[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 14 (Tuesday, January 22, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4428-4429]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-01168]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R4-ES-2012-N290; FXES11120400000-134-FF04EF2000]
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Receipt of an
Application for an Incidental Take Permit; Availability of Proposed
Low-Effect Habitat Conservation Plan; Polk County, FL
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
[[Page 4429]]
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 a
Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP). Palmetto Lake Hamilton-Highway 17, LLC
(the applicant) requests an ITP under the Endangered Species Act of
1973, as amended (Act). The applicant anticipates taking about 1.71
acres of sand skink (Neopseps reynoldsi) and bluetail mole skink
(Eumeces egregius lividus) (skinks) foraging, breeding, and sheltering
habitat incidental to land preparation and construction of a Dollar
General Store, including a storm water retention area and parking lot,
in Polk County, Florida (project). The applicant's HCP describes the
mitigation and minimization measures proposed to address the effects of
the project on the skinks.
DATES: We must receive your written comments on the ITP application and
HCP on or before February 21, 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
TE92046A-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: Elizabeth_Landrum@fws.gov. Use Attn: Permit number
``TE92046A-0'' as your message subject line.
Fax: Elizabeth Landrum, 772-562-4288, Attn.: Permit number
``TE92046A-0.''
U.S. mail: Elizabeth Landrum, South Florida Ecological Services
Field Office, Attn: Permit number ``TE92046A-0'', U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, 1339 20th Street, Vero Beach, FL 32960-3559.
In-person drop-off: You may drop off 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 from Palmetto Lake Hamilton--Highway 17,
LLC (the applicant) for an incidental take permit along with a proposed
habitat conservation plan. The applicant requests a 2-year permit under
section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Act (87 Stat. 884; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).
If we approve the permit, the applicant anticipates taking a total of
approximately 1.71 acres (0.69 hectares (ha)) of sand and blue-tailed
mole skink breeding, feeding, and sheltering habitat incidental to land
preparation and construction of a Dollar General Store, including a
storm water retention area and parking lot, in Polk County, Florida.
Construction activities associated with the Dollar General Store will
take place within Section 21, Township 28S, Range 27E, Polk County,
Florida.
The applicant proposes to mitigate for impacts by purchasing
approximately 3.42 mitigation bank credits at the Scrub Conservation
Bank in Highlands County, Florida, a Bank within the service area of
skinks. The Service listed this species as threatened in 1987 (January
21, 1987; 52 FR 2242). The listing became effective December 7, 1987.
Our Preliminary Determination
The Service has made a preliminary determination that the
applicant's project, including the mitigation 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'' project and qualifies as a categorical exclusion under the
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), as provided by the Department
of the Interior Manual (516 DM 2 Appendix 1 and 516 DM 6 Appendix 1).
We base our preliminary 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 project, 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. 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 applications meet 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 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.
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: January 15, 2013.
Larry Williams,
Field Supervisor, South Florida Ecological Services Office.
[FR Doc. 2013-01168 Filed 1-18-13; 8:45 am]
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