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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 185 / Tuesday, September 28, 2021 / Proposed Rules
for reclassification from endangered to threatened downlisting or removal from protected status delisting, and methods for monitoring recovery progress. Recovery plans also establish a framework for agencies to coordinate their recovery efforts and provide estimates of the cost of implementing recovery tasks. Recovery teams composed of species experts, Federal and State agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and stakeholders are often established to develop recovery plans. When completed, the recovery outline, draft recovery plan, and the final recovery plan will be available on our website http www.fws.gov/
endangered, or from our Austin Ecological Services Field Office see FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
Implementation of recovery actions generally requires the participation of a broad range of partners, including other Federal agencies, States, Tribes, nongovernmental organizations, businesses, and private landowners.
Examples of recovery actions include habitat restoration e.g., restoration of native vegetation, research, captive propagation and reintroduction, and outreach and education. The recovery of many listed species cannot be accomplished solely on Federal lands because their range may occur primarily or solely on non-Federal lands. To achieve recovery of these species requires cooperative conservation efforts on private, State, and tribal lands.
If this species is listed, funding for recovery actions will be available from a variety of sources, including Federal budgets, State programs, and cost share grants for non-Federal landowners, the academic community, and nongovernmental organizations. In addition, pursuant to section 6 of the Act, the State of Texas would be eligible for Federal funds to implement management actions that promote the protection or recovery of the South Llano Springs moss. Information on our grant programs that are available to aid species recovery can be found at: http
www.fws.gov/grants.
Although the South Llano Springs moss is only proposed for listing under the Act at this time, please let us know if you are interested in participating in recovery efforts for this species.
Additionally, we invite you to submit any new information on this species whenever it becomes available and any information you may have for recovery planning purposes see FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT.
Section 7a of the Act requires Federal agencies to evaluate their actions with respect to any species that is proposed or listed as an endangered
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or threatened species and with respect to its critical habitat, if any is designated. Regulations implementing this interagency cooperation provision of the Act are codified at 50 CFR part 402. Section 7a4 of the Act requires Federal agencies to confer with the Service on any action that is likely to jeopardize the continued existence of a species proposed for listing or result in destruction or adverse modification of proposed critical habitat. If a species is listed subsequently, section 7a2 of the Act requires Federal agencies to ensure that activities they authorize, fund, or carry out are not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of the species or destroy or adversely modify its critical habitat. If a Federal action may affect a listed species or its critical habitat, the responsible Federal agency must enter into consultation with the Service.
Federal agency actions within the species habitat that may require conference or consultation or both as described in the preceding paragraph include management and any other landscape-altering activities on Federal lands, management and conservation projects conducted on private lands with support from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program; issuance of section 404 Clean Water Act 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq. permits by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; construction and maintenance of roads or highways by the Federal Highway Administration;
construction and maintenance of railways by the Federal Railroad Administration; and discharge permits from the Environmental Protection Agency.
The Act and its implementing regulations set forth a series of general prohibitions and exceptions that apply to endangered plants. The prohibitions of section 9a2 of the Act, codified at 50 CFR 17.61, make it illegal for any person subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to: Import or export;
remove and reduce to possession from areas under Federal jurisdiction;
maliciously damage or destroy on any such area; remove, cut, dig up, or damage or destroy on any other area in knowing violation of any law or regulation of any State or in the course of any violation of a State criminal trespass law; deliver, receive, carry, transport, or ship in interstate or foreign commerce, by any means whatsoever and in the course of a commercial activity; or sell or offer for sale in interstate or foreign commerce an endangered plant. Certain exceptions apply to employees of the Service, the National Marine Fisheries Service, other
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Federal land management agencies, and State conservation agencies.
We may issue permits to carry out otherwise prohibited activities involving endangered plants under certain circumstances. Regulations governing permits are codified at 50
CFR 17.62. With regard to endangered plants, a permit may be issued for scientific purposes or for enhancing the propagation or survival of the species.
There are also certain statutory exemptions from the prohibitions, which are found in sections 9 and 10 of the Act.
It is our policy, as published in the Federal Register on July 1, 1994 59 FR
34272, to identify to the maximum extent practicable at the time a species is listed, those activities that would or would not constitute a violation of section 9 of the Act. The intent of this policy is to increase public awareness of the effect of a proposed listing on proposed and ongoing activities within the range of the species proposed for listing. Based on the best available information, the following actions are unlikely to result in a violation of section 9, if these activities are carried out in accordance with existing regulations and permit requirements;
this list is not comprehensive:
1 Recreational use of the streams, such as fishing, swimming, and canoeing, as these activities normally take place in the river or on the river bank and not in the spring itself, and;
2 Normal residential landscaping activities as these activities do not take place in the spring, nor do they affect the quantity or quality of water in the spring.
Based on the best available information, the following activities may potentially result in a violation of section 9 of the Act if they are not authorized in accordance with applicable law; this list is not comprehensive:
1 Removing, cutting, digging up, or damaging or destroying the South Llano Springs moss in knowing violation of any law or regulation of the state of Texas or in the course of any violation of a State criminal trespass law;
2 Importing the South Llano Springs moss into, or exporting from, the United States;
3 Delivering, receiving, carrying, transporting, or shipping the South Llano Springs moss in interstate or foreign commerce, by any means and in the course of a commercial activity, and;
4 Selling or offering the South Llano Springs moss for sale in interstate or foreign commerce.
Questions regarding whether specific activities would constitute a violation of
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