[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 213 (Monday, November 4, 2013)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 65936-65938]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-26332]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Part 17

[Docket Nos. FWS-R6-ES-2011-0111; FWS-R6-ES-2012-0108; 4500030114]
RIN 1018-AZ20; RIN 1018-AX71


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Proposed 
Endangered Status for Gunnison Sage-Grouse and Proposed Designation of 
Critical Habitat for Gunnison Sage-Grouse

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Proposed rule; reopening of comment period; announcement of 
public hearings.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the 
reopening of the public comment periods on our January 11, 2013, 
proposed rules to list the Gunnison sage-grouse (Centrocercus minimus) 
as endangered and to designate critical habitat for the species under 
the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). In addition, we 
announce the rescheduling of two public informational sessions and 
public hearings for both the proposed listing and proposed critical 
habitat rules, and the addition of a third public informational session 
and public hearing. We are reopening the comment periods to allow all 
interested parties an additional opportunity to comment on the proposed 
listing and the proposed designation of critical habitat, and to 
comment on the proposed critical habitat's associated draft economic 
analysis (DEA), draft environmental assessment (EA), and amended 
required determinations section. Comments previously submitted need not 
be resubmitted, as they will be fully considered in preparation of the 
final rules.

DATES: Comment submission: We will consider comments received or 
postmarked on or before December 2, 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.
    Public informational sessions and public hearings: We will hold 
three public informational sessions followed by public hearings on the 
following dates:
     November 19, 2013, from 4:00-9:00 p.m., including an 
information session

[[Page 65937]]

from 4:00-5:00 p.m., a break, and a public hearing from 6:00-9:00 p.m.; 
and
     November 20, 2013, from 4:00-9:00 p.m., including an 
information session from 4:00-5:00 p.m., a break, and a public hearing 
from 6:00-9:00 p.m.; and
     November 21, 2013, from 4:00-9:00 p.m., including an 
information session from 4:00-5:00 p.m., a break, and a public hearing 
from 6:00-9:00 p.m.

See the ADDRESSES section, below, for information on where these public 
informational sessions and public hearings will be held.

ADDRESSES:
    Document availability: You may obtain copies of the January 11, 
2013, proposed rules on the Internet at http://www.regulations.gov at 
Docket No. FWS-R6-ES-2012-0108 for the proposed listing, and at Docket 
No. FWS-R6-ES-2011-0111 for the proposed designation of critical 
habitat. You may obtain a copy of the draft economic analysis and the 
draft environmental assessment at Docket No. FWS-R6-ES-2011-0111. 
Alternately, you may obtain a copy of either proposed rule, the draft 
economic analysis, or the draft environmental assessment at http://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/species/birds/gunnisonsagegrouse/ or by 
mail from the Western Colorado Field 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. Submit comments on the listing proposal to Docket 
No. FWS-R6-ES-2012-0108, and submit comments on the critical habitat 
proposal and associated draft economic analysis and draft environmental 
assessment to Docket No. FWS-R6-ES-2011-0111.
    (2) By hard copy: Submit comments on the listing proposal by U.S. 
mail or hand-delivery to: Public Comments Processing, Attn: FWS-R6-ES-
2012-0108; Division of Policy and Directives Management; U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service; 4401 N. Fairfax Drive, MS 2042-PDM; Arlington, VA 
22203. Submit comments on the critical habitat proposal, draft economic 
analysis, and draft environmental assessment by U.S. mail or hand-
delivery to: Public Comments Processing, Attn: FWS-R6-ES-2011-0111; 
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 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).
    Public informational sessions and public hearings:
    The November 19, 2013, public informational session and public 
hearing will be held at Western State Colorado University, University 
Center, 600 N. Adams Street in Gunnison, Colorado.
    The November 20, 2013, public informational session and public 
hearing will be held at the Holiday Inn Express, 1391 S. Townsend 
Avenue in Montrose, Colorado.
    The November 21, 2013, public informational session and public 
hearing will be held at Monticello High School Auditorium, 164 South 
200 West in Monticello, Utah.
    People needing reasonable accommodations in order to attend and 
participate in the public hearing should contact Patty Gelatt, Western 
Colorado Supervisor, Western Colorado Field Office, as soon as possible 
(see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patty Gelatt, Western Colorado 
Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Western Colorado Field 
Office, 764 Horizon Drive, Building B, Grand Junction, CO 81506-3946; 
by telephone (970-243-2778); or by facsimile (970-245-6933). Persons 
who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the 
Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Previous Federal Actions

