critical habitat, the 
quantified impacts are an underestimate of the total impacts.
    We believe that the HUC 10 watershed scale is an appropriate scale 
in which to conduct the ESA section 4(b)(2) analysis as there is 
insufficient information to accurately describe the economic impact for 
all individual projects within the DPS, nor is there sufficient 
information to accurate describe the physical and biological features 
directly associated with each project. Even though there may be 
sufficient information for some projects to conduct this scale of 
analysis, by not having sufficient records for all projects in the DPS 
we can not fairly conduct a cost benefit analysis by conducting a 
project based analysis for some, and a watershed based analysis for 
others.
    Comment 26: A commenter stated that the hydropower analysis 
incorrectly assumes a 50-year license term for the re-licensing of 
hydroelectric projects over which impacts are discounted at an annual 
rate of seven percent. While the license for a new project may be for 
terms up to 50 years, a typical term for the re-licensing of an 
existing project is 30 years.
    Response: The draft economic analysis uses information from the 
FERC re-licensing schedule on the re-licensing dates for each dam and 
calculates present value impacts according to the expected year of re-
licensing. The analysis does not assume that all licenses have a 50-
year term. The present value impacts are then annualized over the full 
50-year time frame of the analysis.
    Comment 27: One commenter stated that the draft economic analysis 
assumes that a fishway for fish passage would be needed at the Milford 
Project's Gilman Falls Dam. This dam, however, contains a free-flowing 
``breach'' section of river that negates the need for any type of fish 
passage.
    Response: As described in Section 3.4.1, the draft economic 
analysis applies a ``rule of thumb'' to determine whether and what type 
of fish passage may be requested at each dam. For main stem dams, we 
anticipate that fish lifts would serve as the preferred method of fish 
passage. The Gilman Falls Dam occurs on the main stem Penobscot River; 
the draft economic analysis therefore assumed a fish lift may be 
required. We believe that salmon should be able to pass this dam at 
most, but not all, times of the year, as it is a low head dam. While 
another type of fish passage may therefore be appropriate at this site 
(e.g., a fish ladder), the economic analysis conservatively assumes it 
is possible that fish passage will need to be incorporated at this 
site.
    Comment 28: One commenter stated that the draft economic analysis 
relies heavily on overly generalized assumptions and provides an 
example of the main stem Milford Dam. For this project, the draft 
economic analysis estimated present value impacts of $232 (IEc, 2008), 
compared with the company's estimate of $7.6 million to implement the 
agreed upon fish passage measures that include installation of a fish 
lift as part of the Penobscot River Restoration Plan.
    Response: Section 3.4.1 of the draft economic analysis notes that 
it does not include economic impacts associated with providing fish 
passage at Milford and a bypass at Howland Dam where plans to improve 
fish passage have already been developed. The $7.6 million dollar cost 
will be incurred independent of any critical habitat decision and is 
therefore not an impact of the rule. At these facilities, the impact of 
the rule is limited to the administrative costs of conducting a section 
7 consultation at the time of dam relicensing.
    Comment 29: One commenter asks whether the analysis of the impact 
on electricity production would change if the Penobscot River 
Restoration Project (PRRP) were taken into account.
    Response: The economic analysis attempts to isolate and quantify 
the

[[Page 29308]]

costs of potential project modifications that result specifically from 
the designation of critical habitat. With regard to the PRRP, a plan 
has already been established independent of the designation of critical 
habitat for four projects on the Penobscot River. This plan 
incorporates project modifications that meet or exceed the measures 
that might otherwise be requested to avoid or minimize adverse 
modification of critical habitat. As a result, we do not anticipate 
that critical habitat designation would affect the design or 
implementation of the PRRP, nor do we anticipate that the designation 
of critical habitat would affect the project's costs. Accordingly, the 
economic analysis assumes that the designation of critical habitat will 
have no impact on the PRRP.
    Comment 30: One commenter requested that NMFS fully assess and 
quantify the economic impact that the listing of the Atlantic salmon 
will have on manufacturers and their employees. Specifically, the 
commenter suggested that it is unclear how facilities that are 
compliant with State standards for discharge may be affected by the 
listing. It further expressed concern that the listing may add 
uncertainty to the issuance of Maine Pollutant Discharge Elimination 
System (MPDES) permits, thereby affecting the ability of permitted 
facilities to secure financing.
    Response: The ESA does not allow for consideration of economic 
impacts in making decisions regarding whether to list species as 
endangered or threatened. Economic impacts are considered in 
designating critical habitat for listed species.
    Comment 31: One commenter stated that the ``baseline approach'' of 
the draft economic analysis considers only the economic impacts 
attributable solely to critical habitat designation and not those 
impacts that may be attributed co-extensively to the proposed DPS 
listing. The comment asserts that this approach was invalidated by the 
Tenth Circuit Court in New Mexico Cattle Growers Association v. USFWS, 
248 F 3d 1277, 1285 (10th Cir 2001), which held that the Services must 
consider all impacts of a proposed designation, even those attributed 
coextensively to the listing. The commenter stated that the Tenth 
Circuit is the only Federal Circuit Court of Appeals that has 
considered the issue. In addition, the commenter stated that because 
the status of the listing is uncertain, attempts to measure incremental 
impacts as distinct from listing are tentative and misleading.
    Response: As noted in the response to Comment 30, above, the ESA 
precludes consideration of economic impacts in making listing 
determinations but allows consideration of such impacts in conjunction 
with designating critical habitat. To the extent possible, the economic 
analysis attempts to quantify the impacts associated specifically with 
the designation of critical habitat, as these are the economic impacts 
that stand to be affected by a critical habitat designation decision. 
In some cases, the analysis acknowledges that it is difficult to 
determine what may be the causative factor for a conservation measure--
the listing or the critical habitat designation. In these cases, the 
draft economic analysis conservatively includes such impacts and notes 
the uncertainty. The economic analysis does not include, however, 
impacts of conservation measures determined by NMFS to be solely due to 
the listing, and not associated with the critical habitat designation, 
as these impacts are expected to occur regardless of the critical 
habitat designation decision.
    Since the Tenth Circuit Court decision, courts in other cases have 
held that an incremental analysis of impacts stemming solely from the 
critical habitat rulemaking is proper (Cape Hatteras Access 
Preservation Alliance v. Department of Interior, 344 F. Supp. 2d 108 
(D.D.C. 2004); Center for Biological Diversity v. United States Bureau 
of Land Management 422 F. Supp. 2d 1115 (N.D. Cal. 2006). For example, 
in the March 2006 ruling that the August 2004 critical habitat rule for 
the Peirson's milk-vetch was arbitrary and capricious, the United 
States District Court for the Northern District of California stated,

    ``The Court is not persuaded by the reasoning of New Mexico 
Cattle Growers, and instead agrees with the reasoning and holding of 
Cape Hatteras Access Preservation Alliance v. U.S. Dep't of the 
Interior, 344 F. Supp 2d 108 (D.D.C. 2004). That case also involved 
a challenge to the Service's baseline approach and the court held 
that the baseline approach was both consistent with the language and 
purpose of the ESA and that it was a reasonable method for assessing 
the actual costs of a particular critical habitat designation (Id at 
130). `To find the true cost of a designation, the world with the 
designation must be compared to the world without it.' ''

    In this final rule we use an approach consistent with the Cape 
Hatteras line of cases.
    Comment 32: One commenter argued that additional time should be 
taken to fully assess and quantify the economic impact the listing will 
likely have on manufacturers and their employees located along Maine's 
working rivers. Specifically, the commenter suggested that it is 
unclear how facilities that are compliant with State standards for 
discharge may be affected by the listing. The commenter further 
expressed concern that the listing may add uncertainty to the issuance 
of MPDES permits, thereby affecting the ability of permitting 
facilities to secure financing.
    Response: As mentioned in the response to Comment 30, economic 
impacts are not allowed to be considered in relation to listing 
decisions, but the ESA allows consideration of such impacts in 
conjunction with designating critical habitat. Section 5.3.1 of the 
economic analysis considers the potential effect of critical habitat 
designation on licensed discharge facilities. Specifically, this 
section notes that NMFS records indicate that there have been no 
section 7 consultations regarding discharge permits since the Atlantic 
salmon was listed. Further, EPA has not objected to and federalized any 
MPDES permits due to concerns for salmon. The economic analysis, 
therefore, does not anticipate that the issuance of these permits is 
likely to result in consultation regarding salmon and its habitat.

ESA Section 4(b)(2) Report

    Comment 33: Several commenters expressed concern that we only chose 
to exclude areas if the specific area had low biological value and a 
correspondingly higher economic cost, but if the area had no dams, then 
those areas were also ineligible for exclusion.
    Response: The Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) has discretion in 
balancing the statutory factors, including what weight to give those 
factors. The ESA provides the Secretary with the discretion to consider 
areas for exclusion based on the economic impact, or any other relevant 
impact, so long as a determination is made that the benefits of 
exclusion outweigh the benefits of designation, and so long as the 
exclusion will not result in extinction of the species concerned. The 
benefits of designation are to ensure that there is sufficient habitat 
with essential features needed to support recovery objectives. Given 
that Atlantic salmon are in danger of extinction in the foreseeable 
future, we used our discretion to only consider those areas for 
exclusion that have relatively low biological value and correspondingly 
higher economic cost.
    In our analysis, we set criteria to weigh the economic cost of 
designating critical habitat against the biological benefit of 
designating critical habitat in order to assure that sufficient habitat 
would remain available to achieve conservation of the species. Given 
that the species is in danger of extinction, we believe that all 
habitat of medium or high biological value, and all habitat not

[[Page 29309]]

impeded by dams is essential to achieve conservation of the species. In 
this rule, in the section entitled ``Consideration of Economic Impacts, 
Impacts to National Security, and Other Relevant Impacts,'' subsection 
``Economic Impacts'', we expounded upon our decision to consider for 
exclusion only those areas with a biological value of ``1''.
    We did consider a more straight forward approach for exclusion such 
that any areas for which the costs of designation were greater than the 
biological value of the area to the species would qualify for 
exclusion. We chose, however, to consider for exclusion only those 
areas that have a biological value score of ``1'' (unless the area is 
without dams) because excluding all specific areas for which the costs 
of designation were greater than the biological value of the area to 
the species would reduce the quantity of habitat below what is needed 
to achieve conservation of the species.
    Comment 34: One commenter stated that the ESA 4(b)(2) analysis is 
flawed because NMFS's determination of whether an economic impact was 
low, moderate, or high was done on a comparative basis as opposed to an 
absolute basis. NMFS did not actually determine the economic impact to 
an area of a proposed critical habitat designation.
    Response: The framework used to inform the section 4(b)(2) analysis 
was a modified cost-effectiveness analysis. The cost-effectiveness 
analysis allows us to compare a monetized estimate of the ``benefits of 
exclusion'' against the biological ``benefits of inclusion'' for any 
particular area. The commenter is suggesting that the only accepted way 
to conduct an ESA 4(b)(2) exclusion analysis is with a cost benefit 
analysis. However, the approach we used, a cost-effectiveness analysis, 
is acceptable for 4(b)(2) exclusion analysis (U.S. OMB, 2003).
    The Office of Management and Budget has acknowledged the cost-
effectiveness analysis (CEA) as an appropriate alternative to benefit-
cost-analysis (U.S. OMB, 2003). The CEA provides a rigorous way to 
identify options that achieve the most effective use of the resources 
available without requiring monetization of all of the relevant 
benefits or costs. The CEA was used in designating critical habitat for 
the Gulf of Maine DPS of Atlantic salmon, whereby we differentiated 
among habitat areas based on their relative contribution to 
conservation based on habitat characteristics and best professional 
judgment. These qualitative ordinal valuations were then combined with 
estimates of the monetized economic costs of critical habitat 
designation. In essence, individual habitat areas are assessed using 
both their biological valuation and economic cost, so that areas with 
high conservation value and lower economic cost have a higher priority 
for designation, and areas with low conservation value and higher 
economic cost have a higher priority for exclusion. Using the 
Secretary's discretion in balancing the statutory factors, only those 
areas with low biological value were considered for economic exclusion, 
given that excluding areas of higher biological value would remove 
protections to habitat needed to achieve conservation of the species.
    Comment 35: One commenter stated that, ``[p]roposed designated 
critical habitat on Plum Creek lands does not require special 
management or protection * * * [we] implement practices that provide 
on-the-ground conservation outcomes that benefit Atlantic salmon and 
address the primary constituent elements (PCEs) of salmon habitat in 
Maine.''
    Response: As stated in section 4(b)(2) of the ESA, the Services may 
exclude any area from critical habitat if it is determined that the 
benefits of such exclusion outweigh the benefits of specifying such 
area as part of the critical habitat. Based on the best scientific and 
commercial data available, including Federal and State natural resource 
protection regulations, we determined that designation of critical 
habitat in Maine, including Plum Creek lands, is necessary to protect 
Atlantic salmon from extinction. Furthermore, the fact that on-the-
ground conservation measures are being implemented for Atlantic salmon 
habitat is evidence of the need to manage the essential features of the 
habitat.
    We recognize that many organizations implement practices that 
provide on-the-ground outcomes that benefit Atlantic salmon, but these 
practices have not been provided to the Services for thorough review to 
determine their conservation benefit to Atlantic salmon. Plum Creek 
states that it fully complies with Maine's Best Management Practices 
(BMPs) and believes these practices to be protective of salmon habitat. 
While many of the BMPs do provide protections to Atlantic salmon, there 
are many aspects that we feel may affect Atlantic salmon habitat and, 
therefore, require further review. For example, we state that a 30-
meter buffer is generally required to provide protections to critical 
habitat. The 30-meter buffer has been identified as what is generally 
required to maintain or restore optimal habitat in fish-bearing streams 
(Murphy, 1995) and necessary to protect invertebrate communities (Erman 
and Mahoney, 1983) that salmon require for forage. Murphy (1995) 
further states that narrower buffers or selective harvest within the 
buffers may not provide for maintenance of large woody debris 
contributions into the stream over the long term. Plum Creek's review 
of Maine's BMPs prescribe a tiered approach where some streams have no 
buffer protection, others have a 75-foot (22.9-m) buffer, and others 
have up to a 250-foot (76.2-m) buffer but still allow for removal of up 
to 40 percent of the canopy. Based on the best scientific and 
commercial data available, including Federal and State natural resource 
protection regulations, we determined that designation of critical 
habitat in Maine, including Plum Creek lands, is necessary to protect 
Atlantic salmon from extinction.

Miscellaneous Comments

    Comment 36: Two commenters stated that appropriate documentation 
under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) must be prepared by 
the Services and published for the public review process prior to any 
final rules on critical habitat designation that impact the physical 
environment.
    Response: NEPA does not apply to designations of critical habitat 
under the ESA. The reasons underlying this determination, mainly that 
designation of critical habitat is a non-discretionary statutory 
obligation in relation to the listing of a species under the ESA, 
reflects an opinion from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (see 
Douglas County v. Babbitt, 48 F.3d 1495 (9th Cir. 1995), cert. denied, 
116 S.Ct. 698 (1996)). In accordance with the decisions of the Ninth 
Circuit Court, we believe that NEPA documentation is not required for 
the designation of critical habitat within the range of the GOM DPS.
    Comment 37: A commenter requested that we revise the critical 
habitat designation proposal for the Penobscot and Kennebec watersheds. 
The revised proposal should, at a minimum, exclude potential critical 
habitat designation for Atlantic salmon in the Androscoggin River and 
other areas, as appropriate, based upon the updated analyses.
    The commenter felt that critical habitat for the expanded DPS 
should be published separate from the Downeast River final rule, but 
not before the end of the 1-year window permitted in the ESA following 
the initial September 5, 2009, proposal. The Notice should request, and 
give adequate time for, public comments on the revised

[[Page 29310]]

proposal prior to issuance of any final rule or designation in the 
Penobscot or Kennebec Rivers.
    Response: The ESA states that a final regulation designating 
critical habitat of an endangered species or threatened species shall 
be published concurrently with the final regulation implementing the 
determination that such species is endangered or threatened. Exceptions 
to this are if critical habitat of such species is not determinable, in 
which we would be allowed 1 year from the time of listing to make such 
a determination. For Atlantic salmon, we have an abundance of 
information on which a determination of critical habitat can be based, 
and, therefore, a ``not determinable'' decision is not supportable in 
this case.
    Comment 38: Two commenters requested that both the critical habitat 
rule and DPS listing rule be delayed until additional information 
relating to the adequacies of regulations pertaining to waste water 
discharge and water withdrawal programs can be further reviewed.
    Response: The June 1, 2009, publication due date for the final rule 
designating critical habitat for Atlantic salmon was determined by a 
judicially approved settlement agreement between the Center for 
Biological Diversity, Conservation Law Foundation, and NMFS. We feel 
that asking the plaintiffs and the court to agree to an extension of 
that date to conduct further evaluation of existing regulations is 
unwarranted. The adequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms is 
evaluated in the listing determination, though it is not something that 
is considered in designating critical habitat. Designating critical 
habitat is designed to protect habitat features essential to the 
conservation of the endangered or threatened species. In doing so, we 
are required to identify the habitat features that may require special 
management or protections. As such, several activities were identified 
as affecting habitat features or as activities that we believe may have 
an effect on habitat features either now or in the near future. By 
identifying these activities, we are stating that if a Federal action 
agency were to fund, carry out, or authorize one or more of these 
activities, then the Federal action agency should consult with the 
Services on that action. At that point, the Services, in conjunction 
with the action agency, will make a determination, specific to that 
project, on whether or not existing regulatory mechanisms are 
sufficiently protective of the habitat features that we identified, or 
whether the action may affect the habitat features and, therefore, may 
require formal or informal consultation. During this consultation 
process, modifications to the project may be required to minimize or 
eliminate the effect on the habitat feature.
    Comment 39: One commenter stated that the Federal Register notice 
for critical habitat correctly identifies dams as the primary threat to 
Atlantic salmon, but falls short of recognizing or recommending that 
the cumulative impacts of dams be addressed if Atlantic salmon are 
going to be restored in the Androscoggin, Kennebec, and Penobscot 
Rivers. The commenter urges us to directly address the need for dam 
removal rather than focus on fishways that we know cannot ameliorate 
the cumulative impact of dams.
    Response: The biological valuation portion of the critical habitat 
designation does account for cumulative impacts of dams in the 
determination of the ``functional habitat units'' score of habitat 
units within the range of the GOM DPS. Through our scoring system, the 
functional habitat units score accounts for dams not only within a 
particular HUC 10, but also downstream of that HUC 10, thereby 
addressing the issue of cumulative impacts associated with each dam 
encountered by a fish making its way to or from a particular HUC 10.
    We do not address the needs of dam removal directly in the critical 
habitat designation as this would not add information necessary in 
making a determination of critical habitat. When conducting the 
economic analysis, we had to determine a course of action that may be 
required of the hydropower companies in order to estimate the economic 
impact. Given that we do not have the resources or the time to fully 
assess the most appropriate course of action for each and every dam 
within the Gulf of Maine DPS, we developed a general list of the types 
of modifications that may be required by the dam owner if their dam is 
within critical habitat. In some circumstances, these modifications may 
be the most appropriate course of action. In other circumstances, more 
or less stringent modifications may be required of the dam owner 
depending on the amount the project affects critical habitat and what 
is required to prevent jeopardy or adverse modification and achieve 
recovery of the species. The need for dam removal or improved fish 
passage for specific projects will be addressed in a recovery plan for 
the expanded GOM DPS and in individual section 7 consultations on 
projects during re-licensing or licensing.
    Comment 40: A commenter stated that the Services need to be more 
aggressive in dealing with numerous and well-documented problems 
associated with elevated levels of acidity, low buffering capacity, and 
lack of important nutrients in our rivers and strongly recommend 
pursuing a pilot terrestrial liming/calcium enhancement project on a 
meaningful scale in order to address these known problems.
    Response: Acidification of surface waters has been identified in 
numerous planning documents, including the NRC report on Atlantic 
salmon in Maine (2004), the Final Recovery Plan for Atlantic Salmon 
(NMFS and FWS, 2005) and the Status Review for Atlantic Salmon (Fay et 
al., 2006). Acidification of surface waters has been well documented to 
have detrimental effects on Atlantic salmon, particularly smolts. 
Whether anthropogenic acidification of surface waters is affecting the 
GOM DPS, and to what extent, is still widely debated. A combination of 
low pH and high labile aluminum can reduce the physiological function 
of the gill membrane and in turn, cause direct or indirect mortality to 
a smolt as it attempts to enter sea water. Since the 1980s, researchers 
have been working hard to understand acidification of surface waters in 
Maine, particularly in the region east of the Penobscot River. Haines 
et al. (1990) reported that, when Atlantic salmon smolts were subjected 
to elevated acidity and elevated aluminum concentrations, a combination 
of pH less than 5.5 and exchangeable aluminum concentration greater 
than 200 mg/l caused osmoregulatory stress. Since this time, numerous 
and extensive efforts have been undertaken to understand the role of 
acidification on Atlantic salmon survival, particularly in the Downeast 
Region of Maine. Furthermore, even though it has been widely 
acknowledged that emissions of sulfates and nitrates contribute 
significantly to acidification of surface waters, in Maine there are 
differing views as to how much of the acidity is directly associated 
with these emissions. In Downeast Maine, there is uncertainty among 
researchers and biologists on how much of the acidity in Downeast 
rivers is naturally occurring from the high levels of dissolved organic 
matter and what portion of the acidity originates from exogenous 
sources such as sulfate and nitrate emissions, marine aerosols, or 
land-use activities (e.g., forestry and agricultural practices). At 
this point, we recognize that some rivers and streams are impaired by 
low pH and high aluminum concentrations, but we do not believe that 
there is substantive information to suggest that the GOM

[[Page 29311]]

DPS is significantly impaired at the population level as a result of 
anthropogenic acidification. Whether the Services should undertake 
liming or calcium enhancement to offset the effects of low pH is an 
issue that will need to be pursued in the development of a recovery 
plan and is not related to the designation of critical habitat.
    Comment 41: One commenter stated that the critical habitat 
designation fails to consider the essential migratory nature of 
Atlantic salmon * * * Atlantic salmon will not stay in just those areas 
of a watershed that are designated as critical habitat.
    Response: During our designation process we identified all areas 
currently occupied by the listed GOM DPS of Atlantic salmon. All areas 
currently occupied by the species have been designated as critical 
habitat, with exceptions of areas excluded as part of the 4(b)(2) 
process and marine areas as described in this final rule, section 
titled: Identifying the Geographical Area Occupied by the Species and 
Specific Areas within the Geographical Area. Areas not designated as 
critical habitat within the GOM DPS are areas that are currently 
inaccessible to Atlantic salmon due to either natural or man-made 
barriers or areas that do not have the physical and biological features 
essential to the conservation of the species. In order to designate 
critical habitat outside the current GOM DPS we would need to make the 
determination that those areas are essential to the conservation of the 
species. At present, we have determined that enough habitat is 
available within the occupied portions of the GOM DPS to conserve the 
species regardless of whether salmon migrate outside this habitat area. 
Therefore, habitat in unoccupied areas within or outside of the GOM DPS 
is not essential to the conservation of salmon and not appropriate for 
designation as critical habitat.
    Comment 42: A commenter felt we should provide more region specific 
review of habitat variability and threats in our source document 
(Habitat Requirements and Management Considerations for Atlantic salmon 
in the GOM DPS).
    Response: The biological valuation (NMFS, 2009a) does provide SHRU 
specific biological reports that describe the variability of physical 
and biological features essential to the conservation of the species 
within and among the individual SHRUs. Additionally, these SHRU 
specific biological reports provide general descriptions of activities 
that may affect the physical and biological features essential to the 
conservation of the GOM DPS within each SHRU.
    Comment 43: One commenter stated that the effects of dams are 
overstated. The commenter felt that even though dams do impact 
migration and survival, marine survival is the biggest factor limiting 
recovery. The commenter further states that dams are not the driving 
force in the decline as evidenced by rivers with no barriers to 
migration but with the same declines as rivers with barriers.
    Response: In the 4(b)(2) report (NMFS, 2009b), we fully acknowledge 
the importance of marine survival and the fact that it is a very 
significant limiting factor in the recovery of the GOM DPS. However, 
critical habitat may not be designated within foreign countries or in 
other areas outside of the jurisdiction of the United States (50 CFR 
424.12(h)). Furthermore, we are not able, at this time, to identify the 
specific features characteristic of marine migration and feeding 
habitat within waters under U.S. jurisdiction essential to the 
conservation of Atlantic salmon and are, therefore, unable to identify 
the specific areas in the marine environment where such features exist. 
Therefore, specific areas of marine habitat are not designated as 
critical habitat. We also do not feel that the effect of dams is 
overstated. The National Research Council stated in 2004 that the 
greatest impediment to self-sustaining Atlantic salmon populations in 
Maine is obstructed fish passage and degraded habitat caused by dams. 
As the commenter acknowledged, we relied heavily on Fay et al. (2006), 
which provides a comprehensive review of the studies that support this 
conclusion. Dams have been found to result in direct loss of production 
habitat, alteration of hydrology and geomorphology, interruption of 
natural sediment and debris transport, and changes in temperature 
regimes (Wheaton et al., 2004). Riverine areas above impoundments are 
typically replaced by lacustrine (lake or pond) habitat following 
construction. Dramatic changes to both upstream and downstream habitat 
caused by dams directly result in changes in the composition of aquatic 
communities, predator/ prey assemblages, and species composition (NRC, 
2004; Fay et al., 2006; Holbrook, 2007). Upstream changes in habitat 
are known to create conditions that are ideal for Atlantic salmon 
predators such as chain pickerel, smallmouth bass, and double crested 
cormorants (Fay et al., 2006). Furthermore, dams not only change 
predator/prey assemblages, dam passage is known to negatively affect 
predator detection and avoidance in salmonids (Raymond, 1979; Mesa, 
1994; Blackwell and Krohn, 1997; Holbrook 2007). Adults may also be 
susceptible to predation when they are attempting to locate and pass an 
upstream passage facility at a dam in conjunction with higher summer 
temperatures (Fay et al., 2006; Power and McCleave, 1980).
    Providing highly effective fish passage both upstream and 
downstream at impoundments is very important. However, that does not 
negate the fact that even passage facilities contribute to Atlantic 
salmon mortality. Passage inefficiency and delays occur at biologically 
significant levels, resulting in incremental losses of pre-spawn 
adults, smolts, and kelts. Dams are known to typically injure or kill 
between 10 and 30 percent of all fish entrained at turbines (EPRI, 
1992). With rivers containing multiple hydropower dams, these 
cumulative losses could compromise entire year classes of Atlantic 
salmon. Studies in the Columbia River system have shown that fish 
generally take longer to pass a dam on a second attempt after fallback 
compared to the first (Bjornn et al., 1999). Thus, cumulative losses at 
passage facilities can be significant and are an important 
consideration.

