[Federal Register: November 9, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 216)]
[Notices]
[Page 68819-68821]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr09no10-80]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R1-ES-2010-N210; 10120-1112-0000-F2]
Preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement for Issuance of
an Incidental Take Permit for the Proposed Kauai Seabird Habitat
Conservation Plan on Kauai, HI
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of intent and notice of meeting.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), advise the
public that we intend to prepare a joint Federal/State Environmental
Impact Statement (EIS) under the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA), in coordination with the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural
Resources (DLNR), for the proposed Kauai Seabird Habitat Conservation
Plan (KSHCP) and the expected applications from public and private
entities on Kaua'i for incidental take permits (ITPs, or permits). The
proposed KSHCP is being prepared under the Endangered Species Act of
1973, as amended (ESA). The ITPs would authorize incidental take of the
Federally endangered Hawaiian petrel (Pterodroma sandwichensis), the
Federally threatened Newell's (Townsends) shearwater (Puffinus
auricularis newelli), and the band-rumped storm-petrel (Oceanodroma
castro), a Federal candidate species that could become listed during
the term of the permit (collectively, these three species are hereafter
referred to as the ``Covered Species''). The DLNR is preparing the
KSHCP under which numerous applicants are anticipated to apply for
incidental take of the Covered Species due to adverse effects of light
attraction and these birds colliding with utility lines and associated
structures.
We provide this notice to announce the initiation of a public
scoping period during which we invite other agencies and the public to
attend a public meeting and submit oral and written comments that
provide suggestions and information on the scope of issues and
alternatives to be addressed in the joint EIS.
DATES: Comments: To ensure consideration, please submit your comments
by December 9, 2010.
Public Meeting Dates and Locations:
One Monday, November 10, 2010, 6-8 p.m at the Chiefess Kamakahelei
Middle School Cafeteria, 4431 Nuhou Street, Lihue, HI 96766.
ADDRESSES: Oral and written comments will be accepted during the
meeting. You may also submit comments by one of the following methods:
U.S. mail or hand-delivery to: Bill Standley, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, Pacific Islands Fish and Wildlife Office, 300 Ala
Moana Blvd., Room 3-122, Honolulu, HI 96850.
Facsimile: (808) 792-9580 (Attention: Bill Standley).
Electronic mail (e-mail): bill_standley@fws.gov.
Comments received will be available for public inspection by
appointment during normal business hours (Monday through Friday, 8 a.m.
to 4:30 p.m.) at the above address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bill Standley, Fish and Wildlife
Biologist, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (see ADDRESSES above),
telephone (808) 792-9400.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Reasonable Accommodation
Persons needing reasonable accommodation in order to attend and
participate in the public meeting should contact Bill Standley, Fish
and Wildlife Biologist, as soon as possible (see ADDRESSES), or at
(808) 792-9400. In order to allow sufficient time to process requests,
please call no later than one (1) week before the public meeting.
Information regarding this proposed action is available in alternative
formats upon request.
Background
Section 9 of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1538) and Federal regulations
prohibit the take of fish and wildlife species listed as endangered or
threatened. The term ``take'' means to 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) of the ESA (16 U.S.C.
1539 (a)), we may issue permits to authorize incidental take of listed
fish and wildlife species. Incidental take is defined as take that is
incidental to, and not the purpose of, carrying out an otherwise lawful
activity. Regulations governing ITPs for threatened and endangered
species are found at 50 CFR 17.32 and 17.22. If the permits are issued,
each permittee approved under the KSHCP would receive assurances
[[Page 68820]]
under the Service's ``No Surprises'' regulations at 50 CFR 17.32(b)(5)
and 50 CFR 17.22(b)(5).
Section 10 of the ESA specifies the requirements for the issuance
of ITPs to non-Federal entities. Any proposed take must be incidental
to otherwise lawful activities and cannot appreciably reduce the
likelihood of the survival and recovery of the species in the wild.
Among other requirements the impacts of such take must also be
minimized and mitigated to the maximum extent practicable. To obtain an
ITP, an applicant must submit a plan describing the impact that will
likely result from the proposed taking, the measures for minimizing and
mitigating the take, the funding available to implement such measures,
alternatives to the taking, and the reason why such alternatives are
not being implemented.
Covered Species
The Newell's shearwater (ua u), Hawaiian petrel (a o) and band-
rumped storm petrel (ake ake) breed on the island of Kauai and feed on
the open ocean. Over 80 percent of the world's population of Newell's
shearwater nests on Kauai and its population have declined severely
since the early 1990s. The affected seabirds spend a large part of the
year at sea. Adults return to nesting grounds in the interior mountains
of Kauai beginning in March and April, and depart beginning in
September. The Hawaiian petrel and Newell's shearwater are philopatric
(return to the nest area near where they were hatched). Fledglings
(i.e., young birds learning how to fly) of these species make their
first journey from the nesting colony to the sea from late September
through early December, with a peak occurring in mid-October and again
in mid-November.