    On January 11, 2013, we published a proposed rule to list the 
Gunnison sage-grouse as endangered (78 FR 2486) and a proposed rule to 
designate critical habitat for the Gunnison sage-grouse (78 FR 2540). 
We proposed to designate as critical habitat approximately 1,704,227 
acres (689,675 hectares) in seven units located in Chaffee, Delta, 
Dolores, Gunnison, Hinsdale, Mesa, Montrose, Ouray, Saguache, and San 
Miguel Counties in Colorado, and in Grand and San Juan Counties in 
Utah. Those proposals initially had a 60-day comment period, ending 
March 12, 2013, but we extended the comment period by an additional 21 
days, through April 2, 2013 (78 FR 15925, March 13, 2013). On July 19, 
2013, we published a document announcing that we were extending the 
timeline for making final determinations on both proposed rules by 6 
months due to scientific disagreement, and we reopened the public 
comment period to seek additional information to clarify the issues in 
question (78 FR 43123). In accordance with that July 19, 2013, 
publication, we will submit for publication in the Federal Register a 
final listing determination and a final critical habitat designation 
for Gunnison sage-grouse on or before March 31, 2014.
    On September 19, 2013, we reopened the comment period on these 
proposals for 30 days, and announced the availability of a DEA, a draft 
EA, and an amended required determinations section for our proposal to 
designate critical habitat for the Gunnison sage-grouse (78 FR 57604). 
In that document, we also announced two public information sessions and 
public hearings to be held in Gunnison, Colorado, and Monticello, Utah, 
on October 7 and 8, 2013. However, due to a lapse in government 
appropriations from October 1-16, 2013, these meetings and hearings 
were postponed. Therefore, this document serves to reschedule those 
meetings and public hearings, add an additional meeting and public 
hearing, and reopen the public comment period.

Public Comments

    We will accept written comments and information during this comment 
period on: (1) Our proposed listing determination for the Gunnison 
sage-grouse that published in the Federal Register on January 11, 2013 
(78 FR 2486); (2) our proposed designation of critical habitat for the 
Gunnison sage-grouse that published in the Federal Register on January 
11, 2013 (78 FR 2540); (3) our DEA of the proposed critical habitat 
designation, which was made available on September 19, 2013 (78 FR 
57604); (4) our draft EA of the proposed critical habitat designation, 
which was made available on September 19, 2013 (78 FR 57604); (5) the 
amended required determinations provided in our September 19, 2013, 
Federal Register document (78 FR 57604) for the proposed critical 
habitat designation; and (6) the issues raised in our July 19, 2013, 
Federal Register publication (78 FR 43123) regarding scientific 
disagreement about the species. We will consider information and 
recommendations from all interested parties.
    We request that you provide comments specifically on our listing 
determination under Docket No. FWS-R6-ES-2012-0108.
    We request that you provide comments specifically on the critical 
habitat determination and related DEA

[[Page 65938]]

and draft EA under Docket No. FWS-R6-ES-2011-0111.
    For additional details on specific information we are requesting 
during this public comment period, please see the Public Comments 
section in our September 19, 2013, Federal Register document (78 FR 
57604), which reopened the previous comment period.

Authors

    The primary authors of this document are the staff members of the 
Regional Office and Western Colorado Field Office, Mountain-Prairie 
Region, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Authority

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

    Dated: October 28, 2013.
Rachel Jacobsen,
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks.
[FR Doc. 2013-26332 Filed 11-1-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P