[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 85 (Monday, May 4, 2015)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 25272-25273]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-10348]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Parts 223 and 224

RIN 0648-XD680


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife; 90-Day Finding on a Petition 
to List the Common Thresher Shark as Threatened or Endangered Under the 
Endangered Species Act

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Extension of public comment period.

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SUMMARY: We, NMFS, announce the extension of the public comment period 
on our March 03, 2015, 90-day finding on a petition to list the Common 
Thresher Shark (Alopias vulpinus) as endangered or threatened under the 
ESA, or, in the alternative, delineate six distinct population segments 
(DPSs) of the common thresher shark, as described in the petition, and 
list them as endangered or threatened. As part of that finding, we 
solicited scientific and commercial information about the status of 
this species and announced a 60-day comment period to end on May 04, 
2015. Today, we extend the public comment period by 60 days to July 6, 
2015. Comments previously submitted

[[Page 25273]]

need not be resubmitted, as they will be fully considered in the 
agency's 12-month finding.

DATES: The deadline for receipt of comments is extended from May 04, 
2015, until July 6, 2015.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, information, or data, identified by 
``NOAA-NMFS-2015-0025'' by any one of the following methods:
     Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public 
comments via the Federal eRulemaking Portal. Go to www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2015-0025. Click the ``Comment Now'' icon, 
complete the required fields, and enter or attach your comments.
     Mail or hand-delivery: Office of Protected Resources, 
NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910.
    Instructions: You must submit comments by one of the above methods 
to ensure that we receive, document, and consider them. Comments sent 
by any other method, to any other address or individual, or received 
after the end of the comment period, may not be considered. All 
comments received are a part of the public record and will generally be 
posted for public viewing on http://www.regulations.gov without change. 
All personal identifying information (e.g., name, address, etc.), 
confidential business information, or otherwise sensitive information 
submitted voluntarily by the sender will be publicly accessible. We 
will accept anonymous comments (enter ``N/A'' in the required fields if 
you wish to remain anonymous). Attachments to electronic comments will 
be accepted in Microsoft Word, Excel, or Adobe PDF file formats only

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Chelsey Young, NMFS, Office of 
Protected Resources (OPR) (301) 427-8491 or Marta Nammack, NMFS, OPR 
(301) 427-8469.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On March 03, 2015, we published a positive 90-day finding on a 
petition from Friends of Animals requesting that we list the common 
thresher shark Alopias vulpinus as endangered or threatened under the 
ESA, or, in the alternative, delineate six distinct population segments 
(DPSs) of the common thresher shark, as described in the petition, and 
list them as endangered or threatened. In that notice we also announced 
the initiation of a status review and solicited information from the 
public to help inform the status review of the species and determine 
its risk of extinction.
    We received a request to extend the public comment period by 60 
days in order to provide the public with additional time to gather 
relevant information and adequately comment on the validity of the 
petitioned action in a meaningful and constructive manner. In addition, 
a technical error on the Regulations.gov Web site prevented the public 
from accessing materials in the docket folder for the 90-day finding, 
including existing public comments and other substantive materials. We 
considered the request and concluded that a 60-day extension should 
allow sufficient time for responders to submit comments without 
significantly delaying the completion of the status review. We are 
therefore extending the close of the public comment period from May 04, 
2015 to July 6, 2015. Although we have extended the public comment 
period, we are unable to extend the deadline for completing the status 
review. As such, we urge members of the public to submit their comments 
as soon as possible to allow us more time to review and incorporate the 
submitted information where appropriate.

Authority

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

    Dated: April 29, 2015.
Perry F. Gayaldo,
Deputy Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-10348 Filed 5-1-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P