The adverse effects to seabirds from light attraction and
collisions with utility lines have been documented on Kauai for over
three decades. Since 1979, the Save our Shearwaters Program (SOS) has
recovered over 32,000 downed seabirds that are voluntarily brought to
the program by the community. These ongoing impacts in combination with
other land-based threats such as predation and habitat alteration
(including that caused by hurricanes) are thought to have contributed
to severe population declines in the Covered Species. Both adults and
fledglings can collide with tall buildings, towers, power lines, and
other structures while flying at night between their nesting colonies
and at-sea foraging areas. Nocturnally active seabirds, particularly
fledglings, are attracted to bright lights. The ``fallout'' of Covered
Species and other seabirds due to light attraction occurs primarily
from September through December. Disoriented seabirds are commonly
observed circling repeatedly around exterior light sources until they
fall exhausted to the ground or collide with structures. Species such
as shearwaters and petrels typically need open spaces with strong
updrafts and vertical drop offs to take off from land. Without human
intervention, downed seabirds are assumed to die in most instances due
to starvation, predation, or mortality resulting from vehicular
traffic. The annual release rate for rescued seabirds through the SOS
Program is over 90 percent.
There is a need to address the long-standing and previously
unmitigated, unauthorized incidental take of the Covered Species caused
by light attraction. Since 2005, dozens of businesses and agencies on
Kauai voluntarily began efforts to avoid and minimize light attraction
of seabirds and train staff in the active search, rescue, and reporting
of downed birds. However, to the extent incidental take cannot be
eliminated, Federal and State incidental permits are needed.
The Proposed Plan
In accordance with section 10(a)(2)(A) of the ESA, the DLNR is
preparing the island-wide, multi-party KSHCP. As presently conceived
the KSHCP proposes a 30-year permit period to address incidental take
of the Covered Species. The purpose of the KSHCP is to address the
incidental take of the Covered Species due to existing and planned
outdoor lights and overhead utilities. The KSHCP is designed as a
multi-party plan with each participant holding a State and Federal
permit and being legally responsible for meeting the conditions of both
permits. In accordance with the ESA the availability of the KSHCP for
public review and comment will be noticed in the Federal Register when
a complete application package is submitted to the Service.
The maximum terrestrial covered area for the KSHCP includes 549
square miles and over 350,000 acres on Kauai. The size of the covered
area for participating entity will be a specified subset of this total
using Tax Map Key (TMK) or other legally acceptable definitions, and
will be included for with each voluntary ITP application. Each
participating entity would hold a State and Federal permit and sign an
Implementing Agreement (IA) all of which would define their legal
responsibilities for the implementation of avoidance, minimization, and
monitoring measures, and for submitting HCP fees to fund compensatory
mitigation, HCP administration, compliance monitoring, effects
monitoring and mitigation efficacy monitoring. Adaptive management and
annual monitoring would also be essential components of the HCP.
Entities seeking take authorization under the KSHCP would be
required to fill out an application template that requires specific and
detailed information about the covered facility in terms of its
location, size, ownership, lights and utility lines, regulations
pertaining to the use of lights and utility lines, avoidance and
minimization plans and evaluation of alternatives. The ITP application
would also contain a section used to calculate recommended incidental
take coverage levels for all species. Incidental take calculations
would be based on the best available data sets including SOS recovery
data and nocturnal ornithological radar data.
KSHCP participants would be required to: (1) Avoid impacts to the
Covered Species to the maximum extent practicable by, for example,
removing or turning off problematic lights and undergrounding high risk
utility lines; and (2) minimize impacts to the Covered Species to the
maximum extent practicable, for example, through a variety of KSHCP-
recommended methods such as shielding, redirecting lights, installing
motion sensors, altering light/utility structures, and training staff
to respond to downed seabirds appropriately. Selected avoidance and
minimization measures must be described in thorough detail by each
applicant, including a schedule and funding and the reasons for
selecting among avoidance and minimization alternatives would need to
be clearly defined and supported in each ITP application submitted to
the Service under the KSHCP. Support for the SOS program would likely
be part of the KSHCP impact minimization policy because SOS recoveries
support the rescue, rehabilitation, and release of affected (downed)
seabirds. All participants in the KSHCP would be legally bound to
implement avoidance and minimization requirements tailored to their
unique facility(ies) as detailed in their ITP and IA.
