[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 8 (Tuesday, January 13, 2015)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 1616-1618]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-00366]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 223
[Docket No. 0911231415-4999-04]
RIN 0648-XT12
Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Request for
Information for the Issuance of Protective Regulations Under Section
4(d) of the Endangered Species Act for the Conservation of Threatened
Corals
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Advanced notice of proposed rulemaking; request for
information.
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SUMMARY: We, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), are
considering proposing protective regulations to provide for the
conservation of the 20 coral species recently listed as threatened
under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Fifteen of the listed species
occur in the Indo-Pacific and five occur in the Caribbean. This
advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) is intended to alert
other agencies and the public of our planning efforts and request
public input that will assist in identifying actions and activities
that may impact the status of these corals, as well as information on
the existence and efficacy of on-going conservation activities. This
information will help inform our evaluation of what, if any, protective
regulations are necessary and advisable for the conservation of these
species.
DATES: Responses to this request for information must be received by
March 16, 2015.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, information, or data on this
document, identified by NOAA-NMFS-2014-0158, by any of the following
methods:
Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal www.regulations.gov. Go to
www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2014-0158. Click the
``Comment Now'' icon, complete the required fields, and enter or attach
your comments.
Mail:
[cir] To submit written comments regarding the species listed in
Table 1 below, contact the Pacific Islands Region: Lance Smith,
Protected Resources Division, National Marine Fisheries Service,
Pacific Islands Regional Office, NOAA Inouye Regional Center, 1845 Wasp
Blvd., Building 176, Honolulu, HI 96818.
[cir] To submit written comments regarding the species listed in
Table 2 below, contact the Southeast Region: Stephania Bolden,
Protected Resources Division, National Marine Fisheries Service,
Southeast Regional Office, 263 13th Avenue South, Saint Petersburg, FL
33701.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lance Smith, NMFS, Pacific Islands
Regional Office, 808-725-5131; Kimberly Maison, NMFS, Pacific Islands
Regional Office, 808-725-5143; Stephania Bolden, NMFS, Southeast
Regional Office, 727-824-5312; or Marta Nammack, NMFS Office of
Protected Resources, 301-427-8469.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On September 10, 2014, we published a final rule listing 20 species
of coral as threatened under the ESA (79 FR 53851). The 15 Indo-Pacific
species include Acropora globiceps, Acropora jacquelineae, Acropora
lokani, Acropora pharaonis, Acropora retusa, Acropora rudis, Acropora
speciosa, Acropora tenella, Anacropora spinosa, Isopora crateriformis,
Euphyllia paradivisa, Montipora australiensis, Porites napopora, Pavona
diffluens, and Seriatopora aculeata. The five Caribbean species include
Dendrogyra cylindrus, Orbicella annularis, Orbicella faveolata,
Orbicella franksi, and Mycetophyllia ferox. The final listing rule
describes the background of the listing actions for these 20 corals and
provides a summary of our conclusions regarding the statuses of the
listed corals. For additional background and a summary of natural
history and threats to the species, the reader is referred to the
Status Review Report, Supplemental Information Report, and Final
Listing Rule (all three are available at http://www.fpir.noaa.gov/PRD/prd_coral.html). At the time of listing we did not propose any
protective regulations pursuant to section 4(d) of the ESA.
ESA section 9(a)(1) prohibitions are automatically applied to
species listed as endangered but not to species listed as threatened.
Section 4(d) of the ESA provides that, whenever a species is listed as
threatened, the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) shall issue such
regulations as she deems necessary and advisable to provide for the
conservation of the species. Such regulations may include any or all of
the prohibitions in ESA section 9(a)(1) that apply automatically to
species listed as
[[Page 1617]]
endangered. Those section 9(a)(1) prohibitions make it unlawful, with
limited specified exceptions, for any person subject to the
jurisdiction of the United States to: ``(A) Import any such species
into, or export any such species from the United States; (B) take any
such species within the United States or the territorial sea of the
United States; (C) take any such species upon the high seas; (D)
possess, sell, deliver, carry, transport, or ship, by any means
whatsoever, any such species taken in violation of subparagraphs (B)
and (C); (E) deliver, receive, carry, transport, or ship in interstate
or foreign commerce, by any means whatsoever and in the course of a
commercial activity, any such species; (F) sell or offer for sale in
interstate or foreign commerce any such species; or (G) violate any
regulation pertaining to such species or to any threatened species of
fish or wildlife listed pursuant to section 1533 of this title and
promulgated by the Secretary pursuant to authority provided by this
chapter.'' Section 11 of the ESA provides for civil and criminal
penalties for violations of section 9 or regulations issued under the
ESA.
Whether section 9(a)(1) prohibitions or other regulations are
necessary and advisable to provide for the conservation of species
depends in large part upon the biological status of the species, the
potential impacts of various activities on the species, and on factors
such as the existence and efficacy of other conservation activities.
