[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 240 (Thursday, December 14, 2006)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 75189-75215]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-9656]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
50 CFR Part 17
RIN 1018-AU83
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Designation of
Critical Habitat for the Monterey Spineflower (Chorizanthe pungens var.
pungens)
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: In response to a settlement agreement, we, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service (Service), propose to revise currently designated
critical habitat for the Monterey spineflower (Chorizanthe pungens var.
pungens) pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended
(Act). In total, approximately 11,032 acres (ac) (4,466 hectares (ha))
fall within the boundaries of the proposed revision to the critical
habitat designation. The proposed revision to critical habitat is
located in Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties, California.
DATES: We will accept comments from all interested parties until
February 12, 2007. We must receive requests for public hearings, in
writing, at the address shown in the ADDRESSES section by January 29,
2007.
ADDRESSES: If you wish to comment, you may submit your comments and
materials concerning this proposal by any one of several methods:
1. You may mail or hand-deliver written comments and information to
Diane Noda, Field Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Ventura
Fish and Wildlife Office (VFWO), 2493 Portola Road, Suite B, Ventura,
California 93003.
2. You may send comments by electronic mail (e-mail) to
[email protected]. Please see the Public Comments Solicited section below
for file format and other information about electronic filing.
3. You may fax your comments to 805/644-3958.
4. You may go to the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
Comments and materials received, as well as supporting
documentation used in the preparation of this proposed rule, will be
available for public inspection, by appointment, during normal business
hours at the VFWO 2493 Portola Road, Suite B, Ventura, California 93003
(telephone 805/644-1766).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Diane Noda, Field Supervisor, VFWO,
2493 Portola Road, Suite B, Ventura, California 93003, (telephone 805/
644-1766, ext. 319; facsimile 805/644-3958). Persons who use a
telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 800-877-8339, 7 days a week and 24
hours a day.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Public Comments Solicited
We intend that any final action resulting from this proposal will
be as accurate and as effective as possible. Therefore, comments or
suggestions from the public, other concerned governmental agencies, the
scientific community, industry, or any other interested party
concerning this proposed rule are hereby solicited. Comments
particularly are sought concerning:
(1) The reasons any habitat should or should not be determined to
be critical habitat as provided by section 4 of the Act, including
whether the benefit of designation will outweigh any threats to the
species due to designation;
(2) Specific information on the amount and distribution of
Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens habitat, and what areas should be
included in the designations that were occupied at the time of listing
that contain the features that are essential for the conservation of
the species and why, and what areas that were not occupied at the time
of listing are essential to the conservation of the species and why;
(3) Land use designations and current or planned activities in the
subject areas and their possible impacts on proposed critical habitat;
(4) Any foreseeable economic, national security, or other potential
impacts resulting from the proposed designation and, in particular, any
impacts on small entities;
(5) Whether our approach to designating critical habitat could be
improved or modified in any way to provide for greater public
participation and understanding, or to assist us in accommodating
public concerns and comments;
(6) This proposed designation's revised criteria for determining
essential features and critical habitat boundaries; and
(7) The existence of any conservation or management plans being
implemented by California State Parks, Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
on former Fort Ord, or other public or private land management agencies
or owners that we should consider for exclusion from the designation
pursuant to section 4(b)(2) of the Act. Please include information on
any benefits (educational, regulatory, etc.) of including or excluding
lands from this proposed revised designation.
If you wish to comment, you may submit your comments and materials
concerning this proposal by any one of several methods (see ADDRESSES
section). Please submit Internet comments to [email protected] in ASCII
file format and avoid the use of special characters or any form of
encryption. Please also include ``Attn: Chorizanthe pungens var.
pungens'' in your e-mail subject header and your name and return
address in the body of your message. If you do not receive a
confirmation from the system that we have received your Internet
message, contact us directly by calling our VFWO at phone number 805/
644-1766, ext. 333. Please note that the Internet address,
[email protected], will be closed out at the termination of the public
comment period.
Our practice is to make comments, including names and home
addresses of respondents, available for public review during regular
business hours. Individual respondents may request that we withhold
their names and home
[[Page 75190]]
addresses, etc., but if you wish us to consider withholding this
information, you must state this prominently at the beginning of your
comments. In addition, you must present rationale for withholding this
information. This rationale must demonstrate that disclosure would
constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of privacy. Unsupported
assertions will not meet this burden. In the absence of exceptional,
documentable circumstances, this information will be released. We will
always make submissions from organizations or businesses, and from
individuals identifying themselves as representatives of or officials
of organizations or businesses, available for public inspection in
their entirety.
Role of Critical Habitat in Actual Practice of Administering and
Implementing the Act
Attention to and protection of habitat is paramount to successful
conservation actions. The role that designation of critical habitat
plays in protecting habitat of listed species, however, is often
misunderstood. As discussed in more detail below in the discussion of
exclusions under section 4(b)(2) of the Act, there are significant
limitations on the regulatory effect of designation under section
7(a)(2) of the Act. In brief, (1) designation provides additional
protection to habitat only where there is a Federal nexus; (2) the
protection is relevant only when, in the absence of designation,
destruction or adverse modification of the critical habitat would in
fact take place (in other words, other statutory or regulatory
protections, policies, or other factors relevant to agency decision-
making would not prevent the destruction or adverse modification); and
(3) designation of critical habitat triggers the prohibition of
destruction or adverse modification of that habitat, but it does not
require specific actions to restore or improve habitat.
Currently, only 476 species, or 36 percent of the 1,311 listed
species in the U.S. under the jurisdiction of the Service, have
designated critical habitat. We address the habitat needs of all 1,311
listed species through conservation mechanisms such as listing, section
7 consultations, the Section 4 recovery planning process, the Section 9
protective prohibitions of unauthorized take, Section 6 funding to the
States, the Section 10 incidental take permit process, and cooperative,
nonregulatory efforts with private landowners. The Service believes
that it is these measures that may make the difference between
extinction and survival for many species.
In considering exclusions of areas proposed for designation, we
evaluated the benefits of designation in light of Gifford Pinchot Task
Force v. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 378 F.3d 1059 (9th Cir 2004)
(hereinafter Gifford Pinchot). In that case, the Ninth Circuit
invalidated the Service's regulation defining ``destruction or adverse
modification of critical habitat.'' In response, on December 9, 2004,
the Director issued guidance to be considered in making section 7
adverse modification determinations. This proposed critical habitat
designation does not use the invalidated regulation in our
consideration of the benefits of including areas. The Service will
carefully manage future consultations that analyze impacts to
designated critical habitat, particularly those that appear to be
resulting in an adverse modification determination. Such consultations
will be reviewed by the Regional Office prior to finalizing to ensure
that an adequate analysis has been conducted that is informed by the
Director's guidance.
On the other hand, to the extent that designation of critical
habitat provides protection, that protection can come at significant
social and economic cost. In addition, the mere administrative process
of designation of critical habitat is expensive, time-consuming, and
controversial. The current statutory framework of critical habitat,
combined with past judicial interpretations of the statute, make
critical habitat the subject of excessive litigation. As a result,
critical habitat designations are driven by litigation and courts
rather than biology, and made at a time and under a time frame that
limits our ability to obtain and evaluate the scientific and other
information required to make the designation most meaningful.
In light of these circumstances, the Service believes that
additional agency discretion would allow our focus to return to those
actions that provide the greatest benefit to the species most in need
of protection.
Procedural and Resource Difficulties in Designating Critical Habitat
We have been inundated with lawsuits for our failure to designate
critical habitat, and we face a growing number of lawsuits challenging
critical habitat determinations once they are made. These lawsuits have
subjected the Service to an ever-increasing series of court orders and
court-approved settlement agreements, compliance with which now
consumes nearly the entire listing program budget. This leaves the
Service with little ability to prioritize its activities to direct
scarce listing resources to the listing program actions with the most
biologically urgent species conservation needs.
The consequence of the critical habitat litigation activity is that
limited listing funds are used to defend active lawsuits, to respond to
Notices of Intent (NOIs) to sue relative to critical habitat, and to
comply with the growing number of adverse court orders. As a result,
listing petition responses, the Service's own proposals to list
critically imperiled species, and final listing determinations on
existing proposals are all significantly delayed.
The accelerated schedules of court-ordered designations have left
the Service with limited ability to provide for public participation or
to ensure a defect-free rulemaking process before making decisions on
listing and critical habitat proposals, due to the risks associated
with noncompliance with judicially imposed deadlines. This in turn
fosters a second round of litigation in which those who fear adverse
impacts from critical habitat designations challenge those
designations. The cycle of litigation appears endless, and is very
expensive, thus diverting resources from conservation actions that may
provide relatively more benefit to imperiled species.
The costs resulting from the designation include legal costs, the
cost of preparation and publication of the designation, the analysis of
the economic effects and the cost of requesting and responding to
public comment, and in some cases the costs of compliance with the
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 4371 et seq.). These
costs, which are not required for many other conservation actions,
directly reduce the funds available for direct and tangible
conservation actions.
Background
It is our intent to discuss only those topics directly relevant to
the designation of critical habitat in this proposed revision to the
critical habitat designation. Detailed background information covering
the appearance, seed ecology, habitat requirements, and the historical
and current distribution for Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens was
published in the final designation of critical habitat for Chorizanthe
pungens var. pungens on May 29, 2002 (67 FR 37498). Additional
information on C. p. var. pungens is also available in the final
listing rule published in the Federal Register on February 4, 1994 (59
FR 5499).
[[Page 75191]]
Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens (Monterey spineflower) is endemic
to sandy soils in active dune systems, and bluffs featuring deposited
windblown sands, in coastal areas in southern Santa Cruz and northern
Monterey Counties (Reveal and Hardham 1989, pp. 124-125; Ertter 1990,
p. 5). These areas feature open spaces between dominant vegetative
elements that are dynamic and generally maintained through time via
wind, fire, or other types of disturbance. Populations are also found
in grassland, scrub, chaparral, and woodland habitats, featuring sandy
soils and openings that are free of other vegetation. The furthest
inland population is found in the Salinas Valley in interior Monterey
County.
Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens is one of two varieties of the
species C. pungens. The other variety, C. p. var. hartwegiana (Ben
Lomond spineflower) is restricted to the Santa Cruz Mountains,
generally between Scotts Valley and Ben Lomond. The ranges of these two
varieties of C. pungens do not overlap. The range of C. p. var. pungens
partially overlaps with another closely related taxon, Chorizanthe
robusta var. robusta (robust spineflower), in southern Santa Cruz
County. Chorizanthe pungens var. hartwegiana and C. r. var. robusta are
both listed as federally-endangered species (59 FR 5499). A detailed
description of these related taxa is available in the Recovery Plan for
Seven Coastal Plants and the Myrtle's Silverspot Butterfly (Service
1998), the Recovery Plan for Insect and Plant Taxa in the Santa Cruz
Mountains in California (Service 1998), the Recovery Plan for the
Robust Spineflower (Service 2004), and scientific literature cited
within these plans. A recent study on the genetic relationships between
various spineflower taxa in the central coast region of California
noted genetic variability between populations of Chorizanthe pungens
var. pungens located at four sites between Sunset State Beach and
Marina State Beach (Brinegar 2006, pp. 6-10).
Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens is an annual species that produces
one seed per flower, and depending on the vigor of an individual plant,
dozens to over one hundred seeds can be produced (Abrams 1944, F35-1;
Fox et al. 2006, pp. 162-163). Seed dispersal in C. p. var. pungens is
likely facilitated by hooked spines on the structure surrounding the
seed. In the Chorizanthe genus, these are believed to attach to passing
animals and disperse seed between plant colonies and populations
(Reveal 2001, unpaginated). Wind also disperses seed within colonies
and populations.
New information concerning the seed bank of Chorizanthe pungens
var. pungens was published in 2006 (Fox et al. 2006, pp. 157-170). This
5-year study found that the density of C. p. var pungens was directly
related to the previous year's seed set and, based on these
observations, suggests that C. p. var. pungens apparently germinates
well under most winter conditions and does not develop an extensive
persistent soil seed bank. Consequently, this new information suggests
that protection of existing plants in any year is important to the
long-term conservation of C. p. var. pungens because the species
persistence relies primarily on the previous year's seed set as opposed
to a large dormant seed bank that remains viable for decades. If this
hypothesis is correct, loss of above-ground individuals prior to seed
set could ultimately have more of an impact on populations than was
previously thought. However, there exist anecdotal reports of C. p.
var. pungens reappearing in several areas after habitat restoration
efforts removed dense cover of iceplant. This tends to support the idea
that, under some conditions, at least, a soil seed bank that persists
for several years may be present and substantial enough to repopulate a
site.
A pollination ecology study was conducted on the related
Chorizanthe robusta var. robusta in Santa Cruz County that compared the
pollination ecology of coastal and inland populations (Murphy 2003b,
pp. 1-78). The study found that, although this species may self-
pollinate, pollinator access to flowers increased seed set
significantly, indicating that pollinators increase plant reproductive
success. This same study noted a high diversity of pollinators and
correlated that diversity, in part, to variation in microhabitat
conditions, including exposure; proximity to the coast; and structure,
composition, and density of the surrounding vegetation (Murphy 2003b,
pp. 28-63). Results suggest that protecting pollinator habitat and
diversity is likely to be important to the survival of this taxon.
These results can be inferred to C. p. var. pungens as these two taxa
occur in proximity to each other at several locations (Sunset and
Manresa State Beaches), occupy similar habitats and plant communities,
and are similar genetically (Brinegar 2006, p. 13) and phenotypically
(the outward appearance of the plant).
