Withdrawal of Regulations Governing Incidental Take Permit Revocation

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), withdraw the regulations in part 17 of title 50 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) regarding the revocation of incidental take permits issued under the authority of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). On December 11, 2003, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in Spirit of the Sage Council v. Norton, Civil Action No. 98-1873 (D.D.C.), invalidated 50 CFR 17.22(b)(8) and 17.32(b)(8), the regulations addressing Service authority to revoke incidental take permits under certain circumstances. The court ruled that we did not follow the public notice and comment procedures required by the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). This rule affects only 50 CFR 17.22(b)(8) and 17.32(b)(8). In the Proposed Rules section of today's Federal Register is a rulemaking proposal to reestablish the provisions of 50 CFR 17.22(b)(8) and 17.32(b)(8).