[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 121 (Friday, June 22, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37656-37658]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-15353]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
RIN 0648-XC011
Multi-Species Habitat Conservation Plan
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce; Fish and Wildlife Service
(FWS), Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability of final environmental impact statement,
multi-species habitat conservation plan, and implementing agreement.
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SUMMARY: This document announces the availability of the Final
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the applications from the Fruit
Growers Supply Company (FGS) for Incidental Take Permits (ITPs) and a
multi-species Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) for take of endangered
and threatened species in accordance with the Endangered Species Act of
1973, as amended (ESA). The National Marine Fisheries Service and the
Fish and Wildlife Service (Services) and FGS have also developed an
Implementing Agreement (IA) which details how the Services and FGS will
work together to implement the HCP. The applicant seeks the ITPs to
authorize incidental take of the covered species during forest
management and timber harvest in Siskiyou County, CA, where FGS owns
lands, during the term of the proposed 50-year ITPs and HCP. This
document is provided under National Environmental Policy Act
regulations to inform the public that the Final EIS and multi-species
HCP, and the Services' responses to public comments are available for
review, and that we have filed the Final EIS with the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for public notice. The Services
will not make a decision on issuing ITPs to FGS sooner than 45 days
after publication of EPA's notice.
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DATES: Written comments must be received by 5 p.m. Pacific Time, August
6, 2012.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be sent by any of the following methods:
Mail: Address comments to: Lisa Roberts, NMFS, 1655
Heindon Road, Arcata, CA 95521.
Email: SWR.NCO.FGSHCP@noaa.gov. In the subject line of the
email, include the document identifier: Final FGS HCP.
Facsimile: (707) 825-4840. Please note: Attention: Lisa
Roberts, NMFS.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information, or to receive
a copy of the documents, please call Lisa Roberts, Fisheries Biologist,
NMFS, at (707) 825-5178 or Brian Woodbridge, Wildlife Biologist, FWS,
at (530) 841-3101.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Availability of Documents
Copies of the Final EIS, HCP, applications for ITPs, and IA are
available for public inspection during regular business hours at the
Arcata National Marine Fisheries Office (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT) and at the Yreka Fish and Wildlife Office (1829 S. Oregon
Street, Yreka, CA 96097).
The documents are also available electronically for review on the
NMFS Southwest Region Web site at: http://swr.nmfs.noaa.gov/nepa.html
or the FWS Yreka office Web site at: www.fws.gov/yreka. Copies are also
available for viewing in each of the following libraries:
1. Siskiyou County Library, 719 4th St., Yreka, CA 96097.
2. Humboldt County Library, 1313 3rd St., Eureka, CA 95501.
3. Del Norte County Library, 190 Price Mall, Crescent City, CA
95531.
Background
Section 9 of the ESA prohibits the ``take'' of wildlife species
listed as endangered or threatened by either the FWS or NMFS (16 U.S.C.
1538). The ESA defines the term ``take'' as: Harass, harm, pursue,
hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect listed species, or
attempt to engage in such conduct. ``Harm'' has been defined by FWS to
include ``significant habitat modification or degradation where it
actually kills or injures wildlife by significantly impairing essential
behavioral patterns, including breeding, feeding, and sheltering.''
Consistent with FWS, NMFS has defined ``harm'' as an act which actually
kills or injures fish or wildlife, and emphasized that such acts may
include ``significant habitat modification or degradation which
actually kills or injures fish or wildlife by significantly impairing
essential behavioral patterns, including breeding, spawning, rearing,
migrating, feeding, or sheltering''. Pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(B) of
the ESA, FWS and NMFS may issue ITPs authorizing the take of listed
species if, among other things, such taking is incidental to, and not
the purpose of, otherwise lawful activities.
Take of listed plant species is not prohibited under the ESA, and
cannot be authorized under a section 10 permit. However, the applicant
proposes to include Yreka phlox (Phlox hirsuta) in the HCP to extend
the HCP's conservation benefits to this species. The applicant would
receive assurances under the ``No Surprises'' regulations found in 50
CFR 17.22(b)(5), 17.32(b)(5), and 222.307(g) for all proposed covered
species in the ITP.
To receive an ITP under the ESA, an applicant must first prepare an
HCP that specifies the following: (1) The impact of the taking; (2)
steps the applicant will take to minimize and mitigate the impact; (3)
funding available to implement the steps; (4) what alternative actions
to the taking the applicant considered and the reasons why these
actions were not taken; and (5) any other measures NMFS or FWS may
require as being necessary or appropriate for the purpose of the HCP
(16 U.S.C. 1539(a)(2)(A)). To issue a permit, NMFS and FWS must find
that: (1) The taking will be incidental; (2) the applicant will
minimize and mitigate impacts of the take to the maximum extent
practicable; (3) the applicant will ensure adequate funding for the
HCP; (4) the taking will not appreciably reduce the likelihood of the
survival and recovery of the species in the wild; and (5) the applicant
will meet other measures required by FWS and NMFS. Regulations
governing issuance of FWS ITPs for endangered and threatened species
are at 50 CFR 17.22 and 17.32, and for NMFS-issued permits at 50 CFR
222.301 through 307.
