Department of the Interior November 27, 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the reopening of the comment period on the proposed designation of critical habitat for Acanthomintha ilicifolia (San Diego thornmint) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). We also announce corrections to proposed critical habitat subunits 3C, 3D, 3F, 4A, 4B, and 4C as described in the preamble to the proposed rule published in the Federal Register on March 14, 2007 (72 FR 11946); announce the availability of the draft economic analysis for the proposed critical habitat designation; and announce amended Required Determinations for the proposal. The draft economic analysis provides information about the pre-designation costs and forecasts post-designation costs associated with conservation efforts for Acanthomintha ilicifolia. The draft economic analysis estimates potential future costs to be approximately $0.6 to $2.8 million in undiscounted dollars over a 20-year period in areas proposed as final critical habitat and approximately $1.6 to $5.1 million in undiscounted dollars over a 20-year period in areas proposed for exclusion from critical habitat under section 4(b)(2) of the Act. The amended Required Determinations section provides our determination concerning compliance with applicable statutes and Executive orders that we have deferred until the information from the draft economic analysis of the proposal was available. We are reopening the comment period to allow all interested parties an opportunity to comment simultaneously on the proposed rule, corrections to the preamble of the proposed rule, the associated draft economic analysis, and the amended Required Determinations section. Comments previously submitted need not be resubmitted as they will be incorporated into the public record as part of this comment period and will be fully considered in preparation of the final rule.