[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 224 (Wednesday, November 24, 2021)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 67013-67014]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-25767]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 424
[Docket No. FWS-HQ-ES-2020-0047, FF09E23000 FXES1111090FEDR 212; Docket
No. 211118-0238]
RIN 1018-BE69; 0648-BJ44
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Regulations for
Listing Endangered and Threatened Species and Designating Critical
Habitat
AGENCY: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior; National Marine
Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
Commerce.
ACTION: Proposed rule; extension of comment period.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National
Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS; hereafter collectively referred to as
the ``Services'' or ``we''), are extending the comment period on our
October 27, 2021, proposed rule to rescind the final rule titled
``Regulations for Listing Endangered and Threatened Species and
Designating Critical Habitat'' that was published on December 16, 2020,
and established a regulatory definition of the term ``habitat.'' We are
extending the comment period by 15 days.
DATES: The comment period on the proposed rule that published on
October 27, 2021, at 86 FR 59353, is extended. We will accept comments
received or postmarked on or before December 13, 2021.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by one of the following methods:
(1) Electronically: Go to the Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. In the Search box, enter the docket number or RIN
for this rulemaking (presented above in the document headings). For
best results, do not copy and paste either number; instead, type the
docket number or RIN into the Search box using hyphens. 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.''
(2) By hard copy: Submit by U.S. mail to: Public Comments
Processing, Attn: FWS-HQ-ES-2020-0047, 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. Comments and materials we receive will be available for public
inspection on https://www.regulations.gov. (See Public Comments, below,
for more information.)
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bridget Fahey, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, Division of Conservation and Classification, 5275 Leesburg
Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803, telephone 703/358-2171; or Angela
Somma, National Marine Fisheries Service, Office of Protected
Resources, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910, telephone
301/427-8403. If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf
(TDD), call the Federal Relay Service at 800/877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On October 27, 2021, the Services published a proposed rule (86 FR
59353) to rescind the final rule establishing a regulatory definition
for the term ``habitat'' that was published on December 16, 2020 (85 FR
81411) and became effective on January 15, 2021. The proposed rule
opened a 30-day public comment period that was
[[Page 67014]]
scheduled to close on November 26, 2021. We subsequently received two
requests to extend the public comment period. One request was submitted
by the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (AFWA), which sought
an extension in order to coordinate and incorporate feedback from all
its members into its comment. AFWA is a national organization
representing State agencies in all 50 States, and the Services find
their request shows good cause to extend the comment period. With this
document, we extend the public comment period for an additional 15
days, as specified above in DATES, to provide all interested parties an
additional opportunity to comment on the October 27, 2021, proposed
rule.
Public Comments
All relevant information will be considered prior to making a final
determination regarding the regulatory definition of ``habitat.'' If
you already submitted comments or information on the October 27, 2021,
proposed rule, please do not resubmit them. Any such comments are
incorporated as part of the public record of the rulemaking proceeding,
and we will fully consider them in the preparation of any final rule.
You may submit your comments and materials concerning the proposed
rule by one of the methods listed in ADDRESSES. Comments must be
submitted to https://www.regulations.gov before 11:59 p.m. (Eastern
Time) on the date specified in DATES. We will not consider mailed
comments that are not postmarked by the date specified in DATES.
We will post all comments on https://www.regulations.gov. This
generally means that we will post any personal information you provide
us. If you provide personal identifying information in your comment,
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.
Authority
We issue this document under the authority of the Endangered
Species Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq).
Shannon A. Estenoz,
Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, Department of the
Interior.
Samuel D. Rauch, III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
[FR Doc. 2021-25767 Filed 11-23-21; 8:45 am]
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