Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 90-Day Finding and 12-Month Determination on a Petition To Revise Critical Habitat for Sonora Chub, 57838-57842 [2024-15490]

Agencies

• Fish and Wildlife Service
• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 136 (Tuesday, July 16, 2024)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 57838-57842]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-15490]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Part 17

[Docket No. FWS-R2-ES-2022-0012; FXES1111090FEDR-245-FF09E21000]


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 90-Day Finding and 
12-Month Determination on a Petition To Revise Critical Habitat for 
Sonora Chub

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notification of a 90-day petition finding and 12-month 
determination.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce our 
90-day finding and 12-month determination on how to proceed in response 
to a petition to revise critical habitat for Sonora chub (Gila 
ditaenia) pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended 
(Act). The petition requests that the Service revise the existing 
critical habitat designation in Arizona by adding California Gulch. Our 
90-day finding is that the petition, in conjunction with information 
readily available in our files, presents substantial scientific 
information indicating that the requested revision may be warranted. 
Our 12-month determination is that we intend to proceed with processing 
the petition by assessing critical habitat during the next 5-year 
status review for Sonora chub scheduled for release as soon as fiscal 
year 2027, as resources allow.

DATES: The finding and the determination announced in this document 
were made on July 16, 2024.

ADDRESSES: A detailed description of the basis for this finding and 
this determination is available on the internet at https://www.regulations.gov at Docket No. FWS-R2-ES-2022-0012. Information and 
supporting documentation used in preparing this finding and 
determination is also available by contacting the person listed under 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. Please submit any new information, 
materials, comments, or questions concerning this finding to the 
contact listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Heather Whitlaw, Arizona Ecological 
Services Field Office, 9828 North 31st Ave. C3, Phoenix, AZ 85051-2517; 
telephone 602-242-0210. Individuals in the United States who are deaf, 
deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability may dial 711 
(TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay services. 
Individuals outside the United States should use the relay services 
offered within their country to make international calls to the point-
of-contact in the United States.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Section 3(5)(A) of the Act defines critical habitat as (i) the 
specific areas within the geographical area occupied by the species, at 
the time it is listed, on which are found those physical or biological 
features (I) essential to the conservation of the species and (II) 
which may require special management considerations or protections; and 
(ii) specific areas outside the geographical area occupied by the 
species at the time it is listed, upon a determination by the Secretary 
of the Interior (Secretary) that such areas are essential for the 
conservation of the species.
    In accordance with section 3(5)(A)(i) of the Act and regulations at 
50 CFR 424.12(b), in determining which areas we will designate as 
critical habitat from within the geographical area occupied by the 
species at the time of listing, we consider the physical or biological 
features that are essential to the conservation of the species and 
which may require special management considerations or protection. Our 
implementing regulations at 50 CFR 424.02 define the ``physical or 
biological features essential to the conservation of the species'' as 
the features that occur in specific areas and that are essential to 
support the life-history needs of the species, including, but not 
limited to, water characteristics, soil type, geological features, 
sites, prey, vegetation, symbiotic species, or other features. A 
feature may be a single habitat characteristic or a more complex 
combination of habitat characteristics. Features may include habitat 
characteristics that support ephemeral or dynamic habitat conditions. 
Features may also be expressed in terms relating to principles of 
conservation biology, such as patch size, distribution distances, and 
connectivity. In addition, our implementing regulations at 50 CFR 
424.02 define ``special management considerations or protection'' as 
methods or procedures useful in protecting the physical or biological 
features essential to the conservation of listed species.
    Section 4(b)(2) of the Act states that the Secretary shall 
designate and make revisions to critical habitat for listed species on 
the basis of the best scientific data available and after taking into 
consideration the economic impact,

