[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 88 (Tuesday, May 7, 2019)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 19877-19878]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-09356]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Part 17

Docket No. FWS-HQ-ES-2015-0008; 4500030113]
RIN 1018-BA81


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Removing Textual 
Descriptions of Critical Habitat Boundaries for Mammals, Birds, 
Amphibians, Fishes, Clams, Snails, Arachnids, Crustaceans, and Insects; 
Correction

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Correcting amendment.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, published a final rule 
in the Federal Register on April 27, 2018, to remove the textual 
descriptions of critical habitat boundaries from those designations for 
mammals, birds, amphibians, fishes, clams, snails, arachnids, 
crustaceans, and insects for which the maps have been determined to be 
sufficient to stand as the official delineation of critical habitat. 
Where we determined that the maps were not sufficient to stand as the 
official delineation of critical habitat, we revised the textual 
descriptions to include the following statement: ``The map provided is 
for informational purposes only.'' Inadvertently, we removed, rather 
than revised, a map note in the critical habitat designation for the 
Waccamaw silverside (Menidia extensa). The map note is necessary to 
clarify that the map in that entry is for informational purposes only. 
This document makes the necessary correction to the critical habitat 
designation for the Waccamaw silverside.

DATES: This correction is effective May 7, 2019.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carey Galst, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service, MS: ES, 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803; 
telephone 703-358-1954. If you use a telecommunications device for the 
deaf (TDD), call the Federal Relay Service at 800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On May 1, 2012, we published in the Federal 
Register (77 FR 25611) a final rule revising our regulations related to 
publishing textual descriptions of proposed and final critical habitat 
boundaries for codification in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 
(2012 rule). Specifically, for critical habitat designations published 
after the effective date of the rule, the map(s), as clarified or 
refined by any textual language within the rule, constitutes the 
definition of the boundaries of a critical habitat. Each critical 
habitat area is shown on a map, with more-detailed information 
discussed in the preamble of the rulemaking documents published in the 
Federal Register. The map published in the CFR is generated from the 
coordinates and/or plot points corresponding to the location of the 
boundaries. These coordinates and/or plot points are included in the 
administrative record for the designation and are available to the 
public either online or at the Service field office responsible for the 
designation or both. In addition, if the Service concludes that 
additional tools or supporting information are appropriate and would 
help the public understand the official boundary map, we make the 
additional tools and supporting information available on our internet 
site and at the Service field office responsible for the critical 
habitat designation.
    The preamble to the 2012 rule explained that, for critical habitat 
that had already been designated before the effective date of that 
rule, ``we also intend to remove the textual descriptions of final 
critical habitat boundaries set forth in the CFR in order to save the 
annual reprinting cost, but we must do so in separate rulemakings to 
ensure that removing the textual descriptions does not change the 
existing boundaries of those designations'' (77 FR 25618). We have now 
begun applying this approach by publishing a series of separate 
rulemakings that remove textual descriptions for any critical habitat 
designations promulgated prior to the effective date of the 2012 final 
rule if the maps are sufficient to stand as the official delineation of 
the boundaries. On April 27, 2018, we published the second such 
rulemaking--a final rule to remove the textual descriptions of critical 
habitat boundaries from those designations for mammals, birds, 
amphibians, fishes, clams, snails, arachnids, crustaceans, and insects 
for which the maps have been determined to be sufficient to stand as 
the official delineation of critical habitat (83 FR 18698) (2018 rule). 
That rule, which is codified at 50 CFR 17.94(b), set forth the 
conditions under which a map appearing in a critical habitat entry for 
any of those species is or is not considered the definition of the 
boundaries of a critical habitat. It did not alter the locations of any 
critical habitat boundaries.
    In the 2018 rule, we mistakenly removed, rather than revised, a map 
note in the critical habitat designation for the Waccamaw silverside at 
50 CFR 17.95(e). Under 50 CFR 17.94(b), the omission of the map note in 
the critical habitat designation for the Waccamaw silverside could 
mislead readers into thinking that the map in that entry stands as the 
official delineation of critical habitat, but it does not. Adding the 
revised map note to the Waccamaw silverside designation is necessary to 
clarify that the map in that entry is for informational purposes only. 
This document makes the necessary correction to the critical habitat 
designation for the Waccamaw silverside.

Administrative Procedure

    As explained in the 2018 Rule and in the discussion above, neither 
the 2018 rule nor this amendment alters the locations of any critical 
habitat boundaries. However, there was an error in the 2018 Rule that 
could be perceived as altering the critical habitat boundary for the 
Waccamaw silverside, and this document is therefore necessary to 
correct that error and ensure that there is no change to that critical 
habitat boundary. Under these circumstances, we have determined, 
pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 551(4) and 553(b)(3)(B), that prior notice and 
opportunity for public comment are impractical and unnecessary. Public 
comment could not inform this process in any meaningful way. We have 
further determined that, under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3), the agency has good 
cause to make this correction effective upon publication, which is to 
comply with our regulations as soon as practicable.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 17

    Endangered and threatened species, Exports, Imports, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements, Transportation.
    For the reasons given in the preamble, we amend part 17, subchapter 
B of chapter I, title 50 of the Code of Federal Regulations, with the 
following correcting amendment:

[[Page 19878]]

PART 17--ENDANGERED AND THREATENED WILDLIFE AND PLANTS

0
1. The authority citation for part 17 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1361-1407; 1531-1544; and 4201-4245, unless 
otherwise noted.


0
2. In Sec.  17.95, in paragraph (e), amend the entry for ``Waccamaw 
Silverside (Menidia extensa)'' by adding a note above the map to read 
as follows:


Sec.  17.95   Critical habitat--fish and wildlife.

* * * * *
    (e) Fishes.
* * * * *
    Waccamaw Silverside (Menidia extensa)
* * * * *
    Note: The map provided is for informational purposes only. Map 
follows:
* * * * *

    Dated: April 8, 2019.
Margaret E. Everson,
Principal Deputy Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Exercising 
the Authority of the Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2019-09356 Filed 5-6-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4333-15-P