[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 108 (Tuesday, June 5, 2012)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 33100-33103]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-13421]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
50 CFR Part 17
[Docket No. FWS-R9-ES-2011-0095; MO 92210-0-0010 B6]
RIN 1018-AY31
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Technical
Correction for African Wild Ass
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Direct final rule.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announce the revised
taxonomy of Equus asinus (African wild ass) under the Endangered
Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). We are revising the List of
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife to reflect the current
scientifically accepted taxonomy and nomenclature of this species. We
revise the scientific name of this species as follows: Equus africanus
(formerly E. asinus).
DATES: This rule will become effective on August 6, 2012, without
further action, unless significant adverse comments are received by
July 5, 2012. If adverse comment is received, we will publish a timely
withdrawal of the rule in the Federal Register.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by one of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
U.S. mail or hand-delivery: Public Comments Processing,
Attn: FWS-R9-ES-2011-0095; 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 comments on http://www.regulations.gov. This
generally means that we will post any personal information you provide
us (see the Public Comments section below for more information).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Janine Van Norman, Branch Chief,
Foreign Species Branch, 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), call the Federal
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 800-877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Executive Summary
(1) Purpose of the Regulatory Action
We are revising the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife to
reflect the current scientifically accepted taxonomy and nomenclature
of the African wild ass. We revise the scientific name of this species
as follows: Equus africanus (formerly E. asinus).
(2) Major Provision of the Regulatory Action
This action is authorized by the Endangered Species Act of 1973
(Act), as amended. We are revising the entry for ``Ass, African wild''
under MAMMALS by, in the Scientific name column, removing the words
``Equus asinus'' and adding in their place the words ``Equus
africanus''.
(3) Costs and Benefits
This is a revised taxonomy action, and the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) has designated it as not significant. Therefore, we have
not analyzed the costs or benefits of this rulemaking action.
Purpose of Direct Final Rule
The purpose of this direct final rule is to notify the public that
we are revising the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife to
reflect the scientifically accepted taxonomy and nomenclature of the
African wild ass listed under section 4 of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et
seq.). This change to the List of Endangered and Threatened
[[Page 33101]]
Wildlife (at 50 CFR 17.11(h)) reflects the most recently accepted
scientific name in accordance with 50 CFR 17.11(b) and the
International Code of Zoological Nomenclature.
We are publishing this direct final rule without a prior proposal
because this is a noncontroversial action that does not alter the
regulatory protections afforded to this species. Rather, it will
differentiate the taxonomy of the African wild ass and the domesticated
burro and/or donkey. Therefore, in the best interest of the public, we
are taking this action in as timely a manner as possible, unless we
receive significant adverse comments on or before the comment due date
specified in the DATES section of this document. Significant adverse
comments are comments that provide strong justification as to why this
rule should not be adopted or why it should be changed. If we receive
significant adverse comments, we will publish a document in the Federal
Register withdrawing this rule before the effective date, and we will
engage in the normal rulemaking process to promulgate these changes to
50 CFR 17.11.
Public Comments
You may submit your comments and materials regarding this direct
final rule by one of the methods listed in the ADDRESSES section.
Please include sufficient information with your comments that allows us
to verify any scientific or commercial information you include. We will
not consider comments sent by email or fax, or to an address not listed
in the ADDRESSES section.
We will post all comments on http://www.regulations.gov. This
generally means that we will post any personal information that you
provide to us. Before including your address, phone number, email
address, or other personal information in your comment, you should be
aware that your entire comment--including your personal identifying
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be
able to do so.
Comments and materials we receive, as well as supporting
documentation we used in preparing this direct final rule, will be
available for public inspection on the Internet at http://www.regulations.gov or by appointment, during normal business hours at
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Arlington, Virginia (see FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT). Please note that comments posted to
http://www.regulations.gov are not immediately viewable. When you
submit a comment, the system receives it immediately. However, the
comment will not be publicly viewable until we post it, which might not
occur until several days after submission.