[[Page 57839]]

national security impact, and any other relevant impact of specifying 
any particular area as critical habitat. The Secretary may exclude any 
particular area from critical habitat if she determines that the 
benefits of such exclusion outweigh the benefits of specifying such 
area as part of the critical habitat, unless she determines that the 
failure to designate such area as critical habitat will result in the 
extinction of the species concerned. Exclusion decisions are governed 
by the regulations at 50 CFR 424.19 and the Policy Regarding 
Implementation of Section 4(b)(2) of the Endangered Species Act (81 FR 
7226, February 11, 2016). We also refer to a 2008 Department of the 
Interior Solicitor's opinion entitled ``The Secretary's Authority to 
Exclude Areas from a Critical Habitat Designation under Section 4(b)(2) 
of the Endangered Species Act'' (M-37016).
    A provision of the Administrative Procedure Act, codified at 5 
U.S.C. 553(e), gives interested persons the right to petition for the 
issuance, amendment, or repeal of a Federal rule. Section 4(b)(3)(D) of 
the Act requires that we make a finding on whether a petition to revise 
critical habitat for a species presents substantial scientific 
information indicating that the revision may be warranted. Our 
regulations at 50 CFR 424.14(i)(1)(i) state that substantial scientific 
information refers to credible scientific information in support of the 
petition's claims such that a reasonable person conducting an impartial 
scientific review would conclude that the revision proposed in the 
petition may be warranted. Conclusions drawn in the petition without 
the support of credible scientific information will not be considered 
substantial information.
    In determining whether substantial scientific information exists, 
we consider several factors, including information submitted with, and 
referenced in, the petition and all other information readily available 
in our files. Our regulations at 50 CFR 424.14(e)(5) require that, for 
areas petitioned to be added to or removed from designated critical 
habitat that were outside the geographical area occupied by the species 
at the time it was listed, the petitioner must present information 
indicating why the petitioned areas are essential (if areas are being 
added) or are not essential (if areas are being removed) for the 
conservation of the species.
    To the maximum extent practicable, we are to make this finding 
within 90 days of our receipt of the petition and publish our 
notification of the finding promptly in the Federal Register. We are to 
base this finding on information provided in the petition, supporting 
information submitted with the petition, and information otherwise 
available in our files. If we find that a petition presents substantial 
scientific information indicating that the revision may be warranted, 
we are required to determine how we intend to proceed with the 
requested revision within 12 months after receiving the petition and 
promptly publish notification of such intention in the Federal Register 
(16 U.S.C. 1533(b)(3)(D)(ii)). We generally refer to these documents as 
90-day findings and 12-month determinations or findings.
    Our regulations further state that we will consider whether a 
petition presents a complete and balanced representation of the 
relevant facts when making our finding of whether a petition presents 
substantial information that the requested action may be warranted. 
Thus, if we find that a petition presented only information that would 
be favorable to the petition outcome, ignored relevant and readily 
available information, and presented a biased and incomplete 
representation of facts, we should consider whether the petition has 
met the requirement to present substantial information.

Previous Federal Actions

    Sonora chub, a fish found in southeastern Arizona, was listed under 
the Act as a threatened species with critical habitat in 1986 (51 FR 
16042, April 30, 1986). Thus, the Sonora chub appears in the List of 
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife at 50 CFR 17.11(h), and a critical 
habitat designation for the Sonora chub in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, 
is set forth at 50 CFR 17.95(e).
    On August 6, 2021, we received a petition dated July 30, 2021, from 
the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) to revise critical habitat 
for Sonora chub. The July 30, 2021, petition (hereafter referred to as 
``the 2021 petition'') requested that we revise critical habitat to 
include the length of California Gulch from at least approximately 1 
mile above the Tinaja Dam to the international border, and the lower 
extent of Warsaw Canyon. The 2021 petition stated that the Sonora chub 
is currently known to occur in California Gulch, which was not occupied 
at the time of listing in 1986, and that it may be affected by 
livestock grazing and that there was an alleged state of noncompliance 
with various aspects of prior biological opinions issued under section 
7 of the Act. The petitioner drew the conclusion that section 7 
consultation alone did not ensure protection of Sonora chub in 
California Gulch. Additionally, the 2021 petition alleged that our 
methodology of assigning a 25-foot riparian area (along each side of 
Sycamore and Pe[ntilde]asco Creeks) as part of the 1986 critical 
habitat could be applied to the same 25-foot riparian area along 
California Gulch.
    As per our regulations at 50 CFR 424.14(e)(5), for areas petitioned 
to be added to designated critical habitat that were outside the 
geographical area occupied by the species at the time it was listed, we 
assessed whether the petition presented substantial information 
indicating why the petitioned areas are essential for the conservation 
of the species. We determined that none of the assertions or opinions 
presented in the 2021 petition met the definition of substantial 
scientific information as that term is defined at 50 CFR 
424.14(i)(1)(i). Based on our review of the petition, sources cited in 
the petition, and other readily available information, we determined 
that the 2021 petition did not provide substantial scientific 
information indicating that California Gulch is essential for the 
conservation of Sonora chub, as required by our regulations (50 CFR 
424.14(e)(5)). Therefore, in our 90-day finding published in the 
Federal Register on August 23, 2022 (87 FR 51635), we determined that 
the 2021 petition did not provide substantial information that revising 
critical habitat for Sonora chub may be warranted.

