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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 161 / Tuesday, August 24, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
meadow environments. The nectar from flowers provides carbohydrates, and the pollen provides protein. Franklins bumble bee may have a foraging distance of up to 10 km 6.2 mi Thorp 2017, pers. comm., but the species typical dispersal distance is most likely 3 km 1.86 mi or less Hatfield 2017, pers. comm.; Goulson 2010, p. 96.
Franklins bumble bee have been observed collecting pollen from lupine Lupinus spp. and California poppy Eschscholzia californica, and collecting nectar from horsemint or nettle-leaf giant hyssop Agastache urticifolia and mountain monardella Monardella odoratissima Xerces Society and Thorp 2010, p. 11.
Franklins bumble bee may also collect both pollen and nectar from vetch Vicia spp., as well as rob nectar from it Xerces Society and Thorp 2010, p. 11.
Short-tongued species, including Franklins bumble bee, sometimes visit flowers that are quite elongated and have difficulty reaching nectar deep in the flower. These bees can rob nectar by chewing a hole on the outside of the flower at the base, through which they can easily reach the nectar with their tongues.
In summary, Franklins bumble bee has been found in a wide array of sheltered and exposed habitat types at a broad elevational range, and the species appears to be a generalist forager.
Despite uncertainties regarding the species habitat needs, we know they need 1 floral resources for nectaring throughout the colony cycle, and 2
relatively protected areas for breeding and shelter. The habitat elements that Franklins bumble bee appears to prefer to fulfill those needs mentioned above are relatively plentiful and widely distributed.
Regulatory and Analytical Framework
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Regulatory Framework Section 4 of the Act 16 U.S.C. 1533
and its implementing regulations 50
CFR part 424 set forth the procedures for determining whether a species is an endangered species or a threatened species. The Act defines an endangered species as a species that is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range, and a threatened species as a species that is likely to become an endangered species within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range. The Act requires that we determine whether any species is an endangered species or a threatened species because of any of the following factors:

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A The present or threatened destruction, modification, or curtailment of its habitat or range;
B Overutilization for commercial, recreational, scientific, or educational purposes;
C Disease or predation;
D The inadequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms; or E Other natural or manmade factors affecting its continued existence.
These factors represent broad categories of natural or human-caused actions or conditions that could have an effect on a species continued existence.
In evaluating these actions and conditions, we look for those that may have a negative effect on individuals of the species, as well as other actions or conditions that may ameliorate any negative effects or may have positive effects.
We use the term threat to refer in general to actions or conditions that are known to or are reasonably likely to negatively affect individuals of a species. The term threat includes actions or conditions that have a direct impact on individuals direct impacts, as well as those that affect individuals through alteration of their habitat or required resources stressors. The term threat may encompasseither together or separatelythe source of the action or condition or the action or condition itself.
However, the mere identification of any threats does not necessarily mean that the species meets the statutory definition of an endangered species or a threatened species. In determining whether a species meets either definition, we must evaluate all identified threats by considering the expected response by the species, and the effects of the threatsin light of those actions and conditions that will ameliorate the threatson an individual, population, and species level. We evaluate each threat and its expected effects on the species, then analyze the cumulative effect of all of the threats on the species as a whole.
We also consider the cumulative effect of the threats in light of those actions and conditions that will have positive effects on the species, such as any existing regulatory mechanisms or conservation efforts. The Secretary determines whether the species meets the definition of an endangered species or a threatened species only after conducting this cumulative analysis and describing the expected effect on the species now and in the foreseeable future.

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Analytical Framework The SSA report documents the results of our comprehensive biological review of the best available scientific and commercial data regarding the status of the species, including an assessment of the potential threats to the species. The SSA report does not represent a decision by the Service on whether the species should be listed as an endangered or threatened species under the Act. It does, however, provide the scientific basis that informs our regulatory decisions, which involve the further application of standards within the Act and its implementing regulations and policies. The following is a summary of the key results and conclusions from the SSA report; the full SSA report can be found at Docket No. FWSR1ES20180044 on http
www.regulations.gov.
To assess the viability of Franklins bumble bee, we used the three conservation biology principles of resiliency, redundancy, and representation Shaffer and Stein 2000, pp. 306310. Briefly, resiliency supports the ability of the species to withstand environmental and demographic stochasticity for example, wet or dry, warm or cold years, redundancy supports the ability of the species to withstand catastrophic events for example, droughts, large pollution events, and representation supports the ability of the species to adapt over time to long-term changes in the environment for example, climate changes. In general, the more resilient and redundant a species is and the more representation it has, the more likely it is to sustain populations over time, even under changing environmental conditions. Using these principles, we identified the species ecological requirements for survival and reproduction at the individual, population, and species levels, and described the beneficial and risk factors influencing the species viability.
The SSA process can be categorized into three sequential stages. During the first stage, we evaluated the individual species life-history needs. The next stage involved an assessment of the historical and current condition of the species demographics and habitat characteristics, including an explanation of how the species arrived at its current condition. The final stage of the SSA involved making predictions about the species responses to positive and negative environmental and anthropogenic influences. Throughout all of these stages, we used the best available information to characterize viability as the ability of a species to
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