Document

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Removal of Gila Chub From the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are reopening the public comment period on our June 17, 2025, proposed rule to remove the Gila chub (Gila intermedia) from the ...

PDF version FederalRegister.gov

Department of the Interior

Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Part 17
[FWS-R2-ES-2022-0001; FXES11130900000-267-FF09E22000]
RIN 1018-BG36

AGENCY:

Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION:

Proposed rule; reopening of comment period.

SUMMARY:

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are reopening the public comment period on our June 17, 2025, proposed rule to remove the Gila chub ( Gila intermedia) from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife. We are taking this action to allow all interested parties an additional opportunity to comment on the proposed rule. Comments previously submitted on the proposed rule need not be resubmitted and will be fully considered in our development of the final rule.

DATES:

The public comment period on the proposed rule that published June 17, 2025, at 90 FR 25552, is reopened. We will accept comments received on or before September 25, 2026. Comments submitted electronically using the Federal eRulemaking Portal (see ADDRESSES , below) must be received by 11:59 p.m. eastern time on the closing date, and comments submitted by U.S. mail must be received by that date to ensure consideration.

To ensure your comment is received and considered, you must submit it using one of the methods identified in the ADDRESSES section of this document. Comments submitted through any method not authorized in this document, or sent to an address not listed here, will not be considered.

ADDRESSES:

Comment submission: All submissions must include the docket number, FWS-R2-ES-2022-0001, for this document. You must submit comments using one of the following methods:

Electronic submission: Federal eRulemaking Portal at: www.regulations.gov. In the Search box, enter FWS-R2-ES-2022-0001, which is the docket number for this rulemaking. Then, click the Search button. On the resulting page, you may submit a comment by clicking on “Comment.” Please ensure that you have found the correct document before submitting your comments.
U.S. mail: Public Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No. FWS-R2-ES-2022-0001, Policy and Regulations Branch, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: PRB (JAO/3W), 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.

Comments submitted through any method not authorized in this document, or sent to an address not listed here, will not be considered. We will not accept comments via email, fax, or hand delivery. We are not required to consider comments that are submitted after the comment period ends or that are submitted via a method outside of these instructions. Comments containing profanity, vulgarity, threats, or other inappropriate content will not be considered.

We will post all comments on www.regulations.gov. You may request that we withhold personal identifying information from public review; however, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. See Public Comments for more information.

Document availability: The June 17, 2025, proposed rule and its supporting documents, including the species status assessment report, are available at www.regulations.gov at Docket No. FWS-R2-ES-2022-0001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Heather Whitlaw, Field Supervisor, U.S. ( printed page 57532) Fish and Wildlife Service, Arizona Ecological Services Field Office; 602-242-0210; incomingazcorr@fws.gov. Individuals in the United States who are deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay services. Individuals outside the United States should use the relay services offered within their country to make international calls to the point-of-contact in the United States. Please see Docket No. FWS-R2-ES-2022-0001 on www.regulations.gov for a document that summarizes the June 17, 2025, proposed rule.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On June 17, 2025, we published a proposed rule (90 FR 25552) to delist the Gila chub. The proposed rule opened a 60-day public comment period, ending on August 18, 2025. We find there is good cause to reopen the comment period in order to fulfill our statutory obligations to give notice of any proposed delisting rule, as well as allowing the public an additional opportunity to provide comments on the proposed rule for the Gila chub.

For a description of previous Federal actions concerning the Gila chub and more information on the types of comment that would be helpful to us in promulgating this rulemaking action, please refer to the June 17, 2025, proposed rule (90 FR 25552 at 25553-25554).

Public Comments

If you already submitted comments or information on the June 17, 2025, proposed rule (90 FR 25552), please do not resubmit them. Any such comments are incorporated as part of the public record of the rulemaking proceeding, and we will fully consider them in preparation for our final determination.

Comments should be as specific as possible. Please include supplemental information with your submission (such as scientific journal articles or other publications) to allow us to verify any scientific or commercial information you include. Please note that submissions merely stating support for, or opposition to, the action under consideration without providing supporting information, although noted, do not provide substantial information necessary to support a determination. Section 4(b)(1)(A) of the Act directs that determinations as to whether any species is an endangered or a threatened species must be made solely on the basis of the best scientific and commercial data available.

You must submit your comments and materials by one of the methods listed in ADDRESSES .

If you submit information via www.regulations.gov, your entire submission—including your personal identifying information—will be posted on the website. If your submission is made via a hardcopy that includes personal identifying information, you may request at the top of your document that we withhold this information from public review. However, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. We will post all hardcopy submissions on www.regulations.gov.

Comments and materials we receive, as well as supporting documentation we used in preparing the June 17, 2025, proposed rule (90 FR 25552), will be available for public inspection on www.regulations.gov.

Our final determination may differ from the June 17, 2025, proposed rule because we will consider all comments we receive during the comment period as well as any information that may become available after the proposal. Based on the new information we receive, we may conclude that the species should remain listed as endangered, or we may conclude that the species should be reclassified from endangered to threatened. In our final rule, we will clearly explain our rationale and the basis for our final decision, including why we made changes, if any, that differ from the June 17, 2025, proposed rule.

Authority

The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).

Brian Nesvik,

Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

[FR Doc. 2026-18470 Filed 9-9-26; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4333-15-P

Legal Citation

Federal Register Citation

Use this for formal legal and research references to the published document.

91 FR 57531

Web Citation

Suggested Web Citation

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“Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Removal of Gila Chub From the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife,” thefederalregister.org (September 10, 2026), https://thefederalregister.org/documents/2026-18470/endangered-and-threatened-wildlife-and-plants-removal-of-gila-chub-from-the-list-of-endangered-and-threatened-wildlife.