Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Extension of Listing Priority Guidance for Fiscal Year 1997

Résumé

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announces that it is extending its listing priority guidance until an appropriations law is approved for the Department of the Interior for fiscal year 1997 (FY 97). The Service also proposes to amend and continue implementation of guidance for assigning relative priorities to listing actions conducted under section 4 of the Endangered Species Act (Act) during FY 97 and seeks public comment on this proposed guidance. The extension is necessary because the Service expects appropriated funds to fall short of those needed to eliminate the existing backlog of proposed listings and complete all listing actions required by the Act in FY 97. Under the proposed guidance, the Service would assign all listing actions to one of four tiers, as distinguished from the three tiers in the current guidance (61 FR 24722).