Comments on Issues Outside of the Scope of this Rule

    There were a number of comments and suggestions that are not 
directly related to the designation of critical habitat. These included 
suggestions on collaboration versus regulation, comments on the 
inadequacy of existing State regulations, comments on the National 
Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES), comments on river 
classification, comments related to the listing of Atlantic salmon in 
particular rivers under the ESA (inclusion or exclusion of certain 
rivers), and remarks on the timing of the critical habitat designation 
given the U.S. economic slow down. Given that these comments do not 
affect the critical habitat designation process, we will not be 
providing detailed responses in this rule. Comments that were submitted 
in response to the proposed critical habitat designation, but appear to 
be more related to the listing rule, will be addressed in that listing 
action.

Remarks

    (1) After the close of the comment period, we were informed that 
the watershed delineations represented as HUCs had recently undergone 
some revisions that would alter the boundaries of some of the HUC 10 
watersheds used to represent specific

[[Page 29312]]

areas within the GOM DPS. In our determination of specific areas, we 
identified the HUC 10 watershed scale as appropriate given that the HUC 
10 watershed is the approximate scale in which Atlantic salmon are 
currently managed. The HUC 10 scale was also appropriate because we had 
sufficient information to analyze each specific area for habitat value 
and economic cost. When we were made aware of the modifications, we 
carefully assessed the implications of the modifications and whether it 
would be necessary to reconfigure our designation based on the 
modifications. ESA section 3(5)(A) states that we are to identify 
specific areas within the geographical area on which are found those 
physical and biological features essential to the conservation of the 
species and which may require special management or protections. 
Section 3(5)(C) further states that, except in circumstances determined 
by the Secretary, critical habitat shall not include the entire 
geographical area which can be occupied by the threatened or endangered 
species. The Services' regulations further state in 50 CFR 424.12(c) 
that each critical habitat will be defined by specific limits using 
reference points and lines as found on standard topographic maps of the 
area. Each area will be referenced to the State(s), county(ies), or 
other local governmental units within which all or part of the critical 
habitat is located. Unless otherwise indicated within the critical 
habitat descriptions, the names of the State(s) and county(ies) are 
provided for information only and do not constitute the boundaries of 
the area. Ephemeral reference points (e.g., trees, sand bars) shall not 
be used in defining critical habitat. Based on the ESA and agency 
regulations, we concluded that reconfiguration of the HUC 10 watersheds 
based on this update was unnecessary for the following reasons: (1) 
Considering the guidance, we have a fair amount of discretion in 
defining the scale, size, and shape of the area used to represent the 
specific area in which critical habitat is analyzed; (2) the HUC 10 
watershed scale, regardless of size or shape, does not influence salmon 
biology or salmon behavior; (3) we can make available to the public 
maps that clearly identify the specific areas and the critical habitat 
within those areas; and (4) we clearly identify the specific State(s), 
county(ies), and town(s) in which all or part of the critical habitat 
is located.
    (2) In the proposed rule (50 CFR 51747; September 5, 2008) summary 
paragraph, we stated that there were 203,781 km of perennial river, 
stream, and estuary habitat proposed for designation as critical 
habitat. This number was in error, and the actual kilometers proposed 
for designation was 20,378 km. The habitat kilometers in the summary 
tables in Part 226 of the proposed rule were correct.

III. Summary of Revisions

    We evaluated the comments and the new information received in 
response to the proposed rule to ensure that our final rule contained 
the best scientific data available. Some of the comments and new 
information has resulted in a number of general changes to the critical 
habitat designations. A review of the comments that triggered those 
changes and a summary of the changes that were made are included in 
this section:
    (1) One commenter noted that on Page 9, Criterion (a) of the 
biological valuation (NMFS, 2008a) we do not specify the time frame in 
which salmon have been documented in a specific area for the area to be 
considered occupied. Another commenter expressed concern over our 
perceived use of the ``Fish Friends'' program overseen by the Atlantic 
Salmon Federation as a criterion for occupation. On page 9 of the 
biological valuation we identify two criteria, that if either are met, 
would warrant the area to be considered occupied by the species.
    The text in criterion (a) has been modified to include the 
timeframe of 6 years, which is consistent with the timeframe expressed 
in criteria (b), and we did remove reference to the Fish Friends 
program on the basis that under no circumstance were specific areas 
determined to be occupied solely based on the stocking of fry from this 
program. These modifications were made in the final rule section titled 
Identifying the Geographical Area Occupied by the Species and Specific 
Areas within the Geographical Area.
    (2) Several commenters asked that we clarify the approach used to 
bin economic costs as well as how cost thresholds were assigned and how 
specific areas were considered for economic exclusions.
    In order to compare economic cost to biological value in the 
exclusion process we needed to assign a value with which we could 
compare unlike values (e.g., dollar amounts vs. biological value). In 
order to create like values for both the economic costs and final 
biological values we chose to bin the biological and economic data into 
three categories (high, medium, low) in order to consider exclusions. 
In the proposed rule we state that we binned the economic costs into 
three categories to represent low, medium and high economic costs, but 
did not explain why or how we did this binning. We modified the text in 
the final rule section--Consideration of Economic Impacts, Impacts to 
National Security, and Any Other Relevant Impacts to explain why and 
how we did the binning of the economic cost.
    (3) A commenter stated that the algorithm used to arrive at 
functional habitat units is difficult to follow, in part because it is 
described in two separate sections. A unified section describing this 
process would be helpful, as would a formulaic representation of the 
process.
    The section of the final rule ``Specific areas outside the 
geographical area occupied by the species * * * essential to the 
conservation of the species'' has been modified by consolidating the 
explanation of how functional habitat units were derived and developing 
a formulaic expression for the process used to calculate functional 
habitat units.
    (4) A commenter noted that Belfast Bay is missing from the economic 
exclusion in the table on pg 51780 of the proposed rule.
    In 50 CFR 226.217(b)(6), Table (ii) of the proposed rule we outline 
all the specific areas that contain critical habitat, the quantity of 
critical habitat within the specific areas as well as the quantity of 
critical habitat that we proposed for exclusion, and the type of 
exclusion. In the Penobscot Bay sub-basin, we identified Belfast Bay 
(HUC code 0105000218) as having 177 km of river, stream, and estuary, 
and 9 square km of lake critical habitat. The area was identified in 
the preamble and in the maps of 50 CFR Part 226.217(b)(6) of the 
proposed rule as being proposed for exclusion based on economics. We 
have modified the table to show that the habitat in Belfast Bay is 
excluded from critical habitat on the basis of economic cost in 
comparison with biological value.
    (5) A commenter questioned our use of the language ``not likely to 
become threatened'' that was used in the development of recovery 
criteria described in the section entitled Specific areas outside the 
geographical area occupied by the species * * * essential to the 
conservation of the species of the final rule, and suggested that our 
targets should be referred to as benchmarks for recovery. We modified 
this section of the final rule as well as the biological valuation by 
removing the language ``not likely to become threatened''. A recovered 
population is one that is neither threatened nor

[[Page 29313]]

endangered, or otherwise a population that is not likely to become an 
endangered species in the foreseeable future. The specific criteria 
that we have proposed for recovery for the sake of estimating the 
quantity of habitat needed to support a recovered population has not 
changed. The recovery criteria will remain as draft until they are more 
thoroughly examined through the recovery planning process.
    (6) According to multiple comments, the draft economic analysis 
underestimates the impacts of providing fish passage at hydropower 
facilities. Specifically, one comment notes that the draft economic 
analysis estimates the average cost of installing a fish lift to be 
$2.7 million whereas the installation of three known fish lifts over 
the past 15 years ranged in cost from $3.3 million to $7.8 million. 
Specific information on the fish lift and ladder costs were provided 
for FPL Energy hydro projects by the commenter. Likewise, Topsham Hydro 
Partners stated that its fish passage facilities cost in excess of $4 
million.
    To address this, the final economic analysis incorporates the 
available project-specific cost estimates for fish ladders and lifts 
provided by the commenters to estimate the average costs of these 
project modifications.
    (7) Exhibit 3-10 in the draft economic analysis presents a range of 
impacts associated with decreased power production in May in the case 
that changes in operations are requested for the purposes of salmon 
conservation. A commenter stated that the range presented is misleading 
as the low end cost represents the lost power generation being replaced 
by the next cheapest source of energy. By virtue of being a lower cost, 
however, this next cheapest source would already be on line. Therefore, 
only the highest cost replacement power would occur and only the high 
end costs should be considered.
    The final economic analysis was modified to address this comment by 
removing the low end cost of the range presented in the draft economic 
analysis, assuming the replacement generation will most likely come 
from natural gas.
    (8) A commenter stated that the draft economic analysis fails to 
show how the present value costs for each dam were calculated from the 
averages provided in the report.
    To address this comment exhibit 3-7 from the draft economic 
analysis has been revised in the final economic analysis to make 
transparent the derivation of the per dam present value costs.
    (9) A commenter stated that NMFS should consider that hydropower is 
a clean and renewable energy source, and reducing its production and 
replacing it with increased burning of fossil fuels would have 
environmental costs.
    In the final economic analysis and energy impact analysis we 
incorporated a qualitative discussion recognizing that environmental 
costs would occur in the case that lost hydropower generation were 
replaced with increased burning of fossil fuels.
    (10) Brookfield Renewable Power Inc. commented that the draft 
economic analysis fails to include all of its dams within the study 
area, missing five dams on the West Branch of the Penobscot River which 
are part of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) No. 2634. 
Further, in the case of the Caucomgomoc Dam, the draft economic 
analysis does not accurately portray existing fish passages.
    The draft economic analysis considers four Brookfield Power dams on 
the Penobscot River as part of FERC No. 2634. Due to information 
provided by Brookfield in follow up to this comment, the final economic 
analysis considers an additional four previously unlicensed dams that 
are now licensed and will be in operation this year along the West 
Branch of the Penobscot. Brookfield additionally provided information 
on the fish passage status of these dams.
    (11) The FERC stated that the draft economic analysis 
underestimates the number of tidal/wave energy projects that may be 
licensed over the 20-year time period of the analysis. The FERC 
anticipates that there may be as many as 134 permit applications 
leading to about 13 projects over the next 20 years.
    Chapter 3 of the final economic analysis has been revised to 
incorporate more information on the potential for future projects and 
their locations. To provide additional context, the analysis also 
describes modifications to hydrokinetic projects on the west coast that 
have been requested for projects affecting Pacific salmon.
    (12) The Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (RFA) describes the 
potential impact to small farms in terms of the percentage of estimated 
annual revenues. A commenter stated that a true impact on a small farm 
would be the impact on net income because the farm may benefit from 
economies of scale. For small farms, any reduction in income may put 
them out of business.
    In the RFA, the impacts to small farmers are presented as a 
percentage of annual revenue to provide perspective on the level of 
impact. We agree that presenting impacts as a percentage of net income 
would be appropriate and would do so if sufficient data were available. 
A qualitative discussion addressing this issue is incorporated in the 
final economic analysis.
    (13) A commenter stated that we were unclear on whether both 
upstream and downstream passage efficiency estimates were figured into 
the 85 percent passage efficiency when calculating the functional 
habitat units.
    To determine whether any unoccupied habitat in the GOM DPS should 
be designated as critical habitat, we assessed the quantity of habitat 
for each HUC 10 watershed. The total quantity of habitat was then 
discounted to provide a functional habitat value based on the habitat's 
quality and the number of dams within and below the HUC 10 watershed. 
Therefore, the functional value of areas with low quality habitat or 
dams would be less than the total measured habitat quantity. In the 
proposed rule we did not state whether the dams were figured into the 
equation to account for upstream, downstream, or both upstream and 
downstream migration. We modified the section of the final rule 
entitled ``Specific areas outside the geographical area occupied by the 
species * * * essential to the conservation of the species'' to clarify 
that only downstream passage efficiency was figured into the equation 
to calculate functional habitat units.
    This was done because we designated habitat based on what was 
sufficient to support the offspring of a recovered population. We 
identified a recovered population for the purpose of designating 
critical habitat as 2,000 adult spawners within each SHRU. The next 
generation of adult returns does not directly influence the quantity of 
nursery habitat needed to support the offspring of the original 2,000 
adult spawners. Assuring that passage is sufficient to sustain the 
recovered population is part of the recovery strategy and is something 
that will be addressed in the recovery plan.
    (14) Several commenters indicated that the HUC labels are confusing 
and make interpretation difficult.
    The HUC 10 watershed delineations are pre-established watershed 
delineations made available through USGS. We used the names and HUC 
codes already established in the dataset for describing critical 
habitat. We acknowledge that some of the names can be misleading, but 
these codes and names are standardized by the USGS. In order to address 
the confusion regarding the names of the HUC 10s and where

[[Page 29314]]

the HUC 10 watersheds are specifically, we have provided a more 
detailed map in the end of the final rule and have also made detailed 
maps available on our Web site at http://www.nero.noaa.gov/prot_res/altsalmon/.
    HUC 0104000203 and 0104000204 were identified as being easily 
confused because both HUCs were assigned the name ``Ellis River.'' HUC 
0104000204 is below Rumford Falls and includes the Swift River and is 
historical Atlantic salmon habitat while HUC 0104000203 is above 
Rumford Falls and historically was not Atlantic salmon habitat.
    (15) One commenter stated that the approach outlined in the 
proposed critical habitat to assign cost thresholds and how specific 
areas were considered for economic exclusions needed further 
clarification.
    In the 4(b)(2) analysis, in order to compare economic cost to 
biological value, we needed to assign a value with which we could 
compare unlike values (e.g., dollar amounts vs. biological value). In 
order to create like values for both the economic costs and final 
biological values, we chose to bin the original data into three 
categories (high, medium, low) in order to make determinations of 
exclusions between the two variables. Clarification of the procedures 
used to bin economic cost is included in the 4(b)(2) report (NMFS, 
2009b) and in section III of this final rule.
    (16) The Navy commented stating that they are opposed to critical 
habitat for the Atlantic salmon on properties owned, controlled by, or 
designated for use by the Department of Defense pursuant to section 
4(a)(3)(B)(i) and 4(b)(2) of the ESA. Military sites with military 
missions excluded from critical habitat include: Brunswick Naval Air 
Station's Main Station in Brunswick, ME; the Brunswick Naval Air 
Station's Great Pond Outdoor Adventure Center (OAC) in the town of 
Great Pond; the Brunswick Naval Air Stations Cold Weather Survival, 
Evasion, Resistance, and Escape School (SERE) in Redington Township 
near Rangeley, ME, and the Brunswick Naval Air Station's Naval Computer 
and Telecommunications Atlantic Detachment Center in Cutler, Maine. The 
Navy further requests that Bath Iron Works (BIW) in Bath, ME, be 
excluded from critical habitat. The Navy asserts that BIW conducts 
activities essential to the operations of the Navy's fleet and the Navy 
describes these activities as inherent to national security.
    In the proposed rule we stated that we had contacted the Department 
of Defense and requested information on the existence of INRMPs for the 
Brunswick Naval Air Station's Maine Station in Brunswick, and the Naval 
Air Station's Cold Weather Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape 
school and the benefits any INRMPs would provide to Atlantic salmon. If 
any INRMPs covering these sites were determined, in writing, to provide 
a benefit to Atlantic salmon, we would be precluded from designating 
the habitat within these sites (section 4(a)(3)(B)(i) of the ESA). 
INRMPs that provide a benefit to Atlantic salmon are in place for these 
two areas, and, therefore, these areas do not meet the definition of 
critical habitat and are not be included in this final rule. In this 
final rule we also exclude the Great Pond Outdoor Adventure Center in 
Great Pond, ME, the Brunswick Naval Air Station's Naval Computer and 
Telecommunications Atlantic Detachment Center in Cutler, Maine, and 
Bath Iron Works in Bath, ME, based on the required benefits analysis of 
section 4(b)(2) of the ESA. A full description of military lands that 
do not meet the definition of critical habitat (section 4(a)(3)(B)(i) 
of the ESA or that are excluded under section 4(b)(2) of the ESA is 
included in this final rule under section V (Application of ESA Section 
4(a)(3)(B)(i)) and section VI (Application of ESA Section 4(b)(2)).
    (17) A commenter stated that though it may not be the intent of the 
NMFS, the commenter believes the current wording that implies that the 
presence of an Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF) Fish Friends school 
program qualifies a watershed for designation as critical habitat. ASF 
wants to make sure that no areas within the DPS were considered 
occupied solely and exclusively because of the presence of juvenile 
salmon from the Fish Friends program.
    In the final rule section Identifying the Geographical Area 
Occupied by the Species and Specific Areas within the Geographical 
Area, we have taken out the reference to the Fish Friends school 
program as being an impetus for designating critical habitat in a 
specific area as there are no circumstances where a HUC 10 watershed 
was considered for designation as critical habitat solely based on the 
stocking of fish through the Fish Friends program.
    (18) In the final listing rule, the GOM DPS was redefined to 
exclude those areas outside the historic range of the species. In the 
re-defined DPS, the following impassable falls delimit the upstream 
extent of the freshwater range: Rumford Falls in the town of Rumford on 
the Androscoggin River; Snow Falls in the town of West Paris on the 
Little Androscoggin River; Grand Falls in Township 3 Range 4 BKP WKR, 
on the Dead River in the Kennebec Basin; the un-named falls (impounded 
by Indian Pond Dam) immediately above the Kennebec River Gorge in the 
town of Indian Stream Township on the Kennebec River; Big Niagara Falls 
on Nesowadnehunk Stream in Township 3 Range 10 WELS in the Penobscot 
Basin; Grand Pitch on Webster Brook in Trout Brook Township in the 
Penobscot Basin; and Grand Falls on the Passadumkeag River in Grand 
Falls Township in the Penobscot Basin.
    In the critical habitat analysis, we analyzed the entire Penobscot, 
Androscoggin, Kennebec, and Downeast Coastal Basins. All of the HUC 10 
watersheds outside the historic range were determined to have no 
biological value to Atlantic salmon and were subsequently not evaluated 
for critical habitat with the exception of the Passadumkeag watershed 
(HUC code 0102000503) in the Penobscot River watershed. The 
Passadumkeag watershed was determined to be occupied up to Grand Falls 
in Grand Falls Township, though it was assigned a biological value of 
``1'' because of biological quality and habitat quantity. In the ESA 
section 4(b)(2) exclusion analysis, the Passadumkeag was excluded from 
designation because it was assigned an economic score of ``2'', 
subsequently qualifying this watershed for exclusion. Upon the 
redelineation of the GOM DPS, the Passadumkeag HUC 10 watershed was cut 
in half so that the portion of the watershed below Grand Falls is 
within the GOM DPS, and the portion of the watershed above Grand Falls 
is outside the DPS. Given the new delineation, we needed to re-assess 
the biological value and economic cost scores, given that these 
evaluations were conducted for the entire HUC 10 watershed. In doing 
so, the biological value of the Passadumkeag retained its score of 
``1,'' given that during the biological valuation, these falls were 
taken into account. The economic analysis did not take into account 
Grand Falls in the assessment and therefore the economic impact for the 
Passadumkeag needed to be re-examined. In doing so, the economic impact 
to the Passadumkeag watershed was reduced to an estimated high impact 
of $550,000, though this is not below the threshold of $338,000 which 
would subsequently reduce the economic score from a 2 to a 1. Thus, the 
Passadumkeag Watershed is eligible for exclusion under the criteria 
that we established.
    (19) In the proposed rule (73 FR 51747; September 5, 2008) summary 
paragraph, we stated that there were 203,781 km of perennial river, 
stream, and estuary habitat proposed for designation as critical 
habitat. This

[[Page 29315]]

number was in error, and the actual kilometers proposed for designation 
was 20,378 km. The habitat kilometers in the summary tables in part 226 
of the proposed rule were correct.

IV. Methods and Criteria Used To Identify Critical Habitat

    The following sections describe the relevant definitions and 
guidance found in the ESA and our implementing regulations, and the key 
methods and criteria we used to make these final critical habitat 
designations after incorporating, as appropriate, comments and 
information received on the proposed rule. Section 4 of the ESA (16 
U.S.C. 1533(b)(2)) and our regulations at 50 CFR 424.12(a) require that 
we designate critical habitat, and make revisions thereto, ``on the 
basis of the best scientific data available.''
    Critical habitat is defined by section 3 of the ESA (and 50 CFR 
424.02(d)) as ``(i) the specific areas within the geographic area 
occupied by the species, at the time it is listed in accordance with 
the provisions of [section 4 of this Act], on which are found those 
physical or biological features (I) essential to the conservation of 
the species and (II) which may require special management 
considerations or protection; and (ii) specific areas outside the 
geographical area occupied by the species at the time it is listed in 
accordance with the provisions of [section 4 of this Act], upon a 
determination by the Secretary that such areas are essential for the 
conservation of the species.'' Section 3 of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1532(3)) 
also defines the terms ``conserve,'' ``conserving,'' and 
``conservation'' to mean ``to use, and the use of, all methods and 
procedures which are necessary to bring any endangered species or 
threatened species to the point at which the measures provided pursuant 
to this chapter are no longer necessary.''
    Pursuant to our regulations, when identifying physical or 
biological features essential to conservation, we consider the 
following requirements of the species: (1) Space for individual and 
population growth, and for normal behavior; (2) food, water, air, 
light, minerals, or other nutritional or physiological requirements; 
(3) cover or shelter; (4) sites for breeding, reproduction, or rearing 
of offspring; and, generally, (5) habitat that is protected from 
disturbance or representative of the historical geographical and 
ecological distribution of the species (see 50 CFR 424.12(b)). In 
addition to these factors, we also focus on the known physical and 
biological features (primary constituent elements or PCEs) within the 
occupied areas that are essential to the conservation of the species. 
The regulations identify PCEs as including, but not limited to, the 
following: roost sites, nesting grounds, spawning sites, feeding sites, 
seasonal wetland or dry land, water quality or quantity, host species 
or plant pollinator[s], geological formation, vegetation type, tide, 
and specific soil types. For an area containing PCEs to meet the 
definition of critical habitat, we must conclude that the PCEs in that 
area ``may require special management considerations for protection.'' 
Our regulations define special management considerations or protection 
as ``any methods or procedures useful in protecting physical and 
biological features of the environment for the conservation of listed 
species.'' Both the ESA and our regulations, in recognition of the 
divergent biological needs of species, establish criteria that are fact 
specific rather than ones that represent a ``one size fits all'' 
approach.
    Our regulations state that, ``[t]he Secretary shall designate as 
critical habitat areas outside the geographic area presently occupied 
by the species only when a designation limited to its present range 
would be inadequate to ensure the conservation of the species'' (50 CFR 
424.12(e)). Accordingly, when the best available scientific data do not 
demonstrate that the conservation needs of the species so require, we 
will not designate critical habitat in areas outside the geographic 
area occupied by the species.
    Section 4 of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1533(b)(2)) requires that, before 
designating critical habitat we must consider the economic impacts, 
impacts on national security, and other relevant impacts of specifying 
any particular area as critical habitat, and the Secretary may exclude 
any area from critical habitat if the benefits of exclusion outweigh 
the benefits of designation, unless excluding an area from critical 
habitat will result in the extinction of the species. This exercise of 
discretion must be based upon the best scientific and commercial data 
(16 U.S.C. 1536(a)(2)). Once critical habitat is designated, section 
7(a)(2) of the ESA requires that Federal agencies, in consultation with 
and with the assistance of NMFS, ensure that any action they authorize, 
fund, or carry out is not likely to result in the destruction or 
adverse modification of critical habitat.

