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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 185 / Tuesday, September 28, 2021 / Proposed Rules TABLE 1PROPOSED CRITICAL HABITAT UNIT FOR THE SOUTH LLANO SPRINGS MOSS
Area estimates reflect all land within critical habitat unit boundaries Size of unit in hectares acres
Unit
Land ownership by type
Upper South Llano River

Private

We present a brief description of the proposed unit, and the reasons why it meets the definition of critical habitat for the South Llano Springs moss, below.
Upper South Llano River Unit The Upper South Llano River Unit consists of 0.19 ha 0.48 ac within the outflow area of Seven Hundred Springs, in northeastern Edwards County, Texas.
This unit extends from the points of discharge about 10 m 33 ft downslope to the South Llano River, and spans a length of about 100 m 328 ft along the river. The species was last documented at this site in 1979, and the unit is considered occupied. This entire unit is on privately owned land. This unit contains all of the physical or biological features essential to the conservation of the species. The physical or biological features in this unit may require special management consideration due to groundwater pumping causing loss or reduction of springflow flood-control projects; and development of areas adjacent to or within proposed critical habitat.
Effects of Critical Habitat Designation Section 7 Consultation Section 7a2 of the Act requires Federal agencies, including the Service, to ensure that any action they fund, authorize, or carry out is not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of any endangered species or threatened species or result in the destruction or adverse modification of designated critical habitat of such species. In addition, section 7a4 of the Act requires Federal agencies to confer with the Service on any agency action which is likely to jeopardize the continued existence of any species proposed to be listed under the Act or result in the destruction or adverse modification of proposed critical habitat.
We published a final rule with a revised definition of destruction or adverse modification on August 27, 2019 84 FR 44976. Destruction or adverse modification means a direct or indirect alteration that appreciably diminishes the value of critical habitat as a whole for the conservation of a listed species.

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If a Federal action may affect a listed species or its critical habitat, the responsible Federal agency action agency must enter into consultation with us. Examples of actions that are subject to the section 7 consultation process are actions on State, tribal, local, or private lands that require a Federal permit such as a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers under section 404 of the Clean Water Act 33
U.S.C. 1251 et seq. or a permit from the Service under section 10 of the Act or that involve some other Federal action such as funding from the Federal Highway Administration, Federal Aviation Administration, or the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Federal actions not affecting listed species or critical habitatand actions on State, tribal, local, or private lands that are not federally funded, authorized, or carried out by a Federal agencydo not require section 7
consultation.
Compliance with the requirements of section 7a2 is documented through our issuance of:
1 A concurrence letter for Federal actions that may affect, but are not likely to adversely affect, listed species or critical habitat; or 2 A biological opinion for Federal actions that may affect, and are likely to adversely affect, listed species or critical habitat.
When we issue a biological opinion concluding that a project is likely to jeopardize the continued existence of a listed species and/or destroy or adversely modify critical habitat, we provide reasonable and prudent alternatives to the project, if any are identifiable, that would avoid the likelihood of jeopardy and/or destruction or adverse modification of critical habitat. We define reasonable and prudent alternatives at 50 CFR
402.02 as alternative actions identified during consultation that:
1 Can be implemented in a manner consistent with the intended purpose of the action, 2 Can be implemented consistent with the scope of the Federal agencys legal authority and jurisdiction, 3 Are economically and technologically feasible, and
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0.19 0.48

Occupied?
Yes.

4 Would, in the Service Directors opinion, avoid the likelihood of jeopardizing the continued existence of the listed species and/or avoid the likelihood of destroying or adversely modifying critical habitat.
Reasonable and prudent alternatives can vary from slight project modifications to extensive redesign or relocation of the project. Costs associated with implementing a reasonable and prudent alternative are similarly variable.
Regulations at 50 CFR 402.16 set forth requirements for Federal agencies to reinitiate formal consultation on previously reviewed actions. These requirements apply when the Federal agency has retained discretionary involvement or control over the action or the agencys discretionary involvement or control is authorized by law and, subsequent to the previous consultation, we have listed a new species or designated critical habitat that may be affected by the Federal action, or the action has been modified in a manner that affects the species or critical habitat in a way not considered in the previous consultation. In such situations, Federal agencies sometimes may need to request reinitiation of consultation with us, but the regulations also specify some exceptions to the requirement to reinitiate consultation on specific land management plans after subsequently listing a new species or designating new critical habitat. See the regulations for a description of those exceptions.
Application of the Destruction or Adverse Modification Standard The key factor related to the destruction or adverse modification determination is whether implementation of the proposed Federal action directly or indirectly alters the designated critical habitat in a way that appreciably diminishes the value of the critical habitat as a whole for the conservation of the listed species. As discussed above, the role of critical habitat is to support physical or biological features essential to the conservation of a listed species and provide for the conservation of the species.

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