Habitat protection and management programs implemented to
compensate for unavoidable take of the Covered Species would be
detailed in the KSHCP. For example, the mitigation program would
include colony protection (including surveys, fencing, and predator
control), monitoring, and
[[Page 68821]]
management actions necessary to compensate for the impacts of
incidental take of the Covered Species and to provide a net
environmental benefit. The goals and objectives of the compensatory
mitigation program would be based on specific recovery goals for each
listed species. The KSHCP compensatory program would likely include
weed, ungulate, and predator removal designed to benefit the Covered
Species and other listed flora and fauna. Part of the analysis in the
KSHCP will be to evaluate the potential effects of covered activities
to rare plants, including but not limited to Acaena exigua, Adenophorus
periens, Alsinidendron lychnoides, Cyanea recta, Cyrtandra cyaneoides,
Delissea rivularis, Exocarpus luteolus, Myrsine linearifolia,
Nothocestrum peltatum, Plantago princeps var. anomala, Plantago
princeps var. longibracteata, Platanthera holochila, Poa sandvicensis,
Poa siphonoglossa, Remya montgomeryi, Schiedea membranacea, Solanum
sandwicense, and Xylosma crenatum. A ``Plant Protection Plan'' should
be included in the KSHCP to ensure protection of all listed plants
during seabird mitigation actions. The KSHCP compensatory mitigation
program is also expected to support long-term conservation partnerships
with land owners and existing efforts by non-profit organizations that
provide long-term benefits to listed seabirds, plants, watersheds, and
other non-listed plants and animals of Kauai.
Fees for each applicant/participant would be proportionate to the
level of incidental take authorized as well as the type of impact:
lights or utility lines. Fees submitted under the KSHCP would be used
to fund HCP administration, monitoring, compensatory mitigation, and
the SOS Program.
As currently envisioned, administration and management related to
implementation of the KSHCP would be the responsibility of the DLNR or
their designee, with appropriate oversight by the Service. An annual
review of actions implemented under the KSHCP would be conducted by the
Endangered Species Recovery Committee (ESRC). Based on that review the
ESRC may forward recommendations for modifying KSHCP-related actions to
the Board of Land and Natural Resources.
Environmental Impact Statement
NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) requires that Federal agencies
conduct an environmental analysis of their proposed actions to
determine if the actions may significantly affect the human
environment. Under NEPA, our action would be the proposed issuance of
ITPs based on the KSHCP. The Service and the DLNR are proposing to
prepare a joint Federal/State EIS to evaluate the effects of the
proposed KSHCP and proposed issuance of Federal and State ITPs on the
human environment. The DLNR's preparation of the draft KSHCP and
related EIS is based on conditions of an ESA Section 6 HCP Planning and
Coordination grant awarded to the DLNR in 2009. The joint Federal/State
EIS will be prepared in compliance with NEPA and Hawaii Revised
Statutes (HRS) Chapter 343. Although DLNR will have the lead for
preparing the EIS the Service will be responsible for the scope and
content of the document for NEPA purposes, and the DLNR will be
responsible for the scope and content of the document for the purposes
of satisfying requirements of HRS Chapter 343.
The EIS will consider the proposed action, (the issuance of Section
10(a)(1)(B) permits under the ESA), no action (i.e., no permit
issuance), a reasonable range of other alternatives, and the associated
impacts of each alternative. A detailed description of the proposed
action and other alternatives (including no action) will be included in
the EIS. The range of alternatives developed may vary by the level of
impacts caused by the proposed activities, their specific locations,
and the conservation measures involved. Potential alternatives may
include various methods of minimizing take through modifications of
existing power lines, structures, and lights; placing power line
segments underground; implementing design standards for new facilities;
variations in the scope of covered activities; variations in the
location, amount and type of conservation including developing and
implementing various approaches for improving seabird survival and
breeding success; variations in permit duration; or a combination of
these elements. We will consider other reasonable alternatives
recommended during this scoping process in order to develop a full
range of alternatives.
The EIS will analyze direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts on
the ecosystem and other aspects of the human environment including, but
not limited to, biological resources, land use, air quality, water
quality, mineral resources, water resources, recreation, cultural and
archeological resources, visual resources, socioeconomics, and other
issues that could occur with implementation of the proposed action and
alternatives. For all potentially significant impacts, the EIS will
identify avoidance, minimization, and mitigation measures to reduce
those impacts, where feasible, to a level below significance.
Review of the EIS will be conducted in accordance with the
requirements of NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321), the Council on Environmental
Quality regulations (40 CFR 1500-1508), the Administrative Procedure
Act (5 U.S.C. 551 et seq.), other applicable regulations, and the
Service's procedures for compliance with those regulations. This notice
is being furnished in accordance with 40 CFR 1501.7 to obtain
suggestions and information from other agencies and the public on the
scope of issues and alternatives to be addressed in the EIS. The
primary purpose of the scoping process is to identify important issues
and alternatives related to the proposed action.
We request comments, suggestions, and data from all interested
parties to ensure that a reasonable range of alternatives is presented
and that all potentially significant issues are identified in the EIS.
We will fully consider all comments received during the comment period.
Comments and materials we receive will become part of the public record
and will be available for public inspection, by appointment, during
regular business hours. Before including your address, phone number, e-
mail address, or other personal identifying information in your
comment, 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.
Dated: October 15, 2010.
Richard Hannan,
Deputy Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 2010-28272 Filed 11-8-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P