The historical range of Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens was more
extensive than what it is now known to occupy. Collections from the
late 1800s and the first half of the 1900s indicate that the species
occurred along the coast as far south as the San Simeon area in San
Luis Obispo County (Consortium of California Herbaria 2006). In
Monterey County, numerous collections were made from the Salinas
Valley. However, this area has been largely converted to agriculture
and habitat no longer remains; the last collection was made in 1920
(Consortium of California Herbaria 2006). This taxon currently occupies
the entire range identified in the final listing rule (59 FR 5499).
Current information concerning the presence of populations
throughout its range is summarized here. Current information about
populations on former Fort Ord, is from surveys conducted between 1992
and 2004, and provides more detail than the information available at
the time of listing (e.g., BLM 2006). Former Fort Ord is a closed
military installation which is in the process of being remediated and
transferred for reuse. Reuse will include residential, recreational,
and commercial development, as well as conservation of lands in habitat
reserves. A response to our request for information (Service 2006) from
the California Department of Parks and Recreation (CDPR) (CDPR 2006a)
confirms that populations at Manresa and Sunset State Beaches are
stable and that the Sunset State Beach population is expanding due to
habitat restoration activities (primarily removal of nonnative European
beachgrass (Ammophila arenaria)). Occurrence records for the eastern
Prunedale unit were provided by the California Department of
Transportation (Caltrans) from surveys conducted for the Highway 101
re-route study in 2001 (Caltrans 2001). A small population which was
thought to be extirpated at the former U.S. Coast Guard's Light
Station, Point Pinos property, very close to the northern boundary of
the Asilomar unit, was rediscovered during recent surveys (Kephart
2004, p. 1). Also, recent surveys at the Monterey Peninsula Airport
(Environmental Science Associates 2004, pp. 3.12-3.13) and leased
properties surrounding the Monterey Peninsula Airport provide
information about populations in the Del Rey Oaks area. Records that
have been prepared, but not yet submitted, for entry into the CNDDB
database were reviewed for some areas, including the Armstrong Ranch,
Prunedale, Elkhorn Slough, and Aromas. Service staff also conducted
site visits at various locations between 2001 and the present.
[[Page 75192]]
Previous Federal Actions
For more information on previous Federal actions concerning
Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens, refer to the final listing rule
published in the Federal Register on February 4, 1994 (59 FR 5499), and
the designation of critical habitat for C. p. var. pungens published in
the Federal Register on May 29, 2002 (67 FR 37498). In September 1998,
we published a recovery plan for seven coastal plants and the Myrtle's
silverspot butterfly which included C. p. var. pungens. On May 29,
2002, we designated critical habitat for approximately 18,829 acres
(ac) (7,620 hectares (ha)) of land in Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties,
California. In March 2005, the Homebuilders Association of Northern
California, et al., filed suit against the Service (CV-013630LKK-JFM)
challenging final critical habitat rules for several species, including
Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens. In March 2006, a settlement was
reached that requires the Service to re-evaluate five final critical
habitat designations, including critical habitat designated for C. p.
var. pungens. The settlement stipulated that any proposed revisions to
the C. p. var. pungens designation would be submitted to the Federal
Register for publication on or before December 7, 2006.
Critical Habitat
Critical habitat is defined in section 3 of the Act as--(i) the
specific areas within the geographical area occupied by a species, at
the time it is listed in accordance with the Act, on which are found
those physical or biological features (I) essential to the conservation
of the species and (II) that may require special management
considerations or protection; and (ii) specific areas outside the
geographical area occupied by a species at the time it is listed, upon
a determination that such areas are essential for the conservation of
the species. Conservation, as defined under section 3 of the Act means
to use and the use of all methods and procedures which are necessary to
bring any endangered species or threatened species to the point at
which the measures provided under the Act are no longer necessary. Such
methods and procedures include, but are not limited to, all activities
associated with scientific resources management such as research,
census, law enforcement, habitat acquisition and maintenance,
propagation, live trapping, and transplantation, and, in the
extraordinary case where population pressures within a given ecosystem
cannot be otherwise relieved, may include regulated taking.
Critical habitat receives protection under section 7 of the Act
through the prohibition against destruction or adverse modification of
critical habitat with regard to actions carried out, funded, or
authorized by a Federal agency. Section 7 requires consultation on
Federal actions that are likely to result in the destruction or adverse
modification of critical habitat. The designation of critical habitat
does not affect land ownership or establish a refuge, wilderness,
reserve, preserve, or other conservation area. Such designation does
not allow government or public access to private lands. Section 7 is a
purely protective measure and does not require implementation of
restoration, recovery, or enhancement measures.
To be included in a critical habitat designation, the habitat
within the area occupied by the species must first have features that
are essential to the conservation of the species. Critical habitat
designations identify, to the extent known using the best scientific
data available, habitat areas that provide essential life cycle needs
of the species (i.e., areas on which are found the primary constituent
elements, as defined at 50 CFR 424.12(b)).
Habitat occupied at the time of listing may be included in critical
habitat only if the essential features thereon may require special
management or protection. Thus, we do not include areas where existing
management is sufficient to conserve the species. (As discussed below,
such areas may also be excluded from critical habitat under section
4(b)(2).) Accordingly, when the best available scientific data do not
demonstrate that the conservation needs of the species require
additional areas, we will not designate critical habitat in areas
outside the geographical area occupied by the species at the time of
listing. An area currently occupied by the species but was not known to
be occupied at the time of listing will likely, but not always, be
essential to the conservation of the species and, therefore, typically
included in the critical habitat designation.
The Service's Policy on Information Standards Under the Endangered
Species Act, published in the Federal Register on July 1, 1994 (59 FR
34271), and Section 515 of the Treasury and General Government
Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2001 (P.L. 106-554; H.R. 5658) and
the associated Information Quality Guidelines issued by the Service,
provide criteria, establish procedures, and provide guidance to ensure
that decisions made by the Service represent the best scientific data
available. They require Service biologists to the extent consistent
with the Act and with the use of the best scientific data available, to
use primary and original sources of information as the basis for
recommendations to designate critical habitat. When determining which
areas are critical habitat, a primary source of information is
generally the listing package for the species. Additional information
sources include the recovery plan for the species, articles in peer-
reviewed journals, conservation plans developed by States and counties,
scientific status surveys and studies, biological assessments, or other
unpublished materials and expert opinion or personal knowledge. All
information is used in accordance with the provisions of Section 515 of
the Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year
2001 (Pub. L. 106-554; H.R. 5658) and the associated Information
Quality Guidelines issued by the Service.
Section 4 of the Act requires that we designate critical habitat
and make revisions thereto on the basis of the best scientific data
available. Habitat is often dynamic, and species may move from one area
to another over time. Furthermore, we recognize that designation of
critical habitat may not include all of the habitat areas that may
eventually be determined to be necessary for the recovery of the
species. For these reasons, critical habitat designations do not signal
that habitat outside the designation is unimportant or may not be
required for recovery.
Areas that support populations, but are outside the critical
habitat designation, will continue to be subject to conservation
actions implemented under section 7(a)(1) of the Act and to the
regulatory protections afforded by the section 7(a)(2) jeopardy
standard, as determined on the basis of the best available information
at the time of the action. Federally funded or permitted projects
affecting listed species outside their designated critical habitat
areas may still result in jeopardy findings in some cases. 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, or
other species conservation planning efforts if new information
available to these planning efforts calls for a different outcome.
[[Page 75193]]
Methods
As required by section 4(b)(2) of the Act, we used the best
scientific data available in determining areas that contain the
features that are essential to the conservation of Chorizanthe pungens
var. pungens. This includes information from the final listing rule;
data from research and survey observations published in peer-reviewed
articles; reports and survey forms prepared for Federal, State, local
agencies, and private corporations; site visits; regional Geographic
Information System (GIS) layers, including soil and species coverages;
and data submitted to the California Natural Diversity Database
(CNDDB). We have also reviewed available information that pertains to
the ecology, life history, and habitat requirements of this species.
This material included information and data in peer-reviewed articles;
reports of monitoring and habitat characterizations; reports submitted
during section 7 consultations; our recovery plan for the species; and
information received from local species experts. We are not proposing
to designate as critical habitat any areas not occupied at the time of
listing and presently occupied by the species.
At the time of the final listing in 1994, it was thought that
approximately 70 percent of the range of Chorizanthe pungens var.
pungens occurred on Fort Ord; C. p. var. pungens was reported from
approximately two-thirds of the installation at varying densities (U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) 1992, Figure F-3). Fort Ord was
considered the most important inland occurrence of C. p. var. pungens
because of the extent of habitat the species occupied at this location.
Further refined mapping of occurrences in the Prunedale area, north of
Fort Ord, and extensions of inland occurrences (that were reported at
the time of the final listing) have been identified over the last few
years. This more complete information on the relative distribution of
the species within its known range has led us to conclude that
preserving the population on Fort Ord, as well as several inland sites
is important to the long-term conservation of the species.
Primary Constituent Elements
In accordance with section 3(5)(A)(i) of the Act and regulations at
50 CFR 424.12, in determining which areas to propose as critical
habitat, we consider those physical and biological features (PCEs) that
are essential to the conservation of the species, and within areas
occupied by the species at the time of listing, that may require
special management considerations or protection. These 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, and rearing (or development) of offspring; and
habitats that are protected from disturbance or are representative of
the historic geographical and ecological distributions of a species.
The specific primary constituent element required for Chorizanthe
pungens var. pungens is derived from the biological needs of C. p. var.
pungens as described in the Background section of this proposal and
referenced in the previous designation for critical habitat published
in the Federal Register.
Space for Individual and Population Growth, Including Sites for Seed
Dispersal and Germination; and for the Seed Bank
Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens readily grows where suitable sandy
substrates occur and, like other Chorizanthe species, where competition
with other plant species is minimal (Harding Lawson Associates 2000, p.
1; Reveal 2001, unpaginated). Where C. p. var. pungens occurs within
native plant communities, along the coast as well as at more interior
sites, it occupies microhabitat sites found between shrub stands where
there is little cover from other herbaceous species. Where C. p. var.
pungens occurs within grassland communities, the density of C. p. var.
pungens may decrease with an increase in the density of other
herbaceous species. Conserved areas should be of sufficient size to
maintain the native plant communities that support C. p. var. pungens
which include coastal dune, coastal scrub, grassland, maritime
chaparral, oak woodland, and interior floodplain dune communities and
have a structure with openings between the dominant elements (Service
1998, p. 20).
These openings within the vegetation community should be free of
nonnative invasive plant species. Not only do invasive, non-native
plants physically exclude C. p. var. pungens seedlings, but many of the
hymenopteran (members of the insect order that includes bees, wasps,
and ants) pollinators important to Chorizanthe pollination (e.g.,
sphecid wasps, bumblebees, and bees from the families, Halictidae and
Anthophoridae), require bare ground for nesting (Murphy 2003a, p 4).
Removal of invasive non-native species may help to maintain existing
rates of pollinator visitation. Although areas with little or no cover
of non-native invasive species may be optimal for the conservation of
C. p. var. pungens, seeds that subsequently germinate may still be
present beneath the canopy of the non-native invasive plants.
Conservation of Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens depends not only
on adequate space for growth, but also on maintaining the dynamic
nature of C. p. var. pungens habitat, which ensures the availability of
microsites appropriate for germination and growth. Coastal dune
communities are subject to natural dynamic processes that create
suitable openings in scrub and chaparral communities (Cooper 1967, pp.
63-72; Barbour and Johnson 1988, p. 242). Shifts in habitat composition
caused by patterns of dune mobilization that create openings suitable
for C. p. var. pungens are followed by stabilization and successional
trends in coastal dune scrub that result in increased vegetation cover
over time (Barbour and Johnson 1988, p. 242). Accordingly, over time
there are shifts in the distribution and size of individual colonies of
C. p. var. pungens found in the gaps between shrub vegetation.
Human-caused disturbances, such as scraping of roads and
firebreaks, can reduce the competition from other herbaceous species
and consequently provide favorable conditions for Chorizanthe pungens
var. pungens. This has been observed at former Fort Ord where C. p.
var. pungens occurs along the margins of dirt roads (ACOE 1992, p. 39;
U.S. BLM 2003, pp. 15-22). However, such activities can also promote
the spread and establishment of non-native species, can bury the
seedbank of C. p. var. pungens, and do not result in the cycling of
nutrients and soil microbial changes that are associated with large-
scale natural disturbances, such as fires (Stylinski and Allen 1999,
pp. 544-554; Keeley and Keeley 1989, pp. 67-70). This type of
management may not sustain populations over the long term and would
likely result in a general degradation of habitat for C. p. var.
pungens if conducted over large areas.
Conservation of Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens depends on
adequate space to promote pollinator activity and decrease the edge
effects associated with urban development. Larger areas with a high
volume-to-edge ratio are less likely to be affected by the range of
human activities that would alter adjacent C. p. var. pungens habitat.
Potential edge effects identified for other Chorizanthe species that
may also affect C. p. var. pungens include the introduction of
[[Page 75194]]
non-native plants (e.g., landscaping plants), roadside mowing for fuel
reduction, informal recreation, trash and landscape waste dumping,
hydrologic changes from landscape watering or increased paved surfaces,
and pesticide drift (Conservation Biology Institue 2000, pp. 6-17).
