[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 176 (Wednesday, September 15, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51367-51368]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-19929]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R3-ES-2021-0062; FXES11140300000-212]
Draft Environmental Assessment; Receipt of an Application for an
Incidental Take Permit and Habitat Conservation Plan for Five Bat
Species, Missouri
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comment and information.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have received an
application from the Missouri Department of Conservation (applicant)
for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act.
If approved, the permit would be for a 50-year period and would
authorize the incidental take of two endangered species, the Indiana
bat and the gray bat; one threatened species, the northern long-eared
bat; and two species petitioned for Federal listing, the little brown
bat and the tricolored bat. The applicant has prepared a habitat
conservation plan (HCP) to cover a suite of activities associated with
continued forest and habitat management within the State of Missouri.
DATES: We will accept comments received or postmarked on or before
October 15, 2021.
ADDRESSES: Document availability: Electronic copies of the documents
this notice announces, along with public comments received, will be
available online in Docket No. FWS-R3-ES-2021-0062 at http://www.regulations.gov.
Comment submission: In your comment, please specify whether your
comment addresses the proposed HCP, draft EA, or any combination of the
aforementioned documents, or other supporting documents. You may submit
written comments by one of the following methods:
Online: http://www.regulations.gov. Search for and submit
comments on Docket No. FWS-R3-ES-2021-0062.
U.S. mail: Send comments to Public Comments Processing,
Attn: Docket No. FWS-R3-ES-2021-0062; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service;
5275 Leesburg Pike, MS: PRB/3W; Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Weber, Deputy Field Supervisor,
Missouri Ecological Services Field Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, 101 Park DeVille Drive, Suite A, Columbia, MO 65203;
telephone: 573-234-2132.
Individuals who are hearing impaired or speech impaired may call
the Federal Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339 for TTY assistance.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We make available for public comment the
applicant's habitat conservation plan (HCP) and announce the
availability of a draft environmental assessment, which has been
prepared in response to the permit application in accordance with the
requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act. We invite the
public and local, State, Tribal, and Federal agencies to comment on
these applications. Before issuing any of the requested permits, we
will take into consideration any information that we receive during the
public comment period.
We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), have received an
application from the Missouri Department of Conservation (applicant)
for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act of
1973, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), for its habitat
conservation plan (HCP) for the for the Indiana bat, gray bat, northern
long-eared bat, little brown bat, and tricolored bat (covered species).
The applicant conducts habitat and forest management activities
statewide in Missouri; the application covers nearly the entire State,
except for lands owned and managed by other Federal and State entities,
and would consist of approximately 42 million acres of covered species
habitat. The applicant has prepared a habitat conservation plan that
describes the continued habitat and forest management operations and
measures that the applicant would implement to avoid, minimize, and
mitigate incidental take of the covered species. The HCP proposes to
restore, enhance, and maintain more than 1 million acres of covered
species habitat and has dedicated 28,000 acres of State-owned land
specifically for the enhanced restoration, management, and permanent
protection of priority bat management zones to further offset impacts
to the covered species. If approved, the ITP would be for a 50-year
period and would authorize the incidental take of two endangered
species, the Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis) and the gray bat (Myotis
grisescens); one threatened species, the northern long-eared bat
(Myotis septentrionalis); and two species petitioned for Federal
listing, the little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus) and the tricolored bat
(Perimyostis subflavus). The applicant has prepared an HCP that
describes the actions and measures that the applicant would implement
to avoid, minimize, and mitigate incidental take of Indiana bat, gray
bat, northern long-eared bat, little brown bat, and tricolored bat. We
also announce the availability of a draft environmental assessment
(EA), which has been prepared in response to the permit application in
accordance with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy
Act (NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). We request public comment on the
application and associated documents.
