Department of the Interior December 21, 2023 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to list the coal darter (Percina brevicauda), a small, benthic freshwater fish native to the Mobile River Basin in Alabama, as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). This determination also serves as our 12-month finding on a petition to list the coal darter. After a review of the best available scientific and commercial information, we find that listing the species is warranted. Accordingly, we propose to list the coal darter as a threatened species with a rule issued under section 4(d) of the Act (``4(d) rule'') to provide for the conservation of the species. If we finalize this rule as proposed, it would add this species to the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and extend the Act's protections to the species.