[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 111 (Friday, June 9, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37899-37901]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-12338]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R8-ES-2023-0075; FXES11140800000-234-FF08EVEN00]
Receipt of Incidental Take Permit Application for Participation
in the General Conservation Plan for Oil and Gas Activities; Draft
Categorical Exclusion for the Conoco Philips Soil Remediation Project;
Santa Barbara County, CA
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce
receipt of an application from Conoco Philips for an incidental take
permit (ITP), pursuant to the Endangered Species Act, under the
approved General Conservation Plan for Oil and Gas Activities (GCP). If
granted, the ITP would authorize take of the California red-legged frog
(Rana draytonii) and the Santa Barbara County distinct population
segment (DPS) of the California tiger salamander (Ambystoma
californiense), incidental to excavation and remediation of soils
contaminated with hydrocarbons at the historical Cox 3-32 oil well sump
and oilfield lease access road. The Service prepared a draft screening
form in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act to
evaluate the potential effects of the specific project to the natural
and human environment resulting from issuing an ITP to the applicant.
We invite the public and local, State, Tribal, and Federal agencies to
comment on the draft screening form and the Service's preliminary
determination that the proposed permitting action may be eligible for a
categorical exclusion pursuant to the Council on Environmental
Quality's National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations, the
Department of the Interior's (DOI) NEPA regulations, and the DOI
Departmental Manual.
DATES: We must receive your written comments on or before July 10,
2023.
ADDRESSES: Obtaining Documents: The document this notice announces
(draft screening form), as well as any comments and other materials
that we
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receive, will be available for public inspection online in Docket No.
FWS-R8-ES-2023-0075 at https://www.regulations.gov. The approved GCP
and the associated final environmental assessment/finding of no
significant impact are also available on that site. However, we are no
longer taking comments on those finalized, approved documents.
Submitting Comments: If you wish to submit comments, you may do so
in writing by one of the following methods:
Online: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments on Docket No. FWS-R8-ES-2023-0075.
U.S. mail: Public Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No.
FWS-R7-NWRS-2023-0075; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: PRB/3W; 5275
Leesburg Pike; Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kirby Bartlett, Fish and Wildlife
Biologist, by email at kirby_bartlett@fws.gov, by telephone at 805-644-
1766, or by U.S. mail at the Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office, 2493
Portola Road, Suite B, Ventura, CA 93003. Individuals in the United
States who are deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a speech
disability may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access
telecommunications relay services. Individuals outside the United
States should use the relay services offered within their country to
make international calls to the point-of-contact in the United States.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(Service), announce receipt of an application from Conoco Philips for
an incidental take permit (ITP), pursuant to the Endangered Species Act
of 1973, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), under the approved
General Conservation Plan for Oil and Gas Activities (GCP). A GCP is a
mechanism that meets the definition of a conservation plan in section
10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA and enables the construct of a programmatic
permitting and conservation process to address a defined suite of
proposed activities over a defined planning area. The application for
an incidental take permit was made pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(B) of
the ESA. The ITP, if granted, would authorize take of the federally
threatened California red-legged frog (Rana draytonii) and the
federally endangered Santa Barbara County distinct population segment
(DPS) of the California tiger salamander (Ambystoma californiense)
incidental to activities associated with the soil remediation for the
historical Cox 3-32 oil well sump and oilfield lease access road in
Santa Maria, California. The permit would be issued to the applicant
under the GCP for Oil and Gas Activities, which was approved on June
27, 2022. Prior to approval, a notice of availability of the draft
programmatic environmental assessment (EA) and GCP published on March
6, 2020 (85 FR 13181). The approved GCP and the associated final
programmatic environmental assessment/finding of no significant impact
are available on the Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office web page at
https://www.fws.gov/media/habitat-conservation-plans-and-general-conservation-plans. We have also uploaded them to https://www.regulations.gov. However, we are no longer taking comments on these
finalized, approved documents.
Document for Public Comment
We invite public comment on a draft screening form we prepared in
accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA; 42
U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), and on our preliminary determination that this
proposed ITP qualifies as ``low effect,'' and may qualify for a
categorical exclusion pursuant to the Council on Environmental
Quality's National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations (40 CFR
1501.4), the Department of the Interior's (DOI) NEPA regulations (43
CFR 46), and the DOI's Departmental Manual (516 DM 8.5(C)(2)).
Background
The Service listed the California red-legged frog as threatened on
May 23, 1996 (61 FR 25813), and the Santa Barbara County DPS of the
California tiger salamander as endangered on September 21, 2000 (65 FR
57242). Section 9 of the ESA prohibits ``take'' of fish and wildlife
species listed as threatened or endangered (16 U.S.C. 1538), where take
is defined 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). Under section
10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1539(a)(1)(B)), we may issue permits
to authorize take of listed fish and wildlife species that is
incidental to, and not the purpose of, carrying out an otherwise lawful
activity. Regulations governing incidental take permits for endangered
and threatened species are in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) at
50 CFR 17.22 and 17.32, respectively. Issuance of an ITP also must not
jeopardize the existence of federally listed fish, wildlife, or plant
species. The permittee would receive assurances under our ``No
Surprises'' regulations (50 CFR 17.22(b)(5) and 17.32(b)(5)).
Applicant's Proposed Activities
The applicant has applied for a permit for incidental take of
California red-legged frog and California tiger salamander. The take
would occur in association with activities necessary to remediate soil
contaminated with hydrocarbons at the historical Cox 3-32 oil well sump
and oilfield lease access road in Santa Maria, California. Excavation
of hydrocarbon-impacted material surrounding the oil well sump would
extend to a maximum depth of approximately 12 feet (ft) below ground
surface within an approximately 0.88-acre work area surrounded by a
temporary chain link fence. California red-legged frogs have a known
population approximately 0.5 miles (mi) west of the project site in
Bradley Lake, making the project within dispersal distance for the
California red-legged frog. Additionally, California tiger salamanders
have been identified approximately 0.65 mi southwest of the project
site, making the project site potential California tiger salamander
upland habitat. The proposed soil remediation would require excavating
contaminated soils to a depth of approximately 12 ft in the area where
the oil well sump was located, which will result in impacts to
burrowing and dispersal habitat for the covered species as well as the
potential for direct injury or mortality from crushing during
excavation activities.
The project includes avoidance and minimization measures for the
California red-legged frog and California tiger salamander and
mitigation for unavoidable impacts to their habitat. The applicant has
proposed mitigation in the form of funding activities consistent with
the GCP that will compensate for unavoidable impacts to the California
red-legged frog. To mitigate for impacts to the California tiger
salamander, the applicant proposes to purchase one California tiger
salamander credit from the Service-approved La Purisima Conservation
Bank located in Santa Barbara County, California.
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.
[[Page 37901]]
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
The Service provides this notice under section 10(c) of the
Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and its implementing
regulations (50 CFR 17.32) and the National Environmental Policy Act
(42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (40 CFR 1500-
1508 and 43 CFR 46).
Stephen P. Henry,
Field Supervisor, Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office, Ventura,
California.
[FR Doc. 2023-12338 Filed 6-8-23; 8:45 am]
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