Current Petition History

    On March 15, 2023, we received a petition dated March 14, 2023, 
from CBD requesting that critical habitat be revised for Sonora chub. 
The petition clearly identified itself as such and included the 
requisite identification information for the petitioner, required at 50 
CFR 424.14(c). Section 4 of the Act, specifically 16 U.S.C. 
1533(b)(3)(D), allows any interested individual to petition us to 
revise a listed species' critical habitat. As such, we considered the 
requested critical habitat revision in this 90-day finding.

Species Information

    Sonora chub is a small fish in the minnow family. It is usually 
less than 5 inches long and is dark-colored with two prominent black 
lateral bands on the sides and a dark oval spot at the base of the 
tail. Breeding males develop a red color at the base of the lower fins 
and some orange color on the belly (Miller 1945, p. 108). Sonora chub 
mostly inhabits pools within creeks, sometimes located under cliffs in 
erosive creeks (Rinne and Minckley 1991, p. 25).

[[Page 57840]]

    At the time of listing, Sonora chub was known to occur in Sycamore 
Canyon in Sycamore Creek proper, Yanks Spring, and in two of its 
tributaries, located in Santa Cruz County, Arizona. Critical habitat 
for Sonora chub is designated in Sycamore Creek, starting from and 
including Yank's Spring, downstream approximately 5 miles to the 
international border with Mexico, plus the lower 1.25 miles of 
Pe[ntilde]asco Creek, and the lower 0.25 miles of an unnamed stream 
that enters Sycamore Creek from the west in the NW \1/4\ of Section 23, 
T.23S., R.11E. in Santa Cruz County. Critical habitat includes a 25-
foot-wide riparian area along each side of Sycamore and Pe[ntilde]asco 
Creeks. No riparian zone was designated around Yank's Spring because it 
was impounded in a concrete tank. No riparian zone was designated for 
the unnamed stream because this reach consisted of bedrock pools that 
were unaffected by the riparian zone. Since its listing, the species 
was discovered in 1995 in California Gulch in Santa Cruz County and its 
tributary streams. The species' occurrence there is considered to be a 
natural population, but the species was not known to occur here at the 
time of listing in 1986 (AGFD 1995, pp. 1-2).

Evaluation of Information for the 90-Day Finding

    Section 4(b)(2) of the Act requires us to designate and revise 
critical habitat for listed species on the basis of the best scientific 
data available. Section 4(b)(3)(D)(i) requires us to make a finding as 
to whether the petition presents substantial scientific information 
indicating that the revision may be warranted. For the purposes of 
findings on petitions to revise critical habitat, we apply the 
definition of ``substantial scientific information'' set forth at 50 
CFR 424.14(i)(1)(i). In making this finding, we relied on information 
provided by the petitioners, sources cited by the petitioners, and 
information readily available in the Service's files. Since the request 
was for unoccupied critical habitat, the standards we applied to our 
analysis are set forth in 50 CFR 424.14(e)(5), meaning that the 
petition must present substantial scientific information that the 
requested areas are essential for the species' conservation.