Atlantic Salmon Life History

    Atlantic salmon have a complex life history that ranges from 
territorial rearing in rivers to extensive feeding migrations on the 
high seas. During their life cycle, Atlantic salmon go through several 
distinct phases that are identified by specific changes in behavior, 
physiology, morphology, and habitat requirements.
    Adult Atlantic salmon return to rivers from the sea and migrate to 
their natal stream to spawn. Adults ascend the rivers of New England 
beginning in the spring. The ascent of adult salmon continues into the 
fall. Although spawning does not occur until late fall, the majority of 
Atlantic salmon in Maine enter freshwater between May and mid-July 
(Meister, 1958; Baum, 1997). Early migration is an adaptive trait that 
ensures adults have sufficient time to effectively reach spawning areas 
despite the occurrence of temporarily unfavorable conditions that occur 
naturally (Bjornn and Reiser, 1991). Salmon that return in early spring 
spend nearly 5 months in the river before spawning; often seeking cool 
water refuge (e.g., deep pools, springs, and mouths of smaller 
tributaries) during the summer months.
    In the fall, female Atlantic salmon select sites for spawning. 
Spawning sites are positioned within flowing water, particularly where 
upwelling of groundwater occurs to allow for percolation of water 
through the gravel (Danie et al., 1984). These sites are most often 
positioned at the head of a riffle (Beland et al., 1982), the tail of a 
pool, or the upstream edge of a gravel bar where water depth is 
decreasing, water velocity is increasing (McLaughlin and Knight, 1987; 
White, 1942), and hydraulic head allows for permeation of water through 
the redd (a gravel depression where eggs are deposited). Female salmon 
use their caudal fin to scour or dig redds. The digging behavior also 
serves to clean the substrate of fine sediments that can embed the 
cobble/gravel substrate needed for spawning and reduce egg survival 
(Gibson, 1993). As the female deposits eggs in the redd, one or more 
males fertilize the eggs (Jordan and Beland, 1981). The female then 
continues digging upstream of the last deposition site, burying the 
fertilized eggs with clean gravel. A single female may create several 
redds before depositing all of her eggs. Female anadromous Atlantic 
salmon produce a total of 1,500 to 1,800 eggs per kilogram of body 
weight, yielding an average of 7,500 eggs per 2 sea-winter (SW) female 
(an adult female that has spent 2 winters at sea before returning to 
spawn) (Baum and Meister, 1971). After spawning, Atlantic salmon may 
either return to sea immediately or remain in freshwater until the 
following spring before returning to the sea (Fay et al., 2006). From 
1967 to 2003, approximately three

[[Page 29316]]

percent of the wild and naturally reared adults that returned to rivers 
where adult returns are monitored--mainly the Penobscot River--were 
repeat spawners (USASAC, 2004).
    Embryos develop in the redd for a period of 175 to 195 days, 
hatching in late March or April (Danie et al., 1984). Newly hatched 
salmon, referred to as larval fry, alevin, or sac fry, remain in the 
redd for approximately 6 weeks after hatching and are nourished by 
their yolk sac (Gustafson-Greenwood and Moring, 1991). Survival from 
the egg to fry stage in Maine is estimated to range from 15 to 35 
percent (Jordan and Beland, 1981). Survival rates of eggs and larvae 
are a function of stream gradient, overwinter temperatures, 
interstitial flow, predation, disease, and competition (Bley and 
Moring, 1988). Once larval fry emerge from the gravel and begin active 
feeding, they are referred to as fry. The majority of fry (>95 percent) 
emerge from redds at night (Gustafson-Marjanen and Dowse, 1983).
    When fry reach approximately 4 cm in length, the young salmon are 
termed parr (Danie et al., 1984). Parr have eight to eleven pigmented 
vertical bands on their sides that are believed to serve as camouflage 
(Baum, 1997). A territorial behavior, first apparent during the fry 
stage, grows more pronounced during the parr stage as the parr actively 
defend territories (Allen, 1940; Kalleberg, 1958; Danie et al., 1984). 
Most parr remain in the river for 2 to 3 years before undergoing 
smoltification, the process in which parr go through physiological 
changes in order to transition from a freshwater environment to a 
saltwater marine environment. Some male parr may not go through 
smoltification and will become sexually mature and participate in 
spawning with sea-run adult females. These males are referred to as 
``precocious parr.''
    First year parr are often characterized as being small parr or 0+ 
parr (4 to 7 cm long), whereas second and third year parr are 
characterized as large parr (greater than 7 cm long) (Haines, 1992). 
Parr growth is a function of water temperature (Elliott, 1991), parr 
density (Randall, 1982), photoperiod (Lundqvist, 1980), interaction 
with other fish, birds, and mammals (Bjornn and Reiser, 1991), and food 
supply (Swansburg et al., 2002). Parr movement may be quite limited in 
the winter (Cunjak, 1988; Heggenes, 1990); however, movement in the 
winter does occur (Hiscock et al., 2002) and is often necessary, as ice 
formation reduces total habitat availability (Whalen et al., 1999a). 
Parr have been documented using riverine, lake, and estuarine habitats; 
incorporating opportunistic and active feeding strategies; defending 
territories from competitors including other parr; and working together 
in small schools to actively pursue prey (Gibson, 1993; Marschall et 
al., 1998; Pepper, 1976; Pepper et al., 1984; Hutchings, 1986; Erkinaro 
et al., 1998; Halvorsen and Svenning, 2000; O'Connell and Ash, 1993; 
Dempson et al., 1996; Klemetsen et al., 2003).
    In a parr's second or third spring (age 1 or age 2 respectively), 
when it has grown to 12.5 to 15 cm in length, a series of 
physiological, morphological, and behavioral changes occurs (Schaffer 
and Elson, 1975). This process, called ``smoltification,'' prepares the 
parr for migration to the ocean and life in salt water. In Maine, the 
vast majority of naturally reared parr remain in freshwater for 2 years 
(90 percent or more), with the balance remaining for either 1 or 3 
years (USASAC, 2005). In order for parr to undergo smoltification, they 
must reach a critical size of 10 cm total length at the end of the 
previous growing season (Hoar, 1988). During the smoltification 
process, parr markings fade and the body becomes streamlined and 
silvery with a pronounced fork in the tail. Naturally reared smolts in 
Maine range in size from 13 to 17 cm, and most smolts enter the sea 
during May to begin their first ocean migration (USASAC, 2004). During 
this migration, smolts must contend with changes in salinity, water 
temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, pollution levels, and predator 
assemblages. The physiological changes that occur during smoltification 
prepare the fish for the dramatic change in osmoregulatory needs that 
come with the transition from a fresh to a salt water habitat (Ruggles, 
1980; Bley, 1987; McCormick and Saunders, 1987; McCormick et al., 
1998). Smolts' transition into seawater is usually gradual as they pass 
through a zone of fresh and saltwater mixing that typically occurs in a 
river's estuary. Given that smolts undergo smoltification while they 
are still in the river, they are pre-adapted to make a direct entry 
into seawater with minimal acclimation (McCormick et al., 1998). This 
pre-adaptation to seawater is necessary under some circumstances where 
there is very little transition zone between freshwater and the marine 
environment.
    The spring migration of post-smolts out of the coastal environment 
is generally rapid, within several tidal cycles, and follows a direct 
route (Hyvarinen et al., 2006; Lacroix and McCurdy, 1996; Lacroix et 
al., 2004, 2005). Post-smolts generally travel out of coastal systems 
on the ebb tide, and may be delayed by flood tides (Hyvarinen et al., 
2006; Lacroix and McCurdy, 1996; Lacroix et al., 2004, 2005), though 
Lacroix and McCurdy (1996) found that post-smolts exhibit active, 
directed swimming in areas with strong tidal currents. Studies in the 
Bay of Fundy and Passamaquoddy Bay suggest that post-smolts aggregate 
together and move near the coast in ``common corridors'' and that post-
smolt movement is closely related to surface currents in the bay 
(Hyvarinen et al., 2006; Lacroix and McCurdy, 1996; Lacroix et al., 
2004). European post-smolts tend to use the open ocean for a nursery 
zone, while North American post-smolts appear to have a more near-shore 
distribution (Friedland et al., 2003). Post-smolt distribution may 
reflect water temperatures (Reddin and Shearer, 1987) and/or the major 
surface-current vectors (Lacroix and Knox, 2005). Post-smolts live 
mainly on the surface of the water column and form shoals, possibly of 
fish from the same river (Shelton et al., 1997).
    During the late summer/autumn of the first year, North American 
post-smolts are concentrated in the Labrador Sea and off of the west 
coast of Greenland, with the highest concentrations between 56[deg] N. 
and 58[deg] N. (Reddin, 1985; Reddin and Short, 1991; Reddin and 
Friedland, 1993). The salmon located off Greenland are composed of 1 
sea winter (1SW) fish; fish that have spent multiple years at sea 
(multi-sea winter fish, or MSW); and immature salmon from both North 
American and European stocks (Reddin, 1988; Reddin et al., 1988). The 
first winter at sea regulates annual recruitment, and the distribution 
of winter habitat in the Labrador Sea and Denmark Strait may be 
critical for North American populations (Friedland et al., 1993). In 
the spring, North American post-smolts are generally located in the 
Gulf of St. Lawrence, off the coast of Newfoundland, and on the east 
coast of the Grand Banks (Reddin, 1985; Dutil and Coutu, 1988; Ritter, 
1989; Reddin and Friedland, 1993; Friedland et al., 1999).
    Some salmon may remain at sea for another year or more before 
maturing. After their second winter at sea, the salmon over-winter in 
the area of the Grand Banks before returning to their natal rivers to 
spawn (Reddin and Shearer, 1987). Reddin and Friedland (1993) found 
non-maturing adults located along the coasts of Newfoundland, Labrador, 
and Greenland, and in the Labrador and Irminger Sea in the later 
summer/autumn.

[[Page 29317]]

Identifying the Geographical Area Occupied by the Species and Specific 
Areas Within the Geographical Area

    To designate critical habitat for Atlantic salmon, as defined under 
Section 3(5)(A) of the ESA, we must identify specific areas within the 
geographical area occupied by the species at the time it is listed. The 
geographic range occupied by the GOM DPS of Atlantic salmon includes 
historically accessible freshwater habitat ranging from the 
Androscoggin River watershed in the south to the Dennys River watershed 
in the north (Fay et al., 2006), as well as the adjacent estuaries and 
bays through which smolts and adults migrate.
    The geographic range occupied by the species extends out to the 
waters off Canada and Greenland, where post smolts complete their 
marine migration. However, critical habitat may not be designated 
within foreign countries or in other areas outside of the jurisdiction 
of the United States (50 CFR 424.12(h)). Therefore, for the purposes of 
critical habitat designation, the geographic area occupied by the 
species will be restricted to areas within the jurisdiction of the 
United States. This does not diminish the importance of habitat outside 
of the jurisdiction of the United States for the GOM DPS. In fact, a 
very significant factor limiting recovery for the species is marine 
survival, and increasing marine survival is a conservation priority in 
the recovery of the species. Though marine migration routes and feeding 
habitat off Canada and Greenland are critical to the survival and 
recovery of Atlantic salmon, the regulations prohibit designation of 
these areas as critical habitat. In designating critical habitat for 
Atlantic salmon, the emphasis is two fold: (1) Assuring that critical 
habitat essential for a recovered population is protected so that when 
marine conditions improve, sufficient habitat is available to support 
recovery; and (2) enacting appropriate management measures to enhance 
and improve critical habitat areas that are not fully functional 
because the features have been degraded from anthropogenic causes.
    Atlantic salmon are anadromous and spend a portion of life in 
freshwater and the remaining portion in the marine environment. 
Therefore, it is conceivable that some freshwater habitat may be vacant 
for up to 3 years under circumstances where populations are extremely 
low. While there may be no documented spawning in these areas for that 
period of time, they would still be considered occupied because salmon 
at sea would return to these areas to spawn.
    Current stock management and assessment efforts also need to be 
considered in deciding which areas are occupied, including the stocking 
program managed by USFWS and the Maine Department of Marine Resources 
(MDMR). Furthermore, in addition to stocking programs, straying from 
natural populations can result in the occupation of habitat.
    Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC) 10 (Level 5 watersheds) described by 
Seaber et al. (1994) are considered the appropriate ``specific areas'' 
within the geographic area occupied by Atlantic salmon to be examined 
for the presence of physical or biological features and for the 
potential need for special management considerations or protections for 
these features.
    The HUC system was developed by the USGS Office of Water Data 
Coordination in conjunction with the Water Resources Council (Seaber et 
al., 1994) and provides (1) a nationally accessible, coherent system of 
water-use data exchange; (2) a means of grouping hydrographical data; 
and (3) a standardized, scientifically grounded reference system 
(Laitta et al., 2004). The HUC system currently includes six nationally 
consistent, hierarchical levels of divisions, with HUC 2 (Level 1) 
``Regions'' being the largest (avg. 459,878 sq. km.), and HUC 12 (Level 
6) ``sub-watersheds'' being the smallest (avg. 41-163 sq. km.).
    The HUC 10 (level 5) watersheds were used to identify ``specific 
areas'' because this scale accommodates the local adaptation and homing 
tendencies of Atlantic salmon, and provides a framework in which we can 
reasonably aggregate occupied river, stream, lake, and estuary habitats 
that contain the physical and biological features essential to the 
conservation of the species. Furthermore, many Atlantic salmon 
populations in the GOM DPS are currently managed at the HUC 10 
watershed scale. Therefore, we have a better understanding of the 
population status and the biology of salmon at the HUC 10 level, 
whereas less is known at the smaller HUC 12 sub-watershed scale.
    Specific areas delineated at the HUC 10 watershed level correspond 
well to the biology and life history characteristics of Atlantic 
salmon. Atlantic salmon, like many other anadromous salmonids, exhibit 
strong homing tendencies (Stabell, 1984). Strong homing tendencies 
enhance a given individual's chance of spawning with individuals having 
similar life history characteristics (Dittman and Quinn, 1996) that 
lead to the evolution and maintenance of local adaptations, and may 
also enhance their progeny's ability to exploit a given set of 
resources (Gharrett and Smoker, 1993). Local adaptations allow local 
populations to survive and reproduce at higher rates than exogenous 
populations (Reisenbichler, 1988; Tallman and Healey, 1994). Strong 
homing tendencies have been observed in many Atlantic salmon 
populations. Stabell (1984) reported that fewer than 3 of every 100 
salmon in North America and Europe stray from their natal river. In 
Maine, Baum and Spencer (1990) reported that 98 percent of hatchery-
reared smolts returned to the watershed where they were stocked. Given 
the strong homing tendencies and life history characteristics of 
Atlantic salmon (Riddell and Leggett, 1981), we believe that the HUC 10 
watershed level accommodates these local adaptations and the biological 
needs of the species and, therefore, is the most appropriate unit of 
habitat to delineate ``specific areas'' for consideration as part of 
the critical habitat designation process.
    Within the United States, the freshwater geographic range that the 
GOM DPS of Atlantic salmon occupies includes perennial river, lake, 
stream, and estuary habitat connected to the marine environment, 
ranging from the Androscoggin River watershed to the Dennys River 
watershed. Within this range, HUC 10 watersheds were considered 
``occupied'' if they contained either of the PCEs (e.g., sites for 
spawning and rearing or sites for migration, described in more detail 
below) along with the features necessary to support spawning, rearing 
and/or migration. Additionally, the HUC 10 watershed must meet either 
of the following criteria. The area is occupied if:
    (a) Redds or any life-stage of salmon have been documented in the 
HUC 10 in the last 6 years, or the HUC 10 is believed to be occupied 
and contain the PCEs based on the best scientific information available 
and the best professional judgment of State and Federal biologists; or
    (b) The HUC is currently managed by the MDMR and the USFWS through 
an active stocking program in an effort to enhance or restore Atlantic 
salmon populations, or the area has been stocked within the last 6 
years by MDMR or the USFWS, and juvenile salmon could reasonably be 
expected to migrate to the marine environment and return to that area 
as adults and spawn.
    One hundred and five HUC 10 watersheds within the Penobscot, 
Kennebec, Androscoggin, and Downeast

[[Page 29318]]

Coastal basins were examined for occupancy based on the above criteria. 
Eighteen HUCs were determined to be outside the historic range of the 
species, and subsequently, populations in these HUCs were not included 
in the GOM DPS in the final listing rule. Though the HUC 10 watersheds 
outside the historic range of the species were included in the critical 
habitat biological valuation and economic analysis, since they are not 
occupied, they were not considered for designation and, therefore, not 
included in the critical habitat 4(b)(2) exclusion analysis. Of the 
remaining 86 HUCs in the range of the GOM DPS as defined in the final 
rule, we concluded that 48 HUC 10 watersheds within the geographic 
range are occupied by the species at the time of listing. Estuaries and 
bays within the occupied HUC 10 watersheds within the range of the GOM 
DPS are also included in the geographic range occupied by the species.
    Occupied areas also extend outside the estuary and bays of the GOM 
DPS as adults return from the marine environment to spawn and smolts 
migrate towards Greenland for feeding. We are not able at this time to 
identify the specific features characteristic of marine migration and 
feeding habitat within waters under U.S. jurisdiction essential to the 
conservation of Atlantic salmon and are, therefore, unable to identify 
the specific areas where such features exist. Therefore, specific areas 
of marine habitat are not designated as critical habitat.

Physical and Biological Features in Freshwater and Estuary Specific 
Areas Essential to the Conservation of the Species

    We identify the physical and biological features essential for the 
conservation of Atlantic salmon that are found within the specific 
occupied areas identified in the previous section. To determine which 
features are essential to the conservation of the GOM DPS of Atlantic 
salmon, we first define what conservation means for this species. 
Conservation is defined in the ESA as using all methods and procedures 
which are necessary to bring any endangered or threatened species to 
the point at which the measures provided by the ESA are no longer 
necessary. Conservation, therefore, describes those activities and 
efforts undertaken to achieve recovery. For the GOM DPS, we have 
determined that the successful return of adult salmon to spawning 
habitat, spawning, egg incubation and hatching, juvenile survival 
during the rearing time in freshwater, and smolt migration out of the 
rivers to the ocean are all essential to the conservation of Atlantic 
salmon. Therefore, we identify features essential to successful 
completion of these life cycle activities. Although successful marine 
migration is also essential to the conservation of the species, we are 
not able to identify the essential features of marine migration and 
feeding habitat at this time. Therefore, as noted above, marine habitat 
areas are not designated as critical habitat.
    Within the occupied range of the Gulf of Maine DPS, Atlantic salmon 
PCEs include sites for spawning and incubation, sites for juvenile 
rearing, and sites for migration. The physical and biological features 
of the PCEs that allow these sites to be used successfully for 
spawning, incubation, rearing, and migration are the features of 
habitat within the GOM DPS that are essential to the conservation of 
the species. A detailed review of the physical and biological features 
required by Atlantic salmon is provided in Kircheis and Liebich (2007). 
As stated above, Atlantic salmon also use marine sites for growth and 
migration; however, we did not identify critical habitat within the 
marine environment because the specific physical and biological 
features of marine habitat that are essential for the conservation of 
the GOM DPS (and the specific areas on which these features might be 
found) cannot be identified. Unlike Pacific salmonids, some of which 
use near-shore marine environments for juvenile feeding and growth, 
Atlantic salmon migrate through the near-shore marine areas quickly 
during the month of May and early June. We have limited knowledge of 
the physical and biological features that the species uses in the 
marine environment. However, we have very little information on the 
specifics of these physical and biological features and how they may 
require special management considerations or protection. Therefore, we 
cannot accurately identify the specific areas where these features 
exist or what types of management considerations or protections may be 
necessary to protect these physical and biological features during the 
migration period.
    Detailed habitat surveys have been conducted in some areas within 
the range of the GOM DPS of Atlantic salmon, providing clear estimates 
of and distinctions between those sites most suited for spawning and 
incubation and those sites most used for juvenile rearing. These 
surveys are most complete for seven coastal watersheds: Dennys, East 
Machias, Machias, Pleasant, Narraguagus, Ducktrap, and Sheepscot 
watersheds; and portions of the Penobscot Basin, including portions of 
the East Branch Penobscot, portions of the Piscataquis and 
Mattawamkeag, Kenduskeag Stream, Marsh Stream, and Cove Brook; and 
portions of the Kennebec Basin, including a portion of the lower 
mainstem around the site of the old Edwards Dam and portions of the 
Sandy River. Throughout most of the range of the GOM DPS, however, this 
level of survey has not been conducted, and, therefore, this level of 
detail is not available.
    In order to determine habitat quantity for each HUC 10 we relied on 
a GIS based habitat prediction model (See appendix C of NMFS, 2009a). 
The model was developed using data from existing habitat surveys 
conducted in the Machias, Sheepscot, Dennys, Sandy, Piscataquis, 
Mattawamkeag, and Souadabscook Rivers. A combination of reach slope 
(change in elevation of a stream segment) derived from contour and 
digital elevation model (DEM) datasets, cumulative drainage area, and 
physiographic province were used to predict the total amount of rearing 
habitat within a reach. These features help to reveal stream segments 
with gradients that would likely represent areas of riffles or fast 
moving water, habitat most frequently used for spawning and rearing of 
Atlantic salmon. The variables included in the model accurately predict 
the presence of rearing habitat approximately 75 percent of the time. 
We relied on the model to generate the habitat quantity present within 
each HUC 10 to provide consistent data across the range of the entire 
DPS and on existing habitat surveys to validate the output of the 
model.
    Although we have found the model to be nearly 75 percent accurate 
in predicting the presence of sites for spawning and rearing within 
specific areas, and we have an abundance of institutional knowledge on 
the physical and biological features that distinguish sites for 
spawning and sites for rearing, the model cannot be used to distinguish 
between sites for spawning and sites for rearing across the entire 
geographic range. This is because: (1) Sites used for spawning are also 
used for rearing; and (2) the model is unable to identify substrate 
features most frequently used for spawning activity, but rather uses 
landscape features to identify where stream gradient conducive to both 
spawning and rearing activity exists. As such, we have chosen to group 
sites for spawning and sites for rearing into one PCE. Therefore, sites 
for spawning and sites for rearing are discussed together throughout 
this analysis as sites for spawning and rearing.