Previous Federal Actions
The Endangered Species Preservation Act was passed in 1966 (the
1966 Act) and was limited in scope to ``native'' or resident species of
fish or wildlife threatened with extinction (Pub. L. 89-669, 80 Stat.
926). Section 1(c) of the 1966 Act stated that native species of fish
or wildlife could be regarded as endangered if the Secretary of the
Interior found, after consultation with the affected States, that their
existence was threatened because of certain enumerated factors. The
Secretary was directed to publish in the Federal Register a list of
those native species determined by the Secretary to be endangered. Such
a list was published on March 8, 1969, at 34 FR 5034, without reference
to foreign species, such as the African wild ass.
The Endangered Species Conservation Act of 1969 (ESCA, Pub. L. 91-
135, 83 Stat. 275) expanded the 1966 Act by authorizing the listing of
foreign species of fish and wildlife that were threatened with
worldwide extinction. In a proposed rule published in the Federal
Register on April 14, 1970 (35 FR 6069), the Secretary of the Interior
set forth the original list of endangered foreign species entitled,
``Appendix A: Secretary of the Interior's List of Species and
Subspecies Threatened with Extinction in Other Countries,'' which
contained the following entries:
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Common name Scientific name Where found
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Somali wild ass............. Equus asinus Ethiopia, Somalia.
somalicus.
Nubian wild ass............. Equus asinus Ethiopia.
africanus.
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When the final rule setting forth the list of endangered foreign
species was published on June 2, 1970, at 35 FR 8491, Appendix A was
retitled to read, ``Appendix A: United States' List of Endangered
Foreign Fish and Wildlife.'' The above entries were condensed into one:
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Common name Scientific name Where found
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African wild ass............ Equus asinus........ Ethiopia, Somalia,
Sudan.
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Except in very limited circumstances, the Act (1973) retained the
lists published under the ESCA. At that time, the domesticated burro
and donkey shared the same scientific name as the African wild ass
(Equus asinus). The Act also abandoned the distinction between native
and foreign lists, and a combined list was eventually published on
September 26, 1975, at 40 FR 44412.
The present listing at 50 CFR 17.11(h), in the List of Endangered
and Threatened Wildlife, for the African wild ass reads as follows:
[[Page 33102]]
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Vertebrate
population where Critical Species
Common name Scientific name Historic range endangered or Status When listed habitat rules
threatened
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Ass, African wild............... Equus asinus....... Somalia, Sudan, Entire............. E\1\ \2\ 3, 22 \3\ NA \3\ NA
Ethiopia.
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\1\ E means endangered.
\2\ 3 is the code for 35 FR 8495; June 2, 1970. 22 is the code for 42 FR 15973; March 24, 1977.
\3\ NA means not applicable.
In a ``Notice of Clarification of Status of Wild Burros'' (March
24, 1977; 42 FR 15973), the Service stipulated that ``the western wild
burro has never been considered for designation as an endangered
species. Equus asinus has always been treated administratively as a
foreign species and was never included on a native list of endangered
species. Furthermore, the procedural requirements for consultation with
affected States during the listing of a native species were never
complied with. An undesignated native population of a listed foreign
species cannot be bootstrapped into coverage under the 1973 Act because
of a clerical ambiguity with the list'' (42 FR 15974). It is clear that
the Service intended to list the African wild ass in its entirety, but
not to list feral populations of once-domesticated burros and donkeys.
However, the March 24, 1977, document failed to clarify the status of
domesticated burros and donkeys.
Taxonomic Classification
Equus africanus
Gentry et al. (1996), in their recommendations to the International
Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, addressed the concern that many
domesticated species share the same scientific name with their wild
ancestors: ``The use of taxonomic names for wild species first
described [for] domesticated forms is a retrograde step that will
confuse not only biologists, paleontologists, archaeologists and those
in applied fields of ecology, conservation, behavior studies and
physiological resources, but also [enforcement] officials who have the
job of sorting out endangered species'' (Gentry et al. 1996, p. 32).