90-Day Finding

    In accordance with 50 CFR 424.14(h)(1)(iii), the ``substantial 
scientific or commercial information'' standard must be applied in 
light of any prior reviews or findings the Service has made on the 
listing status of the species that is the subject of the petition. As 
discussed above, in our 90-day finding on the 2021 petition, we 
concluded that none of the assertions or opinions presented in the 2021 
petition met the definition of substantial scientific information as 
that term is defined at 50 CFR 424.14(i)(1)(i). However, in reviewing 
the current information provided by the petitioners, we have determined 
that the March 15, 2023, CBD petition (hereafter referred to as ``the 
2023 petition'') does present substantial information indicating that 
California Gulch is essential for the conservation of the Sonora chub. 
The petition did not identify California Gulch as occupied by Sonora 
chub at the time of listing, citing that this area was only found to be 
occupied by the species in 1995 (Service 2013, p.13). Therefore, we 
apply our regulations at 50 CFR 424.14(e)(5) that require that, for 
areas petitioned to be added to or removed from designated critical 
habitat that were outside the geographical area occupied by the species 
at the time it was listed, the petitioner must present information 
indicating why the petitioned areas are essential for the conservation 
of the species.
    The content and emphasis of the 2021 petition differed 
substantively from the 2023 petition. The 2021 petition requested 
designating critical habitat in California Gulch based primarily on the 
threats of livestock grazing and border activities on Sonora chub and 
the need to add an additional locus for interagency consultation under 
section 7 of the Act to address those threats. The 2023 petition also 
discusses the effects of livestock grazing and border activities as 
threats (CBD 2023, pp. 12-20). However, in the 2023 petition, these 
impacts were discussed regarding the assertion that increased 
redundancy of the Sonora chub by designating critical habitat in 
California Gulch would in turn help minimize the effects of these 
impacts on the species. The 2023 petition's focus on redundancy, 
resiliency, and representation represents a different approach based on 
principles of conservation biology to support the petitioner's 
contention that California Gulch is essential for the conservation of 
Sonora chub. The 2023 petition's focus on the substantial information 
available to support the principles of conservation biology required to 
support a finding that a critical habitat designation is essential for 
the conservation of the species was a marked change from the 2021 
petition. This change in the information presented to support the 
petition led to our conclusion that the latter petition provided 
substantial information indicating that California Gulch is essential 
for the conservation of Sonora chub as set forth in our regulations at 
50 CFR 424.14(e)(5).
    The petition requests that the Service revise the existing critical 
habitat designation by adding the stretch of California Gulch 
downstream from the small dam above the tinaja (a plunge pool with a 
bedrock substrate) to the international border with Mexico, along with 
a 25-foot riparian buffer along each side of the stream channel. The 
petitioner first states that designating critical habitat in California 
Gulch is essential to the conservation of the Sonora chub as defined in 
the Service's recovery plan (CBD 2023, p. 34). The petitioner 
reiterates the recovery objectives from the Sonora chub recovery plan 
and specifically refers to recovery objective I ``Protect Remaining 
Populations of Sonora chub'' and its subtask ``Recognize Critical 
Habitat'' (Service 1992, pp. 21-39), correctly noting that recovery 
criteria have not been developed (CBD 2023, p. 34; Service 1992, pp. 
22-23). The petitioner correctly notes that conservation equates to 
recovery in that the former is defined as using all methods and 
procedures that are necessary to bring any endangered or threatened 
species to the point at which the measures provided pursuant to the Act 
are no longer necessary, i.e., the species is recovered in accordance 
with 50 CFR 402.02. We agree that the recovery plan's stated intent is 
to guide management actions to conserve Sonora chub in its natural 
habitat (Service 1992, p. 21) and that conservation equates to 
recovery. However, recovery plan objective I(A) does not, without 
context, support the assertion that California Gulch, now known to be 
within Sonora chub's natural habitat, is essential to the species' 
conservation.
    The petition then demonstrates that protecting Sonora chub habitat 
in California Gulch may also be essential to the conservation of the 
species as it allows for increased redundancy, resiliency, and 
representation and, therefore, viability. The petition quotes the 
Service's critical habitat determination for the northern spotted owl 
(57 FR 1796) and includes that ``a species can be said to be recovered 
when its continued viability is highly certain'' (CBD 2023, p. 34). The 
petition provides the Service's definitions of redundancy, resiliency, 
and representation as applied in the Species Status Assessment Report 
for the Arkansas River Shiner (Notropis girardi) and Peppered Chub 
(Macrhybopsis

