[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 221 (Monday, November 16, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 73012-73013]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-25280]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Part 17

[Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2019-0018; FF09E22000 FXES1113090FEDR 212]
RIN 1018-BE09


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Reclassification 
of the Red-Cockaded Woodpecker From Endangered to Threatened With a 
Section 4(d) Rule

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Proposed rule; announcement of a public informational meeting 
and public hearing.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), recently 
proposed to reclassify the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker 
(Dryobates borealis) as a threatened species with a rule issued under 
section 4(d) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (Act), as amended. 
We announced a 60-day public comment period on the proposed rule, 
ending December 7, 2020. We now announce a public informational meeting 
and public hearing on the proposed rule.

DATES: 
    Public informational meeting and public hearing: On December 1, 
2020, we will hold a public informational meeting from 6 to 7:30 p.m., 
Eastern Time, followed by a public hearing from 7:30 to 9 p.m., Eastern 
Time.
    Comment submission: We will accept written comments received or 
postmarked on or before December 7, 2020. Comments submitted 
electronically using the Federal eRulemaking Portal (see ADDRESSES, 
below) must be received by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the closing date.

ADDRESSES: Availability of documents: You may obtain copies of the 
October 8, 2020, proposed rule and associated documents on the internet 
at http://www.regulations.gov under Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2019-0018.
    Public informational meeting and public hearing: The public 
informational meeting and the public hearing will be held virtually 
using the Zoom platform. See Public Hearing, below, for more 
information.
    Comment submission: You may submit written comments by one of the 
following methods:
    (1) Electronically: Go to the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. In the Search box, enter FWS-R4-ES-2019-0018, 
which is the docket number for this rulemaking. Then, click on the 
Search button. On the resulting page, in the Search panel on the left 
side of the screen, under the Document Type heading, click on the 
Proposed Rule box to locate this document. You may submit a comment by 
clicking on ``Comment Now!''
    (2) By hard copy: Submit by U.S. mail to: Public Comments 
Processing, Attn: FWS-R4-ES-2019-0018, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 
MS: JAO/3W, 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.
    We request that you send comments only by the methods described 
above. We will post all comments on http://www.regulations.gov. This 
generally means that we will post any personal information you provide 
us (see Public Comments, below, for more information).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Aaron Valenta, Chief, Division of 
Restoration and Recovery, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Southeast 
Regional Office, 1875 Century Boulevard, Atlanta, GA 30345; telephone 
404-679-4144. Persons who use a telecommunications device for the deaf 
(TDD) may call the Federal Relay Service at 800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On October 8, 2020, we published a proposed rule (85 FR 63474) to 
reclassify the red-cockaded woodpecker from endangered to threatened 
(i.e., ``downlist'' the species) under the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et 
seq.). The proposed rule established a 60-day public comment period, 
ending December 7, 2020. We received a request for a public hearing. 
Therefore, we are announcing a public informational meeting and a 
public hearing to allow the public an additional opportunity to provide 
comments on the proposed rule.
    For a description of previous Federal actions concerning the red-
cockaded woodpecker and information on the types of comments that would 
be helpful to us in promulgating this rulemaking action, please refer 
to the October 8, 2020, proposed rule (85 FR 63474).

Public Hearing

    We have scheduled a public informational meeting and public hearing 
on our October 8, 2020, proposed rule to reclassify the red-cockaded 
woodpecker (85 FR 63474). We will hold the public informational meeting 
and public hearing on the date and at the times listed above under 
Public informational meeting and public hearing in DATES. We are 
holding the public informational meeting and public hearing via the 
Zoom online video platform and via teleconference so that participants 
can attend remotely. For security purposes, registration is required. 
To listen and view the meeting and hearing via Zoom, listen to the 
meeting and hearing by telephone, or provide oral public comments at 
the public hearing by Zoom or telephone, you must register. For 
information on how to register, or if you encounter problems joining 
Zoom the day of the meeting, visit https://www.fws.gov/southeast/wildlife/birds/red-cockaded-woodpecker/#recovery-plan-section. 
Registrants will receive the Zoom link

[[Page 73013]]

and the telephone number for the public informational meeting and 
public hearing. If applicable, interested members of the public not 
familiar with the Zoom platform should view the Zoom video tutorials 
(https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/206618765-Zoom-video-tutorials) prior to the public informational meeting and public 
hearing.
    The public hearing will provide interested parties an opportunity 
to present verbal testimony (formal, oral comments) regarding the 
October 8, 2020, proposed rule to reclassify the red-cockaded 
woodpecker (85 FR 63474). While the public informational meeting will 
be an opportunity for dialogue with the Service, the public hearing is 
not: It is a forum for accepting formal verbal testimony. In the event 
there is a large attendance, the time allotted for oral statements may 
be limited. Therefore, anyone wishing to make an oral statement at the 
public hearing for the record is encouraged to provide a prepared 
written copy of their statement to us through the Federal eRulemaking 
Portal, or U.S. mail (see ADDRESSES, above). There are no limits on the 
length of written comments submitted to us. Anyone wishing to make an 
oral statement at the public hearing must register before the hearing 
(https://www.fws.gov/southeast/wildlife/birds/red-cockaded-woodpecker/#recovery-plan-section/). The use of a virtual public hearing is 
consistent with our regulations at 50 CFR 424.16(c)(3).

Reasonable Accommodation

    The Service is committed to providing access to the public 
informational meeting and public hearing for all participants. Closed 
captioning will be available during the public informational meeting 
and public hearing. Further, a full audio and video recording and 
transcript of the public hearing will be posted online at https://www.fws.gov/southeast/wildlife/birds/red-cockaded-woodpecker/#recovery-plan-section after the hearing. Participants will also have access to 
live audio during the public informational meeting and public hearing 
via their telephone or computer speakers. Persons with disabilities 
requiring reasonable accommodations to participate in the meeting and/
or hearing should contact the person listed under FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT at least 5 business days prior to the date of the 
meeting and hearing to help ensure availability. An accessible version 
of the Service's public informational meeting presentation will also be 
posted online at https://www.fws.gov/southeast/wildlife/birds/red-cockaded-woodpecker/#recovery-plan-section prior to the meeting and 
hearing (see DATES, above). See https://www.fws.gov/southeast/wildlife/birds/red-cockaded-woodpecker/#recovery-plan-section for more 
information about reasonable accommodation.

Public Comments

    If you submit information via http://www.regulations.gov, your 
entire submission--including any personal identifying information--will 
be posted on the website. If your submission is made via hard copy 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. We will 
post all hardcopy submissions on http://www.regulations.gov. Comments 
and materials we receive, as well as supporting documentation we used 
in preparing the proposed rule, will be available for public inspection 
on http://www.regulations.gov.

Authors

    The primary authors of this document are the Ecological Services 
staff of the Southeast Regional 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.).

Aurelia Skipwith,
Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2020-25280 Filed 11-13-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P