Large occurrences of C. p. var. pungens are more likely to attract
insect pollinators necessary for the production of viable seed and
promote gene flow, to withstand periodic extreme environmental stresses
(e.g., drought, disease), and may act as important ``source''
populations to allow recolonization of surrounding areas following
periodic extreme environmental stresses (Schemske et al., pp. 584-588).
Small patches of plants have been documented to suffer reproductive
failure due to lack of effective pollination when critical thresholds
of isolation were exceeded. In contrast, sufficiently large patches
attracted pollinators regardless of their degree of isolation (Groom
1998, p. 487). However, small populations of plants may serve other
functions that support the long-term persistence of the species. They
may serve as corridors for gene flow between larger populations, and
may harbor greater levels of genetic diversity than predicted for their
size (Lesica and Allendorf 1991, pp. 172-175).
Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens appears to function as an
opportunistic annual plant, most of its seeds germinating under
variable winter conditions, rather than persisting to create an
extensive, long-lasting soil seed bank (Fox et al. 2006, p. 168). This
highlights the importance of protecting above-ground plants from
germination through seed set each year (approximately December through
the following September), as it appears the persistence of C. p. var.
pungens relies on successful seed set from the previous year in
addition to adequate climatic conditions. This has implications for the
amount of successive disturbance that C. p. var. pungens can endure and
still persist. Management activities that are used for non-native
invasive species removal, such as mowing prior to seed development, are
unlikely to be compatible with the long-term persistence of C. p. var.
pungens.
Areas That Provide the Basic Requirements for Growth (Such as Water,
Light, and Minerals)
Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens occurs on sandy soils with a
variable origin, including active dunes, interior fossil dunes, and
floodplain alluvium (Service 1998, pp 1-13, 20). The most prevalent
soil series represented are coastal beaches, dune sand, Baywood sand,
Oceano loamy sand, Arnold loamy sand, Santa Ynez fine sandy loam,
Arnold-Santa Ynez complex, Metz loamy sand, and Metz complex (Soil
Conservation Service 1978, pp 13-73, 1980, pp. 9-81). Sites where C. p.
var. pungens occurs are generally bare, sandy patches free of other
vegetation (Zoger and Pavlik 1987, unpaginated). On the coast, it
occurs in coastal dune scrub and chaparral communities (Service 1998,
pp 19-20; CNDDB 2006). Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens does not occur
under dense stands of vegetation, but will occur between more widely-
spaced shrubs or gaps in the shrub vegetation. At more inland sites, C.
p. var. pungens occurs on sandy, well-drained soils in a variety of
habitat types, most frequently maritime chaparral, valley oak
woodlands, and grasslands (CNDDB 2006). In grassland and oak woodland
communities, abundant annual grasses may outcompete C. p. var. pungens,
but in places where grass species are controlled through grazing,
mowing, or fire activities that are appropriate in timing and
intensity, C. p. var. pungens may persist (e.g. Zander Associates 2003,
pp. B.22-B.24; Morgan 2006). Additional specific information about the
native plant communities associated with C. p. var. pungens can be
found in the listing rule notice (59 FR 5499) and the final critical
habitat designation (67 FR 37498).
Primary Constituent Elements for Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens
Pursuant to our regulations, we are required to identify the known
physical and biological features (PCEs) essential to the conservation
of Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens. All areas proposed as critical
habitat for C. p. var. pungens were occupied at the time of listing and
are presently occupied, within the species' historic geographic range,
and contain the PCE to support at least one life history function.
Based on our current knowledge of the life history, biology, and
ecology of the species and the requirements of the habitat to sustain
the essential life history functions of the species, we have determined
that the PCE for Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens is:
1. A vegetation structure arranged in a mosaic with openings
between the dominant elements (e.g., scrub, shrub, oak trees, clumps
of herbaceous vegetation) providing for sunlight on the following
sandy soils: coastal beaches, dune land, Baywood sand, Ben Lomond
sandy loam, Elder sandy loam, Oceano loamy sand, Arnold loamy sand,
Santa Ynez fine sandy loam, Arnold-Santa Ynez complex, Metz complex,
and Metz loamy sand.
This proposed revision to the critical habitat designation is
designed for those areas containing the PCE necessary to support the
life history functions that were the basis for the proposal. Each of
the areas proposed in this rule have been determined to contain the PCE
to provide for the life history functions of Chorizanthe pungens var.
pungens. Units are proposed for designation based on the PCE being
present to support one or more of the species' life history functions.
Criteria Used To Identify Critical Habitat
As required by section 4(b)(2) of the Act, we use the best
scientific data available in determining areas that contain the
features that are essential to the conservation of Chorizanthe pungens
var. pungens. This includes information from the final listing rule;
data from research and survey observations published in peer-reviewed
articles; reports and survey forms prepared for Federal, State, and
local agencies, and private corporations; site visits; regional
Geographic Information System (GIS) layers, including soil and species
coverages; and data submitted to the California Natural Diversity
Database (CNDDB). We have also reviewed available information that
pertains to the ecology, life history, and habitat requirements of this
species. This material included information and data in peer-reviewed
articles, reports of monitoring and habitat characterizations, reports
submitted during section 7 consultations, scientific information cited
in our recovery plan, and information received from local species
experts. We are not proposing to designate any areas outside of the
areas occupied by the species at the time of listing.
The long-term conservation of Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens is
dependent upon the protection of existing population sites and the
maintenance of ecologic functions, such as connectivity between
populations within close geographic proximity to facilitate pollinator
activity and seed dispersal.
We are proposing to designate critical habitat on lands occupied by
the species at the time of listing and that, according to the best
available information, continue to be occupied to date. All proposed
units contain the features essential to the conservation of Chorizanthe
pungens var. pungens. We are not proposing any units that are
unoccupied.
[[Page 75195]]
Determining the specific areas that this taxon occupies is
challenging for several reasons: (1) The distribution of Chorizanthe
pungens var. pungens appears to be more closely tied to the presence of
sandy soils and openings in the surrounding vegetation than to specific
plant communities because plant communities may undergo changes over
time, which, due to the degree of cover that is provided by that
vegetation type, may either favor the presence of C. p. var. pungens or
not; (2) the way the current distribution of C. p. var. pungens is
mapped varies depending on the scale at which patches of individuals
were recorded (e.g., many small patches versus one large patch); and
(3) depending on the climate and other annual variations in habitat
conditions, the extent of the distributions may either shrink and
temporarily disappear, or enlarge and cover a more extensive area.
We used a multi-step process to identify and delineate proposed
critical habitat units. First we mapped all CNDDB records of
Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens known at the time of the final listing
in a GIS format. These data consist of points and polygons depicting
the results of field surveys. Additional records from recent surveys
that have been reported to the CNDDB but have not yet been entered into
their database were also mapped in GIS format. These surveys provided
more detailed distribution information for C. p. var. pungens within
and around known occurrences, but did not extend the known range of the
taxon. We then selected sites from among this data set that contain the
necessary features essential to the conservation of C. p. var. pungens,
that may require special management considerations or protection, and
would result in a designation that: (a) Represents the geographic range
of the species, and captures peripheral populations; (b) encompasses
large occurrences in large areas of contiguous native habitat, as these
have the highest likelihood of persisting through the environmental
extremes that characterize California's climate and of retaining the
genetic variability to withstand future introduced stressors (e.g., new
diseases, pathogens, or climate change); (c) includes the range of
plant communities and soil types in which C. p. pungens is found; (d)
maintains connectivity of occurrences; and (e) maintains the
disturbance factors that create the openings in vegetation cover on
which this taxon depends.
Species and plant communities that are protected across their
ranges are expected to have lower likelihoods of extinction (Soule and
Simberloff 1986; Scott et al 2001, p. 1297-1300); therefore, proposed
critical habitat should include multiple locations across the entire
range of the species to prevent range collapse. Protecting peripheral
or isolated populations is highly desirable because they may contain
genetic variation not found in core populations. The genetic variation
results from the effects of population isolation and adaptation to
locally distinct environments (Lesica and Allendorf 1995, pp. 754-757;
Fraser 2000, pp. 49-51; Hamrick and Godt, pp. 291-295). We also sought
to include the range of plant communities, soil types, and elevational
gradients in which Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens is found to
preserve the genetic variation that may result from adaptation to local
environmental conditions, documented in other plant species (e.g. see
Hamrick and Godt pp. 299-301; Millar and Libby 1991, pp. 150, 152-155).
Finally, habitat fragmentation can result in loss of genetic variation
(Young et al. 1996, pp. 413-417); therefore, we sought to maintain
connectivity between patches or occurrences of plants.
In determining the extent of lands to propose as critical habitat,
we identified all areas which contain those biological and physical
features essential to the conservation of the species and are either
already protected, managed, or otherwise unencumbered by conflicting
use (e.g., undeveloped County or City parks, proposed preservation
areas). Populations in these areas are most likely to persist into the
future and to contribute to the species' survival and recovery. We
added ownership categories to the proposed designation in the following
manner: First we included undeveloped Federal and State lands, then
local agency and private lands with recognized resource conservation
emphasis (e.g., lands owned by a conservation-oriented non-profit
organization, undeveloped County or City parks), and finally other
agency and private lands.
Mapping
To map the proposed revised critical habitat units, we overlaid
Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens records on soil series data and, where
available, vegetation data (e.g., maritime chaparral mapped by Van Dyke
and Holl (2003)) to determine appropriate polygons that would contain
the necessary habitat features essential to the conservation of C. p.
var. pungens. This taxon is closely tied to the presence of sandy soil
types, and occurrences are generally scattered between vegetation gaps
within appropriate soil types. Units were delineated by first mapping
the occurrences and soil types and considering other geographic
features such as developed areas and road boundaries.
When determining the proposed revisions to critical habitat
boundaries within this proposed rule, we made every effort to avoid
including developed areas, such as buildings, paved areas, and other
structures, as well as tilled fields, row crops, and golf courses that
lack the PCE for Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens. The scale of the
maps prepared under the parameters for publication within the Code of
Federal Regulations may not reflect the non-inclusion of such developed
areas. Any such structures and the land under them inadvertently left
inside critical habitat boundaries shown on the maps of this proposed
revision to critical habitat have been excluded by text in the proposed
revision and are not proposed for designation as critical habitat.
Therefore, Federal actions limited to these areas would not trigger
section 7 consultation, unless they affect the species and/or the
primary constituent element in adjacent critical habitat.
Using the above criteria we identified nine units that contain the
necessary features essential to the conservation of Chorizanthe pungens
var. pungens. Four units are located in southern Santa Cruz and
northern Monterey County along the immediate coast; four are located in
Monterey County inland from the Monterey Bay (including two in the
Aptos area, one in the Prunedale area, and one at former Fort Ord); and
one unit is located in the Salinas River Valley near Soledad.
Units were designated based on the PCE being present to support
Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens life processes.
We are proposing to revise the critical habitat designation on
lands that meet the first prong of the definition of critical habitat
given previously and, therefore, were determined to be occupied at the
time of listing and contain the primary constituent element to support
life history functions essential for the conservation of the species.
The proposed revision to critical habitat is designed to provide
sufficient habitat to maintain self-sustaining populations of C. p.
var. pungens throughout its range and provide those habitat components
that have the necessary features that are essential for the
conservation of the species. The habitat components provide for: (1)
individual and population growth, including sites for germination,
pollination, reproduction,
[[Page 75196]]
pollen and seed dispersal; (2) areas that allow gene flow and provide
connectivity between occupied areas; and (3) areas that provide basic
requirements for growth, such as appropriate soil type and openings
within vegetation cover. All proposed revised critical habitat units
were delineated based on the PCE being present to support C. p. var.
pungens life processes.
Section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Act authorizes us to issue permits for
the take of listed animal species incidental to otherwise lawful
activities. An incidental take permit application must be supported by
a habitat conservation plan (HCP) that identifies conservation measures
that the permittee agrees to implement for the species to minimize and
mitigate the impacts of the requested incidental take. We often exclude
non-Federal public lands and private lands that are covered by an
existing operative HCP and incidental take permit under section
10(a)(1)(B) of the Act from designated critical habitat because the
benefits of exclusion outweigh the benefits of inclusion as discussed
in section 4(b)(2) of the Act. We are currently unaware of any areas
within this critical habitat proposal that fall into this category.
Special Management Considerations or Protections
When designating critical habitat, we assess whether the areas
determined to be occupied at the time of listing and which contain the
PCE may require special management considerations or protections. We
have also considered how revising the current designation highlights
habitat that needs special management consideration or protection.
Many of the known occurrences of Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens
are threatened by direct and indirect effects from habitat
fragmentation and loss, and edge effects resulting from urban
development. Examples of edge effects include increases in invasive
non-native species and increased trampling and soil compaction from
recreation (Conservation Biology Institute 2000, p 5). Additional
threats to C. p. var. pungens include road development, invasive
species control with herbicides, industrial and recreational
development, equestrian and other recreational activities, and dune
stabilization using non-native species (59 FR 5499). Threats that could
result in unfavorable disturbance intensity, frequency, or timing and
can destroy individual plants or deplete any associated seed bank
include road maintenance, invasive species control, and fire
suppression. These threats may require special management to ensure the
long-term conservation of C. p. var. pungens. Threats specific to
individual units are described in the following below titled ``Proposed
Revisions to the Critical Habitat Designation.''