[[Page 57841]]

tetranema) (Service 2018, entire). The Arkansas River shiner and 
peppered chub are cyprinid fishes (minnow family), as is the Sonora 
chub, and all three species occur in lotic (riverine) ecosystems. The 
concepts contained in the species status assessment report for the 
Arkansas River shiner and peppered chub are therefore generally 
transferrable to Sonora chub.
    Sycamore Canyon and California Gulch support the only two wild 
populations of Sonora chub in the United States (Service 2013, p. 18). 
Sonora chub was most recently detected in Sycamore Canyon on site 
visits in 2019 and 2022, but fish were absent from dry reaches of 
Pe[ntilde]asco Creek and an unnamed tributary (Service 2022, p. 4). 
Sonora chub exists on a permanent basis in California Gulch in the 
United States, and during periods of adequate flow move out from two 
core areas in that stream to occupy the intervening channel (Stefferud 
and Stefferud 2007, p. 18). Sonora chub was not detected by the Arizona 
Game and Fish Department in a single sampling visit to California Gulch 
in June of 2022, although the pools sampled may have only recently 
become inundated by rains (Service 2022, p. 4). Sonora chub is 
temporally absent from much of California Gulch during times of reduced 
runoff, but it is likely the species repopulates the stream from 
residually occupied sites in the United States (Stefferud and Stefferud 
2007, p. 18) and/or via upstream movements from occupied reaches in 
Mexico when hydrologic conditions become favorable (Service 2013, p. 
27).
    The confluence of Sycamore Canyon and California Gulch is located 
south of the international border with Mexico. Recent detection data 
for Sonora chub in Mexico indicates the species is still present in 
some locations there. Sonora chub was collected from the Rio Cocospera 
at Rancho El Aribabi in Sonora in 2015 (Service 2022, p. 4). Sonora 
chub was again detected in the Rio Cocospera in 2017, in two Rio 
Cocospera locations in 2022, and in the Rio Bambuto in 2022 (Service 
2022, p. 4).
    Regardless of the species' status in Mexico, the redundancy of 
Sonora chub in the United States is low. The petition therefore 
presents substantial information that California Gulch, since it is 
most likely repopulated by the species when hydrologic conditions 
allow, may be essential to ensuring the redundancy of Sonora chub and 
that the stream therefore contributes to the conservation of the 
species.
    The petition cites severe fire or misplaced fire-retardant drops as 
examples of catastrophic events that could severely impact or even 
remove one of the two Sonora chub populations in the United States, or 
significantly affect the species' genetic diversity, limiting the 
ability of the Sonora chub to recover (Service 2013, p. 18). Sonora 
chub is a desert fish adapted to the fluctuations of a desert 
environment; after drought conditions, it has been known to rapidly 
expand and recolonize California Gulch and newly re-wetted reaches. If 
habitat conditions along waterways can be maintained, then this ability 
to respond to favorable water conditions is encouraging for the 
population to avoid the danger of extinction (Service 2013, p. 27). The 
petition asserts that designating critical habitat is necessary to 
ensure that the California Gulch population is resilient enough for the 
species to avoid extinction should the Sycamore Canyon population be 
extirpated by a catastrophic event, back-to-back stochastic events, or 
the combined effect of multiple threats, such as livestock grazing and 
border infrastructure. Resiliency describes a population's ability to 
withstand either periodic or stochastic disturbance events that do not 
rise to the level of catastrophic. California Gulch can serve as a 
source population for downstream reaches in Mexico as well as Sycamore 
Canyon if the latter were to experience a periodic or stochastic event, 
not necessarily having to rise to the level of catastrophic. The 
petition therefore presents substantial information indicating that 
California Gulch may be essential to ensuring the resiliency of Sonora 
chub and, thus, contributes to the conservation of the species.
    Representation describes a species' ability to adapt to changing 
environmental conditions over time. Representation can be measured 
based on the range of adaptive diversity within and among populations 
and the ecological diversity of populations across the species' range. 
Representation or genetic diversity within Sonora chub is difficult to 
determine as the Sonora chub's genetic variability in the wild remains 
unknown (Service 2019, p. 10) and information on morphological 
variability appears to be limited. According to the Arizona Game and 
Fish Department (2021, p. 1), Sonora chub may achieve lengths of up to 
7.9 inches (20 centimeters) in the United States whereas Sonora chub in 
Mexico may grow up to 10 inches (25 centimeters) long. A high degree of 
genetic differentiation between populations in California Gulch and 
Sycamore Canyon is unlikely given that at least occasional interactions 
and thus, gene flow, may occur between the two.
    However, additional genetic diversity may exist due to variation in 
the habitats or niches occupied in the two locations, enhancing the 
species' ability to adapt to changing environmental conditions. 
Sycamore Canyon is an intermittent stream with a perennial- interrupted 
flow that comprises isolated pools or sometimes continuous flow in the 
approximately 6 miles upstream of the international border (Stefferud 
and Stefferud 2007, p. 44). Sycamore Canyon is a mix of Madrean 
evergreen oak woodland and Sonoran Desert-dominated habitat, and there 
are significant reaches of high-elevation riparian vegetation, with 
species including Fremont cottonwood, willow, velvet mesquite and 
scattered Arizona sycamore (Audubon et al. 2020, pp. 1-2). California 
Gulch is a small intermittent to ephemeral stream with perennial water 
at the tinaja, the livestock exclosure at the international border with 
Mexico, as well as artificial ponds in the nearby town of Ruby, Arizona 
(Stefferud and Stefferud 2007, p. 18). California Gulch is unique with 
quality thornscrub habitat and a dense shrub layer on its steep sides 
(Audubon et al. 2020, p. 2). The differing habitat conditions means it 
is possible for there to exist a small degree of intraspecific 
diversity via a temporal cline between Sonora chub simultaneously 
occupying Sycamore Canyon and California Gulch during times when 
hydrologic conditions temporarily prohibit the exchange of individuals 
(and gene flow) between the streams and other waters in the Rio de la 
Concepci[oacute]n (Rio Magdalena) watershed in Mexico. The petition 
therefore presents substantial information that California Gulch may be 
essential to ensuring Sonora chub representation is maintained such 
that it contributes to the conservation of the species.
    In summary, the petition presents several arguments asserting that 
revision of critical habitat for Sonora chub may be essential for the 
conservation of the species. We find that information presented in the 
petition regarding the importance of California Gulch to ensure the 
redundancy, resiliency, and representation of Sonora chub, provides 
information that this area is essential for the conservation of the 
species as required by our regulations at 50 CFR 424.14(e)(5).

