[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 170 (Thursday, September 1, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 54423-54425]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-22372]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Part 17

[Docket No. FWS-R9-ES-2010-0086; MO 92210-1111F113 B6]


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 90-Day Finding on 
a Petition To List All Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) as Endangered

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of petition finding and initiation of status review.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announce a 90-day 
finding on a petition to list all chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) as 
endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). 
Based on our review, we find that the petition presents substantial 
scientific or commercial information indicating that listing all 
chimpanzees as endangered may be warranted. Therefore, with the 
publication of this notice, we are initiating a review of the status of 
the species to determine if listing the entire species as endangered is 
warranted. To ensure that this status review is comprehensive, we are 
requesting scientific and commercial data and other information 
regarding this species. Based on the status review, we will issue a 12-
month finding on the petition, which will address whether the 
petitioned action is warranted, as provided in section 4(b)(3)(B) of 
the Act.

DATES: To allow us adequate time to conduct this review, we request 
that we receive information on or before October 31, 2011.

ADDRESSES: You may submit information by one of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Search for Docket No. FWS-R9-ES-2010-0086 and then follow the 
instructions for submitting comments.
     U.S. mail or hand-delivery: Public Comments Processing, 
Attn: FWS-R9-IA-2008-0123; Division of Policy and Directives 
Management; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; 4401 N. Fairfax Drive, MS 
2042-PDM; Arlington, VA 22203.
    We will post all information received on http://www.regulations.gov. This generally means that we will post any 
personal information you provide us (see the Information Solicited 
section below for more details).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Janine Van Norman, Chief, Branch of 
Foreign Species, Endangered Species Program, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service, 4401 N. Fairfax Drive, Room 420, Arlington, VA 22203; 
telephone 703-358-2171; facsimile 703-358-1735. If you use a 
telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), please call the Federal 
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Information Solicited

    Under the Act, when we make a finding that a petition presents 
substantial information indicating that listing a species may be 
warranted, we are required to promptly review the status of the 
species. To ensure that our status review of the chimpanzee is complete 
and based on the best available scientific and commercial information, 
we need certain information. We request scientific and commercial 
information from the public, concerned governmental agencies, the 
scientific community, industry, or any other interested parties on the 
status of the chimpanzee throughout its range, including but not 
limited to:
    (1) Information on taxonomy, distribution, habitat selection, diet, 
and population abundance and trends of this species.
    (2) Information on the effects of habitat loss and changing land 
uses on the distribution and abundance of this species and its 
principal food sources over the short and long term.
    (3) Information on whether changing climatic conditions are 
affecting the species, its habitat, or its prey base.
    (4) Information on the effects of other potential threat factors, 
including live capture and collection, domestic and international 
trade, predation by other animals, and diseases of this species.
    (5) Information on management programs for chimpanzee conservation, 
including mitigation measures related to conservation programs, and any 
other private or governmental conservation programs that benefit this 
species.
    (6) Information relevant to whether any populations of this species 
may qualify as distinct population segments.
    (7) Information on captive breeding and domestic trade of this 
species in the United States.
    (8) Genetics and taxonomy.
    (9) The factors that are the basis for making a listing 
determination for a species under section 4(a) of the Endangered 
Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act) (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), which 
are:
    (a) The present or threatened destruction, modification, or 
curtailment of its habitat or range;

[[Page 54424]]

    (b) Overutilization for commercial, recreational, scientific, or 
educational purposes;
    (c) Disease or predation;
    (d) The inadequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms; or
    (e) Other natural or manmade factors affecting its continued 
existence.
    Please include sufficient information with your submission (such as 
scientific journal articles or other publications) to allow us to 
verify any scientific or commercial information you include.
    We will base our status review on the best scientific and 
commercial information available, including all information we receive 
during the public comment period. Please note that comments merely 
stating support for or opposition to the action under consideration 
without providing supporting information, although noted, will not be 
part of the basis of this determination, as section 4(b)(1)(A) of the 
Act directs that determinations as to whether any species is an 
endangered or threatened species must be made ``solely on the basis of 
the best scientific and commercial data available.'' At the conclusion 
of the status review, we will issue the 12-month finding on the 
petition, as provided in section 4(b)(3)(B) of the Act.
    You may submit your information concerning this status review by 
one of the methods listed in the ADDRESSES section. If you submit 
information via http://www.regulations.gov, your entire submission--
including any personal identifying information--will be posted on the 
Web site. If you submit a hardcopy that includes personal identifying 
information, you may request at the top of your document that we 
withhold this personal identifying information from public review. 
However, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. We will 
post all hardcopy submissions on http://www.regulations.gov.
    Information and materials we receive, as well as supporting 
documentation we used in preparing this finding, will be available for 
public inspection on http://www.regulations.gov, or by appointment, 
during normal business hours at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 
Endangered Species Program, Branch of Foreign Species (see FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT).

Background

    Section 4(b)(3)(A) of the Act requires that we make a finding on 
whether a petition to list, delist, or reclassify a species presents 
substantial scientific or commercial information to indicate that the 
petitioned action may be warranted. We are to base this finding on 
information provided in the petition, supporting information submitted 
with the petition, and information otherwise available in our files. To 
the maximum extent practicable, we are to make this finding within 90 
days of our receipt of the petition and publish our notice of the 
finding promptly in the Federal Register.
    Our standard for substantial information within the Code of Federal 
Regulations (CFR) with regard to a 90-day petition finding is ``that 
amount of information that would lead a reasonable person to believe 
that the measure proposed in the petition may be warranted'' (50 CFR 
424.14(b)). If we find that substantial scientific or commercial 
information was presented, we are required to promptly review the 
status of the species, which is subsequently summarized in our status 
review (also referred to as a 12-month finding).

