Fish and Wildlife Service April 5, 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We, the Fish and Wildlife Service, announce that a Draft Comprehensive Conservation Plan and Environmental Assessment (Draft CCP/EA) for Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge Complex is available for review and comment. The National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966, as amended by the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997, requires the Service to develop a CCP for each national wildlife refuge. This Draft CCP, when final, will describe how we intend to manage the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge Complex over the next 15 years.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the reopening of the comment period on the proposed designation of critical habitat for two southern California plants: Ceanothus ophiochilus (Vail Lake ceanothus) and Fremontodendron mexicanum (Mexican flannelbush). We also announce the availability of the draft economic analysis for the proposed critical habitat designations and an amended Required Determinations section of the proposal. The draft economic analysis identifies potential costs will be $385,000 to $659,000 in undiscounted dollars over a 20-year period as a result of the proposed designation of critical habitat, including those costs coextensive with listing and recovery. Discounted future costs are estimated to be $325,000 to $559,000 ($22,000 to $38,000 annualized) at a 3 percent discount rate, or $272,000 to $471,000 ($26,000 to $44,000 annualized) at a 7 percent discount rate. 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 this proposal was available. We are reopening the comment period to allow all interested parties to comment simultaneously on the proposed rule, the associated draft economic analysis, and the amended Required Determinations section.