[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 236 (Monday, December 9, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67292-67294]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-26478]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R8-ES-2019-N111; FXES11140000-189-FF08E00000]
Proposed Upper Santa Ana River Habitat Conservation Plan and
Draft Environmental Impact Statement; San Bernardino County, CA
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; receipt of permit applications and
request for public comments; notice of public meetings.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have received
applications from the San Bernardino Valley Water Conservation District
(District) and the San Bernardino County Flood Control District
(SBCFCD) for incidental take permits under the Endangered Species Act.
We advise the public of the availability of an accompanying proposed
habitat conservation plan (HCP), which covers two federally listed
animal species and other covered species, and a draft environmental
impact statement (EIS), for public review and comment. The HCP covers
activities for water conservation, aggregate mining, recreation, flood
control and other public services in San Bernardino County, California.
The draft EIS is a joint Environmental Impact Statement/Supplemental
Environmental Impact Report (EIS/SEIR). The draft SEIR portion of the
joint document was prepared by the District in compliance with the
California Environmental Quality Act.
DATES:
Public Comments: We will receive public comments on the HCP and
DEIS/SEIR until January 23, 2020. Comments received or postmarked after
this date will be considered to the extent practicable.
Meetings: We will conduct two public meetings, both on January 9,
2020. Both meetings are intended to cover the same material. The first
meeting is 2-4 p.m., and the second is 6:30-9:30 p.m.
Public Accommodations: We are committed to providing meeting access
for all participants. Please direct all requests for sign language
interpreting services, closed captioning, or other accommodation to
Karin Cleary-Rose, TTY 800-877-8339 by close of business on January 6,
2020.
ADDRESSES: Obtaining Documents: You may obtain the documents by the
following methods.
Internet: https://www.fws.gov/carlsbad/HCPs/HCP_Docs.html
or https://sbvwcd.org.
Public Libraries: Copies are available for public viewing
at the following libraries:
[cir] A.K. Smiley Library at 125 West Vine St., Redlands, CA.
[cir] Highland Branch Library, 7863 Central Ave., Highland, CA.
San Bernardino Water Conservation District: Copies are
available for public viewing at the San Bernardino Valley Water
Conservation District, 1630 W Redlands Blvd., Ste. A, Redlands, CA.
Digital copies of the documents will be provided on CD at the District
office upon request.
Submitting Comments: You may submit comments by one of the
following methods. Please include your contact information.
Email: fw8psfwocomments@fws.gov.
U.S. Mail or Hand-Delivery: Karin Cleary-Rose, Santa Ana
River Wash Project, Palm Springs Fish and Wildlife Service Office, 777
E. Tahquitz Canyon Way, Suite 208, Palm Springs, CA 92262.
Meetings: Our scheduled public meetings will take place at the San
Bernardino Valley Water Conservation District Office, 1630 West
Redlands Avenue, Redlands, CA 92373. See DATES and FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Contact either of the two following
individuals for more information:
Karin Cleary-Rose, USFWS, by mail at Palm Springs Fish and
Wildlife Office, 777 East Tahquitz Canyon Way, Suite 208, Palm Springs,
CA 92262; or via email to karin_cleary-rose@fws.gov; or
Daniel Cozad, San Bernardino Valley Water Conservation
District, by mail at 1630 W Redlands Blvd., Ste. A,
[[Page 67293]]
Redlands, CA 92373; or via email to dcozad@sbvwcd.org.
TTY users can contact the above individuals by calling 800-877-
8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The San Bernardino Valley Water Conservation
District (District, applicant), and the San Bernardino County Flood
Control District (SBCFCD, applicant) have each applied to the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service (Service) for an incidental take permit under
section 10 (a)(1)(B) of the Endangered Species Act, as amended (ESA; 16
U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). We, the Service, advise the public of the
availability of the applicants' proposed habitat conservation plan
(HCP), which covers two federally listed animal species and other
covered species, and the Service-prepared draft environmental impact
statement (EIS), for public review and comment. The HCP covers
activities for water conservation, aggregate mining, recreation, flood
control and other public services in San Bernardino County, California.
The draft EIS is a joint Environmental Impact Statement/Supplemental
Environmental Impact Report (EIS/SEIR). The draft SEIR portion of the
joint document was prepared by the District in compliance with the
California Environmental Quality Act. The draft EIS/SEIR evaluates the
direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts of several alternatives for
the Service's issuance of ESA permits to applicants. The project area
lies within San Bernardino County, primarily in the cities of Highland
and Redlands, as well as within the unincorporated County area. The
plan area encompasses approximately 4,892 acres. Pursuant to the
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), we
advise the public of the availability of our draft environmental impact
statement (EIS), which analyzes several alternatives related to the
Service's decision whether to issue incidental take permits in response
to the District's and the SBCFCD's applications.
