Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Designation of Critical Habitat for Nine Bexar County, TX, Invertebrate Species

Résumé

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the availability of the draft economic analysis for the proposed designation of critical habitat for nine endangered karst-dwelling invertebrate species pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). The proposed rule published in the Federal Register on August 17, 2002 (67 FR 55064) and the current comment period is open until November 25, 2002. We are extending the comment period for the proposal to designate critical habitat for these species to allow all interested parties to comment simultaneously on the proposed rule and the associated draft economic analysis. The draft economic analysis shows a range of likely costs from the designation of the proposed critical habitat, including those costs attributable coextensively to listing, of between $17.8 to $22.1 million over a 10-year period. Comments previously submitted need not be resubmitted as they will be incorporated into the public record as part of this extended comment period, and will be fully considered in the final rule.