Summary of Changes From Previously Designated Critical Habitat
The areas identified in this proposed rule constitute a proposed
revision from the areas we designated as critical habitat for
Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens on May 29, 2002 (67 FR 37498). The
main differences include the following:
1. The 2002 critical habitat rule (67 FR 37498) consisted of 10
units comprising a total of 18,829 acres (7,620 ha). This proposed
revision includes 9 units comprising a total of 11,032 acres (ac)
(4,466 ha). Eight of the units in the proposed revision are generally
located in the same geographic locations as those from the previous
designation and bear the same unit names. The ninth unit in this
current proposed revision (Manresa) was included in the previous
proposed critical habitat designation in 2000, but dropped from the
previous final designation in 2002 due to confusion concerning the
identity of the spineflower populations that occur there. Since 2002,
we confirmed the presence of Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens at
Manresa State Beach. Additionally, two of the units included in the
previous designation in 2002 were not included in this proposed
revision. One of these units, Del Rey Oaks, has substantial areas of
development within its boundaries, and as a consequence the areas
within the unit that contain the PCEs are very fragmented. The second
of these units, Bel Mar, is in close proximity to the Manresa unit
included in this proposed revision, but not included in the 2002
critical habitat rule. The Monterey spineflower in the Manresa unit was
recently discovered and contains a more robust population than the Bel
Mar unit. For these reasons, the Del Rey Oaks and Bel Mar units are no
longer considered essential to the conservation of the species.
2. We revised the PCEs. The 2002 critical habitat rule listed four
separate elements that we believed to be important to maintaining
populations of Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens where they occur
(soils, plant communities, low cover of non-native species, and
physical processes that support natural dune dynamics). In our proposed
revision of critical habitat, we have combined these four elements
within one PCE in an effort to emphasize the overarching importance of
the structure of the vegetation (mosaic with openings between the
dominant elements).
3. Most of the units in this proposed revision are smaller in
acreage than their counterpart units in the 2002 critical habitat rule.
The decrease in size is due primarily to the removal of numerous
parcels in private ownership where, due to the availability of updated
aerial imagery, we removed areas of development included in the 2002
critical habitat rule and areas developed since the publication of the
prior rule. In addition, the changes to Unit 7 are due to the removal
of areas in the 2002 rule that are underlain by soil types not known to
support Monterey spineflower, and removal of areas containing suitable
soils isolated by development (and not known to support Monterey
spineflower). The resulting units are more accurately mapped to include
those areas that contain the PCEs.
Proposed Revisions to the Critical Habitat Designation
We are proposing nine critical habitat units for Chorizanthe
pungens var. pungens. These units, which generally correspond to those
units in the 2002 designation, if finalized, would entirely replace the
current critical habitat designation for Chorizanthe pungens var.
pungens in 50 CFR 17.95(a). The critical habitat units described below
constitute our best assessment at this time of areas determined to be
occupied at the time of listing that contain the primary constituent
element, and that may require special management. The nine proposed
critical habitat units are: Sunset Unit 1, Moss Landing Unit 2, Marina
Unit 3, Asilomar Unit 4, Freedom Boulevard Unit 5, Manresa Unit 6,
Prunedale Unit 7, Fort Ord Unit 8, and Soledad Unit 9.
The approximate area encompassed within each proposed critical
habitat unit is shown in Table 1.
[[Page 75197]]
Table 1.--Critical Habitat Units Proposed for Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens
[Area estimates reflect all land within critical habitat unit boundaries] \1\
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
State lands Private lands County and other Federal lands Estimate of total
-------------------------------------------- local jurisdictions ---------------------- acreages
Unit name ---------------------- ---------------------
Acres Hectares Acres Hectares Acres Hectares Acres Hectares Acres Hectares
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Sunset................................. 85 35 0 0 0 0 0 0 85 35
2. Moss Landing........................... 224 91 0 0 0 0 0 0 224 91
3. Marina \2\............................. 884 358 0 0 0 0 0 0 884 358
4. Asilomar............................... 40 16 0 0 4 2 4 1 48 19
5. Freedom Blvd........................... 0 0 24 10 0 0 0 0 24 10
6. Manresa................................ 94 38 0 0 0 0 0 0 94 38
7. Prunedale.............................. 155 63 17 7 18 7 0 0 190 77
8. Fort Ord \2\........................... 606 245 0 0 654 265 8,172 3,307 9,432 3,817
9. Soledad................................ 0 0 51 21 0 0 0 0 51 21
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Approximate Total..................... 2,088 845 92 38 676 274 8,176 3,309 11,032 4,466
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Approximate acres have been converted to hectares (1 ha = 2.47 ac). Based on the level of imprecision of mapping of each unit, hectares and acres
greater than 10 have been rounded to the nearest 5; hectares and acres less than or equal to 10 have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Totals
are sums of units.
\2\ Acreages assigned to various landowner categories for the Fort Ord and Marina units (on former Fort Ord) reflect future land recipient, as indicated
by 2006 Army records.
We present descriptions of all units, and reasons why they meet the
definition of critical habitat for Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens,
below.
Unit 1: Sunset (85 ac (35 ha))
This unit consists of coastal beaches, dunes, and bluffs located
west of Watsonville in southern Santa Cruz County. Unit 1 contains
space for individual and population growth, including sites for seed
dispersal and germination; provides the basic requirements for growth;
and includes soils primarily in the coastal beach, dune land, and
Baywood sand series (Soil Conservation Service 1978, pp. 13-25; 1980
(maps)) (PCE 1). This unit was occupied at the time of listing and is
currently occupied (CNDDB 2006, CDPR 2006a). This unit consists
exclusively of State land (85 ac (35 ha)) and is entirely within the
boundaries of Sunset State Beach. The unit includes land from Sunset
Beach Road south to the gate on Shell Road, just north of the mouth of
the Pajaro River, and west of Shell Road, which extends the length of
the park. Unit 1 is important because it supports a large population of
Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens that in some years numbers in the tens
of thousands (CNDDB 2006, CDPR 2006a). Threats that may require special
management considerations or protection in this unit include invasive
non-native plants, particularly European beachgrass which forms dense
stands on coastal beaches and crowds out C. p. var. pungens, and
recreational activities, including camping and foot traffic, which
could result in the trampling of plants.
Unit 2: Moss Landing (224 ac (91 ha))
This unit consists of coastal beaches, dunes, and bluffs to the
north and south of the community of Moss Landing in northern Monterey
County. Unit 2 contains space for individual and population growth,
including sites for seed dispersal and germination, and areas that
provide for the basic requirements for growth, including soils in the
coastal beach, and dune land series (Soil Conservation Service 1978,
pp. 13-25) (PCE 1). The northern portion of this unit includes lands
owned and managed by the State, including portions of Zmudowski State
Beach and Moss Landing State Beach between the mouths of the Pajaro
River and Elkhorn Slough. The southern portion of this unit includes
State lands within Salinas River State Beach. This unit was occupied at
the time of listing and was included in our previous critical habitat
designation. Herbarium records indicate that this site was occupied as
early as 1933 and has remained occupied through time (Consortium of
California Herbaria 2006 cites collections by H.S. Tates, 1936; T.
Craig, 1933; J. Thomas, 1950). Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens was
also recently observed in this unit (CDPR 2006b, unpaginated). This
unit contains one of only five populations found along the coast, and
it may provide connectivity between the Sunset unit to the north, and
the Marina unit to the south. Threats that may require special
management considerations or protection in this unit consist of
invasive non-native plants, particularly ice-plant which forms dense
ground cover on coastal beaches and crowds out C. p. var. pungens; and
recreational activities including foot traffic, which could result in
the trampling of plants.
Unit 3: Marina (884 ac (358 ha))
This unit consists of coastal beaches, dunes, and bluffs ranging
from just south of the mouth of the Salinas River, south to the city of
Monterey in northern Monterey County; these lands are entirely west of
Highway 1. Unit 3 contains space for individual and population growth,
including sites for seed dispersal and germination, and areas that
provide for the basic requirements for growth, including soils in the
coastal beach, dune land, and Oceano loamy sand soil series (Soil
Conservation Service 1978, pp. 13-25, 54-55) (PCE 1). This unit was
occupied at the time of listing and it is currently occupied (CNDDB
2006, CDPR 2006, Service 2002 p. 54). Unit 3 is comprised of State
lands, including Marina State Beach and Monterey State Beach. This unit
is important because it supports a population of C. p. var. pungens
that numbers in the thousands in some years (CNDDB 2006, Service 1998
p. 67); it is the southernmost of the Monterey Bay area coastal
populations; and it may provide connectivity between the populations
along the coast and the more interior populations found at former Fort
Ord. Threats that may require special management considerations or
protection in this unit consist of invasive non-native plants,
particularly ice-plant which forms dense ground cover on coastal
beaches and crowds out C. p. var. pungens; recreational activities such
as foot traffic which could result in the trampling of
[[Page 75198]]
plants; and edge effects of urban development.
Unit 4: Asilomar (48 ac (19 ha))
This unit consists of coastal dunes and bluffs near the communities
of Pacific Grove and Pebble Beach on the Monterey Peninsula in northern
Monterey County. The unit includes a portion of Asilomar State Beach
and extends just beyond Lighthouse Avenue to the north and terminates
at the boundary of the Asilomar Conference Grounds. The unit's eastern
boundary extends from Highway 68 north along Asilomar Avenue and then
turns west on Arena Avenue where the boundary connects to Sunset Drive.
Unit 4 contains space for individual and population growth, including
sites for seed dispersal and germination; and areas that provide for
the basic requirements for growth, including soils in the coastal
beach, dune land, and Baywood sand soil series (Soil Conservation
Service 1978, pp. 13-25) (PCE 1). The unit is comprised of 4 ac (1 ha)
of Federal lands, 40 ac (16 ha) of State lands at Asilomar State Beach,
and 4 ac (2 ha) of local government ownership. This unit was occupied
at the time of listing and is currently occupied. Herbarium records
that include specimens from this area include the following (collector
and year): Lemmon 1881, L.C. Wheeler, 1936, R. Hoover, 1941 and 1963,
L.S. Rose 1963, (Consortium of California Herbaria 2006)). This unit
currently supports a population of Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens
that numbers in the hundreds (Moss 2000, unpaginated). This unit is
important because it is the southernmost of only five populations of C.
p. var. pungens along the coast and it is the only Peninsular
population in the proposed designation. Preserving the genetic
characteristics that have allowed individuals at this site to survive
at the southern end of the species' range along the coast is important
for the long-term survival and conservation of C. p. var. pungens.
Threats that may require special management considerations or
protection in this unit consist of invasive non-native plants,
particularly ice-plant which forms dense ground cover on coastal
beaches and crowds out C. p. var. pungens; recreational activities such
as foot traffic which could result in the trampling of plants; and edge
effects of urban development. An additional threat in this unit is the
expansion of unregulated vehicle parking in the dunes caused by the
high numbers of visitors this area receives each year.
Unit 5: Freedom Boulevard (24 ac (10 ha))
This unit consists of grassland, maritime chaparral, and oak
woodland habitat near the western terminus of Freedom Boulevard and
northeast of Highway 1 in Santa Cruz County. This unit consists
entirely of private lands (24 ac (10 ha)). Unit 5 contains space for
individual and population growth, including sites for seed dispersal
and germination; areas that provide for the basic requirements for
growth; and includes soils in the Baywood sand and Ben Lomond sandy
loam series (Soil Conservation Service 1980, pp. 64-65; maps) (PCE 1).
This unit was occupied at the time of listing and is currently occupied
(CNDDB 2006, EOs 32 and 34; Morgan 2006, unpaginated). This unit
currently supports a population of Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens
that numbers in the thousands in favorable years, but many fewer in
unfavorable years (CNDDB 2006, EOs 32, 34). This unit is important
because it is the northernmost occurrence in the designation. Threats
that may require special management considerations or protection in
this unit include invasive non-native plants, particularly annual
grasses which crowd out C. p. var. pungens, and edge effects from urban
development.
Unit 6: Manresa (94 ac (38 ha))
This unit consists of coastal bluffs along the immediate coast,
south of Seacliff State Beach and north of Sunset State Beach in Santa
Cruz County. Unit 6 contains space for individual and population
growth, including sites for seed dispersal and germination, and areas
that provide for the basic requirements for growth, including soils in
the coastal beach, Baywood sand, and Elder sandy loam series (Soil
Conservation Service 1980, pp. 11-70, maps (PCE 1). This unit is
comprised entirely of lands owned and managed by the State at Manresa
State Beach. This unit was occupied at the time of listing and is
currently occupied. This unit is important because it is the most
northerly population that is known from the immediate coast and
provides connectivity to populations in the Sunset unit to the south.
Threats that may require special management considerations or
protection in this unit consist of invasive non-native plants, and
recreational activities including foot traffic, which could result in
the trampling of plants.
Unit 7: Prunedale (190 ac (77 ha))
This unit consists of grassland, maritime chaparral, and oak
woodland in the area around Prunedale in northern Monterey County. On
the west side of Highway 101, the unit includes Manzanita County Park
located between Castroville Boulevard and San Miguel Canyon Road. On
the east side of Highway 101, the unit consists of four subunits. The
four subunits support similar plant communities and need similar types
of special management; therefore, we discuss them as a unit. Unit 7
contains space for individual and population growth, including sites
for seed dispersal and germination, and areas that provide for the
basic requirements for growth, including soils in the Arnold loamy
sand, Santa Ynez fine sandy loam, and Arnold-Santa Ynez complex series
(Soil Conservation Service 1978, pp. 9-11, 72-73) (PCE 1). This unit
consists of 155 ac (63 ha) of State lands, 18 ac (7 ac) of local agency
lands (Manzanita County Park), and 17 ac (7 ha) of Pacific Gas and
Electric easement lands. This unit was occupied at the time of listing
and was included in our rule in reference to the Prunedale area (59 FR
5499) and is currently occupied (Caltrans 2001, Consortium of
California Herbaria 2006). This unit is important because it is one of
only four units that are known to support populations associated with
maritime chaparral and oak woodland habitats more representative of
hotter, interior sites and is the easternmost of the proposed units in
the interior hills. Threats that may require special management
considerations or protections in this unit include invasive non-native
plants which crowd out C. p. var. pungens, edge effects from urban
development, and recreational activities such as off road vehicles
which can crush plants and destroy seeds.
