WASHINGTON (CN) - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service will only publish maps and brief descriptions of critical habitat designations, instead of plot points, in Endangered Species Act regulations, starting in June.
The Commerce Department agencies determined that the public found detailed coordinates and other technical descriptions to not be helpful.
They also are costly to produce. USFWS alone estimates a cost saving of almost $400,000 per year by eliminating the publication of the detailed text.
The maps published in the regulations are electronically generated using the coordinates.
The plot points will still be in the administrative record for the designations, and will be available to the public on the Internet site for the agency that makes the designation.
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