[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 123 (Thursday, June 26, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36330-36331]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-14773]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[Docket No. FWS-R9-ES-2011-0104; 120206102-4517-02; 4500030114]
RIN 1018-AX87; 0648-BB82


Policy Regarding Implementation of Section 4(b)(2) of the 
Endangered Species Act

AGENCIES: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior; National Marine 
Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 
Commerce.

ACTION: Notice; extension of comment period.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National 
Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) (collectively referred to as the 
``Services'' or ``we''), announce the extension of the public comment 
period on our May 12, 2014, draft policy regarding implementation of 
section 4(b)(2) of the Endangered Species Act. Comments previously 
submitted need not be resubmitted, as they will be fully considered in 
preparation of the final policy.

DATES: We will accept comments from all interested parties until 
October 9, 2014. Please note that if you are using the Federal 
eRulemaking Portal (see ADDRESSES section, below), the deadline for 
submitting an electronic comment is 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on this 
date.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by one of the following methods:

[[Page 36331]]

     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. In 
the Search box, enter the docket number for the draft policy, which is 
FWS-R9-ES-2011-0104. You may submit a comment by clicking on ``Comment 
Now!'' Please ensure that you have found the correct rulemaking before 
submitting your comment.
     U.S. mail: Public Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No. 
FWS-R9-ES-2011-0104; 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: Douglas Krofta, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service, Division of Conservation and Classification, 4401 N. Fairfax 
Drive, Suite 420, Arlington, VA 22203; telephone 703/358-2171; 
facsimile 703/358-1735; or Marta Nammack, National Marine Fisheries 
Service, Office of Protected Resources, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver 
Spring, MD 20910; telephone 301/713-8469; facsimile 301/713-0376. 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 
extended comment period on our draft policy regarding implementation of 
section 4(b)(2) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act; 
16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), that was published in the Federal Register on 
May 12, 2014 (79 FR 27052). We will consider information we receive 
from all interested parties on or before the close of the comment 
period (see DATES).
    If you submitted comments or information during the public comment 
period that began May 12, 2014, please do not resubmit them. We have 
incorporated them into the public record, and we will fully consider 
them in the preparation of our final policy.
    You may submit your comments and materials by one of the methods 
listed in ADDRESSES. We request that you send comments only by the 
methods described in ADDRESSES.
    If you submit a comment via http://www.regulations.gov, your entire 
comment--including any personal identifying information--will be posted 
on the Web site. We will post all hardcopy comments on http://www.regulations.gov as well. 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.

Background

    On May 12, 2014, we published three related documents concerning 
designation and implementation of critical habitat under the Act: Two 
proposed regulation amendments and one draft policy. This notice 
extends the comment period for the draft policy, and a separate 
document published elsewhere in today's issue of the Federal Register 
extends the comment periods for the two proposed regulation amendments. 
The document for which we are extending the comment period in this 
notice announces a draft policy regarding implementation of section 
4(b)(2) of the Act.
    Specifically, the draft policy on exclusions from critical habitat 
under the Act provides the Services' position on how we consider 
partnerships and conservation plans, conservation plans permitted under 
section 10 of the Act, tribal lands, national security and homeland 
security impacts and military lands, Federal lands, and economic 
impacts in the exclusion process. The draft policy is meant to 
complement the amendments to our regulations regarding impact analyses 
of critical habitat designations and is intended to clarify 
expectations regarding critical habitat and provide for a credible, 
predictable, and simplified critical-habitat-exclusion process.

Authors

    The primary authors of this notice are the staff members of the 
Endangered Species Program, Headquarters Office, 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: June 17, 2014.
Michael J. Bean,
Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and 
Parks.

    Dated: June 17, 2014.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2014-14773 Filed 6-25-14; 8:45 am]
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