[Federal Register: March 19, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 53)]
[Notices]
[Page 13297-13299]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr19mr10-93]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R8-ES-2010-N003; 80221-1112-0000-F2]
Southeastern Lincoln County Habitat Conservation Plan, Lincoln
County, NV
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
[[Page 13298]]
ACTION: Notice of availability: final environmental impact statement
and habitat conservation plan.
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SUMMARY: Under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), we, the
Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), advise the public of the
availability of the final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the
applications from Lincoln County, City of Caliente, and Union Pacific
Railroad (UPRR) for three section 10(a)(1)(B) incidental take permits
under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act).
We also announce the availability of the Southeastern Lincoln
County Habitat Conservation Plan (SLCHCP), which the three applicants
have submitted with their incidental take permit applications and
Implementing Agreement (IA). If issued, the permits would authorize
incidental take of the threatened desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii)
and the endangered southwestern willow flycatcher (Empidonax traillii
extimus). The permits are needed because incidental take of these
listed species could occur during proposed land development activities
(including land use conversion from agriculture or grazing to urban
development), flood control activities (within the City of Caliente),
maintenance of Lincoln County roads and right-of-ways, UPRR activities,
and/or conversion of grazing land to irrigated/cultivated agricultural
land, on approximately 31,000 acres of private and local government
property in southeastern Lincoln County, Nevada.
DATES: A Record of Decision will be signed no sooner than 30 days after
the publication of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) notice of
the Final EIS in the Federal Register. We must receive any comments by
5 p.m. on April 15, 2010.
ADDRESSES: Submit comments to Robert D. Williams, State Supervisor, by
U.S. mail at Nevada Fish and Wildlife Office, 4701 N. Torrey Pines
Drive, Las Vegas, NV 89130; by telephone at (702) 515-5230; or by fax
at (702) 515-5231.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeri Krueger, Habitat Conservation
Planning Coordinator, at the address or telephone or fax numbers above.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Availability of Documents
You may download copies of the SLCHCP, EIS, and IA from the Nevada
Fish and Wildlife Office Web site at: http://www.fws.gov/nevada/es/
hcp.html. Alternatively, you may contact us by telephone or visit
during regular business hours to ask us how to obtain copies (see FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
In addition, copies of all documents are available at the following
library locations:
(1) Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road, Las Vegas, NV
89119; (702) 507-3400;
(2) Washoe County Library, Downtown Main Branch, 301 South Center
Street, Reno, NV 89501; (775) 327-8300;
(3) Mesquite Library, 121 West First North Street, Mesquite, NV
89027; (702) 346-5224;
(4) Alamo Branch Library, 100 N. First Street, Alamo, NV 89001;
(775) 725-3343;
(5) Lincoln County Library, 100 Depot Avenue, Caliente, NV 89008;
(775) 726-3104; and
(6) Lincoln County Library, 63 Main Street, Pioche, NV 89043; (775)
962-5244.
Background
Section 9 of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and Federal
regulations prohibit the ``take'' of fish and wildlife species listed
as endangered or threatened (16 U.S.C. 1538(a)(1)(B)). 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 (16
U.S.C. 1532 (19)). We have further defined ``harm'' to mean significant
habitat modification or degradation that actually kills or injures
listed wildlife by significantly impairing essential behavioral
patterns, including breeding, feeding, and sheltering (50 CFR 17.3(c)).
Under limited circumstances, we may issue permits to authorize
incidental take of listed fish or wildlife (i.e., ``take'' that is
incidental to, and not the purpose of, otherwise lawful activity).
Regulations governing incidental take permits for threatened and
endangered species are found in 50 CFR 17.32 and 17.22, respectively.
If we issue permits, the applicants would receive assurances for all
species covered by the permits in accordance with our ``No Surprises''
regulations at 50 CFR 17.22(b)(5) and 17.32(b)(5) for all species
covered by the permits.
The EIS analyzes the impacts of the proposed implementation of the
SLCHCP by the applicants. The applicants are seeking permits for the
incidental take of desert tortoise and southwestern willow flycatcher
for a term of 30 years. Incidental take of these species may occur on
approximately 31,000 acres of habitat for the tortoise and the
flycatcher within the SLCHCP planning area (covered area). The covered
activities may result in the loss of up to 20,000 acres of desert
tortoise habitat and up to 85 acres of southwestern willow flycatcher
habitat during the term of the permit. The covered area includes the
non-Federal lands on which the covered activities would occur, and
Federal lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on
which most of the mitigation would occur. The BLM, as a participant in
the SLCHCP, would be responsible for reviewing and, if appropriate,
authorizing the implementation of mitigation measures on BLM-
administered land.
