[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 69 (Tuesday, April 13, 2021)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 19184-19185]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-07608]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Part 17

[Docket No. FWS-R8-ES-2018-0042; FXES11130900000-167-FF09E42000]
RIN 1018-BD00


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Reclassification 
of Layia carnosa (Beach Layia) From Endangered to Threatened Species 
Status With Section 4(d) Rule

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Proposed rule; reopening of comment period; 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 beach layia (Layia carnosa) as a threatened 
species with a rule issued under section 4(d) of the Endangered Species 
Act of 1973 (Act), as amended. We are reopening the proposed rule 
comment period to give all interested parties an additional opportunity 
to comment on the proposed rule, and we announce a public informational 
meeting and public hearing on the proposed rule. Comments previously 
submitted need not be resubmitted as they are already incorporated into 
the public record and will be fully considered in the final rule.

DATES: Comment submission: The comment period for the proposed rule 
that published September 30, 2020 (85 FR 61684), is reopened. We will 
accept comments received or postmarked on or before May 13, 2021. 
Comments submitted electronically using the Federal eRulemaking Portal 
(see ADDRESSES, below) must be received by 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time on 
the closing date.
    Public informational meeting and public hearing: On April 29, 2021, 
we will hold a public informational meeting from 4:30 p.m. to 5 p.m., 
Pacific Time, followed by a public hearing from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., 
Pacific Time.

ADDRESSES: 
    Availability of documents: You may obtain copies of the September 
30, 2020, proposed rule and associated documents on the internet at 
http://www.regulations.gov under Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2018-0042.
    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 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-R8-ES-2018-0042, 
which is the docket number for the proposed reclassification and 
section 4(d) rule. 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 Rules link to locate this

[[Page 19185]]

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: Docket No. FWS-R8-ES-2018-0042, U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service, MS: PRB/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: Jenny Ericson, Acting Field 
Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Arcata Fish and Wildlife 
Office, 1655 Heindon Rd., Arcata, CA 95521; telephone 707-822-7201. 
Persons who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call 
the Federal Relay Service at 800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On September 30, 2020, we published a proposed rule (85 FR 61684) 
to reclassify beach layia 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 
November 30, 2020. We received a request for a public hearing. 
Therefore, we are reopening the comment period and 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 beach 
layia and information on the types of comments that would be helpful to 
us in promulgating this rulemaking action, please refer to the 
September 30, 2020, proposed rule (85 FR 61684).

Public Hearing

    We have scheduled a public informational meeting and public hearing 
on our September 30, 2020, proposed rule to reclassify beach layia (85 
FR 61684). 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/arcata/es/plants/beachLayia/layia.html. Registrants will receive the Zoom link 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 
September 30, 2020, proposed rule to reclassify beach layia (85 FR 
61684). While the public informational meeting will be an opportunity 
for dialogue with the Service, the public hearing is not. The purpose 
of the public hearing is to provide a forum for accepting formal verbal 
testimony, which will then become part of the record for the proposed 
rule. In the event there is a large attendance, the time allotted for 
verbal testimony may be limited. Therefore, anyone wishing to provide 
verbal testimony at the public hearing 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 provide verbal testimony at the public hearing must register 
before the hearing (https://www.fws.gov/arcata/es/plants/beachLayia/layia.html). 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/arcata/es/plants/beachLayia/layia.html 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/arcata/es/plants/beachLayia/layia.html prior to the 
meeting and hearing (see DATES, above). See https://www.fws.gov/arcata/es/plants/beachLayia/layia.html 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 author of this document is Ecological Services staff of 
the Pacific Southwest Regional Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 
Sacramento, California.

Authority

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

Martha Williams,
Principal Deputy Director, Exercising the Delegated Authority of the 
Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2021-07608 Filed 4-12-21; 8:45 am]
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