[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 15 (Wednesday, January 23, 2013)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 4812-4813]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-01155]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Part 17

[Docket No. FWS-R8-ES-2011-0063: FXES11130900000-134-FF09E32000]
RIN 1018-AV29


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Removal of the 
Valley Elderberry Longhorn Beetle From the Federal List of Endangered 
and Threatened Wildlife

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Proposed rule; reopening of public comment.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the 
reopening of the public comment period on our October 2, 2012, 12-month 
petition finding and proposed rule to remove the valley elderberry 
longhorn beetle (Desmocerus californicus dimorphus) from the List of 
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife. The 60-day comment period for our 
proposed rule ended on December 3, 2012. This notice announces a 30-day 
reopening of the comment period to allow all interested parties an 
additional opportunity to comment on the proposed rule and to submit 
information on the status of the species. If you submitted comments 
previously, you do not need to resubmit them because we have already 
incorporated them into the public record and will fully consider them 
in preparation of the final rule.

DATES: We will consider all comments received or postmarked on or 
before February 22, 2013. Comments submitted electronically using the 
Federal eRulemaking Portal (see ADDRESSES section, below) must be 
received by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the closing date.

ADDRESSES: Document availability: You may obtain copies of the proposed 
rule and related documents on the Internet at http://www.regulations.gov under Docket Number FWS-R8-ES-2011-0063, or by mail 
from the Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office (see FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT).
    Comment submission: You may submit written comments by one of the 
following methods:
    (1) Electronically: Go to the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. In the Search box, enter FWS-R8-ES-2011-0063, 
which is the docket number for this rulemaking. On the search results 
page, under the Comment Period heading in the menu on the left side of 
your screen, check the box next to ``Open'' to locate this document. 
Please ensure you have found the correct document before submitting 
your comments. If your comments will fit in the provided comment box, 
please use this feature of http://www.regulations.gov, as it is most 
compatible with our comment review procedures. If you attach your 
comments as a separate document, our preferred file format is Microsoft 
Word. If you attach multiple comments (such as form letters), our 
preferred format is a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.
    (2) By Hard Copy: Submit by U.S. mail or hand-delivery to: Public 
Comments Processing, Attn: FWS-R8-ES-2011-0063; Division of Policy and 
Directives Management; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; 4401 N. Fairfax 
Drive, MS 2042-PDM; Arlington, VA 22203.
    We request that you send comments only by the methods described 
above. 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 Public Comments in 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for more information).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jan Knight, Deputy Field Supervisor, 
Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office, 2800 Cottage Way, Suite W-2605, 
Sacramento, CA 95825; telephone 916-414-6600; facsimile 916-414-6712. 
If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), call the 
Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Public Comments

    We will accept written comments and information during this 
reopened comment period on our October 2, 2012, 12-month finding and 
proposed rule to remove the valley elderberry longhorn beetle from the 
List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife, and to remove the 
designation of critical habitat (77 FR 60237). For more information on 
the specific information we are seeking, please see the October 2, 
2012, proposed rule. You may obtain copies of the proposed rule and 
related documents on the Internet at http://www.regulations.gov under 
Docket Number FWS-R8-ES-2011-0063, or by mail from the Sacramento Fish 
and Wildlife Office (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
    You may submit your comments and materials concerning the proposed 
rule by one of the methods listed in ADDRESSES. We will not accept 
comments sent by email or fax, or to an address not listed in 
ADDRESSES. If you submit a comment via http://www.regulations.gov, your 
entire comment--including your personal identifying information--will 
be posted on the Web site. If you submit a hardcopy comment that 
includes personal identifying information, you may request at the top 
of your document that we withhold this information from public review. 
However, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. We will 
post all hardcopy comments on http://www.regulations.gov.
    All comments for this reopening of the public comment period must 
be received or postmarked on or before the date shown in DATES. 
Comments previously submitted need not be resubmitted, as they will be 
fully considered in preparation of the final rule. We intend that any 
final action resulting from this proposal be as accurate as possible 
and based on the

[[Page 4813]]

best available scientific and commercial data. We will consider 
information and recommendations from all interested parties. Your 
comments are part of the public record, and we will fully consider them 
in the preparation of our final determination.
    Comments and materials we receive, as well as supporting 
documentation we used in preparing the proposed rule, will be available 
for public inspection on http://www.regulations.gov, or by appointment, 
during normal business hours, at the Sacramento Fish and Wildlife 
Office (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).

Background

    On October 2, 2012 (77 FR 60237), we published, in the Federal 
Register, a combined 12-month finding and proposed rule to remove the 
valley elderberry longhorn beetle from the List of Endangered and 
Threatened Wildlife, and to remove the designation of critical habitat. 
That proposal had a 60-day comment period, ending December 3, 2012. We 
have not received any requests for a public hearing; therefore, no 
public hearings are planned at this time.

Peer Review

    In accordance with our joint policy on peer review published in the 
Federal Register on July 1, 1994 (59 FR 34270), we subjected the 
proposed rule to peer review. This peer review will be provided to the 
Service during this reopened public comment period, and once available, 
we will post the peer review comments online at http://www.regulations.gov under Docket Number FWS-R8-ES-2011-0063.
    We will consider all comments and information provided by the 
public and peer reviewers during this comment period in preparation of 
a final determination on our proposed delisting. Accordingly, the final 
decision may differ from our proposal.

Authority

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

    Dated: December 31, 2012.
Rowan W. Gould,
Acting Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2013-01155 Filed 1-22-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P