Background
Section 9 of the ESA and its implementing regulations prohibit the
``take'' of animal species listed as endangered or threatened. Take is
defined under the ESA as to ``harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound,
kill, trap, capture, or collect ``listed animal species,'' or to
attempt to engage in such conduct'' (16 U.S.C. 1538). However, under
section 10(a) of the ESA, we may issue permits to authorize incidental
take of listed species. ``Incidental take'' is defined by the ESA as
take that is incidental to, and not the purpose of, carrying out an
otherwise lawful activity
[[Page 51368]]
(16 U.S.C. 1539). Regulations governing incidental take permits for
endangered and threatened species, respectively, are found in the Code
of Federal Regulations at 50 CFR 17.22 and 50 CFR 17.32. Impacts to
plants do not fall under the definition of ``take''; therefore, the
Service cannot authorize incidental take of plants. However, the
Service cannot issue an ITP that would jeopardize the continued
existence or adversely modify the designated critical habitat of any
listed species.
Applicant's Proposed Project
The applicant requests a 50-year ITP to take the five bat species.
The applicant determined that take is reasonably certain to occur
incidental to enactment of forest and habitat management activities
statewide on 42 million acres of covered species habitat. The proposed
conservation strategy in the applicant's proposed HCP is designed to
avoid, minimize, and mitigate the impacts of habitat and forest
management on the covered species. The biological goals and objectives
are to minimize potential take of the five covered species through
minimization measures and to provide habitat conservation measures for
the covered species to offset any impacts from implementation of
habitat and forest management activities. The estimated level of take
from the project is 20.38 adult Indiana bats, 0.02 northern long-eared
bats, 0.11 little brown bats, and 1.81 tricolored bats on an annual
basis. As a result of proposed avoidance measures, the likelihood of
take for gray bat has been greatly reduced such that a measurable level
of take is not anticipated to occur. To offset the impacts of the
taking of the five covered bat species, the applicant proposes to avoid
habitat loss-related impacts from habitat and forest management, by
instituting avoidance measures during the management process, such as
avoiding certain activities during the active maternity season, and
implement species habitat protection, enhancement, or restoration on
28,000 acres. Beneficial and net effects of the conservation strategy
include the successful management of forests, which protect potential
habitat for bats; site-level maintenance and promotion of roost trees
and foraging habitat; the protection and management of 28,000 acres of
priority bat management zones targeted at tree-roosting covered
species; the protection and enhancement of caves; and other specific
measures that minimize or avoid effects to the covered species.
National Environmental Policy Act
The issuance of an ITP is a Federal action that triggers the need
for compliance with NEPA. We prepared a draft EA that analyzes the
environmental impacts on the human environment resulting from three
alternatives: A no-action alternative, a no take alternative, the
applicant's proposed action, and an early planning mitigation
alternative.
Next Steps
The Service will evaluate the permit application and the comments
received to determine whether the application meets the requirements of
section 10(a) of the ESA. We will also conduct an intra-Service
consultation pursuant to section 7 of the ESA to evaluate the effects
of the proposed take. After considering the above findings, we will
determine whether the permit issuance criteria of section 10(a)(l)(B)
of the ESA have been met. If met, the Service will issue the requested
ITP to the applicant.
Request for Public Comments
The Service invites comments and suggestions from all interested
parties on the proposed HCP, draft EA, and supporting documents during
a 30-day public comment period (see DATES). In particular, information
and comments regarding the following topics are requested:
1. The effects that implementation of any alternative could have on
the human environment;
2. Whether or not the significance of the impact on various aspects
of the human environment has been adequately analyzed; and
3. Any other information pertinent to evaluating the effects of the
proposed action on the human environment including Indiana, gray,
northern long-eared, little brown, and tricolored bats.
Availability of Public Comments
You may submit comments by one of the methods shown under
ADDRESSES. We will post on http://regulations.gov all public comments
and information received electronically or via hardcopy. All comments
received, including names and addresses, will become part of the
administrative 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 the
NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4371 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (40 CFR
1506.6; 43 CFR 46).
Lori Nordstrom,
Assistant Regional Director, Ecological Services.
[FR Doc. 2021-19929 Filed 9-14-21; 8:45 am]
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