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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 185 / Tuesday, September 28, 2021 / Proposed Rules
species, both inside and outside the critical habitat designation, will continue to be subject to: 1
Conservation actions implemented under section 7a1 of the Act; 2
regulatory protections afforded by the requirement in section 7a2 of the Act for Federal agencies to ensure their actions are not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of any endangered or threatened species; and 3 the prohibitions found in section 9 of the Act. Federally funded or permitted projects affecting listed species outside their designated critical habitat areas may still result in jeopardy findings in some cases. These protections and conservation tools will continue to contribute to recovery of this species.
Similarly, critical habitat designations made on the basis of the best available information at the time of designation will not control the direction and substance of future recovery plans, habitat conservation plans HCPs, or other species conservation planning efforts if new information available at the time of these planning efforts calls for a different outcome.

As discussed above under Proposed Listing Determination, there is currently no imminent threat of collection or vandalism identified under Factor B for this species, and identification and mapping of critical habitat is not expected to initiate any such threat. In our SSA and this proposed listing determination, we determined that the present or threatened destruction, modification, or curtailment of habitat or range is a threat to the South Llano Springs moss and that those threats in some way can be addressed by section 7a2 consultation measures. The species occurs wholly in the jurisdiction of the United States, and we are able to identify an area that meets the definition of critical habitat. Therefore, because none of the circumstances enumerated in our regulations at 50 CFR
424.12a1 have been met, and because there are no other circumstances the Secretary has identified for which this designation of critical habitat would be not prudent, we have determined that the designation of critical habitat is prudent for the South Llano Springs moss.

Prudency Determination Section 4a3 of the Act, as amended, and implementing regulations 50 CFR 424.12, require that, to the maximum extent prudent and determinable, the Secretary shall designate critical habitat at the time the species is determined to be an endangered or threatened species. Our regulations 50 CFR 424.12a1 state that the Secretary may, but is not required to, determine that a designation would not be prudent in the following circumstances:
i The species is threatened by taking or other human activity and identification of critical habitat can be expected to increase the degree of such threat to the species;
ii The present or threatened destruction, modification, or curtailment of a species habitat or range is not a threat to the species, or threats to the species habitat stem solely from causes that cannot be addressed through management actions resulting from consultations under section 7a2 of the Act;
iii Areas within the jurisdiction of the United States provide no more than negligible conservation value, if any, for a species occurring primarily outside the jurisdiction of the United States;
iv No areas meet the definition of critical habitat; or v The Secretary otherwise determines that designation of critical habitat would not be prudent based on the best scientific data available.

Critical Habitat Determinability Having determined that designation is prudent, under section 4a3 of the Act we must find whether critical habitat for the South Llano Springs moss is determinable. Our regulations at 50 CFR
424.12a2 state that critical habitat is not determinable when one or both of the following situations exist:
i Data sufficient to perform required analyses are lacking, or ii The biological needs of the species are not sufficiently well known to identify any area that meets the definition of critical habitat.
When critical habitat is not determinable, the Act allows the Service an additional year to publish a critical habitat designation 16 U.S.C.
1533b6Cii.
We reviewed the available information pertaining to the biological needs of the species and habitat characteristics where this species is located. This and other information represent the best scientific data available and led us to conclude that the designation of critical habitat is determinable for the South Llano Springs moss.

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Physical or Biological Features Essential to the Conservation of the Species In accordance with section 35Ai of the Act and regulations at 50 CFR
424.12b, in determining which areas we will designate as critical habitat from within the geographical area occupied
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by the species at the time of listing, we consider the physical or biological features that are essential to the conservation of the species and that may require special management considerations or protection. The regulations at 50 CFR 424.02 define physical or biological features essential to the conservation of the species as the features that occur in specific areas and that are essential to support the lifehistory needs of the species, including, but not limited to, water characteristics, soil type, geological features, sites, prey, vegetation, symbiotic species, or other features. A feature may be a single habitat characteristic, or a more complex combination of habitat characteristics. Features may include habitat characteristics that support ephemeral or dynamic habitat conditions. Features may also be expressed in terms relating to principles of conservation biology, such as patch size, distribution distances, and connectivity. For example, physical features essential to the conservation of the species might include gravel of a particular size required for spawning, alkali soil for seed germination, protective cover for migration, or susceptibility to flooding or fire that maintains necessary early-successional habitat characteristics. Biological features might include prey species, forage grasses, specific kinds or ages of trees for roosting or nesting, symbiotic fungi, or a particular level of nonnative species consistent with conservation needs of the listed species. The features may also be combinations of habitat characteristics and may encompass the relationship between characteristics or the necessary amount of a characteristic essential to support the life history of the species.
In considering whether features are essential to the conservation of the species, the Service may consider an appropriate quality, quantity, and spatial and temporal arrangement of habitat characteristics in the context of the life-history needs, condition, and status of the species. These characteristics include, but are not limited to, space for individual and population growth and for normal behavior; food, water, air, light, minerals, or other nutritional or physiological requirements; cover or shelter; sites for breeding, reproduction, or rearing or development of offspring;
and habitats that are protected from disturbance.
Summary of Essential Physical or Biological Features We derive the specific physical or biological features essential to the
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