12-Month Determination

    Section 4(b)(3)(D)(ii) of the Act states that if we find that a 
petition presents substantial information indicating that a revision to 
critical habitat may be

[[Page 57842]]

warranted, then within 12 months of receiving the petition we are to 
indicate how we intend to proceed with the requested revision and 
promptly publish a notice of our intention in the Federal Register. 
Pursuant to the provisions of the Act regarding revision of critical 
habitat and petitions for revision, we hereby provide notification as 
to how we intend to proceed with the requested revision to the critical 
habitat for Sonora chub.
    We intend that any revisions to the critical habitat designated for 
Sonora chub be as accurate and comprehensive as possible. Therefore, we 
intend to assess potential revisions to Sonora chub critical habitat 
following the completion of the next 5-year status review for the 
species scheduled for release as soon as fiscal year 2027, as resources 
allow. Once the 5-year review is complete, a rulemaking process may be 
initiated after revisions to the species' critical habitat have been 
assessed and if they are determined to be appropriate.
    The currently designated critical habitat in Arizona, as well as 
areas that support the species but are outside of the current critical 
habitat designation, will continue to be subject to conservation 
actions implemented under section 7(a)(1) of the Act. Actions affecting 
Sonora chub, or its designated critical habitat, are subject to the 
regulatory protections afforded by section 7(a)(2) of the Act, which 
requires Federal agencies, including the Service, to ensure that 
actions they fund, authorize, or carry out are not likely to jeopardize 
the continued existence of any listed species or result in the 
destruction or adverse modification of critical habitat.

References Cited

    A complete list of references cited in this document is available 
on the internet at https://www.regulations.gov at Docket No. FWS-R2-ES-
2022-0012 and upon request from the Arizona Ecological Services Field 
Office (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).

Authors

    The primary authors of this document are the staff members of the 
Arizona Ecological Services Field Office.

Authority

    The authority for this 90-day finding and 12-month determination is 
the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et 
seq.).

Martha Williams,
Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-15490 Filed 7-15-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P