Petition History

    On March 16, 2010, we received a petition dated the same day, from 
Meyer Glitzenstein & Crystal on behalf of The Humane Society of the 
United States, the American Association of Zoological Parks and 
Aquariums, the Jane Goodall Institute, the Wildlife Conservation 
Society, the Pan African Sanctuary Alliance, the Fund for Animals, 
Humane Society International, and the New England Anti-Vivisection 
Society (hereafter referred to as ``petitioners'') requesting that 
captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) be reclassified as endangered 
under the Act. The petition clearly identified itself as such and 
included the requisite identification information for the petitioners, 
as required by 50 CFR 424.14(a). The petition contained information on 
what the petitioners reported as potential threats to the species from 
habitat loss, poaching and trafficking, disease, and inadequate 
regulatory mechanisms. In a September 15, 2010, letter to Katherine 
Meyer, we responded that we were currently required to complete a 
significant number of listing and critical habitat actions in fiscal 
year 2010, including complying with court orders and court-approved 
settlement agreements, listing actions with absolute statutory 
deadlines, and high-priority listing actions, that required nearly all 
of our listing and critical habitat funding for fiscal year 2010. We 
also stated that we anticipated making an initial finding during fiscal 
year 2011, as to whether the petition contained substantial information 
indicating that the action may be warranted.
    On October 12, 2010, we received a letter from Anna Frostic, Staff 
Attorney with the Humane Society of the United States, on behalf of the 
petitioners clarifying that the March 16, 2010, petition was a petition 
to list the entire species (Pan troglodytes) as endangered, whether in 
the wild or in captivity, pursuant to the Act. We acknowledged receipt 
of this letter in a letter to Ms. Frostic dated October 15, 2010. This 
finding addresses the petition.

Previous Federal Action(s)

    On October 19, 1976, we published in the Federal Register a rule 
listing the chimpanzee and 25 other species of primates under the Act 
(41 FR 45990); the chimpanzee and 13 of the other primate species were 
listed as threatened. The chimpanzee was found to be threatened based 
on (1) Commercial logging and clearing of forests for agriculture and 
the use of arboricides; (2) capture and exportation for use in research 
labs and zoos; (3) diseases, such as malaria, hepatitis, and 
tuberculosis contracted from humans; and (4) ineffectiveness of 
existing regulatory mechanisms. We simultaneously issued a special rule 
that the general prohibitions provided to the threatened species would 
apply except for live animals of these species held in captivity in the 
United States on the effective date of the rulemaking, progeny of such 
animals, or to the progeny of animals legally imported in the United 
States after the effective date of the rulemaking.
    On November 4, 1987, we received a petition from the Humane Society 
of the United States, World Wildlife Fund, and Jane Goodall Institute, 
requesting that the chimpanzee be reclassified from threatened to 
endangered. On March 23, 1988 (53 FR 9460), we published in the Federal 
Register a finding, in accordance with section 4(b)(3)(A) of the Act, 
that the petition had presented substantial information indicating that 
the requested reclassification may be warranted and initiated a status 
review. We opened a comment period, which closed July 21, 1988, to 
allow all interested parties to submit comments and information.
    On December 28, 1988 (53 FR 52452), we published in the Federal 
Register a finding that the requested reclassification was warranted 
with respect to chimpanzees in the wild. This decision was based on the 
petition and subsequent supporting comments which dealt primarily with 
the status of the species in the wild and not with the viability of 
captive populations. Furthermore, we found that the special rule 
exempting captive chimpanzees in the United States from the general 
prohibitions may encourage

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propagation, providing surplus animals and reducing the incentive to 
remove animals from the wild. On February 24, 1989 (54 FR 8152), we 
published in the Federal Register a proposed rule to implement such 
reclassification. We did not propose reclassification of captive 
chimpanzees. Following publication of the proposed rule, we opened a 
60-day comment period to allow all interested parties to submit 
comments and information.
    On March 12, 1990, we published in the Federal Register (55 FR 
9129) a final rule reclassifying the wild populations of the 
chimpanzees as endangered. The captive chimpanzees remained classified 
as threatened, and those within the United States continued to be 
covered by the special rule allowing activities otherwise prohibited.

Finding

    On the basis of information provided in the petition we find that 
the petition presents substantial scientific or commercial information 
indicating that listing the entire species of chimpanzee as endangered 
may be warranted. Therefore, we will initiate a status review to 
determine if listing the species in its entirety is warranted. To 
ensure that the status review is comprehensive, we are soliciting 
scientific and commercial information regarding this species (see 
Information Solicited).
    It is important to note that the ``substantial information'' 
standard for a 90-day finding is in contrast to the Act's ``best 
scientific and commercial data'' standard that applies to a 12-month 
finding as to whether a petitioned action is warranted. A 90-day 
finding is not a status assessment of the species and does not 
constitute a status review under the Act. Our final determination as to 
whether a petitioned action is warranted is not made until we have 
completed a thorough review of the status of the species, which is 
conducted following a substantial 90-day finding. Because the Act's 
standards for 90-day and 12-month findings are different, as described 
above, a substantial 90-day finding does not mean that the 12-month 
finding will result in a warranted finding.

Author

    The primary authors of this notice are the staff members of the 
Branch of Foreign Species (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).

Authority

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

    Dated: August 22, 2011.
Gregory E. Siekaniec,
Acting Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-22372 Filed 8-31-11; 8:45 am]
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