84 FR 26824 - National Wetland Plant List

The National Wetland Plant List (NWPL) is used to delineate wetlands for purposes of the Clean Water Act and the Wetland Conservation Provisions of the Food Security Act. Other applications of the list include wetland restoration, establishment, and enhancement projects. To update the NWPL, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), as part of an interagency effort with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), is announcing the availability of the draft 2018 National Wetland Plant List (NWPL) and its web address to solicit public comments. The public will now have the opportunity to comment on the proposed update or addition of wetland indicator status ratings for 20 plant species in select Corps wetland regions.

[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 111 (Monday, June 10, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26824-26826]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2019-12129]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers


National Wetland Plant List

AGENCY: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, DoD.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The National Wetland Plant List (NWPL) is used to delineate 
wetlands for purposes of the Clean Water Act and the Wetland 
Conservation Provisions of the Food Security Act. Other applications of 
the list include wetland restoration, establishment, and enhancement 
projects. To update the NWPL, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), 
as part of an interagency effort with the U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency (EPA), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the U.S. 
Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service 
(NRCS), is announcing the availability of the draft 2018 National 
Wetland Plant List (NWPL) and its web address to solicit public 
comments. The public will now have the opportunity to comment on the 
proposed update or addition of wetland indicator status ratings for 20 
plant species in select Corps wetland regions.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before August 9, 2019.

ADDRESSES: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Attn: CECW-CO (Ms. Brianne 
McGuffie), 441 G Street NW, Washington, DC 20314-1000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Brianne McGuffie, Headquarters, 
Operations and Regulatory Community of Practice, Washington, DC at 202-
761-4750.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) 
administers the National Wetland Plant List (NWPL) for the United 
States (U.S.) and its territories. Responsibility for the NWPL was 
transferred to the Corps from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) 
in 2006. The Corps led interagency efforts to update the list in 2012, 
2013, 2014, and 2016. The 2012 list contained 7,828 species, the 2013 
list contained 7,937 species, the 2014 list contained 8,061 species, 
and the 2016 list contained 8,085 species. The 2018 draft NWPL is 
proposed to contain 8,093 species. Additions to and subtractions from 
these lists represent new records, range extensions, nomenclatural 
changes, and newly proposed species.

[[Page 26825]]

Wetland Indicator Status Ratings

    On the NWPL, there are five categories of wetland indicator status 
ratings, used to indicate a plant's likelihood for occurrence in 
wetlands versus uplands (i.e., non-wetlands): Obligate Wetland (OBL), 
Facultative Wetland (FACW), Facultative (FAC), Facultative Upland 
(FACU), and Obligate Upland (UPL). These rating categories are defined 
by the National Panel as follows: OBL--almost always occur in wetlands; 
FACW--usually occur in wetlands, but may occur in non-wetlands; FAC--
occur in wetlands and non-wetlands; FACU--usually occur in non-
wetlands, but may occur in wetlands; UPL--almost always occur in non-
wetlands. These category definitions are qualitative descriptions that 
better reflect the qualitative supporting information, rather than 
numeric frequency ranges. The percentage frequency categories used in 
the older definitions are only used for testing problematic or 
contested species being recommended for indicator status changes. Plus 
and minus designations and wetland indicator designations such as No 
Indicator (NI), No Occurrence (NO), and No Agreement (NA) are no longer 
used on the NWPL. When assigning wetland indicator status ratings, 
commenters should use the rating definitions described above and 
developed by the National Panel for updating the NWPL.
    For the purposes of determining how often a species occurs in 
wetlands, wetlands are defined as those areas that are inundated or 
saturated by surface or ground water at a frequency and duration 
sufficient to support, and under normal circumstances do support, a 
prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil 
conditions (33 CFR 328.3 and 40 CFR 230.3). Such wetlands are 
identified using the Corps 1987 Wetland Delineation Manual or relevant 
regional supplements, whichever is more recent. Wetlands are identified 
using the three-factor approach. Because each species being evaluated 
occurs as part of a vegetation assemblage, examining the other species 
present in relation to their assigned wetland fidelity may be useful in 
assessing hydrophytic vegetation.