[[Page 29319]]

    In the section below, we identify the essential physical and 
biological features of spawning and rearing sites and migration sites 
found in the occupied areas described in the previous section.
(A) Physical and Biological Features of the Spawning and Rearing PCE
    1. Deep, oxygenated pools and cover (e.g., boulders, woody debris, 
vegetation, etc.), near freshwater spawning sites, necessary to support 
adult migrants during the summer while they await spawning in the fall. 
Adult salmon can arrive at spawning grounds several months in advance 
of spawning activity. Adults that arrive early require holding areas in 
freshwater and estuarine areas that provide shade, protection from 
predators, and protection from other environmental variables such as 
high flows, high temperatures, and sedimentation. Early migration is an 
adaptive trait that ensures adults sufficient time to reach spawning 
areas despite the occurrence of temporarily unfavorable conditions that 
occur naturally (Bjornn and Reiser, 1991). Salmon that return in early 
spring spend nearly 5 months in the river before spawning; often 
seeking cool water refuge (e.g., deep pools, springs, and mouths of 
smaller tributaries) during the summer months. Large boulders or rocks, 
over-hanging trees, logs, woody debris, submerged vegetation, and 
undercut banks provide shade, reduce velocities needed for resting, and 
offer protection from predators (Giger, 1973). These features are 
essential to the conservation of the species to help ensure the 
survival and successful spawning of adult salmon.
    2. Freshwater spawning sites that contain clean, permeable gravel 
and cobble substrate with oxygenated water and cool water temperatures 
to support spawning activity, egg incubation, and larval development. 
Spawning activity in the Gulf of Maine DPS of Atlantic salmon typically 
occurs between mid-October and mid-November (Baum, 1997) and is 
believed to be triggered by a combination of water temperature and 
photoperiod (Bjornn and Reiser, 1991). Water quantity and quality, as 
well as substrate type, are important for successful Atlantic salmon 
spawning. Water quantity can determine habitat availability, and water 
quality may influence spawning success. Substrate often determines 
where spawning occurs, and cover can influence survival rates of both 
adults and newly hatched salmon.
    Preferred spawning habitat contains gravel substrate with adequate 
water circulation to keep buried eggs well oxygenated (Peterson, 1978). 
Eggs in a redd are entirely dependent upon sub-surface movement of 
water to provide adequate oxygen for survival and growth (Decola, 
1970). Water velocity and permeability of substrate allow for adequate 
transport of well-oxygenated water for egg respiration (Wickett, 1954) 
and removal of metabolic waste that may accumulate in the redd during 
egg development (Decola, 1970; Jordan and Beland, 1981). Substrate 
permeability as deep as the egg pit throughout the incubation period is 
important because eggs are typically deposited at the bottom of the egg 
pit.
    Dissolved oxygen (DO) content is important for proper embryonic 
development and hatching. Embryos can survive when DO concentrations 
are below saturation levels, but their development is often subnormal 
due to delayed growth and maturation, performance, or delayed hatching 
(Doudoroff and Warren, 1965). In addition, embryos consume more oxygen 
(i.e., the metabolism of the embryo increases) when temperature 
increases (Decola, 1970). An increase in water temperature, however, 
decreases the amount of oxygen that the water can hold. During the 
embryonic stage when tissue and organs are developing and the demand 
for oxygen is quite high, embryos can only tolerate a narrow range of 
temperatures. These sites are essential for the conservation of the 
species because, without them, embryo development would not be 
successful.
    3. Freshwater spawning and rearing sites with clean, permeable 
gravel and cobble substrate with oxygenated water and cool water 
temperatures to support emergence, territorial development, and feeding 
activities of Atlantic salmon fry. The period of emergence and the 
establishment of feeding territories is a critical period in the salmon 
life cycle since at this time mortality can be very high. When fry 
leave the redd, they emerge through the interstitial spaces in the 
gravel to reach the surface. When the interstitial spaces become 
embedded with fine organic material or fine sand, emergence can be 
significantly impeded or prevented. Newly emerged fry prefer shallow, 
low velocity, riffle habitat with a clean gravel substrate. Territories 
are quickly established by seeking out areas of low velocities that 
occur in eddies in front of or behind larger particles that are 
embedded in areas of higher velocities to maximize drift of prey 
sources (Armstrong et al., 2002). Once a territory has been 
established, fry use a sit-and-wait strategy, feeding opportunistically 
on invertebrate drift. This strategy enables the fish to minimize 
energy expenditure while maximizing energy intake (Bachman, 1984). 
These sites are essential for the conservation of the species because, 
without them, fry emergence would not be successful.
    4. Freshwater rearing sites with space to accommodate growth and 
survival of Atlantic salmon parr. When fry reach approximately 4 cm in 
length, the young salmon are termed parr (Danie et al., 1984). The 
habitat in Maine rivers currently supports on average between five and 
ten large parr (age 1 or older) per 100 square meters of habitat, or 
one habitat unit (Elson, 1975; Baum, 1997). The amount of space 
available for juvenile salmon occupancy is a function of biotic and 
abiotic habitat features, including stream morphology, substrate, 
gradient, and cover; the availability and abundance of food; and the 
makeup of predators and competitors (Bjornn and Reiser, 1991). Further 
limiting the amount of space available to parr is their strong 
territorial instinct. Parr actively defend territories against other 
fish, including other parr, to maximize their opportunity to capture 
prey items. The size of the territory that a parr will defend is a 
function of the size and density of parr, food availability, the size 
and roughness of the substrate, and current velocity (Kalleberg, 1958; 
Grant et al., 1998). The amount of space needed by an individual 
increases with age and size (Bjornn and Reiser, 1991). Cover, including 
undercut banks, overhanging trees and vegetation, diverse substrates 
and depths, and some types of aquatic vegetation, can make habitat 
suitable for occupancy (Bjornn and Reiser, 1991). Cover can provide a 
buffer against extreme temperatures; protection from predators; 
increased food abundance; and protection from environmental variables 
such as high flow events and sedimentation. These features are 
essential to the conservation of the species because, without them, 
juvenile salmon would have limited areas for foraging and protection 
from predators.
    5. Freshwater rearing sites with a combination of river, stream, 
and lake habitats that accommodate parr's ability to occupy many niches 
and maximize parr production. Parr prefer, but are not limited to, 
riffle habitat associated with diverse rough gravel substrate. The 
preference for these habitats by parr that use river and stream 
habitats supports a sit-and-wait feeding strategy intended to minimize 
energy expenditure while maximizing growth. Overall, large Atlantic 
salmon parr using river and stream habitats select for diverse 
substrates that predominately consist of boulder and cobble (Symons and

[[Page 29320]]

Heland, 1978; Heggenes, 1990; Heggenes et al., 1999).
    Parr can also move great distances into or out of tributaries and 
mainstems to seek out habitat that is more conducive to growth and 
survival (McCormick et al., 1998). This occurs most frequently as parr 
grow and they move from their natal spawning grounds to areas that have 
much rougher substrate, providing more suitable over-wintering habitat 
and more food organisms (McCormick et al., 1998). In the fall, large 
parr that are likely to become smolts the following spring have been 
documented leaving summer rearing areas in some head-water tributaries 
and migrating downstream, though not necessarily entering the estuary 
or marine environment (McCormick et al., 1998).
    Though parr are typically stream dwellers, they also use pools 
within rivers and streams, dead-waters (sections of river or stream 
with very little to no gradient), and lakes within a river system as a 
secondary nursery area after emergence (Cunjak, 1996; Morantz et al., 
1987; Erkinaro et al., 1998). It is known that parr will use pool 
habitats during periods of low water, most likely as refuge from high 
temperatures (McCormick et al., 1998) and during the winter months to 
minimize energy expenditure and avoid areas that are prone to freezing 
or de-watering (Rimmer et al., 1984). Salmon parr may also spend weeks 
or months in the estuary during the summer (Cunjak et al., 1989, 1990; 
Power and Shooner, 1966). These areas are essential to the conservation 
of the species to ensure survival and species persistence when 
particular habitats become less suitable or unsuitable for survival 
during periods of extreme conditions such as extreme high temperatures, 
extreme low temperatures, and droughts.
    6. Freshwater rearing sites with cool, oxygenated water to support 
growth and survival of Atlantic salmon parr. Atlantic salmon are cold 
water fish and have a thermal tolerance zone where activity and growth 
is optimal (Decola, 1970). Small parr and large parr have similar 
temperature tolerances (Elliott, 1991). Water temperature influences 
growth, survival, and behavior of juvenile Atlantic salmon. Juvenile 
salmon can be exposed to very warm temperatures (> 20 [deg]C) in the 
summer and near freezing temperatures in the winter, and have evolved 
with a series of physiological and behavioral strategies that enables 
them to adapt to the wide range of thermal conditions that they may 
encounter. Parr's optimal temperature for feeding and growth ranges 
from 15 [deg] to 19 [deg]C (Decola, 1970). When water temperatures 
surpass 19 [deg]C, feeding and behavioral activities are directed 
towards maintenance and survival. During the winter when temperatures 
approach freezing, parr reduce energy expenditures by spending less 
time defending territories, feeding less, and moving into slower 
velocity microhabitats (Cunjak, 1996).
    Oxygen consumption by parr is a function of temperature. As 
temperature increases, the demand for oxygen increases (Decola, 1970). 
Parr require highly oxygenated waters to support their active feeding 
strategy. Though salmon parr can tolerate oxygen levels below 6mg/l, 
both swimming activity and growth rates are restricted. These features 
are essential to the conservation of the species because high and low 
water temperatures and low oxygen concentrations can result in the 
cessation of feeding activities necessary for juvenile growth and 
survival and can result in direct mortality.
    7. Freshwater rearing sites with diverse food resources to support 
growth and survival of Atlantic salmon parr. Atlantic salmon require 
sufficient energy to meet their basic metabolic needs for growth and 
reproduction (Spence et al., 1996). Parr largely depend on invertebrate 
drift for foraging, and actively defend territories to assure adequate 
food resources needed for growth. Parr feed on larvae of mayflies, 
stoneflies, chironomids, caddisflies, blackflies, aquatic annelids, and 
mollusks, as well as numerous terrestrial invertebrates that fall into 
the river (Scott and Crossman, 1973; Nislow et al., 1999). As parr 
grow, they will occasionally eat small fishes, such as alewives, dace, 
or minnows (Baum, 1997).
    Atlantic salmon attain energy from food sources that originate from 
both allochthonous (outside the stream) and autochthonous (within the 
stream) sources. What food is available to parr and how food is 
obtained is a function of a river's hydrology, geomorphology, biology, 
water quality, and connectivity (Annear et al., 2004). The riparian 
zone is a fundamental component to both watershed and ecosystem 
function, as it provides critical physical and biological linkages 
between terrestrial and aquatic environments (Gregory et al., 1991). 
Flooding of the riparian zone is an important mechanism needed to 
support the lateral transport of nutrients from the floodplain back to 
the river (Annear et al., 2004). Lateral transport of nutrients and 
organic matter from the riparian zone to the river supports the growth 
of plant, plankton, and invertebrate communities. Stream invertebrates 
are the principle linkage between the primary producers and higher 
trophic levels, including salmon parr. These features are essential to 
the conservation of the species, as parr require these food items for 
growth and survival.
(B) Physical and Biological Features of the Migration PCE
    1. Freshwater and estuary migratory sites free from physical and 
biological barriers that delay or prevent access of adult salmon 
seeking spawning grounds needed to support recovered populations. Adult 
Atlantic salmon returning to their natal rivers or streams require 
migration sites free from barriers that obstruct or delay passage to 
reach their spawning grounds at the proper time for effective spawning 
(Bjornn and Reiser, 1991). Physical and biological barriers within 
migration sites can prevent adult salmon from effectively spawning 
either by preventing access to spawning habitat or impairing a fish's 
ability to spawn effectively by delaying migration or impairing the 
health of the fish. Migration sites free from physical and biological 
barriers are essential to the conservation of the species because, 
without them, adult Atlantic salmon would not be able to access 
spawning grounds needed for egg deposition and embryo development.
    2. Freshwater and estuary migration sites with pool, lake, and 
instream habitat that provide cool, oxygenated water and cover items 
(e.g., boulders, woody debris, and vegetation) to serve as temporary 
holding and resting areas during upstream migration of adult salmon. 
Atlantic salmon may travel as far as 965 km upstream to spawn (NEFMC, 
1998). During migration, adult salmon require holding and resting areas 
that provide the necessary cover, temperature, flow, and water quality 
conditions needed to survive. Holding areas can include areas in rivers 
and streams, lakes, ponds, and even the ocean (Bjornn and Reiser, 
1991). Holding areas are necessary below temporary seasonal migration 
barriers such as those created by flow, temperature, turbidity, and 
temporary obstructions such as debris jams and beaver dams, and 
adjacent to spawning areas. Adult salmon can become fatigued when 
ascending high velocity riffles or falls and require resting areas 
within and around high velocity waters where they can recover until 
they are able to continue their migration. Holding areas near spawning 
areas are necessary when upstream migration is not delayed and adults 
reach spawning areas before they are ready to spawn. These features are 
essential to the conservation of the species because,

[[Page 29321]]

without them, adult Atlantic salmon would be subject to fatigue, 
predation, and mortality from exposure to unfavorable conditions, 
significantly reducing spawning success.
    3. Freshwater and estuary migration sites with abundant, diverse 
native fish communities to serve as a protective buffer against 
predation. Adult Atlantic salmon and Atlantic salmon smolts interact 
with other diadromous species indirectly. Adult and smolt migration 
through the estuary often coincides with the presence of alewives 
(Alosa spp.), American shad (Alosa sapidissima), blueback herring 
(Alosa aestivalis), and striped bass (Morone saxatilis). The abundance 
of diadromous species present during adult migration may serve as an 
alternative prey source for seals, porpoises and otters (Saunders et 
al., 2006). As an example, pre-spawned adult shad enter rivers and 
begin their upstream spawning migration at approximately the same time 
as early migrating adult salmon (Fay et al., 2006). Historically, shad 
runs were considerably larger than salmon runs (Atkins and Foster, 
1867; Stevenson, 1898). Thus, native predators of medium to large size 
fish in the estuarine and lower river zones could have preyed on these 
1.5 to 2.5 kg size fish readily (Fay et al., 2006; Saunders et al., 
2006). In the absence or reduced abundance of these diadromous fish 
communities, it would be expected that Atlantic salmon will likely 
become increasingly targeted as forage by large predators (Saunders et 
al., 2006).
    As Atlantic salmon smolts pass through the estuary during migration 
from their freshwater rearing sites to the marine environment, they 
experience high levels of predation. Predation rates through the 
estuary often result in up to 50 percent mortality during this 
transition period between freshwater to the marine environment 
(Larsson, 1985). There is, however, large annual variation in estuarine 
mortality, which is believed to be dependent upon the abundance and 
availability of other prey items including alewives, blueback herring, 
and American shad, as well as the spatial and temporal distribution and 
abundance of predators (Anthony, 1994).
    The presence and absence of co-evolutionary diadromous species such 
as alewives, blueback herring, and American shad likely play an 
important role in mitigating the magnitude of predation on smolts from 
predators such as striped bass, double-crested cormorants 
(Phalacrocorax auritus), and ospreys (Pandion haliaetus). The migration 
time of pre-spawned adult alewives overlaps in time and space with the 
migration of Atlantic salmon smolts (Saunders et al., 2006). Given that 
when alewife populations are robust, alewife numbers not only likely 
greatly exceed densities of Atlantic salmon smolts, making them more 
available to predators, but the caloric content per individual alewife 
is greater than that of an Atlantic salmon smolt (Schulze, 1996), 
likely making the alewife a more desirable prey species (Saunders et 
al., 2006). These features are essential to the conservation of the 
species because, without highly prolific abundant alternate prey 
species such as alewives and shad, the less prolific Atlantic salmon 
will likely become a preferred prey species.
    4. Freshwater and estuary migration sites free from physical and 
biological barriers that delay or prevent emigration of smolts to the 
marine environment. Atlantic salmon smolts require an open migration 
corridor from their juvenile rearing habitat to the marine environment. 
Seaward migration of smolts is initiated by increases in river flow and 
temperature in the early spring (McCleave, 1978; Thorpe and Morgan, 
1978). Migration through the estuary is believed to be the most 
challenging period for smolts (Lacroix and McCurdy, 1996). Although it 
is difficult to generalize migration trends because of the variety of 
estuaries, Atlantic salmon post-smolts tend to move quickly through the 
estuary and enter the ocean within a few days or less (Lacroix et al., 
2004; Hyvarinen et al., 2006; McCleave, 1978). In the upper estuary, 
where river flow is strong, Atlantic salmon smolts use passive drift to 
travel (Moore et al., 1995; Fried et al., 1978; LaBar et al., 1978). In 
the lower estuary smolts display active swimming, although their 
movement is influenced by currents and tides (Lacroix and McCurdy, 
1996; Moore et al., 1995; Holm et al., 1982; Fried et al., 1978). In 
addition, although some individuals seem to utilize a period of 
saltwater acclimation, some fish have no apparent period of acclimation 
(Lacroix et al., 2004). Stefansson et al. (2003) found that post-smolts 
adapt to seawater without any long-term physiological impairment. 
Several studies also suggest that there is a ``survival window'' which 
is open for several weeks in the spring, and gradually closes through 
the summer, during which time salmon can migrate more successfully 
(Larsson, 1977; Hansen and Jonsson, 1989; Hansen and Quinn, 1998). 
These features are essential to the conservation of the species because 
a delay in migration of smolts can result in the loss of the smolts' 
ability to osmoregulate in the marine environment, a necessary 
adaptation for smolt survival.
    5. Freshwater and estuary migration sites with sufficiently cool 
water temperatures and water flows that coincide with diurnal cues to 
stimulate smolt migration. The process of smoltification is triggered 
in response to environmental cues. Photoperiod and temperature have the 
greatest influence on regulating the smolting process. Increase in day 
length is necessary for smolting to occur (Duston and Saunders, 1990). 
McCormick et al., (1999) noted that in spite of wide temperature 
variations among rivers throughout New England, almost all smolt 
migrations begin around the first of May and are nearly complete by the 
first week in June. However, the time that it takes for the 
smoltification process to be completed appears to be closely related to 
water temperature. When water temperatures increase, the smolting 
process is advanced, evident by increases in Na+, K+-ATPase activity--
the rate of exchange of sodium (Na+) and potassium (K+) ions across the 
gill membrane or the regulation of salts that allow smolts to survive 
in the marine environment (Johnston and Saunders, 1981; McCormick et 
al., 1998; McCormick et al., 2002). In addition to playing a role in 
regulating the smoltification process, high temperatures also are 
responsible for the cessation of Na+, K+-ATPase activity of smolts, 
limiting their ability to excrete excess salts when they enter the 
marine environment. McCormick et al. (1999) found significant decreases 
in Na+, K+-ATPase activity in smolts at the end of the migration 
period, but also found that smolts in warmer rivers had reductions in 
Na+, K+-ATPase activity earlier than smolts found in colder rivers. 
Hence any delay of migration has the potential to reduce survival of 
out-migrating smolts because as water temperatures rise over the spring 
migration period, smolts experience a reduction in Na+, K+-ATPase, 
reducing their ability to regulate salts as they enter the marine 
environment. Though flow does not appear to play a role in the 
smoltification process, flow does appear to play an important role in 
stimulating a migration response (Whalen et al.,, 1999b). Whalen et al. 
(1999b) recorded that there was no apparent downstream migration 
following a high flow event in mid-to late April in a Vermont river 
when water temperatures were between 3 and 6 [deg]C; however, when 
water temperatures reached 8 to 12 [deg]C, small peaks in discharge 
resulted in corresponding increases in smolt migration. These features 
are essential

[[Page 29322]]

to the conservation of the species because elevated water temperatures 
that occur in advance of a smolt's diurnal cues to migrate can result 
in a decreased migration window in which smolts are capable of 
transitioning into the marine environment. A decrease in the migration 
window has the potential to reduce survival of smolts especially for 
fish with greater migration distances.
    6. Freshwater migration sites with water chemistry needed to 
support sea water adaptation of smolts. The effects of acidity on 
Atlantic salmon have been well documented. The effects of acidity cause 
ionoregulatory failure in Atlantic salmon smolts while in freshwater 
(Rosseland and Skogheim, 1984; Farmer et al., 1989; Staurnes et al., 
1993, 1996). This inhibition of gill Na+, K+-ATPase activity can cause 
the loss of plasma ions and may result in reduced seawater tolerance 
(Rosseland and Skogheim, 1984; Farmer et al., 1989; Staurnes et al., 
1993, 1996) and increased cardiovascular disturbances (Milligan and 
Wood, 1982; Brodeur et al., 1999). Parr undergoing parr/smolt 
transformation become more sensitive to acidic water, hence, water 
chemistry that is not normally regarded as toxic to other salmonids may 
be toxic to smolts (Staurnes et al., 1993, 1995). This is true even in 
rivers that are not chronically acidic and not normally considered as 
being in danger of acidification (Staurnes et al., 1993, 1995). 
Atlantic salmon smolts are most vulnerable to low pH in combination 
with elevated levels of monomeric labile species of aluminum (aluminum 
capable of being absorbed across the gill membrane) and low calcium 
(Rosseland and Skogheim, 1984; Rosseland et al., 1990; Kroglund and 
Staurnes, 1999). These features are essential to the conservation of 
the species because Atlantic salmon smolts exposed to acidic waters can 
lose sea water tolerance, which can result in direct mortality or 
indirect mortality from altered behavior and fitness.

Special Management Considerations or Protections

    Specific areas within the geographic area occupied by a species may 
be designated as critical habitat only if they contain physical or 
biological features essential to the conservation of the species that 
``may require special management considerations or protection.'' It is 
the features and not the specific areas that are the focus of the ``may 
require'' provision. Use of the disjunctive ``or'' also suggests the 
need to give distinct meaning to the terms ``special management 
considerations'' and ``protection.'' ``Protection'' suggests actions to 
address a negative impact. ``Management'' seems broader than 
protection, and could include active manipulation of the feature or 
aspects of the environment. The ESA regulations at 50 CFR 424.02(j) 
further define special management considerations as ``any methods or 
procedures useful in protecting physical and biological features of the 
environment for the conservation of listed species.'' The term ``may'' 
was the focus of two Federal district courts that ruled that features 
can meet this provision because of either a present requirement for 
special management considerations or protection or possible future 
requirements (see Center for Biol. Diversity v. Norton, 240 F. Supp. 2d 
1090 (D. Ariz. 2003); Cape Hatteras Access Preservation Alliance v. 
DOI, 344 F. Supp. 2d 108 (D.D.C. 2004)). The Arizona district court 
ruled that the provision cannot be interpreted to mean that features 
already covered by an existing management plan must be determined to 
require additional special management, because the term additional is 
not in the statute. Rather, the court ruled that the existence of 
management plans may be evidence that the features in fact require 
special management (Center for Biol. Diversity v. Norton, 240 F. Supp. 
2d at 1096-1100). The need for special management considerations or 
protection need not be immediate, but it is required that the specific 
area designated have features which, in the future, may require special 
consideration or protection (Cape Hatteras, 344 F. Supp. 2d at 123-
124).
    The primary impacts of critical habitat designation result from the 
consultation requirements of ESA section 7(a)(2). Federal agencies must 
consult with NMFS to ensure that their actions are not likely to result 
in the destruction or adverse modification of critical habitat (or 
jeopardize the species' continued existence). These impacts are 
attributed only to the designation (i.e., are incremental impacts of 
the designation) if Federal agencies modify their proposed actions to 
ensure they are not likely to destroy or adversely modify the critical 
habitat beyond any modifications they would make because of listing and 
the requirement to avoid jeopardy. Incremental impacts of designation 
include State and local protections that may be triggered as a result 
of designation and education of the public about the importance of an 
area for species conservation. When a modification is required due to 
impacts both to the species and critical habitat, the impact of the 
designation is considered to be co-extensive with ESA listing of the 
species. The ESA 4(b)(2) Report (NMFS, 2009b) and Economic Analysis 
(IEc, 2009a) describe the impacts in detail. These reports identify and 
describe potential future Federal activities that would trigger section 
7 consultation requirements because they may affect the essential 
physical and biological features.
    We identified a number of activities and associated threats that 
may affect the PCEs and associated physical and biological features 
essential to the conservation of Atlantic salmon within the occupied 
range of the GOM DPS. These activities, which include agriculture, 
forestry, changing land-use and development, hatcheries and stocking, 
roads and road crossings, mining, dams, dredging, and aquaculture have 
the potential to reduce the quality and quantity of the PCEs and their 
associated physical and biological features. There are other threats to 
Atlantic salmon habitat, including acidification of surface waters. 
However, we are not able to clearly separate out the specific 
activities responsible for acidification, and therefore, are unable to 
specifically identify a Federal nexus.

 Table 1--Specific Areas Within the Geographic Area Occupied by a Species and the Associated Special Management
                               Considerations or Protections That May be Required
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
           HUC code                  Watershed name                 Special management considerations*
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
105000205....................  Machias River............  A F C/L H/S R Da Dr
105000204....................  East Machias River.......  A F C/L H/S R M Da Dr
105000208....................  Pleasant River...........  A F C/L H/S R M Da Dr
105000201....................  Dennys River.............  A F C/L H/S R M Da Dr
105000207....................  Chandler River...........  A F C/L H/S R M Da Dr
105000209....................  Narraguagus River........  A F C/L H/S R M Da Dr
105000213....................  Union River Bay..........  A F C/L H/S R M Da Dr Q

[[Page 29323]]

 
105000203....................  Grand Manan Channel......  A F C/L H/S R M Da Dr Q
105000206....................  Roque Bluffs Coastal.....  A F C/L H/S R M Da Dr
105000210....................  Tunk Stream..............  A F C/L H/S R Da Dr
105000212....................  Graham Lake..............  A F C/L H/S R M Da
102000202....................  Grand Lake Matagamon.....  A F C/L H/S R Da
102000203....................  East Branch Penobscot      A F C/L H/S R
                                River.
102000204....................  Seboeis River............  A F C/L H/S R Da
102000205....................  East Branch Penobscot      A F C/L H/S R Da
                                River.
102000301....................  West Branch Mattawamkeag   A F C/L H/S R M Da
                                River.
102000302....................  East Branch Mattawamkeag   A F C/L H/S R M
                                River.
102000303....................  Mattawamkeag River.......  A F C/L H/S R M
102000305....................  Mattawamkeag River.......  A F C/L H/S R M
102000306....................  Molunkus Stream..........  A F C/L H/S R
102000307....................  Mattawamkeag River.......  A F C/L H/S R M Da
102000401....................  Piscataquis River........  A F C/L H/S R Da
102000402....................  Piscataquis River........  A F C/L H/S R M Da
102000404....................  Pleasant River...........  A F C/L H/S R Da
102000405....................  Seboeis Stream...........  A F C/L H/S R Da
102000406....................  Piscataquis River........  A F C/L H/S R M Da
102000501....................  Penobscot River at         A F C/L H/S M Da
                                Mattawamkeag.
102000502....................  Penobscot River at West    A F C/L H/S R M Da
                                Enfield.
102000503....................  Passadumkeag River.......  A F C/L H/S R M Da
102000505....................  Sunkhaze Stream..........  A F C/L H/S R
102000506....................  Penobscot River at Orson   A F C/L H/S R M
                                Island.
102000507....................  Birch Stream.............  A F C/L H/S R M
102000509....................  Penobscot River at Veazie  A F C/L H/S R M Da
                                Dam.
102000510....................  Kenduskeag Stream........  A F C/L H/S R M Da Dr
102000511....................  Souadabscook Stream......  A F C/L H/S R M Da Dr
102000512....................  Marsh River..............  A F C/L H/S M Da Dr
102000513....................  Penobscot River..........  A F C/L H/S R M Da Dr
105000218....................  Belfast Bay..............  A F C/L H/S R M Da Dr
105000219....................  Ducktrap River...........  A F C/L H/S R Da Dr Q
105000301....................  St. George River.........  A F C/L H/S R M Da Dr
105000302....................  Medomak River............  A F C/L H/S R M Da Dr
105000305....................  Sheepscot River..........  A F C/L H/S R M Da Dr
103000306....................  Kennebec River at          A F C/L H/S R M Da Dr
                                Waterville Dam.
103000305....................  Sandy River..............  A F C/L H/S R M Da Dr
103000312....................  Kennebec at Merrymeeting   A F C/L H/S R M Da Dr
                                Bay.
105000306....................  Sheepscot Bay............  A F C/L H/S R M Da Dr
105000307....................  Kennebec River Estuary...  A F C/L H/S R M Da Dr
104000210....................  Little Androscoggin River  A F C/L H/S R M Da Dr
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* A = Agriculture; F = Forestry; C/L = Changing Land Use; H/S = Hatcheries and Stocking; R = Roads and Road
  Crossings; M = Mining; Da = Dams; Dr = Dredging; Q = Aquaculture.

