[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 36 (Friday, February 22, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12346-12347]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-04046]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R8-ES-2013-N029; 1112-0000-81440-F2]
Jennings Low-Effect Habitat Conservation Plan for the Morro
Shoulderband Snail, Community of Los Osos, San Luis Obispo County, CA
AGENCY: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comment.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have received an
application from Andrew A. Jennings for a 10-year incidental take
permit under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended. The
application addresses the potential for ``take'' of the federally
endangered Morro shoulderband snail (= banded dune snail;
Helminthoglypta walkeriana) that is likely to occur incidental to the
construction, maintenance, and occupation of a single-family residence
on an existing legal single-family-zoned parcel in the unincorporated
community of Los Osos, San Luis Obispo County, California. The
applicants would implement a conservation program to minimize and
mitigate project activities that are likely to result in take of the
Morro shoulderband snail as described in their plan. We invite comments
from the public on the application package that includes the Jennings
Low-Effect Habitat Conservation Plan for the Morro Shoulderband Snail.
This proposed action has been determined to be eligible for a
Categorical Exclusion under the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969, as amended (NEPA).
DATES: To ensure consideration, please send your written comments by
March 25, 2013.
ADDRESSES: You may download a copy of the Habitat Conservation Plan,
draft Environmental Action Statement and Low-Effect Screening Form, and
related documents on the Internet at http://www.fws.gov/ventura/, or
you may request copies of the documents by U.S. mail or phone (see
below). Please address written comments to Diane K. Noda, Field
Supervisor, Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, 2493 Portola Road, Suite B, Ventura, CA 93003. You may
alternatively send comments by facsimile to (805) 644-3958.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Julie M. Vanderwier, Fish and Wildlife
Biologist, at the above address or by calling (805) 644-1766.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) listed the Morro
shoulderband snail as endangered on December 15, 1994 (59 FR 64613).
Section 9 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act) and
its implementing regulations (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) prohibit the take
of fish or wildlife species listed as endangered or threatened.
``Take'' is defined under the Act to include the following activities:
``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); however, under section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Act, we may issue
permits to authorize incidental take of listed species. The Act defines
``Incidental Take as take that is not the purpose of carrying out of an
otherwise lawful activity. Regulations governing incidental take
permits for threatened and endangered species are provided in at 50 CFR
17.32 and 17.22. Issuance of an incidental take permit must not
jeopardize the existence of federally listed fish, wildlife, or plant
species.
Take of listed plants is not prohibited under the Act unless such
take would violate State law. As such, take of plants cannot be
authorized under an incidental take permit. Plant species may be
included on a permit in recognition of the conservation benefits
provided them under a habitat conservation plan. All species, including
plants, covered by the incidental take permit receive assurances under
our ``No Surprises'' regulations (50 CFR 17.22(b)(55) and 17.32(b)(5)).
In addition to meeting other specific criteria, actions undertaken
through implementation of the HCP must not jeopardize the continued
existence of federally listed animal or plant species.
Andrew A. Jennings (hereafter, the applicant) has submitted a Low-
Effect Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) in support of his application
for an incidental take permit (ITP) to address take of Morro
shoulderband snail that is likely to occur as the result of direct
impacts to up to 0.23 acre (10,224 square feet) of highly disturbed
coastal dune scrub and veldt grass (Ehrharta calycina)-dominated non-
native grassland occupied by the species. Take would be associated with
the construction, maintenance, and occupation of a single-family
residence on an existing parcel legally described as Assessor Parcel
Number 074-052-028 and located at 460 Los Osos Valley Road in western
portion of Los Osos, an unincorporated community of San Luis Obispo
County, California. The applicant is requesting a permit for take of
Morro shoulderband snail that would result from ``Covered Activities''
that include the construction, maintenance, and occupation of a single-
family residence and associated landscaping/infrastructure.
