[Federal Register: September 9, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 174)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 54620-54621]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr09se04-27]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Parts 223 and 224
[I.D. 090204F]
Endangered and Threatened Species: Notice of Public Hearings on
Proposed Listing Determinations for Salmonids in California
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of public hearings.
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SUMMARY: In June 2004, NMFS proposed new listing determinations for 27
Evolutionarily Significant Units (ESUs) of salmon and O. mykiss as
threatened and endangered under the ESA, including 10 ESUs in
California. NMFS recently extended the public comment period for these
proposals to October 20, 2004, and also announced a series of eight
public meetings/hearings that will be held in the Pacific Northwest. In
this notice, NMFS is announcing that public hearings will also be held
at six locations in California from late September through mid-October
to provide additional opportunities for the public and other interested
parties to comment on the subject proposals.
DATES: Written comments must be received by October 20, 2004. See
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for the specific public hearing dates.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on the proposed listing
determinations for 27 ESUs of West Coast Salmon and O. mykiss (69 FR
33101; June 14, 2004) by any of the following methods:
E-mail: The mailbox address for submitting e-mail comments on the
new listing determination proposals is salmon.nwr@noaa.gov. Please
include in the subject line of the e-mail comment the document
identifier ``Proposed Listing Determinations.''
Mail: Submit written comments and information to Assistant Regional
Administrator, NMFS, Protected Resources Division, 501 W. Ocean Blvd.,
Suite 4200, Long Beach, California, 90802-4213. Please identify the
comment as regarding the ``Proposed Listing Determinations.''
Fax: 562-980-4027. Please identify whether the fax comment as
regarding the ``Proposed Listing Determinations.''
Copies of the Federal Register notices cited herein and additional
salmon-related materials are available on the Internet at http://www.nwr.noaa.gov
.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Craig Wingert, NMFS, Southwest Region,
(562) 980-4021.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On June 14, 2004, NMFS published proposed new ESA listing
determinations for 27 salmon and O. mykiss ESUs, including ten ESUs
that occur in California (69 FR 33101). The 27 proposed listing
determinations include 162 total hatchery programs, as part of four
ESUs being proposed for endangered status and 23 ESUs being proposed
for threatened status. In addition, NMFS proposed amendments to the
existing 4(d) protective regulations for the proposed threatened ESUs.
Extension of Public Comment Period
Several requests were received to extend the comment period for the
proposed listing determinations for the 27 ESUs. The original comment
period for the proposed listing determinations was to end on September
13, 2004, but has recently been extended to October 20, 2004 (69 FR
53031), to allow additional opportunity for public comment (see DATES
and ADDRESSES).
Public Hearings
Joint Commerce-Interior ESA implementing regulations state that the
Secretary shall promptly hold at least one public hearing if any person
requests one within 45 days of publication of a proposed regulation to
list a species or to designate critical habitat (see 50 CFR
424.16(c)(3)). In order to provide the public additional opportunity
provide comments on these new listing determination proposals, NMFS
will be holding six public hearings in California at the specific dates
and locations listed below:
(1) September 22, 2004; 6:30-9:30pm at the North Coast Inn, 4975
Valley West Blvd., Arcata, CA 95521 (2) September 23, 2004; 6:30-9:30pm
at the DoubleTree Hotel Sonoma Wine Country, One DoubleTree Drive,
Rohnert Park, CA 94928
(3) September 28, 2004; 6:30-9:30pm at the Best Western Hilltop
Inn, 2300 Hilltop Drive, Redding, CA 96002
(4) September 28, 2004; 6:30-9:30pm at the Monterey Beach Resort,
2600 Sand Dunes Drive, Monterey, CA 93940
(5) October 12, 2004; 6:30-9:30pm at the Radisson Hotel Sacramento,
500 Leisure Lane, Sacramento, CA 95815
(6) October, 12, 2004; 6:30-9:30pm at Fess Parker's DoubleTree
Resort, 633 East Cabrillo Blvd., Santa Barbara, CA 93103
NMFS has scheduled these hearings to allow affected stakeholders
and members of the public the opportunity to provide comments directly
to agency staff during the comment period. However, these public
meetings are not the only opportunity for the public to provide input
on these proposals. The public and stakeholders are encouraged to
continue to comment and provide input to NMFS on the proposals (via
correspondence, e-mail, and the Internet; see ADDRESSES, above) up
until the scheduled close of the comment period on October 20, 2004.
[[Page 54621]]
References
Copies of the Federal Register notices and related materials cited
herein are available on the Internet at http://nwr.noaa.gov, or upon
request (see ADDRESSES section above).
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.
Dated: September 3, 2004.
Laurie K. Allen,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 04-20425 Filed 9-3-04; 2:49 pm]
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