[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 155 (Monday, August 14, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37849-37851]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-17105]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XF431
Endangered Species; File No. 21516
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for public comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: We, NMFS, have received an application from Virginia Electric
and Power Company, D.B.A. Dominion Virginia Power (Dominion) for an
incidental take permit, pursuant to the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of
1973, as amended, for activities associated with the otherwise lawful
continued operation and maintenance of the Dominion Chesterfield Power
Station (CPS) in Chesterfield, VA. We are considering issuing a 10-year
permit to the applicant that would authorize take of ESA-listed
Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus) from the Chesapeake
Bay Distinct Population Segment (DPS) incidental to otherwise lawful
activities associated with the withdrawal of cooling water from the
James River and entrainment and impingement sampling required by the
Clean Water Act. Pursuant to the ESA and the National Environmental
Policy Act (NEPA), we announce the availability of Dominion's ITP
application and draft habitat conservation plan (HCP), as well as our
draft environmental assessment (EA), for public review and comment. We
provide this notice to seek comments from the public and Federal,
Tribal, State, and local governments.
DATES: To allow for timely processing of the permit application, we
must receive your comments no later than September 13, 2017.
ADDRESSES: The application is available for download and review at
http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/permits/esa_review.htm under the section
heading ESA section 10(a)(1)(B) Permits and Applications and at http://www.regulations.gov. The application is also available upon written
request or by appointment in the following office: Protected Resources
Division, NMFS Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, 55 Great
Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930; phone (978) 281-9328.
Submit your comments by including NOAA-NMFS-2017-0051, by either of
the following methods:
[[Page 37850]]
Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal.
1. Go to www.regulations.gov/!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2017-0051,
2. Click the ``Comment Now!'' icon, complete the required fields
3. Enter or attach your comments.
Mail: Submit written information to Julie Crocker, NMFS,
Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, Protected Resources
Division, 55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930.
Instructions: We may not consider comments if they are sent by any
other method, to any other address or individual, or received after the
end of the specified period. All comments received are a part of the
public record and will generally be posted for public viewing on
www.regulations.gov without change. All personal identifying
information (e.g., name, address, etc.) confidential business
information, or otherwise sensitive or protected information submitted
voluntarily by the sender is publicly accessible. We will accept
anonymous comments (enter ``N/A'' in the required fields if you wish to
remain anonymous). We will accept attachments to electronic comments in
Microsoft Word or Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF file formats, only.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Julie Crocker, (978) 282-8480.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We received an initial draft application
from Dominion in December 2016 and a complete application on April 10,
2017, for an ITP to take federally listed Atlantic sturgeon over a 10-
year period. The ITP would authorize take resulting from continued
operations of the facility, including impingement and entrainment in
the cooling water intake system and collection during studies and
sampling required by section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act. A
conservation program to minimize and mitigate for the impacts of the
incidental take would be implemented by Dominion as described in the
draft HCP.
To comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C.
4321 et seq.) (NEPA), we prepared an EA that describes the proposed
action, issuance of an ITP to Dominion, and possible alternatives and
analyzes the effects of the proposed action and alternatives on the
human environment. We will evaluate whether the EA's analysis is
adequate to support a Finding of No Significant Impact.
Background
Section 9 of the ESA and Federal regulations prohibit the ``take''
of species listed as endangered or threatened. The ESA defines ``take''
to mean harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture,
or collect, or to attempt to engage in any such conduct. However, under
section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA, we may issue permits to authorize
incidental take of listed species. ``Incidental take'' is defined by
the ESA as take that is incidental to, and not the purpose of, carrying
out an otherwise lawful activity. Section 10(a)(2)(A) of the ESA
requires an ITP applicant to submit an HCP that specifies the steps the
applicant will take to minimize and mitigate the impacts of the taking.
Regulations governing ITPs for threatened and endangered species are
found at 50 CFR 222.307.
