Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Threatened Species Status With Section 4(d) Rule for Green Floater and Designation of Critical Habitat

Issuing agencies

Abstract

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to list the green floater (Lasmigona subviridis), a mussel species from as many as 10 States in the eastern United States and the District of Columbia, as a threatened species with a rule issued under section 4(d) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). This document also serves as our 12-month finding on a petition to list the green floater. After a review of the best available scientific and commercial information, we find that listing the species is warranted. We also propose to designate critical habitat for the green floater under the Act. In total, approximately 2,553 kilometers (1,586 miles) of streams in Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia fall within the boundaries of the proposed critical habitat designation. We also announce the availability of a draft economic analysis of the proposed designation of critical habitat for the green floater. If we finalize this rule as proposed, it would add this species to the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and extend the Act's protections to the species and its designated critical habitat.