Boulder star coral critical habitat for use in ESA/FIFRA consultations

These data represent the designated critical habitat for boulder star coral (Orbicella franksi) as designated by 88 FR 54026, published on August 09, 2023. This rule became effective on September 08, 2023. The purpose of these data is to visually represent the designated critical habitat areas for GIS analysis and display.OFRA‐1: All waters 6.5 ft (2 m) to 131 ft (40 m) deep in Florida from the south side of Lake Worth Inlet, Palm Beach County south to the south side of Government Cut, Miami-Dade County. All waters 1.6 ft (0.5 m) to 131 ft (40 m) deep in Florida from the south side of Government Cut, Miami-Dade County south to the Dry Tortugas, and waters north of the Florida Keys in the FKNMS.OFRA‐2: All waters 1.6 ft (0.5 m) to 295 ft (90 m) deep surrounding the islands of the Commonwealth of Puerto RicoOFRA‐3: All waters 1.6 ft (0.5 m) to 295 ft (90 m)deep surrounding the islands of St. Thomas and St. John, and smaller surrounding islands, USVIOFRA‐4: All waters 1.6 ft (0.5 m) to 295 ft (90 m)deep surrounding the island of St. Croix and smaller surrounding islands, USVIOFRA-5: All waters 1.6 ft (0.5 m) to 295 ft (90 m)deep surrounding Navassa IslandOFRA-6: All waters 52 ft (16 m) to 295 ft (90 m) deep in the water column surrounding East Flower Garden Bank, West Flower Garden Bank, Bright Bank, McGrail Bank, and Geyer Bank.

This spatial data file was modified from NMFS’s “agency-official” species critical habitat data to aid in the ESA/FIFRA section 7 pesticide consultation process. For example, existing data were adapted to incorporate associated watersheds where applicable, based on the USGS Watershed Boundary Dataset HUC-12 data (https://www.usgs.gov/national-hydrography/watershed-boundary-dataset). The modifications to the NMFS critical habitat spatial data make the data more compatible for future analyses with EPA’s Use Data Layers (UDLs). The following “Description” is from the original, “agency-official” data that was used to make this HUC-based map. Most of the metadata record for this species matches the “agency-official” record; however, NMFS added a new "Citation", "File Identifier", “Credits”, “Point of Contact”, and “Lineage Process Step” that are unique to this HUC-based critical habitat data.

Users be advised that the accuracy of this data set is completely dependent upon the accuracy of the shoreline and/or bathymetric data used in the creation process. For more details on this process, see the process description. The text description in 85 FR 76302 is always the one, true definition of the coral critical habitat. These or any other depictions are for information purposes only and shouldn't be relied on for regulatory purposes.

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