Posted September 4, 2013
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) announced
that it will reopen the public comment period for a proposed designation of
critical habitat for the Neosho mucket and rabbitsfoot mussels under the
Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA), according to the announcement in the
federal register, available here. Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR) and the Kansas FarmBureau requested that the USFWS reopen the comment period “to allow all
interested parties an opportunity to comment on the proposed designation of critical
habitat, draft environmental assessment, and draft economic analysis.”
On October 16, 2012, the USFWS published a proposed
rule to list the Neosho mucket as an endangered species and the rabbitsfoot as
a threatened species under the ESA and to designate “critical habitat” for
these two mussels. The proposed
designation for the Neosho mucket is approximately 779.1 kilometers or 484.1
miles of river in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. The proposed designation for the rabbitsfoot
is 2,664 kilometers or 1,655 miles of river in Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas,
Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, and
Tennessee. The original comment period
was reopened on May 9. 2013 for 30 days and reopened again on August 27, 2013. This comment period ends on October 28,
2013. Pursuant to a court-ordered
deadline, however, USFWS must make a final determination on the listing of the
two mussels by September 30, 2013. As a
result, the listing and the final determination on critical habitat will be
published separately.
The Chattanoogan reports that the USFWS estimates that
the designation may cost $4.4 million to $5.9 million over 20 years, or $290,000
to $390,000 annually over the next 20 years.
According to the article, available here, the
“majority of the costs are administrative and may be borne by the federal and
state agencies, however, some costs may be incurred by local governments and
businesses.”
“Critical habitat” refers
to “specific geographic areas that are essential to the conservation of a threatened
or endangered species.” The designation
helps to ensure federal agencies and the public are aware of the mussels’ habitat
needs. The designation “does not set up
a preserve or refuge and only applies to situations where federal funding or a
federal permit is involved” and “does not allow access to private land.”
