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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 124 / Thursday, July 1, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service website and upon mailed request to the Field Office set out above, and may also be included in the preamble and at http
www.regulations.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jay B. Herrington, Field Supervisor, U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, Panama City Ecological Services Field Office, 1601
Balboa Avenue, Panama City, FL 32405;
telephone 8507690552. Persons who use a telecommunications device for the deaf TDD may call the Federal Relay Service at 8008778339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

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Executive Summary Why we need to publish a rule. Under Section 4a3 of the Act, if we determine that a species is endangered or threatened, we must designate critical habitat to the maximum extent prudent and determinable. Designations and revisions of critical habitat can only be completed by issuing a rule. We listed the Suwannee moccasinshell as a threatened species on November 7, 2016
81 FR 69417. We are designating a total of approximately 190 mi 306 km of stream channel in three units as critical habitat for the Suwannee moccasinshell.
Basis for this rule. Section 35A 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 that such areas are essential for the conservation of the species. Section 4b2 of the Act states that the Secretary must make the designation on the basis of the best scientific data available and after taking into consideration the economic impact, the impact on national security, and any other relevant impacts of specifying any particular area as critical habitat.
Economic analysis. In accordance with section 4b2 of the Act, we prepared an economic analysis of the impacts of designating critical habitat for the Suwannee moccasinshell. We published the announcement of, and solicited public comments on, the draft economic analysis DEA; 84 FR 65325, November 27, 2019. Because we received no comments on the DEA, we adopted the DEA as a final version.
Peer review and public comment. In accordance with our peer review policy
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published on July 1, 1994 59 FR
34270, we solicited expert opinion from three knowledgeable individuals with scientific expertise that included familiarity with the Suwannee moccasinshell and its habitat, biological needs, and threats. We received a response from one peer reviewer who agreed with the information in the proposed critical habitat rule. We also considered all comments and information received from the public during the comment period on the proposed designation.
Previous Federal Actions On October 6, 2015 80 FR 60335, we proposed to list the Suwannee moccasinshell as a threatened species.
On October 6, 2016 81 FR 69417, we published the final listing rule, which added the Suwannee moccasinshell to the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife in title 50 of the Code of Federal Regulations at 50 CFR 17.11h.
On November 27, 2019 84 FR 65325, we proposed to designate critical habitat for the Suwannee moccasinshell. All other previous Federal actions for the Suwannee moccasinshell are described in one or more of the documents discussed above.
Summary of Comments and Recommendations In our November 27, 2019, proposed critical habitat rule, we requested written comments from the public on the proposed designation and the associated DEA by January 27, 2020. We also contacted appropriate Federal, State, and local agencies; scientific organizations; and other interested parties and invited them to comment on the proposed critical habitat designation and DEA during the comment period.
Notices of the availability of these documents for review and inviting public comment were published by the Tallahassee Democrat on December 4, 2019, Gainesville Sun and Gilchrist Journal on December 5, 2019, and Valdosta Daily Times and Suwannee Democrat on December 11, 2019. We received nine comments during the 60day comment period. We did not receive any requests for a public hearing. All substantive information provided during the comment period has either been incorporated directly into this final determination or is addressed below.
Comments From States Section 4b5Aii of the Act requires the Service to give actual notice of any designation of lands that are considered to be critical habitat to the appropriate agency of each State in
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which the species is believed to occur, and invite each such agency to comment on the proposed regulation. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission FWC provided comments in support of the designation of critical habitat, and provided additional information related to current and future threats. Specifically, the FWC
provided a publication by Holcomb et al. 2018, entire on the strong connection between spring discharge and species occupancy; information on a proposed surface mining operation along the New River; and a publication by Neupane et al. 2019, entire that assessed the hydrologic responses to projected climate change in the Suwannee River basin. We incorporated this new information into the final rule.
Public Comments We received eight public comments on the proposed rule. Several commenters indicated support for the habitat protection of the Suwannee moccasinshell. None of the comments were substantive so as to require the Services response.
Summary of Changes From the Proposed Rule After consideration of the comments we received during the public comment period refer to Summary of Comments and Recommendations above, and new information published or obtained since the proposed rule was published, we made changes to the final critical habitat rule. Many small, nonsubstantive changes and corrections, not affecting the determination e.g., updating the Background section in response to comments, minor clarifications, were made throughout the document. Below is a summary of changes made to the final rule.
1 We incorporated information on the strong connection between spring discharge and species occupancy from Holcomb et al. 2018, entire into the discussion of natural flow regimes in the Habitats Protected From Disturbance section under Physical or Biological Features Essential to the Conservation of the Species.
2 We incorporated information from Neupane et al. 2018, entire, provided by FWC see above, that assessed the hydrologic responses to projected climate change scenarios in the Suwannee River basin into the discussion of natural flow regimes in the Habitats Protected From Disturbance section under Physical or Biological Features Essential to the Conservation of the Species.
3 We incorporated information received from FWC see above on a
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