The applicant has requested coverage from FWS for northern spotted
owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) and Yreka phlox (Phlox hirsuta), and
from NMFS for the Southern Oregon/Northern California Coast coho salmon
(Oncorhynchus kisutch) Evolutionarily Significant Unit (ESU). The
applicant has also requested coverage under the ITP for the unlisted
Klamath and Trinity Rivers Chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha) ESU and the
Klamath Mountains Province steelhead (O. mykiss) ESU. Should these
unlisted covered species become listed under the ESA during the term of
the permit, take authorization for those species would become effective
upon listing as long as the HCP is being properly implemented. The
Final FGS HCP describes the habitat-based conservation approach, with
species-specific objectives for their long-term conservation. This
includes an Aquatic Species Conservation Program for salmonids and
Terrestrial Species Conservation Program for the northern spotted owl
and Yreka phlox.
FGS activities proposed for coverage under the ITPs include
mechanized timber harvest; forest product transportation; road and
landing construction, use, maintenance, and abandonment; site
preparation; tree planting; certain types of vegetation management;
silvicultural thinning and other silvicultural activities; fire
suppression; rock quarry and borrow pit operations; aquatic habitat
restoration; minor forest management activities such as forest product
collecting; and monitoring activities and scientific work in the HCP
Plan Area.
The duration of the ITPs and HCP is 50 years, though many aspects
of the plan's conservation strategy are intended to benefit the covered
species long after the expiration of the permit. The goals of this HCP
are to: (1) Protect and improve habitats required by species covered by
the HCP and (2) establish appropriate guidelines for continued timber
harvest and other forest management activities.
NMFS and FWS formally initiated an environmental review of the
project through publication of a Notice of Intent to prepare an
Environmental Impact Statement in the Federal Register on February 22,
2008 (73 FR 9776). That document also announced a 30-day public scoping
period during which interested parties were invited to provide written
comments expressing their issues or concerns relating to the proposal
and attend the public scoping meetings held in Yreka and Happy Camp,
California.
On November 13, 2009, the Services published a Notice of
Availability of the Draft Fruit Growers Supply Company Multi-Species
Habitat Conservation Plan and Draft Environmental Impact Statement,
Siskiyou County, California in the Federal Register (74 FR 58602). The
public review period was scheduled for 90 days from November 13, 2009,
to February 11, 2010. A total of 21 oral questions and comments were
received from two speakers at a public meeting held in Yreka on
December 2, 2009. Twenty-four comment letters were received, as well as
two emails sent by 532 individuals. The oral comments, letters, and
emails contained a total of
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275 separate comments. A response to each of these comments is included
in the Final EIS.
The Final EIS is intended to accomplish the following: Inform the
public of the proposed action and alternatives; disclose the direct,
indirect, and cumulative environmental effects of the proposed action
and each of the alternatives; and indicate any irreversible commitment
of resources that would result from implementation of the proposed
action.
Alternatives
The Final EIS analyzes the FGS proposal and three alternatives.
Under the proposed action, the Services would issue the ITPs and FGS
would implement its proposed HCP on approximately 152,178 acres of the
FGS commercial timberlands. The ownership consists of three management
units: Klamath River (65,339 acres), Scott Valley (39,153 acres), and
Grass Lake (47,686 acres). Under the No Action Alternative, the ITPs
would not be issued, there would be no HCP, and FGS would remain
subject to the prohibition on unauthorized taking of listed species.
Under Alternative A, the ITPs would be issued by both agencies, and
northern spotted owl conservation areas would be based on the Northwest
Forest Plan (NWFP) system of late-successional reserves (LSRs), and the
Aquatic Species Conservation Program would be based on concepts
outlined in the NWFP for the protection of aquatic habitats. Under
Alternative B, FWS would issue an ITP for northern spotted owl, with
spotted owl conservation based on management of foraging and dispersal
habitat across the Plan Area. Under Alternative B, no ITP would be
issued by NMFS and there would be no Aquatic Species Conservation
Program implemented.
National Environmental Policy Act
The proposed permit issuance triggers the need for compliance with
the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and accordingly the
Services have prepared a joint NEPA document. The Services are Co-Leads
and are responsible for compliance under NEPA. As NEPA Co-Lead
agencies, the Services are providing notice of the availability of the
Final EIS and are making available for public review the responses to
comments on the Draft EIS.
Public Review
The Services invite the public to review the Final EIS, HCP and IA
during a 45-day wait period from June 22, 2012 to August 6, 2012. Any
comments received, including names and addresses, will become part of
the administrative record and may be made available to the public. You
may submit your comments to the address listed in the ADDRESSES section
of this document. Before including your address, phone number, email
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 may ask us to withhold your personal identifying information
from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.
The Services will evaluate the applications, associated documents,
and comments submitted in preparation of the two Records of Decisions
that the Services must prepare in response to the ITP applications.
Permit decisions will be made no sooner than 45 days after the
publication of EPA's notice of the Final EIS and completion of the
Records of Decisions.
Dated: June 18, 2012.
Angela Somma,
Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected Resources,
National Marine Fisheries Service.
Dated: June 18, 2012.
Alexandra Pitts,
Deputy Regional Director, Region 8, Pacific Southwest Region, U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2012-15353 Filed 6-21-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P; 3510-22-P