They highlighted 15 species of mammals in which the domestic name
precedes or are contemporary with their wild counterparts, one of which
was Equus asinus. The group recommended that the Commission adopt the
specific name for wild populations for several taxa, including E.
africanus (formerly E. asinus). The scientific name change of Equus
africanus, Heuglin & Fitzinger (1866) from Equus asinus Linnaeus (1758)
was adopted in March 2003 by the International Commission on Zoological
Nomenclature (Commission, Opinion 2027 (Case 3010)). Based on the same
opinion, the use of the E. africanus was also adopted by the IUCN Red
List of Threatened Animals in 2008.
CITES
The Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) adopted the mammal reference
Wilson & Reeder's Mammal Species of the World, A Taxonomic and
Geographic Reference, 3rd Edition (2005), which recognizes the African
wild ass as Equus asinus (CITES Resolution Conf. 12.11 (Rev. CoP15),
Standard nomenclature). However, because of the wild and domestic
taxonomy issue previously raised by the Commission and the problems it
created for enforcement officials, the Parties agreed to deviate from
Wilson and Reeder by adopting the name Equus africanus for the wild
form of the African wild ass (listed in CITES Appendix I) and retaining
the name Equus asinus for the domesticated form, which is not listed
under CITES (CoP 15 Document 12, 2010).
The Service's objective is to provide the protections of the Act to
endangered and threatened species, in this case the endangered African
wild ass (Equus africanus) wherever found, and not the common
domesticated or feral burro and donkey (Equus asinus). Pursuant to 50
CFR 17.11(b), ``the Services shall use the most recently accepted
scientific name. * * * The Services shall rely to the extent
practicable on the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature.''
Because the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, as well as
the IUCN and CITES, has accepted Equus africanus as the appropriate
taxonomy for the African wild ass, and because this taxonomic change
best reflects the scope of the Service's listing for this species, the
Service is hereby adopting the scientific name E. africanus for the
African wild ass. The Service will use the scientific name E. asinus
for the domesticated donkey or burro.
Required Determinations
Clarity of the Rule
We are required by Executive Orders 12866 and 12988 and by the
Presidential Memorandum of June 1, 1998, to write all rules in plain
language. This means that each rule we publish must:
(1) Be logically organized;
(2) Use the active voice to address readers directly;
(3) Use clear language rather than jargon;
(4) Be divided into short sections and sentences; and
(5) Use lists and tables wherever possible.
If you feel that we have not met these requirements, send us
comments by one of the methods listed in the ADDRESSES section. To
better help us revise the rule; your comments should be as specific as
possible. For example, you should tell us the numbers of the sections
or paragraphs that are unclearly written, which sections or sentences
are too long, the sections where you feel lists or tables would be
useful, etc.
National Environmental Policy Act
We have determined that an environmental assessment or an
environmental impact statement, as defined under the authority of the
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.),
need not be prepared in connection with regulations adopted under
section 4(a) of the Act. A notice outlining our reasons for this
determination was published in the Federal Register on October 25, 1983
(48 FR 49244).
References Cited
A complete list of the references used to develop this rule is
available upon request from the Foreign Species Branch (see FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT section).
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 17
Endangered and threatened species, Exports, Imports, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements, Transportation.
[[Page 33103]]
Regulation Promulgation
Accordingly, we hereby amend part 17, subchapter B of chapter I,
title 50 of the Code of Federal Regulations, as set forth below:
PART 17--[AMENDED]
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1. The authority citation for part 17 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1361-1407; 16 U.S.C. 1531-1544; 16 U.S.C.
4201-4245; Public Law 99-625, 100 Stat. 3500; unless otherwise
noted.
Sec. 17.11 [Amended]
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2. Amend Sec. 17.11(h), the List of Endangered and Threatened
Wildlife, by amending the entry for ``Ass, African wild'' under MAMMALS
by, in the Scientific name column, removing the words ``Equus asinus''
and adding in their place the words ``Equus africanus''.
Dated: May 17, 2012.
Gregory E. Siekaniec,
Director, Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2012-13421 Filed 6-4-12; 8:45 am]
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