Statuses of the 20 Recently-Listed Corals
We determined in the final listing rule that the 20 coral species
are not currently in danger of extinction but are likely to become so
within the foreseeable future. In the final listing rule we identified
nine threats to the corals that posed either a current or future
extinction risk (79 FR 53851; September 10, 2014) and further
classified the threats by importance. Primary threats identified
include ocean warming, disease, and ocean acidification. Threats of
medium to low importance include trophic effects of fishing,
sedimentation, nutrient enrichment, sea-level rise, predation, and
collection and trade. See Tables 1 and 2 below for U.S. distributions
of these 20 threatened coral species. For more details on the
individual status reviews, threat susceptibilities, and listing
determinations for each species, please see the final listing rule (79
FR 53851; September 10, 2014). We also determined Acropora palmata and
Acropora cervicornis continue to warrant listing as threatened species;
the ESA 4(d) rule (73 FR 64264; October 29, 2009) for those two species
previously listed in 2006 remains effective.
Developing Protective Regulations
We are now considering whether there are protective regulations
that are necessary and advisable for the conservation of these 20
recently listed corals. We have flexibility under section 4(d) to
tailor protective regulations based on the contributions of other
existing conservation measures. The 4(d) regulations may prohibit, with
respect to threatened species, some or all of the acts which section
9(a)(1) of the ESA prohibits with respect to endangered species. For
those prohibitions we do apply, we may also provide exceptions for
certain circumstances in which extending the take prohibitions is not
necessary and advisable. For example, we can exempt from regulations
activities that may take listed corals but ultimately provide an
overall conservation benefit.
Seven of the 15 threatened Indo-Pacific coral species have been
confirmed to occur within U.S. Pacific jurisdictional areas including
Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Pacific
Remote Island areas, and American Samoa (See Table 1). This information
may change as more surveys are conducted and better information becomes
available. The remaining eight threatened Indo-Pacific coral species
have not yet been reported or confirmed within U.S. jurisdiction and
are currently considered to occur naturally as foreign species,
entirely outside of U.S. jurisdiction; however, they may be observed
within U.S. jurisdictions in future surveys, and several are commonly
imported into the United States for the marine aquarium trade. All five
threatened Caribbean corals occur within U.S. jurisdiction (See Table
2). One of the section 9(a)(1) prohibitions that may be applied
pursuant to section 4(d) is the prohibition on the take of species on
the high seas. We are therefore requesting information for all 20 newly
listed threatened species, wherever they may occur, to help inform our
determination of which take prohibitions may be necessary and advisable
for their conservation.
Table 1--U.S. Distribution of 15 Threatened Indo-Pacific Coral Species
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Commonwealth
of Northern Pacific Remote
Guam Mariana Island Areas American Samoa
Islands
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Acropora globiceps.......................... X X X X
Acropora jacquelineae....................... ............... ............... ............... X
Acropora lokani............................. ............... ............... ............... ...............
Acropora pharaonis.......................... ............... ............... ............... ...............
Acropora retusa............................. X X X X
Acropora rudis.............................. ............... ............... ............... ...............
Acropora speciosa........................... ............... ............... X X
Acropora tenella............................ ............... ............... ............... ...............
Anacropora spinosa.......................... ............... ............... ............... ...............
Euphyllia paradivisa........................ ............... ............... ............... X
Isopora crateriformis....................... ............... ............... ............... X
Montipora australiensis..................... ............... ............... ............... ...............
Pavona diffluens............................ ............... ............... ............... ...............
Porites napopora............................ ............... ............... ............... ...............
Seriatopora aculeata........................ X X ............... ...............
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Table 2--U.S. Distribution of Five Newly-Listed Caribbean Corals
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Florida-- U.S. Virgin
Atlantic Puerto Rico Islands Gulf of Mexico
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Mycetophyllia ferox......................... X X X ...............
Dendrogyra cylindrus........................ X X X ...............
Orbicella annularis......................... X X X X
Orbicella faveolata......................... X X X X
Orbicella franksi........................... X X X X
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Request for Information
We are soliciting information from other agencies and the public
that will help us determine what, if any, protective regulations are
necessary and advisable for the conservation of these 20 newly listed
coral species. This includes information that will help us understand
and analyze impacts of various activities, the existence and efficacy
of ongoing conservation activities, and prohibitions that are both
necessary and advisable to reduce threats and amenable to management
for the conservation of these 20 species. Specifically, we are
soliciting information including the following: (1) Current or planned
activities within the range of these species and their possible impact
on these species; (2) impacts within the species' ranges that fall
within any of the nine major threat categories: Ocean warming, disease,
ocean acidification, sea-level rise, nutrient enrichment,
sedimentation, predation, trophic effects of fishing, and collection
and trade; (3) information on which of the section 9(a)(1) prohibitions
on take are necessary and advisable for the conservation of these
species, with associated justification; (4) specific activities that
should be prohibited for the conservation of the 20 coral species, with
associated justification; (5) specific activities that should be
excepted from any prohibitions that may be applied because they either
provide a conservation benefit or do not detract from the conservation
of these species, with associated justification; (6) existing
permitting programs that may already provide for the conservation of
listed corals through their activity evaluation and permitting process,
with associated justification; and (7) the economic costs and benefits
likely to result from protective regulations (see DATES and ADDRESSES).
We will fully consider all relevant information received in our
determination of what protective regulations are necessary and
advisable for the conservation of the species.
References Cited
A complete list of references is available at http://www.fpir.noaa.gov/PRD/prd_coral.html and upon request (see ADDRESSES).
Authority
The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act of
1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).
Dated: January 2, 2015.
Eileen Sobeck,
Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-00366 Filed 1-12-15; 8:45 am]
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