Unit 8: Fort Ord (9,432 ac (3,817 ha))
This unit consists of grassland, maritime chaparral, coastal scrub,
and oak woodland on the former Department of Defense (DOD) base at Fort
Ord, east of the city of Seaside in northern Monterey County. This unit
is entirely within the area formerly known as Fort Ord, bounded by
Highway 1 on the northwest, the Salinas River to the east, and
Monterey-Salinas Road (Highway 68) to the south. Approximately 87
percent of this critical habitat unit is Federal land (8,172 ac (3,307
ha)) managed by the BLM and the Army, 6 percent is State land, and 7
percent is under local jurisdictions. Portions of Fort Ord have been
transferred to the BLM; University of California, Santa Cruz;
California State University at Monterey Bay; and local city and county
jurisdictions. All of the lands included in this unit are designated as
current or
[[Page 75199]]
future habitat reserves under the Army's habitat management plan (ACOE
1997, Attachment A map; Zander Associates 2002, Figures 4-6). Unit 8
contains space for individual and population growth, including sites
for seed dispersal and germination, and areas that provide for the
basic requirements for growth, and includes soils in the Arnold-Santa
Ynez complex, Baywood sand, and Oceano loamy sand series (Soil
Conservation Service 1978, pp. 9-73). Lands in this unit are intended
to be managed at a landscape scale, using prescribed fire, as needed,
to maintain a range of different aged maritime chaparral stands (ACOE
1997, p. 4.24-4.25) and by doing so preserve substantial populations of
rare maritime chaparral species in the Monterey Bay area. This unit was
occupied at the time of listing (59 FR 5499) and is currently occupied.
This unit is important because it currently supports multiple large
populations of Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens that number in the tens
of thousands in some years (CNDDB 2006, EO 2; Jones and Stokes 1992,
Figure F-3; BLM 2006), and it is one of only five units which include
maritime chaparral and oak woodland habitats more representative of
hotter, interior sites. Threats that may require special management
considerations or protection in this unit include invasive species that
crowd out C. p. var. pungens, munitions clean-up methods on former
ranges that remove and chip all standing vegetation, and recreational
activities and road and trail maintenance, which could result in the
trampling of plants.
Unit 9: Soledad (51 ac (21 ha))
This unit consists of an interior dune in the floodplain of the
Salinas River channel just south of the town of Soledad in central
Monterey County on privately owned lands. Unit 9 contains space for
individual and population growth, including sites for seed dispersal
and germination, and areas that provide for the basic requirements for
growth, including soils in the dune land and Metz complex soil series
(Soil Conservation Service 1978, pp. 24, 48-49) (PCE 1). This unit was
occupied at the time of listing and is currently occupied.
Approximately 5,000 plants were observed in this unit in 1994 (CNDDB
2006 EO 28, Wesco 1994, pp. 5-8). This unit is important because it is
the southernmost interior location that supports a population and the
only unit where Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens grows in interior
floodplain dune habitat. This population is geographically remote from
all others in this designation. Protecting peripheral or isolated
populations of rare species is highly desirable because they may
contain genetic variation not found in core populations (Lesica and
Allendorf 1995, p. 755-757) Threats that may require special management
considerations or protection in this unit include invasive non-native
plants which crowd out C. p. var. pungens; overspray of herbicides and
pesticides from agricultural operations; and vegetation clearing
activities associated with road maintenance.
Effects of Critical Habitat Designation
Section 7 Consultation
Section 7 of the Act requires Federal agencies, including the
Service, to ensure that actions they fund, authorize, or carry out are
not likely to destroy or adversely modify critical habitat. In our
regulations at 50 CFR 402.02, we define destruction or adverse
modification as ``a direct or indirect alteration that appreciably
diminishes the value of critical habitat for both the survival and
recovery of a listed species. Such alterations include, but are not
limited to, alterations adversely modifying any of those physical or
biological features that were the basis for determining the habitat to
be critical.'' However, recent decisions by the 5th and 9th Circuit
Court of Appeals have invalidated this definition (see Gifford Pinchot
Task Force v. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 378 F. 3d 1059 (9th Cir
2004) and Sierra Club v. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service et al., 245
F.3d 434, 442F (5th Cir 2001)). Pursuant to current national policy and
the statutory provisions of the Act, destruction or adverse
modification is determined on the basis of whether, with implementation
of the proposed Federal action, the affected critical habitat would
remain functional (or retain the current ability for the primary
constituent elements to be functionally established) to serve the
intended conservation role for the species.
Section 7(a) of the Act requires Federal agencies, including the
Service, to evaluate their actions with respect to any species that is
proposed or listed as endangered or threatened and with respect to its
critical habitat, if any is proposed or designated. Regulations
implementing this interagency cooperation provision of the Act are
codified at 50 CFR part 402.
Section 7(a)(4) of the Act requires Federal agencies to confer with
us on any action that is likely to jeopardize the continued existence
of a proposed species or result in destruction or adverse modification
of proposed critical habitat. This is a procedural requirement only.
However, once proposed species becomes listed, or proposed critical
habitat is designated as final, the full prohibitions of section
7(a)(2) apply to any Federal action. The primary utility of the
conference procedures is to maximize the opportunity for a Federal
agency to adequately consider proposed species and critical habitat and
avoid potential delays in implementing their proposed action as a
result of the section 7(a)(2) compliance process, should those species
be listed or the critical habitat designated.
Under conference procedures, the Service may provide advisory
conservation recommendations to assist the agency in eliminating
conflicts that may be caused by the proposed action. The Service may
conduct either informal or formal conferences. Informal conferences are
typically used if the proposed action is not likely to have any adverse
effects to the proposed species or proposed critical habitat. Formal
conferences are typically used when the Federal agency or the Service
believes the proposed action is likely to cause adverse effects to
proposed species or critical habitat, inclusive of those that may cause
jeopardy or adverse modification.
The results of an informal conference are typically transmitted in
a conference report; while the results of a formal conference are
typically transmitted in a conference opinion. Conference opinions on
proposed critical habitat are typically prepared according to 50 CFR
402.14, as if the proposed critical habitat were designated. We may
adopt the conference opinion as the biological opinion when the
critical habitat is designated, if no substantial new information or
changes in the action alter the content of the opinion (see 50 CFR
402.10(d)). As noted above, any conservation recommendations in a
conference report or opinion are strictly advisory.
If a species is listed or critical habitat is designated, section
7(a)(2) 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 such a species or to destroy or adversely modify
its critical habitat. 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. As a result of this consultation,
compliance with the requirements of section 7(a)(2) will be documented
through the Service's 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
[[Page 75200]]
biological opinion for Federal actions that may affect, but are likely
to adversely affect, listed species or critical habitat.
When we issue a biological opinion concluding that a project is
likely to result in jeopardy to a listed species or the destruction or
adverse modification of critical habitat, we also provide reasonable
and prudent alternatives to the project, if any are identifiable.
``Reasonable and prudent alternatives'' are defined at 50 CFR 402.02 as
alternative actions identified during consultation that can be
implemented in a manner consistent with the intended purpose of the
action, that are consistent with the scope of the Federal agency's
legal authority and jurisdiction, that are economically and
technologically feasible, and that the Director believes would avoid
jeopardy to the listed species or destruction or adverse modification
of 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 require Federal agencies to reinitiate
consultation on previously reviewed actions in instances where a new
species is listed or critical habitat is subsequently designated that
may be affected and the Federal agency has retained discretionary
involvement or control over the action or such discretionary
involvement or control is authorized by law. Consequently, some Federal
agencies may request reinitiation of consultation with us on actions
for which formal consultation has been completed, if those actions may
affect subsequently listed species or designated critical habitat or
adversely modify or destroy proposed critical habitat.
Federal activities that may affect Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens
or its designated critical habitat will require section 7 consultation
under the Act. Activities on State, tribal, local or private lands
requiring a Federal permit (such as a permit from the Corps under
section 404 of the Clean Water Act or a permit under section
10(a)(1)(B) of the Act from the Service) or involving some other
Federal action (such as funding from the Federal Highway
Administration, Federal Aviation Administration, or the Federal
Emergency Management Agency) will also be subject to the section 7
consultation process. Federal actions not affecting listed species or
critical habitat, and actions on State, tribal, local or private lands
that are not federally-funded, authorized, or permitted, do not require
section 7 consultations.
Application of the Jeopardy and Adverse Modification Standards for
Actions Involving Effects to Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens and Its
Critical Habitat
Jeopardy Standard
Prior to and following designation of critical habitat, the Service
has applied an analytical framework for Chorizanthe pungens var.
pungens jeopardy analyses that relies heavily on the importance of core
area populations to the survival and recovery of the C. p. var.
pungens. The section 7(a)(2) analysis is focused not only on these
populations but also on the habitat conditions necessary to support
them.
The jeopardy analysis usually expresses the survival and recovery
needs of the Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens in a qualitative fashion
without making distinctions between what is necessary for survival and
what is necessary for recovery. Generally, if a proposed Federal action
is incompatible with the viability of the affected core area
population(s), inclusive of associated habitat conditions, a jeopardy
finding is considered to be warranted, because of the relationship of
each core area population to the survival and recovery of the species
as a whole.
Adverse Modification Standard
The analytical framework described in the Director's December 9,
2004, memorandum will be used to complete section 7(a)(2) analyses for
Federal actions affecting Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens critical
habitat. The key factor related to the adverse modification
determination is whether, with implementation of the proposed Federal
action, the affected critical habitat would remain functional (or
retain the current ability for the primary constituent elements to be
functionally established) to serve the intended conservation role for
the species. Generally, the conservation role of C. p. var. pungens
critical habitat units is to support viable core area populations.
Section 4(b)(8) of the Act requires us to briefly evaluate and
describe in any proposed or final regulation that designates critical
habitat those activities involving a Federal action that may destroy or
adversely modify such habitat, or that may be affected by such
designation. Activities that may destroy or adversely modify critical
habitat may also jeopardize the continued existence of the species.
Activities that may destroy or adversely modify critical habitat
are those that alter the PCEs to an extent that the conservation value
of critical habitat for the Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens is
appreciably reduced. Activities that, when carried out, funded, or
authorized by a Federal agency, may affect critical habitat and
therefore result in consultation for the C. p. var. pungens include,
but are not limited to:
(1) Actions that would degrade or destroy native maritime
chaparral, dune, and oak woodland communities, including but not
limited to, livestock grazing, clearing, discing, introducing or
encouraging the spread of non-native plants, and heavy recreational
use;
(2) Actions that would appreciably diminish habitat value or
quality through indirect effects (e.g., edge effects, invasion of non-
native plants or animals, or fragmentation).
All of the units in the proposed revision to critical habitat to
contain features essential to the conservation of Chorizanthe pungens
var. pungens. All units are within the geographic range of the species,
and all were occupied by the species at the time of listing. All units
are currently occupied by C. p. var. pungens. Federal agencies already
consult with us on activities in areas currently occupied by the C. p.
var. pungens, or if the species may be affected by the action, to
ensure that their actions do not jeopardize the continued existence of
the C. p. var. pungens.
Application of Section 4(a)(3) of the Act
The Sikes Act Improvement Act of 1997 (Sikes Act) (16 U.S.C. 670a)
required each military installation that includes land and water
suitable for the conservation and management of natural resources to
complete, by November 17, 2001, an Integrated Natural Resource
Management Plan (INRMP). An INRMP integrates implementation of the
military mission of the installation with stewardship of the natural
resources found on the base. Each INRMP includes an assessment of the
ecological needs on the installation, including the need to provide for
the conservation of listed species; a statement of goals and
priorities; a detailed description of management actions to be
implemented to provide for these ecological needs; and a monitoring and
adaptive management plan. Among other things, each INRMP must, to the
extent appropriate and applicable, provide for fish and wildlife
management, fish and wildlife habitat enhancement or modification,
wetland protection, enhancement, and
[[Page 75201]]
restoration where necessary to support fish and wildlife and
enforcement of applicable natural resource laws.
The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 (Public
Law 108-136) amended the Act to limit areas eligible for designation as
critical habitat. Specifically, section 4(a)(3)(B)(i) of the Act (16
U.S.C. 1533(a)(3)(B)(i)) now provides: The Secretary shall not
designate as critical habitat any lands or other geographical areas
owned or controlled by the Department of Defense, or designated for its
use, that are subject to an integrated natural resources management
plan prepared under section 101 of the Sikes Act (16 U.S.C. 670a), if
the Secretary determines in writing that such plan provides a benefit
to the species for which critical habitat is proposed for designation.
Lands at former Fort Ord are not discussed in this section because
Fort Ord is no longer an active military installation. All but a few
hundred acres at former Fort Ord are to be eventually transferred to
non-military entities. The few hundred acres that the Army may retain
do not occur within this proposed critical habitat designation.