``Specific Areas Outside the Geographical Area Occupied by the Species 
* * * Essential to the Conservation of the Species''

    Section 3(5)(A)(ii) of the ESA further defines ``critical habitat'' 
as ``specific areas outside the geographical area occupied by the 
species at the time it is listed in accordance with the provisions of 
[section 4 of this Act], upon a determination by the Secretary that 
such areas are essential for the conservation of the species.'' For the 
reasons stated above in the discussion of specific occupied areas, we 
delineated the specific areas outside the geographic area occupied by 
the species using HUC 10 (level 5) watersheds. To determine whether 
these unoccupied areas are essential for the conservation of the 
species, we: (1) established recovery criteria to determine when the 
species no longer warrants the protections of the ESA (See NMFS, 2009a 
(Appendix A)) and the amount of habitat needed to support the recovered 
population; and (2) determined the amount of habitat currently occupied 
by the species relative to the amount of habitat necessary to achieve 
recovery.
    In developing recovery criteria, we employed a strategy of 
identifying both geographic and population level criteria, that, if met 
would protect the DPS from demographic and environmental variation to 
the extent in which the population would no longer require protection 
under the ESA. Geographic criteria were established to assure that 
Atlantic salmon are well distributed across the range of the DPS to 
accommodate the metapopulation characteristics of Atlantic salmon. 
Atlantic salmon have strong homing characteristics that allow local 
breeding populations to become well adapted to a particular 
environment. At the same time, limited straying does occur among salmon 
populations assuring population diversity through exchange of some 
genes between populations, and allowing for population expansion and 
recolonization of extirpated populations. To accommodate these life 
history characteristics, we established a geographic framework 
represented by three Salmon Habitat Recovery Units, or SHRUs, within 
the DPS (see NMFS, 2009a (appendix A)) that would, we believe, be 
reasonably protective of these life history characteristics and to 
ensure that Atlantic salmon are widely distributed across the range of 
the DPS to provide protection from demographic and environmental 
variation. As explained in more detail in the

[[Page 29324]]

Recovery Criteria (NMFS, 2009a (Appendix A)), we determined that all 
three SHRUs must fulfill the criteria described below for the overall 
species, the GOM DPS, to be considered recovered.

Criteria

    Population level criteria were established to assure that a 
recovered population is likely to be sufficiently robust to withstand 
natural demographic variability (e.g., periods of low marine survival) 
and not likely to become an endangered species in the foreseeable 
future. We concluded that a census population of 500 adult returns 
(assuming a 1:1 sex ratio) in each SHRU is to be used as a benchmark to 
evaluate the population as either recovered or one that requires 
protection under the ESA. Franklin (1980) introduced 500 as the 
approximate effective population size necessary to retain sufficient 
genetic variation and long term persistence of a population.
    We have chosen to use a census population (N) (the actual count of 
adult returns) of 500 adult returns in each SHRU to serve as a 
benchmark to evaluate the population as either recovered or one that 
requires protection under the ESA. We used the census number rather 
than an effective population size for four reasons: (1) The adult 
census through redd counts or trap catches have been used as the 
principal indicator of population health in the GOM DPS since Charles 
Atkins first started estimating returns in the mid to late 1800s. At 
this time, there are not sufficient resources or time to fully assess 
the effective population size of the entire Gulf of Maine DPS on an 
annual basis, whereas sufficient resources are already in place to 
reasonably assess the census population; (2) a census population of 500 
adults per SHRU provides a starting point only for establishing 
criteria for delisting and does not represent the actual number at 
which the population warrants delisting. Other pre-decision criteria 
must also be met for delisting as described in the following paragraph: 
(3) Atlantic salmon have tremendously complex life histories allowing 
for great opportunity for extensive cross generational breeding. This 
is because of salmon's iteroparity and because precocious parr, one-sea 
winter and multi-sea winter fish can all participate in spawning 
activity. Having multi-generational participation in spawning activity 
significantly reduces the effective population to census population 
ratio, but furthermore, makes determining the actual Ne/N 
ratios extremely difficult and highly debatable for the natural 
population; (4) Though there has been much debate in the literature 
regarding the application of assigning a general number to represent 
when populations are sufficiently large enough to maintain genetic 
variation (Allendorf and Luikart, 2007; Waples & Yokota, 2007; Reiman & 
Allendorf, 2001), the 500 rule introduced by Franklin (1980) has not 
been superseded by any other rule and does serve as useful guidance for 
indicating when a population may be at risk of losing genetic 
variability (Allendorf and Luikart, 2007).
    To evaluate recovery of the GOM DPS, we have determined that five 
criteria must be met: (1) The adult spawner population of each SHRU 
must be 500 or greater in an effort to maintain sufficient genetic 
variability within the population for long-term persistence. This is to 
be determined or estimated through adults observed at trapping 
facilities or redd counts; (2) The GOM DPS must demonstrate self-
sustaining persistence where each SHRU has less than a 50 percent 
probability of falling below 500 adult spawners in the next 15 years 
based on PVA projections described above. The 50 percent assurance 
threshold satisfies the criterion that the population is ``not likely'' 
to become an endangered species; while 15 years represents the 
``foreseeable future'' for which we have determined that we can make 
reasonable projections based on past demographic data available to us; 
(3) The entire GOM DPS must demonstrate consistent positive population 
growth for at least two generations (10 years) before the decision to 
delist is made. Ten years of pre-decision data that reflects positive 
population trends provides some assurance that recent population 
increases are not happenstance but more likely a reflection of 
sustainable positive population growth; (4) A recovered GOM DPS must 
represent the natural population (i.e., adult returns must originate 
from natural reproduction that has occurred in the wild); hatchery 
product cannot be counted towards recovery because a population reliant 
upon hatchery product for sustainability is indicative of a population 
that continues to be at risk; (5) In order to delist the GOM DPS, the 
threats identified at the time of listing must be addressed through 
regulatory or any other means. These threats are identified in the 
factors specified under section 4(a)(1) of the ESA as described in the 
2006 Status Review (Fay et al., 2006). Methods to address these threats 
will be addressed in a final recovery plan for the expanded GOM DPS.
    After determining criteria for delisting, we applied these criteria 
to assess the number of adult spawners that would be needed to weather 
a downturn in survival as experienced between the years of 1991 and 
2006, a period of exceptionally low survival. Using demographic data 
for this time period we applied the criteria described above in 
conjunction with a PVA to determine how many adults would be required 
in each SHRU to weather a similar downturn in survival while having a 
greater than 50 percent chance of remaining above 500 adults (see NMFS, 
2009a (Appendix B)). This analysis projected that a census population 
of 2,000 spawners (1000 male and 1000 female) would be needed in each 
of the three SHRUs for the GOM DPS to weather a downturn in survival 
such as experienced over the time period from 1991-2006. Based on this 
analysis, we conclude that enough habitat is needed in each of the 
three SHRUs to support the offspring of these 2,000 adult spawners. 
Using an average fecundity per female of 7,200 eggs (Legault, 2004), 
and male to female ratio of 1:1, or 1000 females, and a target number 
of eggs per one unit of habitat (100m\2\) of 240 (Baum, 1997), we 
determined that 30,000 units of habitat are needed across each SHRU 
(7,200 eggs x 1000 females/240 eggs = 30,000) to support the offspring 
of 2,000 spawners, which represents the quantity of habitat in each 
SHRU essential to the conservation of the species (NMFS, 2009a, 
Appendix B).
    To calculate the existing quantity of habitat across the range of 
the DPS both within the currently occupied range and outside the 
occupied range, we recognized that both habitat quantity and quality 
should be taken into consideration. As a result, we describe the 
existing quantity of habitat in terms of functional habitat units. To 
generate this estimate of functional habitat units, we considered the 
measured quantity of habitat within each HUC 10 as well as the 
habitat's quality. The functional habitat units values are a measure of 
the quantity of habitat (expressed in units where 1 unit of habitat is 
equivalent to 100m \2\ of habitat) within a HUC 10 based on qualitative 
factors that limit survivorship of juvenile salmon utilizing the 
habitat for spawning, rearing, and migration. The functional habitat 
units also account for dams within or below the HUC 10 that would 
further reduce survivorship of juvenile salmon within the HUC 10 as the 
juvenile salmon migrate towards the marine environment. In HUC 10s that

[[Page 29325]]

are not believed to be limited by qualitative factors or dams, the 
functional habitat units would be identical to the measured quantity of 
habitat units within the HUC 10. In HUC 10s where quality and dams are 
believed to be limiting, the functional habitat units would be less 
than the measured habitat units within the HUC 10. The functional 
habitat units value is used in the critical habitat evaluation process 
to determine the quantity of functioning habitat units within each HUC 
10. It also determines the quantity of functioning habitat within the 
currently occupied range relative to the amount needed to support the 
offspring of 2,000 adult spawners.
    Functional habitat unit scores were generated by multiplying the 
quantity of spawning and rearing habitat units within each HUC 10 by 
the habitat quality score divided by 3 (e.g., 1 = 0.33, 2 = 0.66, and 3 
= 1; discussed below under application of ESA section 4(b)(2)) to 
represent the relative values in terms of percentages. Using this 
approach, a ``1'' habitat quality score has a qualitative value roughly 
equivalent to 33 percent of fully functioning habitat; accordingly, a 
``2'' habitat quality score is roughly 66 percent of the value of fully 
functioning habitat; and a ``3'' score equals 100 percent habitat 
quality. The sum of this value was then multiplied by 0.85 raised to 
the power of the number of dams both within and downstream of the HUC 
10. We consider 0.85 to represent a coarse estimate of passage 
efficiency of smolts for FERC dams with turbines (smolt mortality 
associated with turbine entrainment is 0.15) based on the findings of 
several studies (GNP, 1995; GNP, 1997; Holbrook, 2007; Shepard, 1991c; 
Spicer et al., 1995) and, therefore, roughly equivalent to a 15 percent 
reduction in functional habitat unit. Mainstem dams without turbines 
are not expected to affect smolts the way dams with turbines do, but 
can result in direct or indirect mortality from delays in migration and 
by increased predation from predators that congregate around dams. 
Therefore, dams without turbines were estimated to reduce the 
functional capacity of habitat units by 7.5 percent (one half of 15 
percent). Dams located at roughly the midpoint of habitat within a HUC 
10 watershed were estimated to affect passage of roughly half the fish 
in the HUC 10 watershed (e.g., located half way up the HUC 10 
watershed) and, therefore, were discounted accordingly (e.g., 7.5 
percent for dams with turbines). A dam without turbine located at the 
midpoint of habitat within a HUC 10 was estimated to reduce the 
functional capacity of habitat units by 3.75 percent. The number of 
dams present both within and downstream of the HUC 10 was used as an 
exponent to account for cumulative effects of dams. A formulaic 
representation of our method is written as:
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TR19JN09.000

QSRH = quantity of spawning and rearing habitat
BSS = biological suitability score
EDE = estimated downstream passage efficiency of a 
typical FERC licensed dam
N = number of dams within and downstream of HUC

    Given that computing the functional habitat units was conducted to 
estimate the quantity of habitat necessary to support the offspring of 
2,000 adult spawners, only downstream passage efficiency was figured 
into the equation to calculate functional habitat units. We based our 
projected habitat needs on the amount of habitat needed to support the 
offspring of 2,000 adult spawners, so our analysis of functional 
habitat units was based on those factors that would diminish the 
survival of the offspring of the spawners. This rule is not designed to 
serve as a recovery plan but rather to ensure that there is sufficient 
habitat available to meet recovery goals. A full review of how habitat 
quantities and habitat qualities were computed is provided in the 
Biological Valuation of Atlantic Salmon Habitat within the GOM DPS 
(2008).
    Table 2 represents the total amount of measured habitat within the 
occupied areas of each SHRU; the quantity of functional habitat units 
for each SHRU; amount of habitat excluded; the amount of functional 
habitat (represented as functional habitat unit) after exclusion; and 
the amount of habitat still needed to support the offspring of 2,000 
adult spawners within each SHRU.

      Table 2--Total Habitat and Functional Habitat for Occupied Areas Among the Three SHRUs in the GOM DPS
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                    Additional
                                                                                                  habitat needed
                                                                                                  to support the
                                   Total habitat    Functional       Economic       Functional     offspring of
              SHRU                     units       habitat units     exclusion     habitat after    2,000 adult
                                                                                    exclusions       spawners
                                                                                                   (i.e., 30,000
                                                                                                      units)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Merrymeeting Bay................         372,639          40,001               0          40,001               0
Penobscot Bay...................         323,740          66,263           3,205          63,058               0
Downeast Coastal................          61,395          29,111               0          29,111             889
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In both the Penobscot and Merrymeeting Bay SHRUs, there are more 
than 30,000 units of functional habitat within the currently occupied 
area to support the offspring of adult spawners. In the Downeast 
Coastal SHRU, the amount of functional habitat available to the species 
is estimated to be 889 units short of what is needed to support 2,000 
adult spawners. Nonetheless, we determined that no areas outside the 
occupied geographical area within the Downeast SHRU are essential to 
the conservation of the species. This is because the 61,395 total 
habitat units in Downeast Maine are predicted to be functioning at the 
equivalent of 29,111 units because of the presence of dams or because 
of degraded habitat features that reduce the habitat's functional 
value. However, through restoration efforts, including enhanced fish 
passage and habitat improvement of anthropogenically

[[Page 29326]]

degraded features (including stream crossing improvement projects like 
those currently being carried out by Project SHARE in the Downeast 
SHRU, for example), a substantial portion of the approximately 32,000 
units of non-functioning habitat may be restored to a functioning 
state. The Union River, for instance, has over 12,000 units of habitat, 
though its functional habitat value, largely because of dams, is 
estimated to be equivalent to approximately 4,000 units of habitat. Dam 
removal or improved fish passage has the potential to significantly 
increase the function of critical habitat in the Union river and, 
therefore, the entire Downeast SHRU.
    Throughout Maine, there has been substantial effort on behalf of 
State and Federal agencies and non-profit organizations in partnership 
with landowners and dam owners to restore habitat through a combination 
of land and riparian protection efforts, and fish passage enhancement 
projects. Project SHARE, the Downeast Salmon Federation, watershed 
councils, Trout Unlimited, and the Atlantic Salmon Federation, for 
example, have conducted a number of projects designed to protect, 
restore, and enhance habitat for Atlantic salmon ranging from the 
Kennebec River in south central Maine to the Dennys River in Eastern 
Maine. Projects include, but are not limited to: dam removals along the 
Kennebec, St. George, Penobscot, and East Machias Rivers; land 
protection of riparian corridors along the Machias, Narraguagus, 
Dennys, Pleasant, East Machias, Sheescot, Ducktrap rivers and Cove 
Brook; surveying and repair of culverts that impair fish passage; and 
outreach and education efforts on the benefits of such projects. In 
2008 in the Downeast SHRU, Project SHARE replaced 7 culverts with open 
bottom arch culverts to improve fish passage, decommissioned 12 road 
crossings by removing the culvert or bridge and stabilizing the banks, 
and removed 6 remnant log drive dams. The Penobscot River Restoration 
Project is another example of cooperative efforts on behalf of Federal 
and State agencies, nonprofit organizations, and dam owners. The PRRP 
goal is to enhance runs of diadromous fish, including Atlantic salmon, 
through the planned removal of two mainstem dams and enhanced fish 
passage around several other dams along the Penobscot River. These 
cooperative efforts can increase the functional potential of Atlantic 
salmon habitat by both increasing habitat availability as well as 
increasing habitat quality. Therefore, we do not believe that it is 
essential to designate critical habitat outside of the currently 
occupied range.

V. Application of ESA Section 4(a)(3)(B)(i) (Military Lands)

    The Sikes Act of 1997 (16 U.S.C. 670a-670f, as amended), enacted on 
November 18, 1997, required that military installations with 
significant natural resources prepare and implement an integrated 
natural resource management plan (INRMP) in cooperation with the USFWS 
and State fish and wildlife agencies, by November 18, 2001. The purpose 
of the INRMP is to provide the basis for carrying out programs and 
implementing management strategies to conserve and protect biological 
resources on military lands. Because military lands are often protected 
from public access, they can include some of the nation's most 
significant tracts of natural resources. INRMPs are to provide for the 
management of natural resources, including fish, wildlife, and plants; 
allow multipurpose uses of resources; and provide public access where 
appropriate for those uses, without any net loss in the capability of 
an installation to support its military mission.
    In 2003, the National Defense Authorization Act (Pub. L. 108-136) 
amended the ESA to limit areas eligible for designation as critical 
habitat. Specifically, section 4(a)(3)(B)(i) of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 
1533(a)(B)(i)) states: ``The Secretary shall not designate as critical 
habitat any lands or other geographical areas owned or controlled by 
the Department of Defense, or designated for its use, that are subject 
to an integrated natural resources management plan prepared under 
section 101 of the Sikes Act (16 U.S.C. 67a), if the Secretary 
determines in writing that such plan provides a benefit to the species 
for which critical habitat is proposed for designation.''
    Within the specific areas identified as critical habitat for the 
Gulf of Maine DPS, there are four military sites; two of these 
currently have INRMPs, and the other two have INRMPs being developed. 
The Brunswick Naval Air Station has 15,800 acres (63.9 sq km) of real 
property spread out among the main station in Brunswick and several 
remote stations across Maine. Military installations that are part of 
the Brunswick Naval Air Station and that are either partly or entirely 
within the area where critical habitat is proposed include the 3,091-
acre (12.5-sq km) main station in Brunswick; a 12,000-acre (48.5-sq km) 
Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) school near Rangeley, 
Maine; and the 396-acre (1.6-sq km) Great Pond Outdoor Adventure Center 
located in the town of Great Pond in Hancock County, Maine.
    The two military installations within the occupied range of the DPS 
with INRMPs are not included in the critical habitat designation in 
accordance to 4(a)(3)(B)(i) of the ESA. These installations include: 
(1) The 3,091-acre (12.5-sq km) Brunswick Naval Air Station in 
Brunswick, Maine, of which 435 acres (1.8 sq km) are within Little 
Androscoggin HUC 10 watershed in the Merrymeeting Bay SHRU; and (2) the 
Brunswick Naval Air Station's cold weather survival, evasion, 
resistance, and escape school, which occupies 12,000 acres (48.5 sq km) 
near Rangeley, Maine, of which 5,328 acres (21.6 sq km) are within the 
Sandy River HUC 10 watershed in the Merrymeeting Bay SHRU. The INRMPs 
at these two locations specifically provide for water quality 
protection via erosion and sediment control, wetland protection, 
monitoring of non point source pollution, protection of watersheds from 
hazardous materials, use of environmentally beneficial landscaping, 
monitoring for and responding to forestry management units health 
problems and management of forests as shoreline buffers. We determined 
that these two INRMPs provide a conservation benefit to the GOM DPS of 
Atlantic salmon.
    The two sites with military missions that currently do not have 
INRMPs and the one non-military facility identified as being essential 
to national security are being excluded from critical habitat under 
section 4(b)(2) described in the final rule section entitled 
Application of ESA Section 4(b)(2).

VI. Application of ESA Section 4(b)(2)

    The foregoing discussion described the specific areas within U.S. 
jurisdiction that meet the ESA definition of critical habitat because 
they contain the physical and biological features essential to the 
conservation of Atlantic salmon that may require special management 
considerations or protection. Before including areas in a designation, 
section 4(b)(2) of the ESA requires the Secretary to consider the 
economic impact, impact on national security, and any other relevant 
impacts of designation of any particular area. The Secretary has the 
discretion to exclude any area from designation if he determines that 
the benefits of exclusion (that is, avoiding some or all of the impacts 
that would result from designation) outweigh the benefits of 
designation based upon the best

[[Page 29327]]

scientific and commercial data available. The Secretary may not exclude 
an area from designation if exclusion will result in the extinction of 
the species. Because the authority to exclude is discretionary, 
exclusion is not required for any particular area under any 
circumstances.
    The ESA section 4(b)(2) exclusion process is conducted for a 
``particular area,'' not for the critical habitat as a whole. This 
analysis is, therefore, conducted at a geographic scale that divides 
the area under consideration into smaller sub-areas. The statute does 
not specify the exact geographic scale of these ``particular areas.'' 
For the purposes of the analysis of economic impacts, a ``particular 
area'' is equivalent to a ``specific area'', defined as a HUC 10 (level 
5) standard watershed. There are 48 ``specific areas'' (HUC 10s) 
occupied by the species on which are found those physical and 
biological features essential to the conservation of the species and 
which may require special management considerations or protection.
    Where we considered impacts on Indian Tribes, we delineated 
particular areas based on land ownership. Where we consider impacts on 
national security, particular areas will be delineated based on lands 
identified by the military as areas where critical habitat designation 
will have an impact on national security. These areas may only account 
for a small fraction of a HUC 10 watershed or, in some circumstances, 
may span across several HUC 10 watersheds. Factors that were considered 
in determining whether the benefits of exclusion outweighed the 
benefits of designating the particular areas as critical habitat 
include:
    (1) The quantity of functional habitat excluded relative to the 
quantity of habitat needed to support a recovered population;
    (2) The relative biological value of a particular area to the 
conservation of the species, measured by the quantity and quality of 
the physical and biological features with the particular area;
    (3) The anticipated conservation loss that would be accrued through 
not designating a particular area based upon the conservation value of 
that particular area; and
    (4) Whether exclusion of habitat within the particular area, based 
upon the best scientific and commercial data, would result in the 
extinction of the species concerned.