Proposed covered activities include: (1) Planned land development
and maintenance activities (including land use conversion from
agriculture or grazing to urban development), (2) utility and
infrastructure development and maintenance activities, (3) flood
control activities within the City of Caliente, (4) Lincoln County
roadway construction and maintenance activities, (5) UPRR activities,
and (6) land conversion activities (e.g., conversion of grazing land to
irrigated/cultivated agricultural land).
The SLCHCP's proposed conservation strategy is designed to minimize
and mitigate the impacts of incidental take of the covered species
resulting from covered activities, to maintain stable or increasing
desert tortoise populations in the covered area, and to achieve no net
loss of suitable southwestern willow flycatcher habitat within the
covered area. The SLCHCP provides a mechanism to supply funding for a
full range of conservation measures targeting desert tortoise,
southwestern willow flycatcher, and the ecosystems that support them.
Conservation measures proposed for the desert tortoise as part of the
SLCHCP include pre-construction surveys, initiating and sustaining a
desert tortoise ``Head Start'' program, translocation of desert
tortoises, research on the ecological implications of fire to species'
habitats, restoration of burned desert tortoise habitat areas, and
public outreach and education. To minimize and mitigate the loss of
suitable flycatcher habitat along the Meadow Valley Wash and Clover
Creek resulting from the covered activities, UPRR and the City of
Caliente will provide the funding necessary to create additional
suitable flycatcher habitat or enhance the functional value of
potentially suitable existing flycatcher habitat at a ratio of 2 acres
for every 1 acre of native habitat removed, or at a ratio of 1 acre for
every acre of non-native habitat removed. Private landowners with
property located along these two waterways may volunteer to participate
in the SLCHCP by signing a participation agreement provided by
[[Page 13299]]
Lincoln County that would extend take authorization under Lincoln
County's permit to the participating landowner, provided the landowner
agrees to implement the minimization and mitigation measures in the
SLCHCP.
National Environmental Policy Act Compliance
Our proposal to issue incidental take permits is a Federal action
that triggers the need for compliance with NEPA. Accordingly, as the
Federal agency responsible for compliance under NEPA, we have prepared
an EIS that analyzes alternatives associated with issuance of the
incidental take permits. In addition to the permit issuance
alternative, other alternatives we considered in the EIS include the
``No Action'' alternative (we would not issue the incidental take
permits, ``take'' of the desert tortoise and southwestern willow
flycatcher would not be authorized, and the SLCHCP would not be
implemented), and ``Alternative A, Additional Lands for Development''
(we would issue incidental take permits for development and associated
activities on up to 44,135 acres of private lands within the covered
area as well as BLM land proposed for disposal over the next 30 years
in the southeastern portion of Lincoln County).
The final EIS includes all comments we received on the draft EIS
and our responses to those comments. After the 30-day waiting period,
we will complete a Record of Decision that announces our decision on
the action that will be implemented and discusses all factors leading
to the decision.
Public Involvement
We published a notice of intent to prepare an EIS for this project
in the Federal Register on July 5, 2001 (66 FR 35451), and held public
workshops on June 25 and 26, 2001, in Alamo and Caliente. We held
additional public workshops on July 5 and 6, 2006, in Caliente, Alamo,
and Mesquite to update members of the public on the status of the
SLCHCP. On December 5, 2008, we published a notice of availability of
the draft SLCHCP, draft EIS, and draft IA in the Federal Register (73
FR 74185). The draft documents were available for a 75-day public
comment period ending on February 11, 2009.
Public Review
Copies of the final EIS, SLCHCP, and IA are available for review
(see Availability of Documents). Any comments we receive will become
part of the administrative record and may be available to the public.
Before submitting comments that include your address, phone number, e-
mail address, or other personal identifying information, you should be
aware that your entire comment, including your personal identifying
information, may be made publicly available at any time. While you may
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.
We will evaluate the applications, associated documents, and
comments submitted to determine whether the applications meet the
requirements of section 10(a) of the Act. A permit decision will be
made no sooner than 30 days after the publication of the EPA's final
EIS notice in the Federal Register and completion of the Record of
Decision.
Ken McDermond,
Deputy Regional Director, Pacific Southwest Region, Sacramento,
California.
[FR Doc. 2010-5629 Filed 3-18-10; 8:45 am]
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