[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 166 (Tuesday, August 27, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52965-52966]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-20850]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R4-ES-2013-N193; FXES11120400000-134-FF04EF2000]
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Receipt of
Application for Incidental Take Permit; Availability of Proposed Low-
Effect Habitat Conservation Plan and Associated Documents; Charlotte
County, FL
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comment/information.
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SUMMARY: We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the
availability of an incidental take permit (ITP) application and Habitat
Conservation Plan (HCP). Connie Stark (applicant) requests an ITP under
the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). The applicant
anticipates taking about 1.49 acres of foraging, breeding, and
sheltering habitat used by the Florida scrub-jay (Aphelocoma
coerulescens) (scrub-jay) incidental to land preparation and for the
construction of a single-family residence and associated infrastructure
in Charlotte County, Florida. The applicant's HCP describes the
minimization and mitigation measures proposed to address the effects of
the project on the scrub-jay.
DATES: Written comments on the ITP application and HCP should be sent
to the South Florida Ecological Services Office (see ADDRESSES) and
should be received on or before September 26, 2013.
ADDRESSES: See the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below for
information on how to submit your comments on the ITP application and
HCP. You may obtain a copy of the ITP application and HCP by writing
the South Florida Ecological Services Office, Attn: Permit number
TE14189B-0, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1339 20th Street, Vero
Beach, FL 32960-3559. In addition, we will make the ITP application and
HCP available for public inspection by appointment during normal
business hours at the above address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Elizabeth Landrum, Fish and
Wildlife Biologist, South Florida Ecological Services Office (see
ADDRESSES); telephone: 772-469-4304.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Submitting Comments
If you wish to comment on the ITP application and HCP, you may
submit comments by any one of the following methods:
Email: [email protected]. Use Attn: Permit number
``TE14189B-0'' as your message subject line.
Fax: Elizabeth Landrum, 772-562-4288, Attn.: Permit number
``TE14189B-0''. U.S. mail: Elizabeth Landrum, South Florida Ecological
Services Field Office, Attn: Permit number ``TE14189B-0,'' U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, 1339 20th Street, Vero Beach, FL 32960-3559.
In-person drop-off: You may drop off comments or request
information during regular business hours at the above office address.
Public Availability of Comments
Before including your address, phone number, email address, or
other personal identifying information in your comments, you should be
aware that your entire comment--including your personal identifying
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be
able to do so.
Applicant's Proposed Project
We received an application for an incidental take permit, along
with a proposed habitat conservation plan. The applicant requests a 5-
year permit under section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et
seq.). If we approve the permit, the applicant anticipates taking 1.49
acre of Florida scrub-jay breeding, feeding, and sheltering habitat for
construction of a single family residence and associated
infrastructure. The project is located on parcel 402423477003 at
latitude 26.977278, longitude--81.875388, Charlotte County, Florida.
The applicant proposes to mitigate for the loss of 1.49 acres of
occupied scrub-jay habitat by onsite establishment of a 3.8 acre
conservation easement to be managed by Charlotte Harbor Environmental
Center, along with a fee of $11,400 for perpetual maintenance of the
donated land, within 30 days of permit issuance.
Our Preliminary Determination
The Service has made a preliminary determination that the
applicant's project, including the proposed mitigation and minimization
measures, will individually and cumulatively have a minor or negligible
effect on the species covered in the HCP. Therefore, issuance of the
ITP is a ``low-effect'' action and qualifies as a categorical exclusion
under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) (40 CFR 1506.6), as
provided by the Department of the Interior Manual (516 DM 2 Appendix 1
and 516 DM 6 Appendix 1), and as defined in our Habitat Conservation
Planning Handbook (November 1996).
We base our determination that issuance of the ITP qualifies as a
low-effect action on the following three criteria: (1) Implementation
of the project would result in minor or negligible effects on federally
listed, proposed, and candidate species and their habitats; (2)
Implementation of the project would result in minor or negligible
effects on other environmental values or resources; and (3) Impacts of
the plan, considered together with the impacts of other past, present,
and reasonably foreseeable similarly situated projects, would not
result, over time, in cumulative effects to environmental values or
resources that would be considered significant. As more fully explained
in our environmental action statement and associated Low-Effect
Screening Form, the applicant's proposed project qualifies as a ``low-
effect'' project. This preliminary determination may be revised based
on our review of public comments that we receive in response to this
notice.
Next Steps
The Service will evaluate the HCP and comments submitted thereon to
determine whether the application meets the requirements of section
10(a) of the Act. The Service will also evaluate whether issuance of
the section 10(a)(1)(B) ITP complies with section 7 of the Act by
conducting an intra-Service section 7 consultation. The results of this
consultation, in combination with the above findings, will be used in
the final analysis to
[[Page 52966]]
determine whether or not to issue the ITP. If it is determined that the
requirements of the Act are met, the ITP will be issued for the
incidental take of the Florida scrub-jay.
Authority
We provide this notice under Section 10 of the Endangered Species
Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and NEPA regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).
Dated: August 21, 2013.
Larry Williams,
Field Supervisor, South Florida Ecological Services Office.
[FR Doc. 2013-20850 Filed 8-26-13; 8:45 am]
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