Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Final Designation of Critical Habitat for Four Vernal Pool Crustaceans and Eleven Vernal Pool Plants in California and Southern Oregon

We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), designate critical habitat pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), for 4 vernal pool crustaceans and 11 vernal pool plants. A total of approximately 1,184,513 ac (417,989 ha) of land falls within the boundaries of designated critical habitat. This estimate reflects the exclusion of National Wildlife Refuge lands and National fish hatchery lands (33,097 ac (13,238 ha)), and State lands within ecological reserves and wildlife management areas (20,933 ac (8,373 ha)) from the final designation. However, the area estimate does not reflect the exclusion of lands within the following California counties: Butte, Madera, Merced, Sacramento, and Solano from the final designation pursuant to section 4(b)(2) of the Act. This critical habitat designation requires us to consult under section 7 of the Act with regard to actions authorized, funded, or carried out by a Federal agency. Section 4 of the Act requires us to consider economic and other relevant impacts when specifying any particular area as critical habitat. We solicited data and comments from the public on all aspects of the proposed rule, including data on economic and other impacts of the designation.