[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 30 (Wednesday, February 13, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3811-3812]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-02191]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R4-ES-2018-N143; FXES11140400000-178-FF04EF2000]
Renewal of Incidental Take Permit for Sand Skink and Blue-Tailed
Mole Skink, Osceola County, FL
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments and information.
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SUMMARY: We, the Fish and Wildlife Service, announce receipt of an
application for the renewal of an existing incidental take permit
(ITP). The applicants are requesting a 5-year renewal of their existing
2-year ITP under the Endangered Species Act. The existing ITP expired
on June 6, 2018. If granted, the renewed ITP would extend authorization
for take of the federally threatened sand skink and blue-tailed mole
skink (skinks) incidental to the construction of a single-family
residential development located in Osceola County, Florida. The co-
applicants are JKAF Investments, LLC, and Kathryn Kendrick Davidow
Trust. We request public comments on the permit application, the
habitat conservation plan (HCP), and our preliminary determination that
this HCP qualifies as low effect under the National Environmental
Policy Act (NEPA). To make this determination, we used our
environmental action statement and low-effect screening form, which is
also available for review.
DATES: We must receive your written comments on or before March 15,
2019.
ADDRESSES:
Obtaining Documents: You may obtain copies of the documents by any
of the following methods:
Telephone: Alfredo Begazo, 772-469-4234 (telephone).
Email: alfredo_begazo@fws.gov.
U.S. mail: Alfredo Begazo, South Florida Ecological
Services Office; Attn: JKAF Investments, LLC, and Kathryn Kendrick
Davidow Trust Permit TE 8166B-1, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1339
20th Street, Vero Beach, FL 32960-3559.
In-person review: The documents are available for public
inspection by appointment during normal business hours at the above
address. Please call to make an appointment.
Fax: Alfredo Begazo, 772-562-4288.
Submitting Comments: If you wish to comment on any of the
documents, you may do so by submitting your comment in writing to the
email address, U.S. mail address (mail or hand-carrying), or fax number
above. Please also see Public Availability of Comments in SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Alfredo Begazo, Fish and Wildlife
Biologist, South Florida Ecological Services Office (see ADDRESSES),
772-469-4234 (telephone).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service),
announce receipt of an application for the renewal of an existing ITP
under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C.
1531 et seq.). The co-applicants are JKAF Investments, LLC, and Kathryn
Kendrick Davidow Trust, and they seek a 5-year renewal of an ITP that
expired on June 29, 2018. Renewal would give
[[Page 3812]]
them the authority to take the federally listed sand skink (Neoseps
reynoldsi) and threatened blue-tailed mole skink (Eumeces egregious)
(hereafter, skinks) in Osceola County, Florida. We request public
comment on this permit renewal application and habitat conservation
plan (HCP), and on our preliminary determination that this HCP
qualifies as categorical exclusion under the National Environmental Act
(NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). To make this determination, we used our
environmental action statement and low-effect screening form, which are
also available for review.
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 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.
Applicants' Proposed Project
JKAF Investments, LLC, and Kathryn Kendrick Davidow Trust request a
renewal of an expired permit under section 10(a)(1)(B) of the
Endangered Species Act. If we issue the permit, the applicants
anticipated taking sand skink and blue-tailed mole skink incidental to
land preparation and construction on 0.5 acres of occupied skinks
habitat for the residential development in Section 30, Township 25
South, and Range 27 East, in Osceola County, Florida. The applicants
proposes to mitigate for the take resulting from this project by
purchasing and protecting 1 acre of skink-occupied habitat at a
Service-approved mitigation bank prior to any clearing activities.
Our Preliminary Determination
The Service has made a preliminary determination that the
applicants' project, including the mitigation measures, will
individually and cumulatively have a minor or negligible effect on the
species covered in its HCP. Therefore, we have determined that the
renewal of the expired ITP for this project would be ``low effect'' and
qualify for categorical exclusions under the NEPA, as provided by 43
CFR 46.205 and 46.210. A low-effect HCP is one involving: (1) Minor or
negligible effects on federally listed, proposed, and candidate species
and their habitats; (2) minor or negligible effects on other
environmental values or resources; and (3) impacts that, when
considered together with the impacts of other past, present, and
reasonable foreseeable similarly situated projects, would not result
over time in cumulative effects to environmental values or resources
that would be considered significant.
Next Step
We will evaluate the HCP and the comments we receive to determine
whether the ITP application meets the requirements of section
10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA. We will also conduct an intra-Service
consultation on the application to evaluate take of the skinks in
accordance with section 7 of the ESA. We will use the results of the
consultation, in combination with the above findings, in our analysis
of whether or not to issue the ITP. If the requirements are met, we
will issue ITP number TE8166B-1 to JKAF Investments, LLC, and Kathryn
Kendrick Davidow Trust.
Authority
We provide this notice under section 10(c) of the ESA (16 U.S.C.
1531 et seq.) and NEPA regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).
Roxanna Hinzman,
Field Supervisor, South Florida Ecological Services Office.
[FR Doc. 2019-02191 Filed 2-12-19; 8:45 am]
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