The applicant proposes to minimize and mitigate take of Morro
shoulderband snail associated with the covered activities by fully
implementing the HCP. The following measures will be implemented to
minimize the effects of the taking: (1) Pre-construction and concurrent
construction monitoring surveys for Morro shoulderband snail will be
conducted, (2) all identified individuals of any life stage of Morro
shoulderband snail will be captured and moved out of harm's way to a
Service-approved receptor site by an individual in possession of a
current valid recovery permit for the species, and (3) development and
presentation of a contractor and employee training program for Morro
shoulderband snail. To mitigate for unavoidable take, the applicants
will contribute $5,114 to an Impact-Directed Environmental Account held
and administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. These
funds will be used to implement recovery tasks identified in the
Recovery Plan for the Morro Shoulderband Snail and Four Plants from
Western San Luis Obispo County, California (USFWS 1998). The applicants
will fund up to $6,700, as needed, to ensure implementation of all
minimization measures and reporting requirements identified in the HCP.
In the proposed HCP, the applicants consider two alternatives to
the proposed action: ``No Action'' and ``Project Design.'' Under the
``No Action'' alternative, an ITP for the Jennings single-family
residence would not be issued. The Jennings single-family residence
would not be built and a contribution of in-lieu fees would not be
provided to effect recovery actions for Morro shoulderband snail. Since
the property is privately owned, there are ongoing economic
considerations associated with continued ownership without use, which
include payment of associated taxes. The sale of this
[[Page 12347]]
property for purposes other than the identified activity is not
considered economically feasible. Because of economic considerations
and because the proposed action results in a net benefit for the
covered species, Morro shoulderband snail, the No Action Alternative
has been rejected. Under the ``Project Redesign'' alternative, the
project would be redesigned to avoid or further reduce take of Morro
shoulderband snail. The onsite habitats occupied by Morro shoulderband
snail are highly degraded in nature and the parcel is not of sufficient
size to accommodate a redesign that would substantially improve the
conservation benefit to the species beyond what would be achieved in
the proposed project. For these reasons, the alternate design
alternative has also been rejected.
We are requesting comments on our preliminary determination that
the applicant's proposal will have a minor or negligible effect on the
Morro shoulderband snail and that the plan qualifies as a low-effect
HCP as defined by our Habitat Conservation Planning Handbook (November
1996). We base our determinations on three criteria: (1) Implementation
of the proposed project as described in the HCP would result in minor
or negligible effects on federally listed, proposed, and/or candidate
species and their habitats; (2) implementation of the HCP would result
in minor negligible effects on other environmental values or resources;
and (3) HCP impacts, considered together with those of other past,
present, and reasonably foreseeable future projects, would not result
in cumulatively significant effects. In our analysis of these criteria,
we have made a preliminary determination that the approval of the HCP
and issuance of an ITP qualify for categorical exclusion under the NEPA
(42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), as provided by the Department of Interior
Manual (516 DM 2 Appendix 2 and 516 DM 8); however, based upon our
review of public comments that we receive in response to this notice,
this preliminary determination may be revised.
Next Steps
We will evaluate the permit application, including the plan and
comments, we receive, to determine whether the application meets the
requirements of Section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Act. We will also evaluate
whether issuance of the ITP would comply with Section 7(a)(2) of the
Act by conducting an intra-Service Section 7 consultation.
Public Review
We provide this notice under section 10(c) of the Act and the NEPA
public involvement regulations (40 CFR 1500.1(b), 1500.2(d), and
1506.6). We are requesting comments on our determination that the
applicants' proposal will have a minor or neglible effect on the Morro
shoulderband snail and that the plan qualifies as a low-effect HCP as
defined by our 1996 Habitat Conservation Planning Handbook. We will
evaluate the permit application, including the plan and comments, we
receive, to determine whether the application meets the requirements of
section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Act. We will use the results of our internal
Service consultation, in combination with the above findings, in our
final analysis to determine whether to issue the permits. If the
requirements are met, we will issue an ITP to the applicant for the
incidental take of Morro shoulderband snail. We will make the final
permit decision no sooner than 30 days after the date of this notice.
Public Comments
If you wish to comment on the permit applications, plans, and
associated documents, you may submit comments by any one of the methods
in ADDRESSES.
Public Availability of Comments
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 can
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying
information from public view, we cannot guarantee that we will be able
to do so.
Authority
We provide this notice under section 10 of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531
et seq.) and NEPA regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).
Dated: February 14, 2013.
Diane K. Noda,
Field Supervisor, Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office, Ventura,
California.
[FR Doc. 2013-04046 Filed 2-21-13; 8:45 am]
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