Application of Section 4(b)(2) of the Act
Section 4(b)(2) of the Act states that critical habitat shall be
designated, and revised, on the basis of the best available scientific
data after taking into consideration the economic impact, national
security impact, and any other relevant impact, of specifying any
particular area as critical habitat. The Secretary may exclude an area
from critical habitat if he determines that the benefits of such
exclusion outweigh the benefits of specifying such area as part of the
critical habitat, unless he determines, based on the best scientific
data available, that the failure to designate such area as critical
habitat will result in the extinction of the species. In making that
determination, the Congressional record is clear that the Secretary is
afforded broad discretion regarding which factor(s) to use and how much
weight to give to any factor.
Pursuant to section 4(b)(2) of the Act, we must consider relevant
impacts in addition to economic ones. We anticipate no impact to
national security, Tribal lands, or habitat conservation plans from
this proposed revision to the current critical habitat designation.
Based on the best available information, we believe that all of the
proposed revised units contain the features essential to Chorizanthe
pungens var. pungens or are otherwise essential for the conservation of
this species. As such, we have considered but are not proposing to
exclude any lands from this designation based on the potential impacts
to these or other factors.
Economic Analysis
An analysis of the economic impacts of this proposed critical
habitat revision for Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens is being
prepared. We will announce the availability of the draft economic
analysis as soon as it is completed, at which time we will seek public
review and comment. At that time, copies of the draft economic analysis
will be available for downloading from the Internet at http://www.fws.gov/ventura/ or by contacting the VFWO directly (see ADDRESSES
section).
Peer Review
In accordance with our joint policy published in the Federal
Register on July 1, 1994 (59 FR 34270), we will seek the expert
opinions of at least three appropriate and independent specialists
regarding this proposed revised rule. The purpose of such review is to
ensure that our critical habitat designation is based on scientifically
sound data, assumptions, and analyses. We will send these peer
reviewers copies of this proposed revised rule immediately following
publication in the Federal Register. We will invite these peer
reviewers to comment, during the public comment period, on the specific
assumptions and conclusions regarding the proposed revisions to the
current critical habitat designation.
We will consider all comments and information received during the
comment period on this proposed revised rule during preparation of a
final rulemaking. Accordingly, the final decision may differ from this
proposed revision.
Public Hearings
The Act provides for one or more public hearings on this proposal,
if requested. Requests for public hearings must be made in writing at
least 15 days prior to the close of the public comment period. We will
schedule public hearings on this proposal, if any are requested, and
announce the dates, times, and places of those hearings in the Federal
Register and local newspapers at least 15 days prior to the first
hearing.
Clarity of the Rule
Executive Order 12866 requires each agency to write regulations and
notices that are easy to understand. We invite your comments on how to
make this proposed revised rule easier to understand, including answers
to questions such as the following: (1) Are the requirements in the
proposed revised rule clearly stated? (2) Does the proposed revised
rule contain technical jargon that interferes with the clarity? (3)
Does the format of the proposed revised rule (grouping and order of the
sections, use of headings, paragraphing, and so forth) aid or reduce
its clarity? (4) Is the description of the notice in the SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION section of the preamble helpful in understanding the
proposed revised rule? (5) What else could we do to make this proposed
revised rule easier to understand?
Send a copy of any comments on how we could make these proposed
revisions to the critical habitat designation easier to understand to:
Office of Regulatory Affairs, Department of the Interior, Room 7229,
1849 C Street, NW., Washington, DC 20240. You may e-mail your comments
to this address: [email protected].
Required Determinations
Regulatory Planning and Review
In accordance with Executive Order 12866, this document is a
significant rule in that it may raise novel legal and policy issues,
but it is not anticipated to have an annual effect on the economy of
$100 million or more or affect the economy in a material way. Due to
the tight timeline for publication in the Federal Register, the Office
of Management and Budget (OMB) has not formally reviewed this rule. We
are preparing a draft economic analysis of this proposed action, which
will be available for public comment, to determine the economic
consequences of designating the specific areas as critical habitat.
This economic analysis also will be used to determine compliance with
Executive Order 12866, Regulatory Flexibility Act, Small Business
Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act, and Executive Order 12630.
Further, Executive Order 12866 directs Federal Agencies
promulgating regulations to evaluate regulatory alternatives (Office of
Management and Budget, Circular A-4, September 17, 2003). Pursuant to
Circular A-4, once it has been determined that the Federal regulatory
action is appropriate, then the agency will need to consider
alternative regulatory approaches. Since the determination of critical
habitat is a statutory requirement under the Endangered Species Act of
1973, as amended (Act) (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), we must then evaluate
alternative regulatory approaches, where feasible, when promulgating a
designation of critical habitat.
[[Page 75202]]
In developing our designations of critical habitat, we consider
economic impacts, impacts to national security, and other relevant
impacts under section 4(b)(2) of the Act. Based on the discretion
allowable under this provision, we may exclude any particular area from
the designation of critical habitat providing that the benefits of such
exclusion outweigh the benefits of specifying the area as critical
habitat and that such exclusion would not result in the extinction of
the subspecies. As such, we believe that the evaluation of the
inclusion or exclusion of particular areas, or combination thereof, in
a designation constitutes our regulatory alternative analysis.
Within these areas, the types of Federal actions or authorized
activities that we have identified as potential concerns are listed
above in the section on Section 7 Consultation. The availability of the
draft economic analysis will be announced in the Federal Register and
in local newspapers so that it is available for public review and
comments. The draft economic analysis can be obtained from the internet
website at http://www.fws.gov/ventura/ or by contacting the VFWO
directly (see ADDRESSES section).
Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.)
Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq., as
amended by the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act
(SBREFA) of 1996), whenever an agency is required to publish a notice
of rulemaking for any proposed or final rule, it must prepare and make
available for public comment a regulatory flexibility analysis that
describes the effects of the rule on small entities (i.e., small
businesses, small organizations, and small government jurisdictions).
However, no regulatory flexibility analysis is required if the head of
the agency certifies the rule will not have a significant economic
impact on a substantial number of small entities. The SBREFA amended
the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) to require Federal agencies to
provide a statement of the factual basis for certifying that the rule
will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of
small entities.
At this time, the Service lacks the available economic information
necessary to provide an adequate factual basis for the required RFA
finding. Therefore, the RFA finding is deferred until completion of the
draft economic analysis prepared under section 4(b)(2) of the Act and
E.O. 12866. This draft economic analysis will provide the required
factual basis for the RFA finding. Upon completion of the draft
economic analysis, the Service will publish a notice of availability of
the draft economic analysis of the proposed designation and reopen the
public comment period for the proposed designation for an additional 60
days. The Service will include with the notice of availability, as
appropriate, an initial regulatory flexibility analysis or a
certification that the rule will not have a significant economic impact
on a substantial number of small entities accompanied by the factual
basis for that determination. The Service has concluded that deferring
the RFA finding until completion of the draft economic analysis is
necessary to meet the purposes and requirements of the RFA. Deferring
the RFA finding in this manner will ensure that the Service makes a
sufficiently informed determination based on adequate economic
information and provides the necessary opportunity for public comment.
Executive Order 13211
On May 18, 2001, the President issued an Executive Order (E.O.
13211; Actions Concerning Regulations That Significantly Affect Energy
Supply, Distribution, or Use) on regulations that significantly affect
energy supply, distribution, and use. Executive Order 13211 requires
agencies to prepare Statements of Energy Effects when undertaking
certain actions. Although this proposed rule to designate critical
habitat for the Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens is a significant
regulatory action under Executive Order 12866, it is not expected to
significantly affect energy supplies, distribution, or use. Therefore,
this action is not a significant energy action, and no Statement of
Energy Effects is required.
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (2 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.)
In accordance with the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (2 U.S.C.
1501), the Service makes the following findings:
(a) This rule will not produce a Federal mandate. In general, a
Federal mandate is a provision in legislation, statute or regulation
that would impose an enforceable duty upon State, local, tribal
governments, or the private sector and includes both ``Federal
intergovernmental mandates'' and ``Federal private sector mandates.''
These terms are defined in 2 U.S.C. 658(5)-(7). ``Federal
intergovernmental mandate'' includes a regulation that ``would impose
an enforceable duty upon State, local, or tribal governments'' with two
exceptions. It excludes ``a condition of Federal assistance.'' It also
excludes ``a duty arising from participation in a voluntary Federal
program,'' unless the regulation ``relates to a then-existing Federal
program under which $500,000,000 or more is provided annually to State,
local, and tribal governments under entitlement authority,'' if the
provision would ``increase the stringency of conditions of assistance''
or ``place caps upon, or otherwise decrease, the Federal Government's
responsibility to provide funding,'' and the State, local, or tribal
governments ``lack authority'' to adjust accordingly. At the time of
enactment, these entitlement programs were: Medicaid; AFDC work
programs; Child Nutrition; Food Stamps; Social Services Block Grants;
Vocational Rehabilitation State Grants; Foster Care, Adoption
Assistance, and Independent Living; Family Support Welfare Services;
and Child Support Enforcement. ``Federal private sector mandate''
includes a regulation that ``would impose an enforceable duty upon the
private sector, except (i) a condition of Federal assistance or (ii) a
duty arising from participation in a voluntary Federal program.''
The designation of critical habitat does not impose a legally
binding duty on non-Federal government entities or private parties.
Under the Act, the only regulatory effect is that Federal agencies must
ensure that their actions do not destroy or adversely modify critical
habitat under section 7. While non-Federal entities that receive
Federal funding, assistance, or permits, or that otherwise require
approval or authorization from a Federal agency for an action, may be
indirectly impacted by the designation of critical habitat, the legally
binding duty to avoid destruction or adverse modification of critical
habitat rests squarely on the Federal agency. Furthermore, to the
extent that non-Federal entities are indirectly impacted because they
receive Federal assistance or participate in a voluntary Federal aid
program, the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act would not apply; nor would
critical habitat shift the costs of the large entitlement programs
listed above on to State governments.
(b) We do not believe that this rule will significantly or uniquely
affect small governments because much (93 percent) of the proposed
critical habitat is owned and managed by the Federal government and the
State and only about 6 percent of the total proposed critical habitat
designation is owned and managed by local jurisdictions. Of the lands
under local jurisdiction, 97
[[Page 75203]]
percent are associated with land transfers through Fort Ord and are
therefore already taking into consideration the management of
Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens and other sensitive species. In
addition, less than 1 percent of the total proposed designation is
private lands. Therefore, a Small Government Agency Plan is not
required. We will, however, further evaluate this issue as we conduct
our economic analysis and revise this assessment if appropriate.
Takings
In accordance with Executive Order 12630 (``Government Actions and
Interference with Constitutionally Protected Private Property
Rights''), we have analyzed the potential takings implications of
designating critical habitat for the Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens
in a takings implications assessment. The takings implications
assessment concludes that this designation of critical habitat for the
Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens does not pose significant takings
implications. However, we will further evaluate this issue as we
conduct our economic analysis and review and revise this assessment as
warranted.
Federalism
In accordance with Executive Order 12630 (``Government Actions and
Interference with Constitutionally Protected Private Property
Rights''), we have analyzed the potential takings implications of
designating critical habitat for the Monterey spine flower in a takings
implications assessment. The takings implications assessment concludes
that this designation of critical habitat for the Monterey spine flower
does not pose significant takings implications. However, we will
further evaluate this issue as we conduct our economic analysis and
review and revise this assessment as warranted.
Civil Justice Reform
In accordance with Executive Order 12988, the Office of the
Solicitor has determined that the rule does not unduly burden the
judicial system and meets the requirements of sections 3(a) and 3(b)(2)
of the Order. We have proposed designating critical habitat in
accordance with the provisions of the Act. This proposed revised rule
uses standard property descriptions and identifies the primary
constituent elements within the designated areas to assist the public
in understanding the habitat needs of Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens.
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.)
This rule does not contain any new collections of information that
require approval by OMB under the Paperwork Reduction Act. This rule
will not impose recordkeeping or reporting requirements on State or
local governments, individuals, businesses, or organizations. An agency
may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to,
a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB
control number.
National Environmental Policy Act
It is our position that, outside the Tenth Circuit, we do not need
to prepare environmental analyses as defined by the NEPA in connection
with designating critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act of
1973, as amended. We published a notice outlining our reasons for this
determination in the Federal Register on October 25, 1983 (48 FR
49244). This assertion was upheld in the courts of the Ninth Circuit
(Douglas County v. Babbitt, 48 F.3d 1495 (9th Cir. Ore. 1995), cert.
denied 116 S. Ct. 698 (1996)).
Government-to-Government Relationship With Tribes
In accordance with the President's memorandum of April 29, 1994,
``Government-to-Government Relations with Native American Tribal
Governments'' (59 FR 22951), Executive Order 13175, and the Department
of Interior's manual at 512 DM 2, we readily acknowledge our
responsibility to communicate meaningfully with recognized Federal
Tribes on a government-to-government basis. We have determined that
there are no tribal lands occupied at the time of listing or currently
occupied that contain the features essential for the conservation and
no tribal lands that are unoccupied areas that are essential for the
conservation of Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens. Therefore, in this
proposed revised rule, critical habitat for the C. p. var. pungens has
not been proposed for designation on tribal lands.
References Cited
A complete list of all references cited in this rulemaking is
available upon request from the Field Supervisor, VFWO (see ADDRESSES
section).
Author(s)
The primary author of this package is the VFWO.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 17
Endangered and threatened species, Exports, Imports, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements, Transportation.
Proposed Regulation Promulgation
Accordingly, we propose to amend part 17, subchapter B of chapter
I, title 50 of the Code of Federal Regulations, as set forth below:
PART 17--[AMENDED]
1. The authority citation for part 17 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1361-1407; 16 U.S.C. 1531-1544; 16 U.S.C.