Background
Section 9 of the ESA and Federal regulations pursuant to section
4(d) of the ESA prohibit the ``take'' of fish and wildlife species
federally listed as endangered or threatened without special exemption.
Take of federally listed fish or wildlife is defined under the ESA as
to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or
collect listed species, or attempt to engage in such conduct (16 U.S.C.
1538). ``Harm'' includes 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). Under limited
circumstances, we may issue permits to authorize take that is
incidental to and not the purpose of otherwise lawful activities.
Habitat Conservation Plan Covered Activities
The Service is considering the issuance of incidental take permits
consistent with the Upper Santa Ana River Wash HCP. The HCP covers two
types of activities in the Upper Santa Ana River Wash Plan project
area:
Activities related to the operations and maintenance of
existing facilities or land uses already in operation in the Wash,
covering an area totaling 166.9 acres; and
Expansion or enhancement of facilities planned for the
Wash area, totaling 634.1 acres.
Habitat Conservation Plan Covered Species
The proposed incidental take permits would cover five species.
Incidental take authorization would be provided under the permits for
the wildlife species; the plant species are included in recognition of
the conservation measures provided under the HCP and to provide No
Surprises assurances to the applicants for the covered plants under 50
CFR 17.22(b)(5). The applicant's HCP includes the following species:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Federal listing status
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Coastal California gnatcatcher (Polioptila Threatened.
californica californica).
San Bernardino kangaroo rat (Dipodomys merriami Endangered.
parvus).
Cactus wren (Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus)... Not listed.
Santa Ana River woolly-star (Eriastrum Endangered.
densifolium ssp. sanctorum).
Slender-horned spineflower (Dodecahema Endangered.
leptoceras).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The HCP proposes conservation measures considered necessary to
minimize and mitigate, to the maximum extent practicable, the impacts
of the incidental taking of covered species in the HCP.
National Environmental Policy Act Compliance
The draft EIS/SEIR addresses the Federal and local actions in
approving and implementing the project, and the proposed issuance of
incidental take permits consistent with the HCP. On March 3, 2015 (80
FR 11463), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S Fish and
Wildlife Serve (FWS) published a notice of intent to prepare an
environmental impact statement, as Federal co-leads, and later hosted
two scoping meetings to solicit public comments on the preparation of
an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to analyze the proposed land
exchanges with the San Bernardino Valley Water Conservation District
(District) and issuance of incidental take permits by FWS. The land
exchange would include up to 400 acres of BLM-managed public lands
within the Upper Santa Ana River Wash Area.
On March 12, 2019, the President signed the Natural Resources
Management Act (S. 47), which included specific guidelines directing
the land exchanges between the BLM and the Conservation District
(section 1003). As a result, the BLM no longer has a discretionary
action on the land exchange and is withdrawing as the co-lead in the
preparation of the EIS. The BLM will now serve as a cooperating agency
in the development of this EIS. The BLM is required to implement
actions in the legislation to initiate/facilitate the land exchanges,
but is no longer required to conduct an analysis under the National
Environmental Policy Act.
The FWS will continue to serve as the Federal lead agency in the
development of the EIS/SEIR, in collaboration with the District, a
political subdivision of the State of California. The District is the
lead agency for the SEIR, under the California Environmental Quality
Act.
Environmental Impact Statement
The EIS evaluates three alternatives in detail:
``No action'' alternative: Current management activities would be
assumed to continue. The Service would not issue Federal ESA permits to
the applicants.
[[Page 67294]]
Proposed action: Consistent with the proposed Upper Santa Ana River
Wash Plan HCP, the Service issues 30-year ITPs to the applicants for
the five covered species, under section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA.
``Action'' alternative 1: The Service would issuance 30-year ITPs
to the applicants for four covered species (excluding cactus wren) with
reduced conservation, consistent with the 2008 Land Management Plan
prepared by the District.
Public Review
Any comments we receive will become part of the decision record
associated with this action. 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 request in your comment that we withhold
your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot
guarantee that we will be able to do so. All submissions from
organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying
themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or
businesses, will be made available for public disclosure in their
entirety.
Authority
We provide this notice under section 10(c) of the ESA (16 U.S.C.
1531 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (50 CFR 17.22), and NEPA
(42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and NEPA implementing regulations (40 CFR
1506.6).
Michael Fris,
Assistant Regional Director, Pacific Southwest Region, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, Sacramento, California.
[FR Doc. 2019-26478 Filed 12-6-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P