Assigning Biological Value

    To determine the benefits of including an area as critical habitat, 
we assigned a Final Biological Value to each HUC 10 watershed based on 
the quantity and quality of Atlantic salmon spawning and rearing 
habitat and the migratory needs of the species (see NMFS, 2009a). The 
Final Biological Value indicates each area's current value to Atlantic 
salmon spawning, rearing, and migration activities and is applied in 
the ESA section 4(b)(2) exclusion analysis, where it is weighed against 
the economic, national security, and other relevant impacts to consider 
whether specific areas may be excluded from designation. The final 
biological value also aided in determining those areas currently 
occupied by the species described earlier in the final rule under 
``Identifying the Geographical Area Occupied by the Species and 
Specific Areas within the Geographical Area''. The variables used to 
develop the Final Biological Value include a combination of habitat 
units, habitat quantity, habitat quality, and the value of the HUC 10 
to migration of smolts and adults. The final biological value does not 
incorporate the use of functional habitat units as described in the 
previous section entitled Specific areas outside the geographical area 
occupied by the species * * * essential to the conservation of the 
species. Functional habitat units were only used to determine whether 
areas that contain PCEs outside the currently occupied range should be 
designated as critical habitat.
    A habitat unit represents 100 m\2\ of spawning and rearing habitat. 
A habitat unit is used in North America and Europe to quantify habitat 
features most frequently used for spawning and juvenile rearing (e.g., 
riffles and runs). Habitat units for each HUC 10 were calculated using 
the GIS based habitat prediction model described earlier in the final 
rule under Physical and Biological Features in Freshwater and Estuary 
Specific Areas Essential to the Conservation of the Species.
    Habitat quantity is the estimate of habitat units generated by the 
model and was calculated separately for each HUC 10. The units of 
habitat were then binned into four categories for each of the three 
SHRUs. A HUC 10 with no habitat was assigned a score of ``0'' and was 
considered unoccupied. HUC 10s with the lowest 25 percent of total 
units of habitat across the entire SHRU received a ``1'' score, the 
middle 50 percent received a ``2'' score, and the upper 25 percent 
received a ``3'' score. A ``3'' score represents the highest relative 
habitat quantity score. This method resulted in the majority of the 
habitat receiving a score of ``2'' representing an average habitat 
quantity. Habitat scores outside the middle 50 percent were considered 
to have above average habitat quantity or below average habitat 
quantity.
    Habitat quality scores were assigned to HUC 10s based on 
information and input from fisheries biologists working with the Maine 
Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, the MDMR, NMFS, and 
Kleinschmidt Energy and Water Resource Consultants, who possess 
specific knowledge and expertise about the geographic region. For each 
of the three SHRUs, a minimum of three biologists with knowledge of and 
expertise in the geographic area were asked to independently assign 
habitat scores, using a set of scoring criteria developed by fisheries 
biologists from NMFS, to HUC 10s based on the presence and quality of 
the physical and biological features essential to the conservation of 
the species (see NMFS, 2009a). The scoring criteria ranked qualitative 
features, including temperature, biological communities, water quality, 
and substrate and cover, as being highly suitable (``3''), suitable 
(``2''), marginally suitable (``1'') or not suitable (``0'') for 
supporting Atlantic salmon spawning, rearing, and migration activities. 
A habitat value of ``0'' indicates that one or more factors is limiting 
to the point that Atlantic salmon could not reasonably be expected to 
survive in those areas; a score of ``1'', ``2'', or ``3'' indicates the 
extent to which physical and biological features are limiting, with a 
``1'' being most limiting and a ``3'' being not limiting. In HUC 10s 
that are and have always been inaccessible due to natural barriers, the 
entire HUC 10 was automatically scored as ``0'' and considered not 
occupied by the species. Emphasis was placed on identifying whether the 
physical and biological features needed for Atlantic salmon spawning 
and rearing are present and of what quality the features are. The 
overall habitat quality score for each HUC 10 was typically an average 
determined by the compilation of scores. In some instances, not all the 
biologists were familiar with the HUC 10, so only one or two scores 
were provided for some HUCs. In some instances where only two scores 
were provided for a HUC 10 watershed and each biologist scored the 
watershed differently we relied on a combination of the comments 
provided on the score sheets, knowledge from fisheries biologist 
working for NMFS that were familiar with these HUCs, or phone 
interviews with the commenters to resolve the ``tie'' score. We 
resolved ``tie'' scores based on comments when it was clearly apparent, 
based on the

[[Page 29328]]

comments, that one biologist had more knowledge of the HUC 10 than the 
other biologist who scored the HUC 10.
    Final Habitat Values were generated for each HUC 10 by combining 
habitat quantity and habitat quality scores within each HUC 10. Scores 
were combined by multiplying the two variables together giving scores 
of 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9. HUC 10s with zero scores received a zero score 
for Final Habitat Value. Scores of 1 or 2 were valued as low or ``1'' 
final habitat value. Scores of 3 or 4 were valued as medium or ``2'' 
final habitat value, and scores of 6 or 9 were valued as high or ``3'' 
final habitat value.
    A final migration value was generated based on the final habitat 
values and the migratory requirements of adults to reach spawning areas 
and smolts to reach the marine environment. We determined the final 
migration value of a HUC 10 to be equal to the highest final habitat 
value upstream from the HUC 10 because we concluded that access to 
spawning and rearing habitat was equally as important as the spawning 
and rearing habitat itself.
    The final biological value for each HUC 10, which is the value used 
in weighing economic cost against the biological value of habitat to 
salmon, was determined by selecting the higher of the final habitat 
value and the final migration score of each HUC 10. This approach 
assures the preservation of spawning and rearing habitat as well as 
migration habitat (see NMFS, 2009a).

Consideration of Economic Impacts, Impacts to National Security and 
Other Relevant Impacts

    The impact of designating any particular area as critical habitat 
occurs primarily through section 7 of the ESA. Once critical habitat is 
designated, section 7(a)(2) requires that Federal agencies ensure any 
action they authorize, fund, or carry out (this action is called the 
``Federal nexus'') is not likely to result in the destruction or 
adverse modification of critical habitat (16 U.S.C. 1536(a)(2)). 
Parties involved in section 7 consultations include NMFS or the USFWS, 
a Federal action agency, and in some cases, a private entity involved 
in the project or land use activity. The Federal action agency serves 
as the liaison with NMFS. Under Section 7(a)(2), when a Federal agency 
proposes an action that may affect a listed species or its critical 
habitat, it must initiate formal consultation with NMFS (or the USFWS, 
as applicable) or seek written concurrence from the Service(s) that the 
action is not likely to adversely affect listed species or its 
designated critical habitat. Formal consultation is a process between 
the Services and a Federal agency designed to determine whether a 
proposed Federal action is likely to jeopardize the continued existence 
of a species or destroy or adversely modify critical habitat, an action 
prohibited by the ESA. If the action is likely to destroy or adversely 
modify critical habitat, then the Federal agency may be required to 
implement a reasonable and prudent alternative (RPA) to the proposed 
action to avoid the destruction or adverse modification of critical 
habitat. In addition, conservation benefits to the listed species would 
result when the consultation process avoids destruction or adverse 
modification of its critical habitat through inclusion of RPAs, or 
avoids lesser adverse effects to critical habitat that may not rise to 
the level of adverse modification through inclusion of harm avoidance 
measures.
    Outside of the Federal agencies' obligation to consult on actions 
that ``may affect'' critical habitat and adopt project modifications to 
avoid destruction or adverse modification, the ESA imposes no 
requirements or limitations on entities or individuals as a result of a 
critical habitat designation.

Economic Impacts

    As discussed above, economic impacts of the critical habitat 
designation result from implementation of section 7 of the ESA. Section 
7(a)(2) requires Federal agencies to consult with NMFS to ensure their 
proposed actions are not likely to destroy or adversely modify critical 
habitat. These economic impacts may include both administrative and 
project modification costs. Economic impacts may also be associated 
with the conservation benefits of the designation.
    Economic impacts were assessed for each specific HUC 10 area 
designated as critical habitat, as well as for unoccupied areas within 
the range of the GOM DPS. While we are not designating unoccupied areas 
as critical habitat, we evaluated the economic impacts in the event 
that we determined in the biological valuation process, or determine as 
a result of public comment or subsequently available information, that 
some or all of the unoccupied areas were found to be to be essential to 
the conservation of the species. For the entire range of the GOM DPS, 
most of the economic impact results from impacts to hydropower projects 
and development (IEc, 2009a). The estimated economic impact of 
designation of the occupied areas before economic exclusions ranges 
from approximately $128 million to $152 million.
    For the designation of critical habitat for the GOM DPS, economic 
exclusions within the 48 occupied HUC 10s throughout the range of the 
DPS were considered by weighing biological value determined in the 
biological valuation and the economic cost determined in the economic 
analysis. As described earlier, the biological values were assigned a 
score of 1, 2, or 3, with a ``1'' being of lowest biological value and 
a ``3'' being of highest biological value. Areas could also be assigned 
a biological value of ``0'' if the physical and biological features in 
those areas were so degraded that they were not considered essential to 
the conservation of salmon. Areas assigned a ``0'' score were not 
included in the economic exclusion analysis. As stated above, we 
consider these areas to be unoccupied, and we determined that no 
unoccupied areas were essential to the conservation of the GOM DPS.
    To compare economic cost with biological value, we used the range 
of monetized values provided in the economic analysis binned into three 
categories, with a score of ``1'' representing low economic cost and a 
score of ``3'' representing high economic cost. These categories 
illustrate economic costs over the range of the GOM DPS. The high, 
medium, and low scores assigned to economic costs were then used to 
weigh economic cost against the corresponding biological value (also 
scored as high, medium, or low) of each HUC 10. The binning process was 
designed to describe a range of monetized values in qualitative terms 
that could be directly compared with the qualitative assessment of the 
physical and biological habitat features essential to the conservation 
of the species. The binning was conducted so that the lowest 25 percent 
of the total economic costs represent costs that were below average. 
Low economic costs were assigned a score of ``1,'' representing a cost 
ranging from $71,000 to $388,000. The middle 50 percent represents the 
average cost across all HUCs containing critical habitat and received a 
score of ``2,'' with economic cost ranging from $388,001 to $3,420,000. 
The upper 25 percent represents those costs that were above average or 
high and received a score of ``3,'' with economic cost ranging from 
$3,420,001 to $27,900,000. We binned the economic costs using the same 
procedures that we used to bin habitat quantity within each HUC 10, 
with the lower and upper 25 percent of habitat representing those areas 
as being either above average or below average.
    These dollar thresholds do not represent an objective judgment that

[[Page 29329]]

low-value areas are worth no more than $388,000, medium-value areas are 
worth no more than $3,420,000, or high value areas are worth no more 
than $27,900,000. Under the ESA, we are to weigh dissimilar impacts 
given limited time and information. The statute emphasizes that the 
decision to exclude is discretionary. Thus, the economic impact level 
at which the economic benefits of exclusion outweigh the conservation 
benefits of designation is a matter of discretion and depends on the 
policy context. For critical habitat, the ESA directs us to consider 
exclusions to avoid high economic impacts, but also requires that the 
areas designated as critical habitat are sufficient to support the 
conservation of the species and to avoid extinction. In this policy 
context, we selected dollar thresholds representing the levels at which 
we believe the economic impact associated with a specific area would 
outweigh the conservation benefits of designating that area.
    Given the low abundance and endangered status of Atlantic salmon, 
we exercise our discretion to consider exclusion of specific areas 
based on three decision rules: (1) Specific areas with a biological 
value of medium (``2'') or high (``3'') score were not eligible for 
exclusion regardless of the level of economic impact, because of the 
endangered status of Atlantic salmon; (2) specific areas with a low 
biological value (``1'') were excluded if the economic costs were 
greater than $388,000 (economic score of ``2'' or ``3''); and (3) 
specific areas were not considered for exclusion, including those areas 
having a low biological value (``1''), if the area had no dams both 
within it or below it, given that these areas are not subject to the 
deleterious effects that dams have on migration of adults and smolts 
(GNP, 1995; GNP, 1997; Holbrook, 2007; Shepard, 1991c; Spicer et al., 
1995).
    These decision rules: (1) Ensure that enough occupied habitat 
receives the protections of critical habitat to meet our conservation 
objectives, in this case, 30,000 units of habitat per SHRU; (2) ensure 
that all habitat that has average (2 score) or better biological value 
receives the protections of critical habitat and is available to be 
used for the conservation and recovery of the species; and (3) given 
that dams have been identified as one of the greatest impediments to 
salmon recovery (NRC, 2004; Fay et al., 2006), ensure that occupied 
areas without dams receive the protections of critical habitat.
    If we excluded all areas where economic costs were higher than 
biological value, then the Downeast Coastal SHRU would be 3,840 units 
short of the 30,000 units needed to meet our conservation objectives. 
Habitat that is excluded for economic impact reasons offers no 
protections to those features that are essential to the conservation of 
Atlantic salmon. In contrast, tribal lands and military lands excluded 
from the Downeast Coastal SHRU were excluded because of ongoing 
conservation efforts being carried out by the Tribe or natural resource 
plans that are in place or in development by the military that provide 
protections to Atlantic salmon habitat.
    We believe that all habitat with a biological value of ``2'' or 
greater is essential to the recovery efforts of Atlantic salmon. In the 
Gulf of Maine, of the 105 HUC 10 watersheds that we analyzed for 
critical habitat, we determined that 86 HUC 10s were historically 
accessible to Atlantic salmon. Of those 86 historic watersheds, only 48 
of those HUC 10 watersheds are currently occupied by Atlantic salmon 
and provide the best opportunity for the agencies to implement on the 
ground recovery efforts through stocking programs and habitat 
restoration and enhancement efforts. Of the 48 occupied HUC 10 
watersheds, 32 of these watersheds are considered to have average 
(``2'' score) or better biological value. These 32 remaining watersheds 
provide the best opportunity for managers to carry out restoration 
efforts, and provide the best potential for recovery of Atlantic salmon 
across the DPS.
    We believe that protection of specific areas without dams is 
imperative to salmon recovery. The fact that the National Research 
Council (NRC, 2004) and the Atlantic Salmon Status Review (Fay et al., 
2006) both emphasize that dams are one of the greatest impediments to 
salmon recovery in the State of Maine underscores the importance of 
specific areas that are free of dams, even if these specific areas have 
relatively low biological value. Even highly effective passage 
facilities cause Atlantic salmon mortality. Passage inefficiency and 
delays associated with dams occur at biologically significant levels, 
resulting in incremental losses of pre-spawn adults, smolts, and kelts 
(a life stage after Atlantic salmon spawn) (See the final rule 
published by NMFS and the USFWS in today's Federal Register (see 
Endangered and Threatened Species; Determination of Endangered Status 
for the Gulf of Maine Distinct Population Segment of Atlantic Salmon)). 
Dams can delay migration of smolts, increasing predation risk (Nettles 
and Gloss, 1987) or cause Atlantic salmon smolts to miss the migration 
window in which smolts are physiologically capable of transitioning 
from the freshwater environment to the marine environment (Whalen et 
al., 1999; McCormick et al., 1999). Studies in the Columbia River 
system have shown that fish generally take longer to pass a dam on a 
second attempt after fallback compared to the first (Bjornn et al., 
1999). Dams can also cause direct injury to downstream migrating 
Atlantic salmon smolts, which can be a result of pressure changes 
during turbine entrainment or direct contact with the turbines (Cada, 
2000). Dams are known to typically injure or kill between 10 and 30 
percent of all fish entrained at turbines (EPRI, 1992). With rivers 
containing multiple hydropower dams, these cumulative losses could 
compromise entire year classes of Atlantic salmon.
    With at least 116 dams in the Penobscot watershed (FERC, 1997), 18 
of which currently generate electricity; 73 dams in the Kennebec 
watershed, 26 of which are licensed hydropower facilities and storage 
dams (MSPO, 1993); and 85 dams in the Androscoggin watershed, 45 of 
which are hydroelectric facilities, there are very few areas remaining 
that are free of dams. In fact, of the six stocks of Atlantic salmon 
that make up the genetic line of the Atlantic salmon conservation 
hatchery program, five of those stocks come from rivers that currently 
do not have hydroelectric dams, and four of those stocks originate from 
rivers where their mainstems below the headwaters are free of dams. The 
areas that are currently free of dams provide the best opportunity for 
maintaining the existing genetic line of Atlantic salmon, and 
rebuilding the Atlantic salmon population either through recolonization 
that occurs naturally through straying or through managed stocking 
programs.
    We propose to exclude three particular areas (HUC 10s) in the 
Penobscot Bay SHRU due to economic impact, out of a total of 48 
occupied HUC 10s within the range of the GOM DPS. Areas excluded from 
critical habitat for reasons of economics include approximately 1,198 
km of river, stream, and estuary habitat and 99 sq km of lakes in all 
of Belfast Bay (HUC 105000218), Passadumkeag River (HUC 102000503), and 
Molunkus Stream (HUC 102000306). The combined economic impact of the 
designation in those particular areas was estimated to be $11,600,000 
to $12,600,000 before they were considered for exclusion. The estimated 
economic impact for critical habitat following exclusions ranges from

[[Page 29330]]

approximately $117 million to $140 million. The estimated economic 
impacts of designating critical habitat for each SHRU are in Table 3.

  Table 3--Summary of Economic Impact Following Exclusions for Occupied
                      HUC 10 by SHRU in the GOM DPS
------------------------------------------------------------------------
               SHRU                    Low estimate      High estimate
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Downeast Coastal..................         $9,710,000        $12,700,000
Penobscot Bay.....................         23,800,000         28,700,000
Merrymeeting Bay..................         83,400,000         98,100,000
                                   -------------------------------------
    Total.........................     116,910,000.00     139,500,000.00
------------------------------------------------------------------------

National Security and Other Relevant Impacts in Relation to Military 
Interests

    Section 4(b)(2) of the ESA states that the Secretary may exclude 
any area from critical habitat if he determines that the benefits of 
such exclusion outweigh the benefits of specifying such area as part of 
the critical habitat, unless he determines, based on the best 
scientific and commercial data available, that the failure to designate 
such areas as critical habitat will result in the extinction of the 
species concerned (16 U.S.C. 1533(b)(2)). We are excluding the two 
sites with military missions without INRMPs from critical habitat 
designation under section 4(b)(2) of the ESA as the Secretary has 
determined that the benefits of exclusion of these areas outweigh the 
benefits of inclusion. NAS Brunswick OAC supports the naval aviation 
activities of NAS Brunswick, and the NCTAMS provides communications to 
the fleet in the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. The 
consultations and project modifications required by designation of 
these areas as critical habitat would impact the military and national 
security missions of these facilities. In addition, upon the completion 
of the INRMPs, any final rule designating these areas as critical 
habitat would need to be revised to remove these areas from the 
designation in accordance with section 4(a)(3)(B)(i) of the ESA. The 
Navy has agreed to work cooperatively with NMFS in the development of 
these INRMPs to assure that the Navy's activities are reasonably 
protective of Atlantic salmon habitat (Letter to NMFS from the Office 
of the Chief of Navy Operations (Ser N4/8u156068), December 2, 2008).
    Before including areas in a designation, section 4(b)(2) of the ESA 
requires the Secretary to consider the impact on national security of 
designation of any particular area as critical habitat. Bath Iron Works 
(BIW) located in Bath, Maine has also been excluded from designation 
for reasons of national security as advised by the Navy. The Secretary 
has concluded that the benefits of exclusion of these areas outweigh 
the benefits of inclusion as critical habitat. BIW is a premier ship-
building facility that provides the design, building, and support of 
complex navy warships, including the AEGIS Class Destroyers. BIW has 
been building and servicing the U.S. warships for over 120 years, and 
their activities are essential to the military mission for the 
construction, maintenance, and modernization of Navy surface ships. 
These activities have been identified by the Navy as inherent to 
national security, whereby, without BIW's ability to construct and test 
current and future classes of surface ships, mission readiness and U.S. 
national security is at risk. The consultations and project 
modifications required by designation of these areas as critical 
habitat would impact the military and national security functions of 
these facilities. The areas excluded from designation include the 
Kennebec River from the south side of the U.S. Route 1 bridge over the 
Kennebec River down river to 50 feet below the south side of BIWs dry 
dock, but does not include any portion of Hanson Bay or the 
thoroughfare between Hanson Bay and the Kennebec River. The specific 
area excluded from designation lies within a box between four points 
with the following coordinates: Point 1: N43 54'39.8'', W069 48'43.5''; 
Point 2: N43 54'40'', W069 48'17.8''; Point 3: N43 54'0.0'', W069 
48'47; Point 4: N43 54'0.0'', W069 48'28''.

Other Relevant Impacts: Tribal Lands

    The Penobscot Indian Nation and the Passamaquoddy Tribe own and 
conduct activities on lands within the range of the GOM DPS. Activities 
may include agriculture; residential, commercial, or industrial 
development; in-stream construction projects; silviculture; water 
quality monitoring; hunting and fishing; and other uses. Some of these 
activities may be affected by the designation of critical habitat for 
the GOM DPS of Atlantic salmon.
    Secretarial Order 3206 recognizes that Tribes have governmental 
authority and the desire to protect and manage their resources in the 
manner that is most beneficial to them. Pursuant to the Secretarial 
Order, and consistent with the Federal government's trust 
responsibilities, the Services must consult with the affected Indian 
Tribes when considering the designation of critical habitat in areas 
that may impact tribal trust resources, tribally-owned fee lands, or 
the exercise of tribal rights. Critical habitat in such areas, unless 
determined to be essential to conserve a species, may not be 
designated.
    The Indian lands specifically excluded are those defined in 
Secretarial Order 3206 and include: (1) Lands held in trust by the 
United States for the benefit of any Indian tribe; (2) lands held in 
trust by the United States for any Indian Tribe or individual subject 
to restrictions by the United States against alienation; (3) fee lands, 
either within or outside the reservation boundaries, owned by the 
tribal government; and, 4) fee lands within the reservation boundaries 
owned by individual Indians. Not excluded from designation are tribal 
lands held by the Penobscot Tribe which specifically requested that 
their land not be excluded from designation emphasizing the importance 
of their lands as critical habitat for Atlantic salmon.
    The Penobscot Indian Nation and the Passamaquoddy Tribe own and 
conduct activities on approximately 182,000 acres (736.5 sq km) of land 
throughout the Penobscot, Androscoggin, Kennebec, and Downeast Coastal 
Basins. Both tribes that own lands within the GOM DPS have actively 
pursued or participated in activities to further promote the health and 
continued existence of Atlantic salmon and their habitats. The 
Penobscot tribe has developed and maintained its own water quality 
standards that state ``it is the official policy of the Penobscot 
Nation that all waters of the Tribe shall be of sufficient quality to 
support the ancient and historical traditional and

[[Page 29331]]

customary uses of such tribal waters by members of the Penobscot 
Nation.'' The Tribe is also currently participating in the Penobscot 
River Restoration Project that has the intended goal of restoring 11 
species of diadromous fish, including Atlantic salmon. The 
Passamaquoddy Tribe has continued to maintain efforts to balance 
agricultural practices with natural resources. In a tract of Tribal 
land in Township 19, which accounts for approximately 12 km of the 27.8 
km of rivers and streams on Passamaquoddy land that contain physical 
and biological features essential to salmon, the Tribe has established 
an ordinance to govern its water withdrawals for these lands. This 
ordinance states ``it is important to the Tribe that its water 
withdrawals at T. 19 do not adversely affect the Atlantic salmon in any 
of its life stages, or its habitat,'' and restricts water withdrawals 
to avoid adverse impact on the Atlantic salmon.
    Within the occupied range designated as critical habitat, the 
Tribes own approximately 65,000 acres (263 sq km) of land within 16 HUC 
10 watersheds. NMFS has determined that the rivers, streams, lakes, and 
estuaries of 9,571 acres (38.7 sq km) of tribal land within the areas 
occupied by the GOM DPS be excluded from critical habitat designation 
based on the principles of the Secretarial Order discussed above. Per 
request of the Penobscot Nation, 55,180 acres (223 sq km) of the 
Penobscot Nation lands are included as critical habitat.

Determine Whether Exclusion Will Result in Extinction of the Species

    Section 4(b)(2) states that particular areas shall not be excluded 
from critical habitat if the exclusion will result in extinction of the 
species. Our decision to only propose for exclusion particular areas 
based on economic impacts that had low biological value, unless dams 
were absent from the particular area, led to exclusions only in the 
Penobscot SHRU. No economic exclusions are in the Downeast Coastal or 
Merrymeeting Bay SHRUs. Given that exclusions based on economic impacts 
within the Penobscot SHRU were only made in areas considered to have 
little biological value to Atlantic salmon, those exclusions are not 
considered to jeopardize the species' continued existence because those 
areas do not diminish the functional habitat unit below what is needed 
to support a recovered GOM DPS.
    Even though 156 units of habitat on tribal and military lands in 
the Downeast Coastal SHRU are being excluded from critical habitat, we 
do not believe that exclusions of these lands will reduce the 
conservation value of Atlantic salmon habitat. We do not believe that 
exclusion of Passamaquoddy tribal lands, including their lands in the 
Downeast Coastal SHRU, will reduce the conservation value or functional 
habitat unit of Atlantic salmon habitat within those particular areas, 
given the ongoing cooperative efforts between the Tribe and the 
agencies. We do not believe that excluding the two military 
installations that contain critical habitat in the Downeast Coastal 
SHRU from the critical habitat designation is likely to result in the 
extinction of the species.

VII. Effects of Critical Habitat Designation

ESA Section 7 Consultation

    The cost of specifying any particular area as critical habitat 
occurs primarily through section 7 of the ESA. Once critical habitat is 
designated, section 7(a)(2) requires that Federal agencies ensure any 
action they authorize, fund or carry out (this action is called the 
``Federal nexus'') is not likely to result in the destruction or 
adverse modification of critical habitat (16 U.S.C. 1536(a)(2)). 
Parties involved in section 7 consultations include NMFS or the USFWS, 
a Federal action agency, and in some cases, a private entity involved 
in the project or land use activity. The Federal action agency serves 
as the liaison with NMFS. Under Section 7(a)(2), when a Federal agency 
proposes an action that may affect a listed species or its critical 
habitat, then they must initiate formal consultation with NMFS (or the 
USFWS, as applicable) or seek written concurrence from the Services 
that the action is not likely to adversely affect listed species or its 
designated critical habitat. Formal consultation is a process between 
the Services and a Federal agency designed to determine whether a 
proposed Federal action is likely to jeopardize the continued existence 
of a species or destroy or adversely modify critical habitat, an action 
prohibited by the ESA. If the action is likely to destroy or adversely 
modify critical habitat, then the Federal agency may be required to 
implement a reasonable and prudent alternative (RPA) to the proposed 
action to avoid the destruction or adverse modification of critical 
habitat. Harm avoidance measures may also be implemented to avoid 
lesser adverse effects to critical habitat that may not rise to the 
level of adverse modification. Outside of the Federal agencies' 
obligation to consult with respect to actions that may affect critical 
habitat and adopt project modifications to avoid destruction or adverse 
modification, the ESA imposes no requirements or limitations on 
entities or individuals as result of a critical habitat designation.
    The benefits of designation used for the proposed critical habitat 
designation for the GOM DPS are the biological values assigned to each 
HUC 10 that evaluate the quality and quantity of the physical and 
biological features within each HUC 10 and the current potential of 
each HUC 10 to support (absent dams) the spawning, rearing, and 
migration of the GOM DPS (NMFS, 2009a).

