[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 223 (Tuesday, November 19, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69436-69437]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-27584]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-HQ-ES-2013-N191; FXES111309F0000-134-FF09E22000]


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Initiation of a 5-
Year Review of the Vicu[ntilde]a in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, 
and Peru

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of initiation of review; request for information.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are 
initiating a 5-year review under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as 
amended (Act), of the vicu[ntilde]a. A 5-year review is based on the 
best scientific and commercial data available at the time of the 
review. We are requesting submission of information that has become 
available since the last review of the species.

DATES: To ensure consideration, please send your written information by 
January 21, 2014. However, we will continue to accept new information 
about any listed species at any time.

ADDRESSES: Please submit your information in writing to the Branch of 
Foreign Species, Endangered Species Program, by any one of the 
following methods:
     Electronically: Email [email protected].
     U.S. mail: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; 4401 North 
Fairfax Drive, Room 420, Arlington, VA 22203.
    For more about submitting information, see ``What Information Do We 
Consider in Our Review?'' and ``Request for Information'' under 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION below.

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:

Why do we conduct 5-year reviews?

    Under the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), we maintain Lists of 
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants (which we collectively 
refer to as the List). Wildlife and plants on the List can be found at 
http://ecos.fws.gov/tess_public/pub/listedAnimals.jsp and http://ecos.fws.gov/tess_public/pub/listedPlants.jsp, respectively. Section 
4(c)(2)(A) of the Act requires us to review each listed species' status 
at least once every 5 years. Our regulations at 50 CFR 424.21 require 
that we publish a notice in the Federal Register announcing those 
species under active review. For additional information about 5-year 
reviews, refer to our fact sheet at http://www.fws.gov/endangered/what-we-do/recovery-overview.html.

What information do we consider in our review?

    In conducting a 5-year review, we consider the best scientific and 
commercial data that have become available since the listing 
determination or most recent status review, such as:
    (A) Species biology, including but not limited to population 
trends, distribution, abundance, demographics, and genetics;
    (B) Habitat conditions, including but not limited to amount, 
distribution, and suitability;
    (C) Conservation measures that have been implemented that benefit 
the species;
    (D) Threat status and trends in relation to the five listing 
factors (as defined in Section 4(a)(1) of the Act); and
    (E) Other new information, data, or corrections, including but not 
limited to taxonomic or nomenclatural changes, identification of 
erroneous information contained in the List, and improved analytical 
methods.
    New information will be considered in the 5-year review and ongoing 
recovery programs for the species.

Species Under Review

    This notice announces our review of the vicu[ntilde]a (Vicugna 
vicugna). In the United States, the vicu[ntilde]a is subject to two 
regulatory measures: The Act and the Convention on International Trade 
in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). We originally 
listed the vicu[ntilde]a as endangered under the Act on June 2, 1970 
(35 FR 8491). Among other things, that listing prohibited certain U.S. 
interstate and foreign commerce in vicu[ntilde]a products. The 
vicu[ntilde]a was included in Appendix I of CITES on July 1, 1975 (the 
date of entry into force of CITES), which thereby generally prohibited 
primarily commercial international trade in vicu[ntilde]a products. 
Certain populations of vicu[ntilde]as in Chile and Peru were 
transferred to CITES Appendix II at the sixth meeting of the Conference 
of the Parties to CITES (CoP6) in 1987. The remaining vicu[ntilde]a 
populations of Peru were transferred to Appendix II in 1994 at the 
ninth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP9), while certain 
populations in Argentina and Bolivia were transferred to Appendix II in 
1997 at the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP10). 
These transfers to CITES Appendix II reflected an improved conservation 
status for specified vicu[ntilde]a populations, and allowed the 
resumption of commercial, international trade--under carefully 
controlled conditions--of vicu[ntilde]a fiber and products manufactured 
from vicu[ntilde]a fiber. This international trade, however, was still 
excluded from the United States because of the species' listing as 
endangered under the Act, which is a stricter domestic measure than 
CITES. The United States supported the above transfers of the specified 
vicu[ntilde]a

[[Page 69437]]

populations to Appendix II, based on information contained in the 
supporting statements for the various CITES amendment proposals.
    On October 5, 1995, we received a petition from the President of 
the International Vicu[ntilde]a Consortium, an association of companies 
in the fiber industry, requesting that the vicu[ntilde]a be removed 
from the U.S. list of endangered and threatened wildlife, or 
reclassified with a special rule that would allow for commercial trade 
that would benefit the conservation of the species. The petitioners 
cited, among other things, improved management of vicu[ntilde]a 
populations and improved enforcement and trade controls. Our 90-day 
finding on whether the petition presented substantial information and 
our 12-month finding on whether the petitioned action was warranted 
were subsumed within a proposed rule, which was published in the 
Federal Register on September 8, 1999 (64 FR 48743).
    In a final rule published on May 30, 2002 (67 FR 37695), we 
reclassified the populations of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru as 
threatened under the Act. We also established a special rule (under 
Section 4(d) of the Act) allowing the importation into the United 
States of legal fiber and legal products produced with fiber from 
vicu[ntilde]a populations listed as threatened under the Act and in 
Appendix II of CITES, if certain conditions were satisfied by the 
exporting or re-exporting country. We retained as endangered under the 
Act the recently introduced vicu[ntilde]a population of Ecuador, 
treated as a distinct population segment under the Act in accordance 
with the Service's Policy on Distinct Vertebrate Population Segments 
(61 FR 4722; February 7, 1996).
    Effective June 12, 2013, the CITES Parties adopted a proposal that 
transferred the whole vicu[ntilde]a population of Ecuador from Appendix 
I to Appendix II. According to the CITES annotation, the revised 
Appendix II listing refers only to specific populations of Argentina 
(the populations of the Provinces of Jujuy and Catamarca and the semi-
captive populations of the Provinces of Jujuy, Salta, Catamarca, La 
Rioja, and San Juan), Chile (population of the Primera Regi[oacute]n), 
Ecuador (the whole population), Peru (the whole population), and the 
Plurinational State of Bolivia (the whole population); all other 
populations are included in Appendix I.

Request for Information

    To ensure that a 5-year review is complete and based on the best 
available scientific and commercial information, we request new 
information from all sources. See ``What Information Do We Consider In 
Our Review?'' for specific criteria. If you submit information, please 
support it with documentation such as maps, bibliographic references, 
methods used to gather and analyze the data, and/or copies of any 
pertinent publications, reports, or letters by knowledgeable sources.

Public Availability of Submissions

    Before including your address, phone number, email address, or 
other personal identifying information in your submission, you should 
be aware that your entire comment--including your personal identifying 
information--may be made publicly available at any time. Although you 
can request that personal information be withheld from public review, 
we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. Materials received 
will be available for public inspection, by appointment, during normal 
business hours at the office where the comments are submitted.

Authority

    This document is published under the authority of the Endangered 
Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).

    Dated: November 4, 2013.
Gary Frazer,
Assistant Director for Ecological Services, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2013-27584 Filed 11-18-13; 8:45 am]
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