[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 85 (Thursday, May 4, 2017)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 20861-20863]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-09010]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Part 17

[Docket No. FWS-R2-ES-2017-0018; FXES11130900000 178 FF09E42000]


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 90-Day Finding on 
a Petition To Remove the Bone Cave Harvestman From the List of 
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of 90-day petition finding.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce a 
90-day finding on a petition to remove

[[Page 20862]]

the Bone Cave harvestman (Texella reyesi) from the List of Endangered 
and Threatened Wildlife (i.e., ``delist'' the species) under the 
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). Based on our review, 
we find that the petition does not present substantial scientific or 
commercial information indicating that the petitioned action may be 
warranted. However, we ask the public to submit to us any new 
information that becomes available concerning the status of, or threats 
to, the Bone Cave harvestman or its habitat at any time.

DATES: The finding announced in this document was made on May 4, 2017.

ADDRESSES: A copy of the petition is available on http://www.regulations.gov under Docket No. FWS-R2-ES-2017-0018, or by request 
from the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Adam Zerrenner, Field Supervisor, 
Austin Ecological Services Field Office, 10711 Burnet Road, Suite 200, 
Austin, TX 78758; telephone 512-490-0057; or facsimile 512-490-0974. If 
you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), please call the 
Federal Relay Service at 800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Section 4(b)(3)(A) of the Act requires that we make a finding on 
whether a petition to list, delist, or reclassify a species presents 
substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that the 
petitioned action may be warranted. To the maximum extent practicable, 
we are to make this finding within 90 days of our receipt of the 
petition and publish our notice of the finding promptly in the Federal 
Register.
    At the time we received the petition discussed below (June 2, 
2014), the standard for substantial scientific or commercial 
information with regard to this 90-day petition finding was ``that 
amount of information that would lead a reasonable person to believe 
that the measure proposed in the petition may be warranted'' (50 CFR 
424.14(b)). If we find that a petition presents substantial scientific 
or commercial information, we are required to promptly commence a 
review of the status of the species, and we will subsequently summarize 
the status review in our 12-month finding.
    Section 4 of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1533) and its implementing 
regulations at 50 CFR part 424 set forth the procedures for adding a 
species to, or removing a species from, the Federal Lists of Endangered 
and Threatened Wildlife and Plants. A species may be delisted for one 
of three reasons: Extinction, recovery, or the original data for 
classification were in error. A species may be determined to be an 
endangered or threatened species for the purpose of listing, or 
recovered for the purpose of delisting, as result of an assessment of 
the five factors described in section 4(a)(1) of the Act.

Evaluation of a Petition To Delist the Bone Cave Harvestman, Which Is 
Listed as an Endangered Species Under the Act

Species and Range

    The Bone Cave harvestman (Texella reyesi) occurs in Travis and 
Williamson Counties, Texas, and was listed as an endangered species on 
September 16, 1988 (53 FR 36029). See 58 FR 43818, August 18, 1993, for 
more information.

Petition History

    On June 2, 2014, we received a petition from John Yearwood, Kathryn 
Heidemann, Charles and Cheryl Shell, the Walter Sidney Shell Management 
Trust, the American Stewards of Liberty, and Steven W. Carothers 
requesting that we remove the endangered Bone Cave harvestman from the 
Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife. The petition 
clearly identified itself as a petition and included the requisite 
identification information for the petitioners, as required at that 
time in 50 CFR 424.14(a). The Service and National Marine Fisheries 
Service (``Services'') revised the regulations at 50 CFR 424.14 to 
clarify the procedures under which the Services evaluate petitions 
effective October 27, 2016 (81 FR 66462; September 27, 2016). We 
originally received the petition that is the subject of this document 
on June 2, 2014, with supplemental information received on October 6, 
2016. We, therefore, evaluated this petition under the 50 CFR 424.14 
requirements that were in effect prior to October 27, 2016, as those 
requirements applied when the petition and supplemental information 
were received. At that time, our standard for substantial scientific or 
commercial information within the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 
with regard to a 90-day petition finding was ``that amount of 
information that would lead a reasonable person to believe that the 
measure proposed in the petition may be warranted'' (50 CFR 
424.14(b)(1)). On June 1, 2015, the Service published a 90-day finding 
in the Federal Register (80 FR 30990) that the petition did not present 
substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that the 
petitioned action was warranted. On December 15, 2015, the American 
Stewards of Liberty, Charles and Cheryl Shell, Walter Sidney Shell 
Management Trust, Kathryn Heidemann, and Robert V. Harrison, Sr., 
challenged the June 1, 2015, 90-day finding in Federal district court. 
The Service sought the court's permission to reconsider the 90-day 
finding. On December 22, 2016, the court ordered the Service to 
complete a 90-day finding and deliver that finding to the Federal 
Register on or before March 31, 2017, and subsequently extended to May 
1, 2017. This finding addresses the court's order and the 2014 
petition.
    Recently, we began publishing multiple 90-day petition findings in 
a single, batched Federal Register notice and using a template format 
for supplementary information for each finding, to ensure consistency 
and transparency among findings. We are providing the supporting 
information for this finding in both the former single-petition Federal 
Register notice format that was used for the prior finding, and the new 
batched-notice template format. Both of these rely on identical 
information and can be found along with this Federal Register notice at 
Docket No. FWS-R2-ES-2017-0018. The prior traditional Federal Register 
notice also includes some additional information not included in the 
petition review form with respect to information such as 
representation, redundancy, and resilience.

Finding

    Based on our review of the petition, sources cited in the petition, 
and the additional information provided, we find that the petition does 
not present substantial scientific or commercial information indicating 
that delisting the Bone Cave harvestman may be warranted. Although this 
finding ends our formal consideration of the petition, we are in the 
process of conducting a species status assessment and 5-year status 
review of the Bone Cave harvestman. Specifically, section 4(c)(2)(A) of 
the Act requires us to review each listed species' status at least once 
every 5 years. On April 15, 2015, we published a notice in the Federal 
Register initiating this review (80 FR 20241). The purpose of a 5-year 
review is to ensure that listed species have the appropriate level of 
protection under the Act. In this case, we are developing a species 
status assessment as a tool to inform the 5-year status review. The 5-
year review will consider whether the species' status has changed since 
the time of its listing or its last status review and whether it should 
be reclassified as threatened or delisted. We invite the public, 
including the petitioners and

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other interested parties, to submit new data and information for 
consideration in this ongoing process.
    The basis for our finding on this petition, and other information 
regarding our review of this petition can be found as an appendix at 
http://www.regulations.gov under Docket No. FWS-R2-ES-2017-0018 in the 
Supporting Documents section. This 90-day finding supersedes the 
Service's previous June 1, 2015, 90-day finding, and is made pursuant 
to the court's December 22, 2016, order; the 2014 petition; and the 
additional reference materials accompanying the petition.

References Cited

    A complete list of references cited is available on the Internet at 
http://www.regulations.gov and upon request from the Austin Ecological 
Services Field Office (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, above).

Authors

    The primary authors of this notice are staff members of the Austin 
Ecological Services Field Office.

Authority

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

    Dated: March 20, 2017.
James W. Kurth,
Acting Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2017-09010 Filed 5-3-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P