Activities That May Be Affected (Section 4(b)(8))

    Section 4(b)(8) of the ESA requires that we describe briefly and 
evaluate in any proposed or final regulation to designate critical 
habitat, those activities that may destroy or adversely modify such 
habitat or that may be affected by such designation. A wide variety of 
activities may affect critical habitat and, when carried out, funded, 
or authorized by a Federal agency, will require an ESA section 7 
consultation. Such activities (detailed in IEc, 2009a) include, but are 
not limited to agriculture, transportation, development and hydropower.
    We believe this critical habitat designation will provide Federal 
agencies, private entities, and the public with clear notification of 
critical habitat for Atlantic salmon and the boundaries of such 
habitat. This designation will allow Federal agencies and others to 
evaluate the potential effects of their activities on critical habitat 
to determine if ESA section 7 consultation with NMFS is needed given 
the specific definition of physical and biological features.

VIII. Classification

Regulatory Planning and Review

    This final rule has been determined to be significant for purposes 
of Executive Order (E.O.) 12866. We have integrated the regulatory 
principles of the E.O. into the development of this final rule to the 
extent consistent with the mandatory duty to designate critical 
habitat, as defined in the ESA.
    Coastal Zone Management Act (15 U.S.C. 1451 et seq.) We have 
determined that this action is consistent to the maximum extent 
practicable with the enforceable policies of the approved coastal 
management program of the State of Maine. The determination has been 
submitted for review by the responsible State agency under section 307 
of the Coastal Zone Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1451 et seq.).

[[Page 29332]]

Regulatory Flexibility Act (U.S.C. 601 et seq.)

    We prepared a final regulatory flexibility analysis (FRFA) pursuant 
to section 603 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) (5 U.S.C. 601 et 
seq.) (IEc, 2009b). This FRFA only analyzes the impacts to those areas 
where critical habitat is designated and is available at the location 
identified in the ADDRESSES section. The FRFA is summarized below, as 
required by section 603 of the RFA. The FRFA describes the economic 
impact this final rule would have on small entities. A description of 
the action, why it is being considered, and the objectives of and legal 
basis for this action are contained in the preamble of this rule and 
are not repeated here. A summary of the FRFA follows:
    After reviewing the land use activities evaluated in the economic 
analysis conducted for this action, the types of small entities that 
may be impacted include those entities involved in hydropower, 
agriculture, and development activities. The total number of affected 
small entities includes up to 11 dam owners and 62 farms. There are an 
unknown number of small entities involved in development projects. 
Because impacts are calculated on a per acre basis and not for specific 
projects, it is not possible to identify specific landowners.
    This action does not contain any new collection-of-information, 
reporting, recordkeeping, or other compliance requirements beyond the 
potential economic impacts described below and any reporting 
requirements associated with reporting on the progress and success of 
implementing project modifications, which do not require special skills 
to satisfy. Third party applicants or permittees may also incur costs 
associated with participating in the administrative process of 
consultation along with the permitting Federal agency.
    No Federal laws or regulations duplicate or conflict with the final 
rule. Existing Federal laws and regulations overlap with the final rule 
only to the extent that they provide protection to marine natural 
resources generally. However, no existing laws or regulations 
specifically prohibit destruction or adverse modification of critical 
habitat for, and focus on the recovery of, Atlantic salmon.
    In conducting the FRFA, we considered three regulatory alternatives 
and the impacts of these alternatives. Alternative 1 was designating 
the bankfull width of rivers and perennial streams throughout the 105-
HUC 10 study area as critical habitat for Atlantic salmon. Only 48 of 
these HUCs, however, are currently occupied by the salmon and contain 
the physical and biological features essential to the conservation of 
the species. We determined that the 57 HUCs that are currently 
unoccupied are not essential to the conservation of the species. 
Accordingly, we rejected this alternative. Alternative 2 was to 
designate as critical habitat the bankfull width of rivers and 
perennial streams within the 48 occupied HUCs. We rejected this 
alternative because we determined that, in certain cases, the benefits 
of excluding particular areas outweigh the benefits of including them 
in the designation, and excluding these areas will not result in 
extinction of the species. Alternative 3 limits the designation of 
critical habitat to the bankfull width of rivers and perennial streams 
within 45 of the 48 occupied HUCs. This is the alternative that we have 
accepted and the alternative described in the FRFA.
    The FRFA estimates for alternative 3, that approximately 62 small 
farms (average annual receipts of less than $750,000) may be affected 
by critical habitat designation (IEc, 2009b). The average annual 
revenue of these farms was estimated at $74,000 (USDA, 2002). The 
estimated average losses per small farm are estimated at $6,300 (IEc, 
2009b).
    Impacts to development are based on impacts to landowners 
associated with constraints on development within a 30-meter buffer of 
streams within the study area. The present value of impacts to all 
development projects is estimated at $94.6 million to $127 million. 
Section 3 of the Small Business Act defines small business as any firm 
that is independently owned and operated and is not dominant in its 
field of operation. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has 
developed size standards to carry out the purposes of the Small 
Business Act, and those size standards can be found in 13 CFR 121.201. 
Size standards are expressed either in number of employees or annual 
receipts in millions of dollars depending on the specific type of 
business. Because impacts to development projects are determined on a 
per acre basis and not by the specific type of development project, we 
were unable to determine who the specific affected landowners are. In 
some cases, some portion of these landowners are likely individuals and 
not businesses, and, therefore, not relevant to the small business 
analysis, while it is also likely that some of these landowners are 
businesses, including small businesses, that may be impacted by 
constraints.
    Land developers and subdividers are one type of small business that 
may be affected by constraints stemming from the final critical habitat 
designation (IEc, 2009b). The available data suggest that 188 small 
land developers operate in counties that overlap the 45 HUCs containing 
critical habitat, accounting for 97 percent of the subdividers in the 
region (IEc, 2009b). The information available, however, is 
insufficient to estimate the impacts on these entities or to identify 
other potentially affected landowners (IEc, 2009b).
    Impacts to hydropower were estimated for small hydropower producers 
identified by the Small Business Administration as those producing less 
than four billion kilowatt-hours annually and are likely to experience 
impacts associated with the critical habitat designation. The FRFA 
analysis (IEc, 2009b) estimates 11 hydropower producers within the 45 
HUCs that contain critical habitat may be affected. The estimated 
annualized cost accrued by these dam owners is between $50 to $294,000 
(IEc, 2009b).
    Critical habitat designation may encourage landowners to develop 
Habitat Conservation Plans (HCPs). Under section 10 of the ESA, 
landowners seeking an incidental take permit must develop an HCP to 
counterbalance the potential harmful effects that an otherwise lawful 
activity may have on a species. The purpose of the habitat conservation 
planning process is to ensure that the effects of incidental take are 
adequately minimized and mitigated. Thus, HCPs are developed to ensure 
compliance with section 9 of the ESA and to meet the requirements of 
section 10 of the ESA. Neither the FRFA nor the Economic Analysis 
forecasts effects associated with the development of HCPs.

Information Quality Act (IQA) (Section 515 of Pub. L. 106-554)

    The data and analyses supporting this designation have undergone a 
pre-dissemination review and have been determined to be in compliance 
with applicable information quality guidelines implementing the 
Information Quality Act (IQA) (Section 515 of Pub. L. 106-554).
    In December 2004, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued 
a Final Information Quality Bulletin for Peer Review pursuant to the 
IQA. The Bulletin established minimum peer review standards, a 
transparent process for public disclosure of peer review planning, and 
opportunities for public participation with regard to certain types of 
information disseminated by

[[Page 29333]]

the Federal government. The peer review requirements of the OMB 
Bulletin apply to influential or highly influential scientific 
information disseminated on or after June 16, 2005. To satisfy our 
requirements under the OMB Bulletin, we allowed a 90-day public comment 
period and held two public hearings (Brewer and Augusta, Maine) where 
we gave the public the opportunity to participate in the review of the 
proposed critical habitat rule and supporting documents. An independent 
peer review of the scientific information that supports the proposal to 
designate critical habitat for the GOM DPS of Atlantic salmon was 
conducted, and peer review comments were incorporated prior to 
dissemination of this rulemaking. Four independent peer reviewers were 
solicited to review the proposed critical habitat rule, though all 
declined the opportunity to review the document largely due to time 
constraints. A 4(b)(2) Report (NMFS, 2009) that supports the 
designation of critical habitat for the GOM DPS of Atlantic salmon was 
also peer reviewed pursuant to the requirements of the Bulletin and is 
available on our Web site ( see ADDRESSES).

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.)

    This final rule does not contain a collection-of-information 
requirement for purposes of the Paperwork Reduction Act. This final 
rule will not impose recordkeeping or reporting requirements on State 
or local governments, individuals, businesses, or organizations. An 
agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to 
respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently 
valid OMB control number.

National Environmental Policy Act

    An environmental analysis as provided for under the National 
Environmental Policy Act for critical habitat designations made 
pursuant to the ESA is not required. See Douglas County v. Babbitt, 48 
F.3d 1495 (9th Cir. 1995), cert. denied, 116 S.Ct. 698 (1996).

Federalism

    In accordance with Executive Order 13132 ``Federalism,'' agencies 
are required to ensure meaningful and timely input from State and local 
officials in the development of regulatory policies that have 
federalism implications. In accordance with Department of Commerce 
policies, we requested information from, and coordinated development 
of, this critical habitat designation with appropriate State resource 
agencies in the State of Maine.

Takings

    In accordance with E.O. 12630, this final rule does not have 
takings implications. A takings implication assessment is not required. 
The designation of critical habitat affects only Federal agency 
actions. This final rule will not increase or decrease the current 
restrictions on private property concerning take of Atlantic salmon. 
Critical habitat does not preclude the development of HCPs and issuance 
of incidental take permits, and, therefore, landowners within areas 
designated as critical habitat will continue to have the opportunity to 
use their property in ways consistent with the survival of endangered 
Atlantic salmon.

IX. References Cited

    A complete list of all references cited in this rule making can be 
found on our Web site at http://www.nero.noaa.gov/prot_res/altsalmon/, 
and is available upon request from the NMFS Northeast Regional Office 
in Gloucester, Massachusetts (see ADDRESSES).

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 226

    Endangered and threatened species.

    Dated: June 12, 2009.
James W. Balsiger,
Acting Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.

0
For the reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR part 226 is amended as 
set forth below:

PART 226--DESIGNATED CRITICAL HABITAT (AMENDED)

0
1. The authority citation for part 226 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1533.


0
2. Add Sec.  226.217 to read as follows:


Sec.  226.217  Critical habitat for the Gulf of Maine Distinct 
Population Segment of Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar).

    Critical habitat is designated to include all perennial rivers, 
streams, and estuaries and lakes connected to the marine environment 
within the range of the Gulf of Maine Distinct Population Segment of 
Atlantic Salmon (GOM DPS), except for those particular areas within the 
range which are specifically excluded. Within the GOM DPS, the primary 
constituent elements (PCEs) for Atlantic salmon include sites for 
spawning and incubation, sites for juvenile rearing, and sites for 
migration. The essential physical and biological features of habitat 
are those features that allow Atlantic salmon to successfully use sites 
for spawning and rearing and sites for migration. These features 
include substrate of suitable size and quality; rivers and streams of 
adequate flow, depth, water temperature and water quality; rivers, 
streams, lakes and ponds with sufficient space and diverse, abundant 
food resources to support growth and survival; waterways that allow for 
free migration of both adult and juvenile Atlantic salmon; and diverse 
habitat and native fish communities in which salmon interact with while 
feeding, migrating, spawning, and resting.
    (a) The GOM DPS is divided into three salmon habitat recovery units 
(SHRUs) within the range of the GOM DPS: These are the Downeast Coastal 
SHRU, the Penobscot Bay SHRU, and the Merrymeeting Bay SHRU. Critical 
habitat is being considered only in specific areas currently occupied 
by the species. Critical habitat specific areas are identified by 
hydrological unit codes (HUC) and counties within the States of Maine. 
Hydrological units are those defined by the Department of Interior 
(DOI), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) publication, ``Hydrologic Unit 
Maps'' Water Supply Paper (Seaber et al., 1994) and the following DOI, 
USGS 1:500,000 scale hydrologic unit map: State of Maine. These 
documents are incorporated by reference. The incorporation by reference 
was approved by the Director of the Federal Register in accordance with 
5 U.S.C. 552(a) and 1 CFR part 51. Copies of the USGS publication and 
the maps may be obtained from the USGS, Map Sales, Box 25286, Denver, 
CO 80225. Copies may be inspected at NMFS, Protected Resources 
Division, Office of Protected Resources, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver 
Spring, MD 20910, or at the National Archives and Records 
Administration (NARA). For information on the availability of this 
material at NARA, call 202-741-6030, or go to: http://www.archives.gov/Federal_register/code_of_Federal_regulations/ibr_locations.html.
    (b) Critical habitat is designated in the Maine counties and towns 
for the three SHRUs described in paragraphs (b)(1) and (2) of this 
section. The textual descriptions of critical habitat for each SHRU are 
included in paragraphs (b)(3) through (6) of this section, and these 
descriptions are the definitive source for determining the critical 
habitat boundaries. A general location map (Figure 1) is provided at 
the end of paragraph (b)(2) and is for general guidance purposes only, 
and not as a definitive source for determining critical habitat 
boundaries.

[[Page 29334]]

    (1) Maine counties and towns affected. Critical habitat is 
designated for the following SHRUs in the following counties and towns.
    (i) Counties and towns partially or entirely within areas 
containing critical habitat in the Downeast Coastal SHRU:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Sub-basin                            County                               Town
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Coastal Washington Hancock..............  Penobscot..................  Clifton, Eddington, Grand Falls Twp,
                                                                        Greenfield Twp, Summit Twp.
                                          Hancock....................  Waltham, Bucksport, Dedham, Eastbrook,
                                                                        Ellsworth, Fletchers Landing Twp,
                                                                        Franklin, Great Pond, Hancock, Lamoine,
                                                                        Mariaville, Oqiton Twp, Orland, Osborn,
                                                                        Trenton Otis, Sullivan, Surry, T10 SD,
                                                                        T16 MD, T22 MD, T28 MD, T32 MD, T34 MD,
                                                                        T35 MD, T39 MD, T40 MD, T41 MD, T7 SD,
                                                                        T9 SD.
                                          Washington.................  Addison, Alexander, Baileyville, Baring
                                                                        Plt, Beddington, Centerville Twp,
                                                                        Charlotte, Cherryfield, Columbia,
                                                                        Columbia Falls, Cooper, Crawford,
                                                                        Cutler, Deblois, Dennysville, Devereaux
                                                                        Twp, East Machias, Edmunds Twp,
                                                                        Harrington, Jonesboro, Jonesport, Lubec,
                                                                        Machias, Machiasport, Marion Twp,
                                                                        Marshfield, Meddybemps, Milbridge, No 14
                                                                        Twp, No 21 Twp, Northfield, Princeton,
                                                                        Roque Bluffs, Sakom Twp, Steuben,
                                                                        Trescott Twp, Whiting, Whitneyville,
                                                                        Wesley T18 ED BPP, T18 MD BPP, T19 ED
                                                                        BPP, T19 MD BPP, T24 MD BPP, T25 MD BPP,
                                                                        T26 ED BPP, T27 ED BPP, T30 MD BPP, T31
                                                                        MD BPP, T36 MD BPP, T37 MD BPP, T42 MD
                                                                        BPP, T43 MD BPP.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (ii) Counties and towns partially or entirely within areas 
containing critical habitat in the Penobscot Bay SHRU:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
           Sub-basin                  County                Town
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Piscataquis...................  Penobscot........  T4 Indian Purchase
                                                    Twp, Long A Twp,
                                                    Seboeis Plt,
                                                    Mattamiscontis Twp,
                                                    Maxfield, Lagrange,
                                                    Charleston, Howland,
                                                    T3 R9 NWP, Edinburg,
                                                    Hopkins Academy
                                                    Grant Twp, Garland.
                                Piscataquis......  Shawtown Twp, TA R11
                                                    WELS, TA R10 WELS,
                                                    TB R10 WELS,
                                                    Greenville, T7 R9
                                                    NWP, Bowdoin College
                                                    Grant West Twp, T4
                                                    R9 NWP, Ebeemee Twp,
                                                    Moosehead Junction
                                                    Twp, Lake View Plt,
                                                    Brownville, Milo,
                                                    Blanchard Twp,
                                                    Sebec, Dover-
                                                    Foxcroft, Abbot,
                                                    Kingsbury Plt,
                                                    Parkman, Wellington,
                                                    Frenchtown Twp,
                                                    Medford,
                                                    Sangerville, TB R11
                                                    WELS, Katahdin Iron
                                                    Works Twp,
                                                    Elliottsville Twp,
                                                    Shirley, Guilford,
                                                    Atkinson, Beaver
                                                    Cove, Williamsburg
                                                    Twp, Bowdoin College
                                                    Grant East Twp,
                                                    Barnard Twp, Monson,
                                                    Orneville Twp.
                                Somerset.........  Squaretown Twp,
                                                    Mayfield Twp,
                                                    Brighton Plt, East
                                                    Moxie Twp, Bald
                                                    Mountain Twp T2 R3.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
East Branch...................  Aroostook........  Moro Plt, T7 R5 WELS.
                                Penobscot........  Mount Chase, East
                                                    Millinocket,
                                                    Grindstone Twp,
                                                    Herseytown Twp,
                                                    Medway, Patten,
                                                    Soldiertown Twp T2
                                                    R7 WELS, Stacyville,
                                                    T1 R6 WELS, T2 R8
                                                    WELS, T3 R7 WELS, T3
                                                    R8 WELS, T4 R7 WELS,
                                                    T4 R8 WELS, T5 R7
                                                    WELS, T5 R8 WELS, T6
                                                    R6 WELS, T6 R7 WELS,
                                                    T6 R8 WELS, T7 R6
                                                    WELS, T7 R7 WELS, T7
                                                    R8 WELS, T8 R6 WELS,
                                                    T8 R7 WELS, T8 R8
                                                    WELS.
                                Piscataquis......  Mount Katahdin Twp,
                                                    Nesourdnahunk Twp,
                                                    Trout Brook Twp, T3
                                                    R10 WELS, T4 R10
                                                    WELS, T4 R9 WELS, T5
                                                    R11 WELS, T5 R9
                                                    WELS, T6 R10 WELS,
                                                    T6 R11 WELS, T7 R10
                                                    WELS, T7 R11 WELS,
                                                    T7 R12 WELS, T7 R9
                                                    WELS.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mattawamkeag..................  Aroostook........  Amity, Bancroft,
                                                    Benedicta Twp,
                                                    Crystal, Dudley Twp,
                                                    Dyer Brook,
                                                    Forkstown Twp, Moro
                                                    Plt, North Yarmouth
                                                    Academy Grant Twp,
                                                    Oakfield, Orient,
                                                    Reed Plt, Sherman,
                                                    Silver Ridge Twp,
                                                    Smyrna, Upper
                                                    Molunkus Twp,
                                                    Webbertown Twp,
                                                    Weston, T1 R5 WELS,
                                                    T2 R4 WELS, T3 R3
                                                    WELS, T3 R4 WELS, T4
                                                    R3 WELS, T7 R5 WELS,
                                                    TA R2 WELS.
                                Penobscot........  Carroll Plt, Drew
                                                    Plt, Herseytown Plt,
                                                    Kingman Twp, Lee,
                                                    Lincoln,
                                                    Mattawamkeag, Mount
                                                    Chase, Patten,
                                                    Prentiss Twp T7 R3
                                                    NBPP, Springfield,
                                                    Stacyville, Webster
                                                    Plt, Winn, T1 R6
                                                    WELS, T4 R7 WELS, T6
                                                    R6 WELS.
                                Washington.......  T8 R3 NBPP, T8 R4
                                                    NBPP.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Penobscot.....................  Aroostook........  Benedicta TWP,
                                                    Molunkus Twp,
                                                    Sherman, T1 R5 WELS.
                                Hancock..........  Amherst, Blue Hill,
                                                    Bucksport, Castine,
                                                    Dedham, Great Pond,
                                                    Oqiton Twp, Orland,
                                                    Penobscot, Surry,
                                                    Verona Island, T3
                                                    ND, T32 MD, T34 MD,
                                                    T35 MD, T39 MD, T40
                                                    MD, T41 MD.

