Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Final Designation of Critical Habitat for the Arkansas River Basin Population of the Arkansas River Shiner

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), designate critical habitat pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), for the Arkansas River Basin population of the Arkansas River shiner (Notropis girardi). This designation is made in response to a court settlement in Center for Biological Diversity v. Bruce Babbitt, et al. C99-3202 SC, directing us to submit for publication in the Federal Register a proposal to withdraw the existing "not prudent" critical habitat determination together with a new proposed critical habitat determination for the Arkansas River Basin population of the Arkansas River shiner by June 23, 2000, and final rule by March 15, 2001 (subsequently extended until March 28, 2001). We are designating as critical habitat a total of approximately 1,846 kilometers (1,148 miles) of rivers and 91.4 meters (300 feet) of their adjacent riparian zones. Critical habitat includes portions of the Arkansas River in Kansas, the Cimarron River in Kansas and Oklahoma, the Beaver/North Canadian River in Oklahoma, and the Canadian/South Canadian River in New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma. Section 7 of the Act requires Federal agencies to ensure that actions they authorize, fund, or carry out are not likely to adversely modify designated critical habitat. As required by section 4 of the Act, we considered economic and other relevant impacts prior to making a final decision on what areas to designate as critical habitat. This final critical habitat designation is being completed pursuant to a settlement agreement of a law suit executed on February 16, 2000, and, accordingly, must be published at this time without further review or delay. However, the Department of the Interior's initial review of this final critical habitat rule has raised concerns that are worthy of further attention. Accordingly, we will continue to solicit additional public comments on the effects of this final designation and ways that it may be improved. As soon as practicable hereafter, the Department of the Interior intends to propose the review of the present rule and thereafter, if appropriate, the proposal of a new approach to this critical habitat designation after consideration of these further comments, as part of the recovery planning process.