4201-4245; Pub. L. 99-625, 100 Stat. 3500; unless otherwise noted.
2. In Sec. 17.96(a), revise the entry for ``Family Polygonaceae:
Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens (Monterey spineflower)'' to read as
follows:
Sec. 17.96 Critical habitat--plants.
(a) Flowering plants.
* * * * *
Family Polygonaceae: Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens (Monterey
spineflower)
(1) Critical habitat units are depicted for Santa Cruz and Monterey
Counties, California, on the maps below.
(2) The primary constituent element of critical habitat for
Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens is vegetation structure arranged in a
mosaic with openings between the dominant elements (e.g., scrub, shrub,
oak trees, clumps of herbaceous vegetation) providing for sunlight on
the following sandy soils: coastal beaches, dune land, Baywood sand,
Ben Lomond sandy loam, Elder sandy loam, Oceano loamy sand, Arnold
loamy sand, Santa Ynez fine sandy loam, Arnold--Santa Ynez complex,
Metz complex, and Metz loamy sand.
(3) Critical habitat does not include manmade structures, such as
buildings, aqueducts, airports, and roads, and the land on which such
structures are located, existing on the effective date of this rule and
not containing the primary constituent element.
(4) Critical habitat map units. Data layers defining map units were
created on base maps using aerial imagery from the National
Agricultural Imagery Program (aerial imagery captured June 2005). Data
were projected to Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) zone 11, North
American Datum (NAD) 1983.
(5) Note: Index map (Map 1) follows:
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(6) Unit 1: Sunset Unit, Santa Cruz County, California.
(i) From USGS 1:24,000 scale quadrangle Watsonville West. Land
bounded by the following UTM zone 10 NAD83 coordinates (E, N): 603929,
4083699; 604051, 4083487; 604059, 4083449; 604045, 4083383; 604045,
4083351; 604091, 4083265; 604106, 4083164; 604122, 4083147; 604176,
4083117; 604222, 4083063; 604255, 4083022; 604279, 4083005; 604325,
4082960; 604349, 4082925; 604373, 4082842; 604412, 4082708; 604424,
4082671; 604426, 4082579; 604449, 4082515; 604460, 4082474; 604491,
4082428; 604504, 4082397; 604510, 4082350; 604527, 4082300; 604546,
4082248; 604535, 4082205; 604688, 4081900; 604847, 4081649; 604743,
4081648; 604613, 4081903; 604338, 4082450; 604205, 4082695; 604132,
4082828; 603987, 4083070; 603703, 4083577; returning to 603929,
4083699.
(ii) Note: Map of Units 1, 5, and 6 (Map 2) follows:
[[Page 75206]]
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(7) Unit 2: Moss Landing Unit, Monterey County, California.
(i) From USGS 1:24,000 scale quadrangle Moss Landing. Land bounded
by the following UTM zone 10 NAD83 coordinates (E, N): 607507, 4075612;
607621, 4075684; 607654, 4075633; 607631, 4075619; 607636, 4075576;
607597, 4075556; 607690, 4075440; 607823, 4075301; 607910, 4075107;
607947, 4074934; 607954, 4074719; 608021, 4074544; 608058, 4074335;
607999, 4074277; 607936, 4074603; 607872, 4074869; 607801, 4075108;
607725, 4075268; 607599, 4075459; returning to 607507, 4075612.
(ii) From USGS 1:24,000 scale quadrangle Moss Landing. Land bounded
by the following UTM zone 10 NAD83 coordinates (E, N): 607903, 4073162;
608016, 4073442; 608084, 4073399; 607962, 4073136; returning to 607903,
4073162.
(iii) From USGS 1:24,000 scale quadrangle Moss Landing. Land
bounded by the following UTM zone 10 NAD83 coordinates (E, N): 607228,
4070373; 607310, 4070736; 607328, 4070904; 607348, 4071016; 607384,
4071156; 607514, 4071712; 607717, 4072508; 607772, 4072783; 607853,
4073038; 607914, 4073020; 607895, 4072915; 607865, 4072861; 607783,
4072474; 607787, 4072361; 607718, 4072182; 607621, 4071731; 607609,
4071579; 607619, 4071527; 607625, 4071342; 607616, 4071320; 607621,
4071220; 607596, 4071153; 607592, 4071096; 607570, 4071047; 607576,
4071014; 607648, 4070995; 607689, 4070941; 607666, 4070915; 607668,
4070868; 607631, 4070839; 607679, 4070781; 607677, 4070715; 607710,
4070665; 607739, 4070545; 607696, 4070507; 607689, 4070486; 607670,
4070465; 607654, 4070436; 607649, 4070398; 607502, 4070309; 607230,
4070348; returning to 607228, 4070373.
(iv) From USGS 1:24,000 scale quadrangle Moss Landing. Land bounded
by the following UTM zone 10 NAD83 coordinates (E, N): 606454, 4078187;
606601, 4078347; 606679, 4078021; 606792, 4077578; 606824, 4077463;
606863, 4077367; 606841, 4077344; 606846, 4077325; 606856, 4077319;
606883, 4077322; 606936, 4077244; 607001, 4076989; 607221, 4076534;
607207, 4076523; 607206, 4076512; 607216, 4076487; 607238, 4076472;
607272, 4076417; 607272, 4076386; 607298, 4076371; 607309, 4076358;
607302, 4076347; 607281, 4076295; 607281, 4076279; 607170, 4076277;
607008, 4076687; 606805, 4077227; 606661, 4077584; 606561, 4077910;
returning to 606454, 4078187.
(v) Note: Map of Units 2 and 7 (Map 3) follows:
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(8) Unit 3: Marina Unit, Monterey County, California.
(i) From USGS 1:24,000 scale quadrangle Marina. Land bounded by the
following UTM zone 10 NAD83 coordinates (E, N): 603550, 4054338;
603691, 4054583; 603944, 4055018; 604173, 4055496; 604429, 4056021;
604819, 4056877; 605042, 4057450; 605354, 4058252; 605565, 4058848;
605837, 4059750; 605918, 4060031; 606155, 4061060; 606282, 4061745;
606320, 4062114; 606653, 4061944; 606642, 4061777; 606595, 4061605;
606497, 4061365; 606456, 4061248; 606413, 4061089; 606388, 4060903;
606384, 4060755; 606390, 4060633; 606431, 4060406; 606349, 4060385;
606398, 4060148; 606370, 4060069; 606443, 4060021; 606446, 4059958;
606490, 4059933; 606225, 4059382; 606099, 4059154; 605974, 4058942;
605942, 4058878; 605861, 4058673; 605779, 4058394; 605739, 4058410;
605709, 4058346; 605679, 4058361; 605597, 4058304; 605587, 4058210;
605728, 4058160; 605683, 4058028; 605674, 4057900; 605681, 4057671;
605667, 4057538; 605662, 4057406; 605671, 4057317; 605690, 4057220;
605712, 4057147; 605763, 4057024; 605756, 4056939; 605731, 4056910;
605457, 4056766; 605429, 4056741; 605335, 4056560; 605360, 4056447;
605356, 4056395; 605232, 4056155; 605212, 4056093; 604940, 4055894;
604498, 4055349; 604397, 4055203; 604345, 4055087; 604323, 4055018;
604254, 4054897; 604077, 4054661; 604008, 4054566; 603934, 4054465;
603914, 4054402; 603758, 4054196; 603755, 4054189; 603737, 4054200;
603550, 4054338; 604416, 4055878; 604427, 4055852; 604451, 4055848;
604497, 4055868; 604526, 4055905; 604560, 4055938; 604613, 4055965;
604651, 4056003; 604699, 4056069; 604731, 4056138; 604736, 4056182;
604732, 4056242; 604726, 4056273; 604709, 4056296; 604675, 4056304;
604634, 4056288; 604613, 4056256; 604609, 4056220; 604632, 4056186;
604631, 4056167; 604605, 4056141; 604599, 4056122; 604602, 4056098;
604599, 4056084; 604568, 4056084; 604524, 4056092; 604513, 4056083;
604512, 4056070; 604528, 4056015; 604522, 4056001; 604501, 4055983;
604475, 4055969; 604459, 4055945; 604456, 4055931; 604438, 4055912;
604416, 4055878.
(ii) Note: Map of Units 3, 4, and 8 (Map 4) follows:
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(9) Unit 4: Asilomar Unit, Monterey County, California.
(i) From USGS 1:24,000 scale quadrangle Monterey. Land bounded by
the following UTM zone 10 NAD83 coordinates (E, N): 594619, 4053296;
594619, 4053330; 594626, 4053369; 594643, 4053405; 594653, 4053431;
594654, 4053454; 594660, 4053514; 594648, 4053561; 594648, 4053583;
594655, 4053600; 594727, 4053636; 594734, 4053644; 594740, 4053671;
594751, 4053688; 594765, 4053700; 594763, 4053748; 594755, 4053773;
594750, 4053787; 594766, 4053795; 594788, 4053798; 594800, 4053805;
594811, 4053823; 594817, 4053849; 594813, 4053884; 594795, 4053906;
594779, 4053929; 594776, 4053948; 594778, 4053962; 594784, 4053976;
594798, 4054002; 594808, 4054006; 594824, 4054004; 594853, 4053992;
594880, 4053986; 594908, 4053991; 594929, 4054006; 594949, 4054037;
594950, 4054065; 594944, 4054114; 594952, 4054174; 594968, 4054190;
594979, 4054237; 594977, 4054292; 594972, 4054311; 595001, 4054351;
594980, 4054393; 594962, 4054440; 594960, 4054479; 594946, 4054509;
594969, 4054511; 594985, 4054509; 595008, 4054518; 595011, 4054528;
595025, 4054538; 595059, 4054529; 595052, 4054467; 595026, 4054447;
595013, 4054407; 595028, 4054355; 595028, 4054328; 595021, 4054284;
594958, 4054012; 594959, 4054012; 594943, 4053970; 594883, 4053919;
594857, 4053880; 594796, 4053673; 594782, 4053639; 594769, 4053626;
594713, 4053598; 594719, 4053582; 594888, 4053489; 594869, 4053373;
594896, 4053299; 594890, 4053268; 594927, 4053223; 594919, 4053193;
594957, 4053160; 594950, 4053123; 594886, 4053082; 594885, 4053056;
594923, 4053026; 594924, 4052940; 594906, 4052966; 594871, 4053005;
594832, 4053036; 594804, 4053053; 594726, 4053053; 594680, 4053081;
594680, 4053142; 594667, 4053173; 594651, 4053254; returning to 594619,
4053296.
(ii) From USGS 1:24,000 scale quadrangle Monterey. Land bounded by
the following UTM zone 10 NAD83 coordinates (E, N): 594873, 4054693;
594913, 4054742; 595038, 4054606; 595057, 4054580; 595062, 4054561;
594921, 4054598; 594905, 4054625; returning to 594873, 4054693
(iii) Note: Map of Unit 4 is provided at paragraph (8)(ii) of this
entry.
(10) Unit 5: Freedom Unit, Monterey County, California.
(i) From USGS 1:24,000 scale quadrangle Watsonville West. Land
bounded by the following UTM zone 10 NAD83 coordinates (E, N):
601321.000 4093848; 601363, 4093878; 601484, 4093904; 601600, 4093907;
601710, 4093877; 601828, 4093833; 601921, 4093791; 601965, 4093746;
601983, 4093719; 601989, 4093682; 601905, 4093585; 601870, 4093613;
601487, 4093784; 601333, 4093837; returning to 601321, 4093848.
(ii) Note: Map of Unit 5 is provided at paragraph (6)(ii) of this
entry.
(11) Unit 6: Manresa Unit, Monterey County, California.
(i) From USGS 1:24,000 scale quadrangle Watsonville West. Land
bounded by the following UTM zone 10 NAD83 coordinates (E, N): 602044,
4086559; 602112, 4086716; 602197, 4086682; 602210, 4086694; 602221,
4086722; 602232, 4086754; 602285, 4086738; 602326, 4086722; 602374,
4086749; 602431, 4086877; 602376, 4086900; 602383, 4086914; 602296,
4086951; 602289, 4086937; 602236, 4086959; 602268, 4086998; 602524,
4086894; 602501, 4086838; 602557, 4086814; 602494, 4086665; 602763,
4086296; 602864, 4086162; 602562, 4086054; 602541, 4086096; 602394,
4086067; 602378, 4086099; 602302, 4086085; 602318, 4086053; 602275,
4086044; 602210, 4086186; 602139, 4086348; 602115, 4086409; returning
to 602044, 4086559.
(ii) Note: Map of Unit 6 is provided at paragraph (6)(ii) of this
entry.
(12) Unit 7: Prunedale Unit, Monterey County, California.
(i) From USGS 1:24,000 scale quadrangle Prunedale. Land bounded by
the following UTM zone 10 NAD83 coordinates (E, N): 618887, 4071619;
618896, 4071742; 619145, 4071725; 619431, 4071664; 619441, 4071576;
619439, 4071574; 619169, 4071562; 619166, 4071601; returning to 618887,
4071619.
(ii) From USGS 1:24,000 scale quadrangle Prunedale. Land bounded by
the following UTM zone 10 NAD83 coordinates (E, N): 621025, 4070792;
621080, 4071114; 621051, 4071111; 621085, 4071163; 621121, 4071173;
621136, 4071182; 621157, 4071219; 621160, 4071234; 621207, 4071274;
621233, 4071259; 621258, 4071205; 621283, 4071171; 621295, 4071168;
621290, 4071132; 621295, 4071048; 621284, 4070900; 621321, 4070847;
621314, 4070833; 621093, 4070705; 621046, 4070723; returning to 621025,
4070792.