The CPS is a coal-fueled power station in Chesterfield, Virginia in
the upper tidal portion, approximately river mile 82 (river kilometer,
rkm, 132), of the James River. It has been in operation since 1945. It
operates pursuant to a permit issued by the Virginia Department of
Environmental Quality under section 402 of the Clean Water Act (the
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System program). CPS has a
design intake flow of approximately 1,090 million gallons per day
(MGD), at least 25 percent of which is used exclusively for cooling
purposes, and is therefore subject to the Clean Water Act section
316(b) existing facility rule (79 FR 48300, August 15, 2014).
Dominion is seeking a permit for the incidental take of Atlantic
sturgeon for a term of 10-years. Incidental take may occur as a result
of operation of the cooling water intakes and performance of studies
required to comply with Clean Water Act 316(b). Additional activities
considered, but for which take is not expected include, dredging,
constituent discharge, thermal discharge, vessel movements, and
shoreline and structure maintenance. The permit application includes
Dominion's consideration of the potential effects to shortnose sturgeon
(Acipenser brevirostrum). However, Dominion does not anticipate
incidental take of shortnose sturgeon because shortnose sturgeon rarely
occur in the James River.
Dominion estimates the take of up to 846 Atlantic sturgeon larvae
per year from the Chesapeake Bay DPS due to entrainment in the Dominion
CPS cooling water intakes. Dominion estimates the take of up to two
juvenile, subadult or adult Atlantic sturgeon from the Chesapeake Bay
DPS over a ten-year period as a result of impingement at the Dominion
CPS intakes.
Conservation Plan
Section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA specifies that no permit may be
issued unless an applicant submits an adequate HCP. Dominion's proposed
HCP describes measures designed to minimize, monitor, and mitigate the
incidental take of Atlantic sturgeon. Dominion's proposed HCP includes
support for two research initiatives to increase knowledge of Atlantic
sturgeon in the James River. The first would build on the existing
knowledge of the genetic structure of cohorts spawning in the James
River. The second would characterize Atlantic sturgeon spatial and
temporal use of the upper tidal portion of the James River. The HCP
also includes monitoring of incidental take. Other monitoring and
mitigation actions will be undertaken as required.
The proposed action is the issuance of an ITP and implementation of
the proposed HCP. Dominion considered two alternatives to the proposed
action in its HCP: (1) No change to existing operations, studies and
maintenance at CPS, and (2) avoiding and minimizing permitted
activities (e.g., modifying water withdrawals; modifying the cooling
water intake structure; not conducting or not continuing the planned
CWA 316(b) studies; not dredging and/or dredging less frequently; not
using barges or vessels for the shipment or delivery of bulk materials;
not performing or reducing shoreline and structure maintenance
activities at CPS).
National Environmental Policy Act
In compliance with NEPA, we analyzed the impacts of the proposed
issuance of an ITP and implementation of the HCP, and alternatives.
Based on this analysis and any new information resulting from public
comment, we will determine if there are any significant impacts caused
by the proposed action. We have prepared a draft EA on the proposed
action and have made it available for public inspection online or in
person at the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office (see
Availability of Documents).
This notice is provided pursuant to section 10(c) of the ESA and
the National Environmental Policy Act regulations (40 CFR 1506.6). We
will evaluate the application, associated documents, and submitted
comments received to determine whether the application meets the
requirements of section 10 of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). We will
also evaluate whether issuance of a section 10(a)(1)(B) permit would
comply with section 7 of the ESA by conducting an intra-Service section
7
[[Page 37851]]
consultation. We will use the results of this consultation, in
combination with the above findings, in our final analysis to determine
whether to issue a permit. If the requirements are met, we will issue
the permit to the applicant.
We will publish a record of our final action in the Federal
Register.
Authority: This notice is provided pursuant to section 10(c) of
the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and NEPA regulations (40 CFR
1506.6).
Dated: August 9, 2017.
Angela Somma,
Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected Resources,
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2017-17105 Filed 8-11-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P