2018 Update Information

    For the 2018 NWPL update, the NWPL National Panel (NP) and Regional 
Panels (RPs) reviewed proposed wetland rating changes or additions for 
20 species and 37 regional ratings (some species were reviewed for 
multiple regions) submitted by the general public. Eight of these 
species were proposed for addition to the NWPL, and 12 species were 
submitted for a rating change request in one or more regions. Submitted 
information was reviewed by the NP and RPs, and proposed 2018 ratings 
for these species were determined, as detailed below. Note that all 
submitted species are included here, regardless of whether or not the 
NP and RPs proposed a rating change. Hence, for those species where the 
current and proposed ratings are the same, a rating change request was 
submitted, but after review of the submitted information no rating 
change is being proposed for the 2018 update.

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               Species                        Region(s)          Current 2016 rating *     Proposed 2018 rating
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Aristida palustris...................  AGCP...................  NOL....................  FACW.
Artemisia dracunculus................  AW, WMVC...............  NOL....................  FACU.
Bassia hyssopifolia..................  AW.....................  FACU...................  FACU.
Bromus nottowayanus..................  MW, NCNE...............  NOL....................  FACU.
Delairea odorata.....................  AW, WMVC...............  NOL....................  FAC.
Dichanthelium wrightianum............  AGCP...................  NOL....................  FACW.
Epilobium brachycarpum...............  AW, WMVC...............  NOL....................  FAC.
Hymenocallis latifolia...............  AGCP, CB...............  FACW...................  FACU.
Hymenocallis occidentalis............  AGCP, EMP, GP, MW......  OBL/FACW...............  FAC.
Ilex opaca...........................  AGCP...................  FAC....................  FAC.
Iva axillaris........................  AW, WMVC...............  FAC....................  FACU.
Liriodendron tulipifera..............  AGCP, EMP..............  FACU...................  FACU.
Penstemon rydbergii..................  AW, WMVC...............  FACU...................  FACU.
Pleopeltis polypodioides.............  AGCP...................  FAC....................  UPL.
Polymnia canadensis..................  EMP, MW, NCNE..........  NOL....................  FACU.
Pycnanthemum muticum.................  EMP....................  FAC....................  FACU.
Quercus michauxii....................  AGCP...................  FACW...................  FACW.
Tussilago farfara....................  NCNE...................  FACU...................  FACU.
Verbena brasiliensis.................  AGCP, EMP, MW..........  NOL....................  FACU.
Verbena incompta.....................  AGCP, EMP, MW..........  FACW/FAC...............  FACU.
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* NOL = ``Not On List '' and indicates proposed additions.

Instructions for Providing Comments Online

    The Corps encourages public input in the form of data, comments, 
literature references, or field experiences, to help clarify the status 
of the species reviewed for this update. The list of these same 20 
reviewed species, and their draft 2018 wetland ratings by region, can 
be viewed at the NWPL homepage, http://wetland-plants.usace.army.mil/ 
under ``2018 NWPL Update Information.'' A link to provide general or 
species-specific comments is also available at this location. Users are 
encouraged to submit literature citations, herbaria records, 
experiential references, monitoring data, and other relevant 
information. Specific knowledge of, or studies related to, individual 
species are particularly helpful. Commenters should use their regional 
botanical and ecological expertise, field observations, reviews of the 
most recent indicator status information, appropriate botanical 
literature, floras, herbarium specimens with notation of habitat and 
associated species, habit data, relevant studies, and historic list 
information. Guessing ratings is inappropriate. All submitted comments 
and information will be compiled and sent to the National Panel for 
their consideration.
    The Corps is also seeking comments on the NWPL update process. 
Detailed information on the update process, protocol, and technical 
issues can be found in the following documents (available on the NWPL 
Publications web page):
     Lichvar, Robert W. and Minkin, Paul. Concepts and 
Procedures for Updating the National Wetland Plant List. Sept 2008. 
ERDC/CRREL TN-08-3

[[Page 26826]]

     Lichvar, Robert W. and Gillrich, Jennifer J. Final 
Protocol for Assigning Wetland Indicator Status Ratings during National 
Wetland Plant List Update. Sept 2011. ERDC/CRREL TN-11-1

Future Actions

    Future updates to the NWPL will occur biennially. A change in 
indicator status for a given species, or a proposed species addition, 
may be requested at any time at http://wetland-plants.usace.army.mil/ 
under ``Submit NWPL Change Request.'' Submissions will be compiled and 
reviewed prior to each NWPL update, and resulting changes will be 
reflected in the subsequent updated list.

    Dated: June 2, 2019.
Thomas P. Smith,
Chief, Operations and Regulatory Division, Directorate of Civil Works.
[FR Doc. 2019-12129 Filed 6-7-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3720-58-P