[[Page 29335]]

 
                                Penobscot........  Alton, Argyle Twp,
                                                    Bangor, Brewer,
                                                    Burlington, Carmel,
                                                    Charleston, Chester,
                                                    Clifton, Corinna,
                                                    Corinth, Dexter,
                                                    Dixmont, Eddington,
                                                    Edinburg, Enfield,
                                                    Etna, Exeter,
                                                    Garland, Glenburn,
                                                    Grand Falls Twp,
                                                    Hampden, Hermon,
                                                    Herseytown Twp,
                                                    Holden, Howland,
                                                    Hudson, Indian
                                                    Island, Kenduskeag,
                                                    Lagrange, Lakeville,
                                                    Lee, Levant,
                                                    Lincoln, Lowell,
                                                    Mattamiscontis Twp,
                                                    Mattawamkeag,
                                                    Maxfield, Medway,
                                                    Milford, Newburgh,
                                                    Newport, Old Town,
                                                    Orono, Orrington,
                                                    Passadumkeag,
                                                    Plymouth, Seboeis
                                                    Plt, Springfield,
                                                    Stacyville, Stetson,
                                                    Summit Twp, Veazie,
                                                    Winn, Woodville T1
                                                    R6 WELS, T2 R8 NWP,
                                                    T2 R9 NWP, T3 R1
                                                    NBPP, T3 R9 NWP, TA
                                                    R7 WELS.
                                Piscataquis......  Medford.
                                Waldo............  Brooks, Frankfort,
                                                    Jackson, Knox,
                                                    Monroe, Montville,
                                                    Prospect, Searsport,
                                                    Stockton Springs,
                                                    Swanville,
                                                    Thorndike, Waldo,
                                                    Winterport.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Penobscot Bay.................  Waldo............  Belfast, Belmont,
                                                    Brooks, Frankfort,
                                                    Knox, Lincolnville,
                                                    Monroe, Montville,
                                                    Morrill, Northport,
                                                    Searsmont,
                                                    Searsport,
                                                    Swanville, Waldo.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (iii) Counties and towns partially or entirely within areas 
containing critical habitat in the Merrymeeting Bay SHRU:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
           Sub-basin                  County                Town
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lower Androscoggin............  Androscoggin.....  Auburn, Durham,
                                                    Greene, Leeds,
                                                    Lewiston, Lisbon,
                                                    Sabattus, Wales.
                                Cumberland.......  Brunswick, Freeport.
                                Kennebec.........  Litchfield, Monmouth
                                Sagadahoc........  Bath, Bowdoin,
                                                    Bowdoinham,
                                                    Richmond, Topsham.
Merrymeeting Bay..............  Androscoggin.....  Livermore Falls.
                                Franklin.........  Avon, Carthage,
                                                    Chesterville,
                                                    Farmington, Freeman
                                                    Twp, Industry, Jay,
                                                    Madrid Twp, Mount
                                                    Abram Twp, New
                                                    Sharon, New
                                                    Vineyard, Perkins
                                                    TWP, Phillips,
                                                    Redington Twp, Salem
                                                    Twp, Sandy River
                                                    Plt, Strong, Temple,
                                                    Township 6 North of
                                                    Weld, Township E,
                                                    Washington Twp,
                                                    Weld, Wilton.
                                Kennebec.........  Augusta, Benton,
                                                    Chelsea, China,
                                                    Clinton,
                                                    Farmingdale,
                                                    Fayette, Gardiner,
                                                    Hallowell,
                                                    Manchester, Oakland,
                                                    Pittston, Randolph,
                                                    Rome, Sidney,
                                                    Vassalboro, Vienna,
                                                    Waterville, West
                                                    Gardiner, Windsor,
                                                    Winslow.
                                Lincoln..........  Alna, Dresden,
                                                    Whitefield,
                                                    Wiscasset.
                                Sagadahoc........  Bowdoinham, Perkins
                                                    Twp Swan Island,
                                                    Richmond, Woolwich.
                                Somerset.........  Anson, Athens,
                                                    Bingham, Brighton
                                                    Plt, Canaan,
                                                    Cornville,
                                                    Fairfield, Hartland,
                                                    Madison, Mayfield
                                                    Twp, Mercer,
                                                    Norridgewock,
                                                    Pittsfield,
                                                    Skowhegan,
                                                    Smithfield, Solon,
                                                    Starks.
Coastal Drainages East of       Cumberland.......  Brunswick.
 Small Point.
                                Kennebec.........  Albion, Pittston,
                                                    Windsor.
                                Knox.............  Appleton, Camdem,
                                                    Cushing, Friendship,
                                                    Hope, Rockland,
                                                    Rockport, Saint
                                                    George, South
                                                    Thomaston,
                                                    Thomaston, Union,
                                                    Warren, Washington.
                                Lincoln..........  Alna, Boothbay,
                                                    Boothbay Harbor,
                                                    Bremen, Briston,
                                                    Dresden, Edgecomb,
                                                    Hibberts Gore,
                                                    Jefferson,
                                                    Newcastle,
                                                    Nobleboro,
                                                    Somerville,
                                                    Southport,
                                                    Waldoboro, Westport
                                                    Island, Whitefield,
                                                    Wiscasset.
                                Sagadahoc........  Arrowsic, Bath,
                                                    Bowdoinham,
                                                    Georgetown,
                                                    Phippsburg, West
                                                    Bath, Woolwich.
                                Waldo............  Belmont, Freedom,
                                                    Liberty,
                                                    Lincolnville,
                                                    Montville, Morrill,
                                                    Palermo, Searsmont.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (2) Critical habitat boundaries. Critical habitat includes the 
stream channels within the designated stream reaches, and includes a 
lateral extent as defined by the ordinary high-water line (33 CFR 
329.11). In areas where the ordinary high-water line has not been 
defined, the lateral extent will be defined by the bankfull elevation. 
Bankfull elevation is the level at which water begins to leave the 
channel and move into the floodplain and is reached at a discharge 
which generally has a recurrence interval of 1 to 2 years on an annual 
flood series. Critical habitat in estuaries is defined by the perimeter 
of the water body as displayed on standard 1:24,000 scale topographic 
maps or the elevation of extreme high water, whichever is greater.
BILLING CODE 2510-22-P

[[Page 29336]]

[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TR19JN09.001

    (i) HUC 10 watersheds in the Penobscot Bay SHRU analyzed for 
critical habitat, those that meet the criteria for critical habitat, 
and those excluded under ESA section 4(b)(2):

[[Page 29337]]



----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                  Economic (E),
                                                                                                  Military (M),
  Penobscot  Bay SHRU     HUC 10 code            HUC 10 name                    Status            or Tribal (T)
                                                                                                    exclusions
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.....................      0102000101  North Branch Penobscot River.
2.....................      0102000102  Seeboomook Lake..............
3.....................      0102000103  WEST Branch Penobscot River
                                         at Chesuncook Lake.
4.....................      0102000104  Caucomgomok Lake.............
5.....................      0102000105  Chesuncook Lake..............
6.....................      0102000106  Nesowadnehunk Stream.........
7.....................      0102000107  Nahamakanta Stream...........
8.....................      0102000108  Jo-Mary Lake.................
9.....................      0102000109  West Branch Penobscot River
                                         (3).
10....................      0102000110  West Branch Penobscot River
                                         (4).
11....................      0102000201  Webster Brook................
12....................      0102000202  Grand Lake Matagamon.........  Critical Habitat........
13....................      0102000203  East Branch Penobscot River    Critical Habitat........
                                         (2).
14....................      0102000204  Seboeis River................  Critical Habitat........
15....................      0102000205  East Branch Penobscot River    Critical Habitat........
                                         (3).
16....................      0102000301  West Branch Mattawamkeag       Critical Habitat........
                                         River.
17....................      0102000302  East Branch Mattawamkeag       Critical Habitat........
                                         River.
18....................      0102000303  Mattawamkeag River (1).......  Critical Habitat........
19....................      0102000304  Baskahegan Stream............
20....................      0102000305  Mattawamkeag River (2).......  Critical Habitat........
21....................      0102000306  Molunkus Stream..............  Critical Habitat........               E
22....................      0102000307  Mattawamkeag River (3).......  Critical Habitat........
23....................      0102000401  Piscataquis River (1)........  Critical Habitat........
24....................      0102000402  Piscataquis River (3)........  Critical Habitat........
25....................      0102000403  Sebec River..................
26....................      0102000404  Pleasant River...............  Critical Habitat........
27....................      0102000405  Seboeis Stream...............  Critical Habitat........               T
28....................      0102000406  Piscataquis River (4)........  Critical Habitat........
29....................      0102000501  Penobscot River (1) at         Critical Habitat........
                                         Mattawamkeag.
30....................      0102000502  Penobscot River (2) at West    Critical Habitat........               T
                                         Enfield.
31....................      0102000503  Passadumkeag River...........  Critical Habitat........               E
32....................      0102000505  Sunkhaze Stream..............  Critical Habitat........
33....................      0102000506  Penobscot River (3) at Orson   Critical Habitat........
                                         Island.
34....................      0102000507  Birch Stream.................  Critical Habitat........
35....................      0102000508  Pushaw Stream................
36....................      0102000509  Penobscot River (4) at Veazie  Critical Habitat........
                                         Dam.
37....................      0102000510  Kenduskeag Stream............  Critical Habitat........
38....................      0102000511  Souadabscook Stream..........  Critical Habitat........
39....................      0102000512  Marsh River..................  Critical Habitat........
40....................      0102000513  Penobscot River (6)..........  Critical Habitat........
92....................      0105000216  Bagaduce River...............
93....................      0105000217  Stonington Coastal...........
94....................      0105000218  Belfast Bay..................  Critical Habitat........
105...................      0105000219  Ducktrap River...............  Critical Habitat........
103...................      0102000504  Olamon Stream................
95....................      0105000220  West Penobscot Bay Coastal...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (ii) HUC 10 watersheds in the Merrymeeting Bay SHRU analyzed for 
critical habitat, those that meet the criteria for critical habitat, 
and those excluded under ESA section 4(b)(2):

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                   Military (M)
 Merrymeeting Bay SHRU    HUC 10 code            HUC 10 name                    Status              exclusions
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
41....................      0103000101  South Branch Moose River.....
42....................      0103000102  Moose River (2) above Attean
                                         Pond.
43....................      0103000103  Moose River (3) at Long Pond.
44....................      0103000104  Brassua Lake.................
45....................      0103000105  Moosehead Lake...............
46....................      0103000106  Kennebec River (2) above The
                                         Forks.
47....................      0103000201  North Branch Dead River......
48....................      0103000202  South Branch Dead River......
49....................      0103000203  Flagstaff Lake...............
50....................      0103000204  Dead River...................
51....................      0103000301  Kennebec River (4) at Wyman
                                         Dam.
52....................      0103000302  Austin Stream................
53....................      0103000303  Kennebec River (6)...........
54....................      0103000304  Carrabassett River...........
55....................      0103000305  Sandy River..................  Critical Habitat........               M

[[Page 29338]]

 
56....................      0103000306  Kennebec River at Waterville   Critical Habitat........
                                         Dam.
57....................      0103000307  Sebasticook River at
                                         Pittsfield.
58....................      0103000308  Sebasticook River (3) at
                                         Burnham.
59....................      0103000309  Sebasticook River (4) at
                                         Winslow.
60....................      0103000310  Messalonskee Stream..........
61....................      0103000311  Cobbosseecontee Stream.......
62....................      0103000312  Kennebec River at              Critical Habitat........
                                         Merrymeeting Bay.
63....................      0104000101  Mooselookmeguntic Lake.......
64....................      0104000102  Umbagog Lake Drainage........
65....................      0104000103  Aziscohos Lake Drainage......
66....................      0104000104  Magalloway River.............
67....................      0104000105  Clear Stream.................
68....................      0104000106  Middle Androscoggin River....
69....................      0104000201  Gorham-Shelburne Tributaries.
70....................      0104000202  Androscoggin River (2) at
                                         Rumford Point.
71....................      0104000203  Ellis River..................
72....................      0104000204  Ellis River..................
73....................      0104000205  Androscoggin River (3) above
                                         Webb River.
74....................      0104000206  Androscoggin River (4) at
                                         Riley Dam.
75....................      0104000207  Androscoggin River (5) at
                                         Nezinscot River.
76....................      0104000208  Nezinscot River..............
77....................      0104000209  Androscoggin River (6) above
                                         Little Androscoggin River.
78....................      0104000210  Little Androscoggin River....  Critical Habitat........               M
96....................      0105000301  St. George River.............  Critical Habitat........
97....................      0105000302  Medomak River................  Critical Habitat........
98....................      0105000303  Johns Bay....................
99....................      0105000304  Damariscotta River...........
100...................      0105000305  Sheepscot River..............  Critical Habitat........
101...................      0105000306  Sheepscot Bay................  Critical Habitat........
102...................      0105000307  Kennebec River Estuary.......  Critical Habitat........               M
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (iii) HUC 10 watersheds in the Downeast Coastal SHRU analyzed for 
critical habitat, and those that meet the criteria for critical 
habitat, and those excluded under ESA section 4(b)(2):

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                    Tribal (T)
     Downeast SHRU        HUC 10 code            HUC 10 name                    Status              exclusions
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
79....................      0105000201  Dennys River.................  Critical Habitat........
80....................      0105000203  Grand Manan Channel..........  Critical Habitat........
81....................      0105000204  East Machias River...........  Critical Habitat........               T
82....................      0105000205  Machias River................  Critical Habitat........
83....................      0105000206  Roque Bluffs Coastal.........  Critical Habitat........
84....................      0105000208  Pleasant River...............  Critical Habitat........
85....................      0105000209  Narraguagus River............  Critical Habitat........
86....................      0105000210  Tunk Stream..................  Critical Habitat........
87....................      0105000211  Bois Bubert Coasta...........
88....................      0105000212  Graham Lake..................  Critical Habitat........
89....................      0105000213  Union River Bay..............  Critical Habitat........
90....................      0105000214  Lamoine Coastal..............
91....................      0105000215  Mt. Desert Coastal...........
104...................      0105000207  Chandler River...............  Critical Habitat........
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (3) Primary constituent elements. Within the GOM DPS, the primary 
constituent elements (PCEs) for the conservation of Atlantic salmon 
include sites for spawning and incubation, sites for juvenile rearing, 
and sites for migration. The physical and biological features of the 
habitat that are essential to the conservation of Atlantic salmon are 
those features that allow Atlantic salmon to successfully use sites for 
spawning and rearing and sites for migration. These features include:
    (i) Deep, oxygenated pools and cover (e.g., boulders, woody debris, 
vegetation, etc.), near freshwater spawning sites, necessary to support 
adult migrants during the summer while they await spawning in the fall;
    (ii) Freshwater spawning sites that contain clean, permeable gravel 
and cobble substrate with oxygenated water and cool water temperatures 
to support spawning activity, egg incubation and larval development;
    (iii) Freshwater spawning and rearing sites with clean gravel in 
the presence of cool, oxygenated water and diverse substrate to support 
emergence, territorial development, and feeding activities of Atlantic 
salmon fry;
    (iv) Freshwater rearing sites with space to accommodate growth and 
survival of Atlantic salmon parr, and population densities needed to 
support sustainable populations;
    (v) Freshwater rearing sites with a combination of river, stream, 
and lake habitats, that accommodate parr's ability to occupy many 
niches and to maximize parr production;

[[Page 29339]]

    (vi) Freshwater rearing sites with cool, oxygenated water to 
support growth and survival of Atlantic salmon parr;
    (vii) Freshwater rearing sites with diverse food resources to 
support growth and survival of Atlantic salmon parr;
    (viii) Freshwater and estuary migratory sites free from physical 
and biological barriers that delay or prevent access to spawning 
grounds needed to support a recovered population;
    (ix) Freshwater and estuary migration sites with abundant, diverse 
native fish communities to serve as a protective buffer against 
predation;
    (x) Freshwater and estuary migration sites free from physical and 
biological barriers that delay or prevent emigration of smolts to the 
marine environment;
    (xi) Freshwater and estuary migration sites with sufficiently cool 
water temperatures and water flows that coincide with diurnal cues to 
stimulate smolt migration;
    (xii) Freshwater migration sites with water chemistry needed to 
support sea water adaptation of smolts; and
    (xiii) Freshwater and marine sites with diverse, abundant 
assemblages of native fish communities to enhance survivorship as 
Atlantic salmon smolts emigrating through the estuary.
    (4) Exclusion of Indian lands. Critical habitat does not include 
occupied habitat areas on Passamaquoddy Tribal Indian lands within the 
range of the GOM DPS. Critical habitat does include occupied habitat on 
Penobscot Tribal lands within the range of the GOM DPS. The Indian 
lands specifically excluded from critical habitat are those defined in 
the Secretarial Order 3206, including:
    (i) Lands held in trust by the United States for the benefit of any 
Indian Tribe;
    (ii) Lands held in trust by the United States for the benefit of 
any Indian Tribe or individual subject to restrictions by the United 
States against alienation;
    (iii) Fee lands, either within or outside the reservation 
boundaries, owned by the tribal government; and
    (iv) Fee lands within the reservation boundaries owned by 
individual Indians. We have determined that the rivers, streams, lakes, 
and estuaries of 9,571 acres (38.7 sq km) of tribal land within the 
areas occupied by the GOM DPS are excluded from critical habitat 
designation based on the principles of the Secretarial Order discussed 
above. Per request of the Penobscot Nation, 55,180 acres (223 sq km) of 
the Penobscot Nation lands are included as critical habitat.
    (5) Areas that do not meet the definition of critical habitat under 
section 4(a)(3)(B)(i). Critical habitat does not include the following 
areas owned or controlled by the Department of Defense, or designated 
for its use, that are subject to an integrated natural resources 
management plan prepared under section 101 of the Sikes Act (16 U.S.C. 
670a). These areas that are not included are:
    (i) The 435 acres (1.8 sq km) of the Brunswick Naval Air Station in 
Brunswick Maine within the Little Androscoggin HUC 10 watershed in the 
Merrymeeting Bay SHRU; and
    (ii) The 5,328 acres (21.5 sq km) of the Brunswick Naval Air 
Stations cold weather survival, evasion, resistance, and escape school 
within the Sandy River HUC 10 watershed in the Merrymeeting Bay SHRU.
    (6) Areas excluded under ESA Section 4(b)(2). (i) The 396 acres 
(1.6 sq km) of the Great Pond Outdoor Adventure Center in the Graham 
Lake HUC 10 watershed in the Downeast Coastal SHRU;
    (ii) The 3,000 acres (12.1 sq km) of the Naval Computer and 
Telecommunications Area Master Station Atlantic Detachment in the 
Roques Bluffs Coastal HUC 10 in the Downeast Coastal SHRU;
    (iii) The Bath Iron Works ship building facility that provides the 
design, building, and support of complex Navy warships, including AEGIS 
Class Destroyers. The excluded area extends from U.S. Route 1 bridge 
over the Kennebec River down river to 50 feet below the south side of 
BIWs dry dock, but does not include any portion of Hanson Bay or the 
thoroughfare between Hanson Bay and the Kennebec River. The specific 
area excluded from designation lies within a box between four points 
with the following coordinates: Point 1: N43 54'39.8'', W069 48'43.5''; 
Point 2: N43 54'40'', W069 48'17.8''; Point 3: N43 54'0.0'', W069 
48'47''; Point 4: N43 54'0.0'', W069 48'28'';
    (iv) The Belfast Bay HUC 10 Watershed (HUC 105000218);
    (v) The Passadumkeag River HUC 10 Watershed (HUC 102000503); and
    (vi) The Molunkus Stream HUC 10 Watershed (HUC102000306).
    (7) Description of critical habitat. Critical habitat is designated 
to include the areas defined in the following hydrological units in the 
three SHRUs with the exception of those particular areas specifically 
identified:
    (i) Downeast Coastal SHRU. Critical habitat area (in sq km), areas 
excluded under ESA section 4(b)(2) (in sq km), and exclusion type, by 
HUC 10 watersheds:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                          Critical habitat       Excluded areas [type]*
                                                                                                     ---------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                         River,                    River,
                    Sub-basin                       HUC 10 code          HUC 10 watershed name         stream and   Lake  (sq.   stream and   Lake  (sq.
                                                                                                        estuary        km)        estuary        km)
                                                                                                          (km)                      (km)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Coastal Washington Hancock sub-basin............      0105000201  Dennys River......................          218           45
                                                      0105000203  Grand Manan Channel...............          641         15.5
                                                      0105000204  East Machias River................          575           70       16 [T]      0.1 [T]
                                                      0105000205  Machias River.....................          991           58
                                                      0105000206  Roque Bluffs Coastal..............          321           .9        13(M)      .004(M)
                                                      0105000207  Chandler River....................          154          0.1
                                                      0105000208  Pleasant River....................          325          6.5
                                                      0105000209  Narraguagus River.................          573         15.5
                                                      0105000210  Tunk Stream.......................          117           14
                                                      0105000212  Graham Lake.......................          974          121       2.3(M)        .2(M)
                                                      0105000213  Union River Bay...................          303           18
                                                      0105000211  Bois Bubert Coastal...............
                                                      0105000214  Lamoine Coastal...................
                                                      0105000215  Mt. Desert Coastal................
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Exclusion types: [E] = Economic, [M] = Military, and [T] = Tribal--considered unoccupied at the time of listing.


[[Page 29340]]

    (ii) Penobscot Bay SHRU. Critical habitat area (in sq km), areas 
excluded under ESA section 4(b)(2) (in sq km), and exclusion type, by 
HUC 10 watersheds:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                          Critical habitat       Excluded Areas [Type]*
                                                                                                     ---------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                         River,                    River,
                    Sub-basin                       HUC 10 code          HUC 10 watershed name         stream and   Lake  (sq.   stream and   Lake  (sq.
                                                                                                        estuary        km)        estuary        km)
                                                                                                          (km)                      (km)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
East Branch Penobscot sub-basin.................      0102000202  Grand Lake Matagamon..............          326           30
                                                      0102000203  East Branch Penobscot River (2)...          179            3
                                                      0102000204  Seboeis River.....................          418           31
                                                      0102000205  East Branch Penobscot River (3)...          588            5
                                                      0102000201  Webster Brook.....................
West Branch Penobscot sub-basin.................      0102000101  North Branch Penobscot River......
                                                      0102000102  Seeboomook Lake...................
                                                      0102000103  W. Br. Penobscot R. at Chesuncook.
                                                      0102000104  Caucomgomok Lake..................
                                                      0102000105  Chesuncook Lake...................
                                                      0102000106  Nesowadnehunk Stream..............
                                                      0102000107  Nahamakanta Stream................
                                                      0102000108  Jo-Mary Lake......................
                                                      0102000109  West Branch Penobscot River (3)...
                                                      0102000110  West Branch Penobscot River (4)...
Mattawamkeag River sub-basin....................      0102000301  West Branch Mattawamkeag River....          657           22
                                                      0102000302  East Branch Mattawamkeag River....          315           12
                                                      0102000303  Mattawamkeag River (1)............          192          0.5
                                                      0102000305  Mattawamkeag River (2)............          451            8
                                                      0102000307  Mattawamkeag River (3)............          226            3
                                                      0102000306  Molunkus Stream...................            0            0      438 [E]       11 [E]
                                                      0102000304  Baskahegan Stream.................
Piscataquis River sub-basin.....................      0102000401  Piscataquis River (1).............          762           15
                                                      0102000402  Piscataquis River (3).............          382            6
                                                      0102000404  Pleasant River....................          828           17
                                                      0102000405  Seboeis Stream....................          312           36      8.2 [T]     0.03 [T]
                                                      0102000406  Piscataquis River (4).............          328           30
                                                      0102000403  Sebec River.......................
Penobscot River sub-basin.......................      0102000501  Penobscot River (1) at                      292            7
                                                                   Mattawamkeag.
                                                      0102000502  Penobscot River (2) at West                 551           29        3 [T]
                                                                   Enfield.
                                                      0102000503  Passadumkeag River................            0            0      583 [E]       79 [E]
                                                      0102000505  Sunkhaze Stream...................          177          0.5
                                                      0102000506  Penobscot River (3) at Orson                211          0.5
                                                                   Island.
                                                      0102000507  Birch Stream......................          120            1
                                                      0102000509  Penobscot River (4) at Veazie Dam.          225           10
                                                      0102000510  Kenduskeag Stream.................          420          1.5
                                                      0102000511  Souadabscook Stream...............          341          5.5
                                                      0102000512  Marsh River.......................          319            3
                                                      0102000513  Penobscot River (6)...............          514           29
                                                      0102000504  Olamon Stream.....................
                                                      0102000508  Pushaw Stream.....................
Penobscot Bay sub-basin.........................      0105000218  Belfast Bay.......................  ...........  ...........      177 [E]        9 [E]
                                                      0105000219  Ducktrap River....................           76            4
                                                      0105000216  Bagaduce River....................
                                                      0105000217  Stonington Coastal................
                                                      0105000220  West Penobscot Bay Coastal........
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Exclusion types: [E] = Economic, [M] = Military, and [T] = Tribal--considered unoccupied at the time of listing.

    (iii) Merrymeeting Bay SHRU. Critical habitat area (in sq km), 
areas excluded under ESA section 4(b)(2) (in sq km), and exclusion 
type, by HUC 10 watershed:

[[Page 29341]]



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                          Critical habitat       Excluded areas [type] *
                                                                                                     ---------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                         River,                    River,
                    Sub basin                       HUC 10 code          HUC 10 watershed name         stream and   Lake  (sq.   stream and   Lake  (sq.
                                                                                                        estuary        km)        estuary        km)
                                                                                                          (km)                      (km)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kennebec River above the Forks sub-basin........      0103000101  South Branch Moose River..........
                                                      0103000102  Moose River (2) above Attean Pond.
                                                      0103000103  Moose River (3) at Long Pond......
                                                      0103000104  Brassua Lake......................
                                                      0103000105  Moosehead Lake....................
                                                      0103000106  Kennebec River (2) above The Forks
Dead River sub-basin............................      0103000201  North Branch Dead River...........
                                                      0103000202  South Branch Dead River...........
                                                      0103000203  Flagstaff Lake....................
                                                      0103000204  Dead River........................
Merrymeeting Bay sub-basin......................      0103000305  Sandy River.......................        1,215         15.8       12 [M]      0.2 [M]
                                                      0103000306  Kennebec River at Waterville Dam..          794           14
                                                      0103000312  Kennebec River at Merrymeeting Bay          621           22
                                                      0103000310  Messalonskee Stream...............
                                                      0103000301  Kennebec River (4) at Wyman Dam...
                                                      0103000302  Austin Stream.....................
                                                      0103000303  Kennebec River (6)................
                                                      0103000304  Carrabassett River................
                                                      0103000307  Sebasticook River at Pittsfield...
                                                      0103000308  Sebasticook River (3) at Burnham..
                                                      0103000309  Sebasticook River (4) at Winslow..
                                                      0103000311  Cobbosseecontee Stream............
Upper Androscoggin sub-basin....................      0104000101  Mooselookmeguntic Lake............
                                                      0104000102  Umbagog Lake Drainage.............
                                                      0104000103  Aziscohos Lake Drainage...........
                                                      0104000104  Magalloway River..................
                                                      0104000105  Clear Stream......................
                                                      0104000106  Middle Androscoggin River.........
Lower Androscoggin sub-basin....................      0104000210  Little Androscoggin River.........          549         10.5        1 [M]
                                                      0104000201  Gorham-Shelburne Tributaries......
                                                      0104000202  Androscoggin River at Rumford
                                                                   Point.
                                                      0104000203  Ellis River.......................
                                                      0104000204  Ellis River.......................
                                                      0104000205  Androscoggin River above Webb
                                                                   River.
                                                      0104000206  Androscoggin River at Riley Dam...
                                                      0104000207  Androscoggin River at Nezinscot
                                                                   River.
                                                      0104000208  Nezinscot River...................
                                                      0104000209  Androscoggin R. above L. Andro. R.
Coastal Drainages East of Small Point sub-basin.      0105000301  St. George River..................          624           32
                                                      0105000302  Medomak River.....................          318            6
                                                      0105000305  Sheepscot River...................          553           19
                                                      0105000306  Sheepscot Bay.....................          220            2
                                                      0105000307  Kennebec River Estuary............          275          3.5        1 [M]
                                                      0105000303  Johns Bay.........................
                                                      0105000304  Damariscotta River................
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Exclusion types: [E] = Economic, [M] = Military, and [T] = Tribal--considered unoccupied at the time of listing.

[FR Doc. E9-14268 Filed 6-18-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 2510-22-P