[Federal Register: June 14, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 113)]
[Proposed Rules]              
[Page 33101-33179]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr14jn04-33]                        

[[Page 33101]]

Part II

Department of Commerce
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
50 CFR Parts 223 and 224
Endangered and Threatened Species: Proposed Listing Determinations for
27 ESUs of West Coast Salmonids; Proposed Rule

[[Page 33102]]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Parts 223 and 224

[Docket No. 040525161-4161-01; I.D. No. 052104F]
RIN 0648-AR93


Endangered and Threatened Species: Proposed Listing
Determinations for 27 ESUs of West Coast Salmonids

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: NMFS has completed comprehensive status reviews for 26 West
Coast salmon (chum, Oncorhynchus keta; coho, O. kisutch, O. nerka;
chinook, O. tshawytscha; pink, O. gorbuscha) and O. mykiss (inclusive
of anadromous steelhead and resident rainbow trout) Evolutionarily
Significant Units (ESUs) previously listed as threatened and endangered
species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), as well as one ESU that
was designated as a candidate species, for a total of 27 ESUs.
Following a September 2001 U.S. District Court ruling that rejected how
NMFS treats hatchery stocks in its listing determinations, the agency
received several petitions seeking to delist, or to redefine and list,
17 salmon and steelhead ESUs on the basis of the Court's ruling. In
response to these petitions NMFS initiated status reviews for 16 of
these ESUs, and elected to conduct status reviews for an additional 11
ESUs. Based on these reviews, NMFS is now issuing a proposed rule to
list four ESUs as endangered and 23 ESUs as threatened. Collectively,
these 27 ESUs include 162 artificial propagation programs. NMFS also
proposes amending existing protective regulations, promulgated under
section 4(d) of the ESA, for threatened ESUs.

DATES: Comments must be received no later than 5 p.m. P.S.T. on
September 13, 2004. (See ADDRESSES.) NMFS will announce the dates and
locations of public hearings in California, Oregon, Washington, and
Idaho in a separate Federal Register notice.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be submitted to Chief, Protected Resources
Division, NMFS, 525 NE Oregon Street--Suite 500, Portland, OR 97232-
2737. Comments on this proposed rule may be submitted by e-mail. The
mailbox address for providing e-mail comments is salmon.nwr@noaa.gov.
Include in the subject line of the e-mail comment the following
document identifier: 040525161-4161-01. Comments may also be submitted
via facsimile (fax) to 503-230-5435, or via the Internet at http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/ibrm.
Comments may also be submitted electronically

through the Federal e-Rulemaking portal: http://www.regulations.gov.


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information regarding this
proposed rule contact Garth Griffin, NMFS, Northwest Region, (503) 231-
2005; Craig Wingert, NMFS, Southwest Region, (562) 980-4021; or Marta
Nammack, NMFS, Office of Protected Resources, (301) 713-1401.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
 

The rest of this very long notice is available here for those of you interested:

 

http://frwebgate4.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/waisgate.cgi?WAISdocID=66145125909+0+0+0&WAISaction=retrieve