(iii) From USGS 1:24,000 scale quadrangle Prunedale. Land bounded
by the following UTM zone 10 NAD83 coordinates (E, N): 620707, 4073069;
620896, 4073161; 620837, 4073252; 620899, 4073326; 620937, 4073319;
621026, 4073386; 621107, 4073506; 621199, 4073608; 621206, 4073579;
621166, 4073526; 621173, 4073436; 621083, 4073322; 621197, 4073259;
621151, 4072949; 621158, 4072940; 621187, 4072867; 621278, 4072572;
621300, 4072385; 621364, 4072301; 621342, 4072258; 621328, 4072169;
621331, 4072151; 621353, 4072139; 621389, 4072155; 621377, 4072009;
621414, 4071899; 621422, 4071791; 621411, 4071786; 621361, 4071747;
621364, 4071718; 621377, 4071704; 621421, 4071702; 621385, 4071615;
621370, 4071533; 621379, 4071479; 621265, 4071449; 621256, 4071455;
621283, 4071501; 621288, 4071541; 621282, 4071565; 621230, 4071628;
621278, 4071792; 621255, 4071940; 621265, 4072089; 621192, 4072091;
621191, 4072183; 621130, 4072185; 621130, 4072300; 621085, 4072462;
621060, 4072649; 621031, 4072686; 621017, 4072730; 621009, 4072808;
620987, 4072831; 620927, 4072859; 620775, 4072954; 620739, 4072948;
620709, 4072962; returning to 620707, 4073069.
(iv) From USGS 1:24,000 scale quadrangle Prunedale. Land bounded by
the following UTM zone 10 NAD83 coordinates (E, N): 620983, 4073724;
621027, 4073754; 620988, 4073922; 620997, 4073968; 620986, 4074025;
621101, 4074125; 621133, 4074174; 621144, 4074209; 621084, 4074270;
621123, 4074335; 621127, 4074380; 621146, 4074396; 621174, 4074395;
621273, 4074228; 621256, 4074215; 621206, 4074150; 621149, 4074028;
621163, 4073968; 621180, 4073920; 621159, 4073901; 621160, 4073898;
621124, 4073845; 621154, 4073750; 621074, 4073707; 621036, 4073609;
returning to 620983, 4073724.
(v) Note: Map of Unit 7 is provided at paragraph (7)(v) of this
entry.
(13) Unit 8: Fort Ord Unit, Monterey County, California.
(i) From USGS 1:24,000 scale quadrangle Marina. Land bounded by the
following UTM zone 10 NAD83 coordinates (E, N): 609697, 4059326;
609722, 4059410; 610034, 4059231; 610010, 4059188; 610075, 4059114;
610137, 4059066; 610125, 4059051; 610114, 4059037; 610103, 4059024;
610091, 4059012; 610078, 4058998; 610065, 4058986; 609965, 4058895;
609958, 4058903; 609998, 4059020; 609962, 4059186; 609940, 4059175;
609906, 4059214; 609932, 4059260; 609797, 4059338; 609773, 4059296;
609709, 4059308; returning to 609697, 4059326.
(ii) From USGS 1:24,000 scale quadrangle Marina. Land bounded by
the following UTM zone 10 NAD83 coordinates (E, N): 610192, 4059594;
610236, 4059663; 610258, 4059655; 610274, 4059651; 610309, 4059651;
[[Page 75212]]
610379, 4059665; 610390, 4059664; 610433, 4059733; 610443, 4059751;
610466, 4059785; 610502, 4059762; 610434, 4059652; 610504, 4059609;
610493, 4059592; 610463, 4059611; 610444, 4059619; 610420, 4059623;
610397, 4059620; 610355, 4059601; 610331, 4059591; 610295, 4059584;
610267, 4059581; 610240, 4059582; 610211, 4059588; returning to 610192,
4059594.
(iii) From USGS 1:24,000 scale quadrangle Marina. Land bounded by
the following UTM zone 10 NAD83 coordinates (E, N): 608008, 4060536;
609030, 4060994; 609030, 4060995; 609971, 4060407; 609846, 4060206;
610033, 4060089; 609999, 4060034; 610264, 4059868; 610164, 4059707;
610220, 4059673; 610168, 4059589; 610111, 4059623; 609932, 4059336;
609230, 4059739; 609322, 4059793; returning to 608008, 4060536.
(iv) From USGS 1:24,000 scale quadrangle Marina and Salinas. Land
bounded by the following UTM zone 10 NAD83 coordinates (E, N): 609751,
4058616; 610060, 4058898; 610647, 4058564; 610667, 4058598; 610879,
4058745; 612436, 4057852; 612399, 4057799; 612384, 4057756; 612381,
4057739; 612387, 4057693; 612378, 4057650; 612361, 4057603; 612352,
4057589; 612317, 4057541; 612304, 4057508; 612294, 4057462; 612274,
4057395; 611971, 4057411; 611159, 4057399; 611101, 4057397; 611145,
4057519; 611450, 4057629; 611480, 4057720; 611321, 4058012; 610816,
4058291; returning to 609751, 4058616.
(v) From USGS 1:24,000 scale quadrangle Marina, Salinas, Seaside,
and Spreckles. Land bounded by the following UTM zone 10 NAD83
coordinates (E, N): 605408, 4050946; 605410, 4051017; 605417, 4051087;
605436, 4051191; 605522, 4051488; 605602, 4051720; 605630, 4051830;
605627, 4052006; 605600, 4052419; 605601, 4052501; 605607, 4052559;
605617, 4052617; 605630, 4052674; 605647, 4052729; 605669, 4052784;
605755, 4052925; 605799, 4052980; 605821, 4053004; 605890, 4053067;
605951, 4053108; 606007, 4053137; 606408, 4053300; 606490, 4053347;
606545, 4053384; 606598, 4053428; 606636, 4053464; 606689, 4053526;
606767, 4053639; 606817, 4053698; 606874, 4053750; 606918, 4053782;
606950, 4053802; 607005, 4053831; 607729, 4054151; 607873, 4054074;
607886, 4053775; 607904, 4053747; 607933, 4053729; 607986, 4053722;
608063, 4053728; 608098, 4053744; 608110, 4053762; 608102, 4053961;
608113, 4054001; 608182, 4053964; 608546, 4054184; 608601, 4054203;
609141, 4054548; 609160, 4054556; 609231, 4054598; 609258, 4054621;
609310, 4054704; 609315, 4054723; 609316, 4054750; 609309, 4054768;
609291, 4054789; 609315, 4054806; 609366, 4054824; 609440, 4054835;
609459, 4054850; 609477, 4054868; 609493, 4054873; 609569, 4054861;
609611, 4054845; 609698, 4054839; 609757, 4054849; 609772, 4054857;
609817, 4054936; 609820, 4054959; 609841, 4054989; 609907, 4055031;
609927, 4055053; 609944, 4055100; 609947, 4055132; 609927, 4055254;
609934, 4055294; 609967, 4055327; 610020, 4055349; 610057, 4055378;
610164, 4055520; 610209, 4055546; 610237, 4055571; 610306, 4055681;
610387, 4055754; 610520, 4055833; 610554, 4055869; 610574, 4055904;
610643, 4056127; 610658, 4056143; 610901, 4056274; 611153, 4056431;
611104, 4056509; 611091, 4056560; 611069, 4056592; 611046, 4056645;
611025, 4056671; 611033, 4056696; 611031, 4056719; 611006, 4056762;
611005, 4056778; 610992, 4056821; 610993, 4056878; 611001, 4056895;
611011, 4057000; 610986, 4057080; 610970, 4057224; 611012, 4057361;
611950, 4057379; 611958, 4057200; 611948, 4057203; 611937, 4057200;
611926, 4057191; 611923, 4057178; 611938, 4057146; 611938, 4057138;
611942, 4057138; 611962, 4057097; 611970, 4056892; 611990, 4056882;
612022, 4056833; 612154, 4056656; 612173, 4056586; 612270, 4056432;
612342, 4056434; 612478, 4056464; 612526, 4056458; 612566, 4056441;
612640, 4056444; 612759, 4056485; 612970, 4056560; 613013, 4056113;
613193, 4055994; 613060, 4055849; 613038, 4055818; 613033, 4055786;
613060, 4055413; 613060, 4055373; 613052, 4055334; 612998, 4055174;
612988, 4055121; 612992, 4055065; 613011, 4054974; 613013, 4054937;
613005, 4054877; 612986, 4054850; 612887, 4054762; 612866, 4054738;
612847, 4054706; 612833, 4054662; 612818, 4054637; 612799, 4054618;
612755, 4054589; 612743, 4054577; 612721, 4054544; 612693, 4054453;
612476, 4053952; 612446, 4053881; 612426, 4053845; 612349, 4053748;
612332, 4053721; 612319, 4053691; 612303, 4053631; 612267, 4053559;
612265, 4053541; 612273, 4053470; 612274, 4053433; 612270, 4053404;
612250, 4053323; 612251, 4053272; 612255, 4053218; 612238, 4053128;
612226, 4053030; 612228, 4052996; 612255, 4052840; 612255, 4052818;
612248, 4052779; 612235, 4052738; 612193, 4052664; 612188, 4052579;
612167, 4052495; 612147, 4052453; 612110, 4052400; 612097, 4052366;
612092, 4052334; 612092, 4052274; 612096, 4052244; 612113, 4052172;
612125, 4052134; 612203, 4051986; 612236, 4051914; 612248, 4051881;
612275, 4051794; 612283, 4051759; 612291, 4051699; 612281, 4051639;
612261, 4051561; 612247, 4051534; 612118, 4051387; 612023, 4051304;
612002, 4051275; 611994, 4051260; 611987, 4051235; 611979, 4051157;
611957, 4051054; 611948, 4051022; 611934, 4050984; 611908, 4050937;
611867, 4050885; 611722, 4050757; 611702, 4050737; 611694, 4050705;
611676, 4050543; 611484, 4050568; 611399, 4050574; 611259, 4050574;
611146, 4050565; 611042, 4050551; 610945, 4050516; 610871, 4050482;
610784, 4050434; 610732, 4050403; 610678, 4050363; 610617, 4050313;
610545, 4050241; 610074, 4049765; 610039, 4049758; 609981, 4049733;
609937, 4049701; 609889, 4049652; 609877, 4049618; 609814, 4049590;
609730, 4049564; 607897, 4049093; 607832, 4049096; 607676, 4049111;
607570, 4049128; 607487, 4049145; 607378, 4049173; 607306, 4049194;
607130, 4049259; 606738, 4049427; 606676, 4049452; 606613, 4049473;
606531, 4049492; 606449, 4049505; 606382, 4049509; 606308, 4049509;
606215, 4049712; 606173, 4049789; 606127, 4049854; 606067, 4049919;
606019, 4049966; 605756, 4050195; 605696, 4050251; 605658, 4050292;
605623, 4050334; 605590, 4050379; 605560, 4050424; 605532, 4050472;
605496, 4050546; 605465, 4050623; 605448, 4050675; 605428, 4050755;
605417, 4050824; 605412, 4050864; returning to 605408, 4050946.
Excluding: 609791, 4053559; 609792, 4053420; 609833, 4053395; 609908,
4053357; 610068, 4053380; 610032, 4053598; returning to 609791,
4053559. Excluding: 611172, 4052992; 611242, 4052923; 611314, 4052987;
611402, 4052913; 611442, 4052907; 611524, 4052850; 611543, 4052844;
611587, 4052866; 611607, 4052919; 611628, 4053042; 611618, 4053074;
611670, 4053189; 611761, 4053277; 612029, 4053402; 612049, 4053521;
611863, 4053644; 611727, 4053518; 611656, 4053497; 611611, 4053451;
611535, 4053431; 611438, 4053400; 611394, 4053341; 611346, 4053238;
611278, 4053122; 611230, 4053068; returning to 611172, 4052992.
Excluding: 611476, 4056579; 611418, 4056559; 611437, 4056500; 611496,
4056520; returning to 611476, 4056579.
(vi) Note: Map of Unit 8 is provided at paragraph (8)(ii) of this
entry.
(14) Unit 9: Soledad Unit, Monterey County, California.
(i) From USGS 1:24,000 scale quadrangle Soledad. Land bounded by
the following UTM zone 10 NAD83
[[Page 75213]]
coordinates (E, N): 653941, 4029661; 654080, 4029718; 654098, 4029754;
654158, 4029789; 654279, 4029808; 654372, 4029801; 654425, 4029812;
654458, 4029845; 654505, 4029873; 654619, 4029910; 654705, 4029898;
654777, 4029915; 654821, 4029942; 654865, 4029970; 654930, 4029989;
655223, 4030005; 655305, 4030020; 655374, 4029973; 655318, 4029807;
655195, 4029858; 655025, 4029760; 654944, 4029812; 654829, 4029774;
654735, 4029691; 654629, 4029678; 654495, 4029721; 654381, 4029731;
654318, 4029721; 654199, 4029687; 654123, 4029655; 653987, 4029654;
returning to 653941, 4029661.
(ii) Note: Map of Unit 9 (Map 5) follows:
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P
[[Page 75214]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP14DE06.030
[[Page 75215]]
* * * * *
Dated: December 6, 2006.
David M. Verhey,
Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks.
[FR Doc. 06-9656 Filed 12-13-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-C