[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 123 (Wednesday, June 28, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41982-41983]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-13781]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2023-0066; FXES11140400000-234-FF04EF4000]
Receipt of Incidental Take Permit Application and Proposed
Habitat Conservation Plan for the Audubon's Crested Caracara, Brevard
County, FL; Categorical Exclusion
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce receipt
of an application from Malabar PO, LLC and Stellar Communities, LLC
(applicants) for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered
Species Act. The applicants request the ITP to take the federally
listed Audubon's crested caracara (Polyborus plancus audubonii)
incidental to the construction, operation, maintenance, vegetative
management, and occupancy of a residential development in Brevard
County, Florida. We request public comment on the application, which
includes the applicants' proposed habitat conservation plan (HCP), and
on 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. To make this preliminary
determination, we prepared a draft environmental action statement and
low-effect screening form, both of which are also available for public
review. We invite comment from the public and local, State, Tribal, and
Federal agencies.
DATES: We must receive your written comments on or before July 28,
2023.
ADDRESSES: Obtaining Documents: You may obtain copies of the documents
online in Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2023-0066 at https://www.regulations.gov.
Submitting Comments: If you wish to submit comments on any of the
documents, you may do so in writing by any of the following methods:
Online: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments on Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2023-0066.
U.S. mail: Public Comments Processing; Attn: Docket No.
FWS-R4-ES-2023-0066; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: PRB/3W; 5275
Leesburg Pike; Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kenneth McDonald, by U.S. mail (see
ADDRESSES), via phone at 772-562-3909, or by email at
[email protected]. 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 Fish and Wildlife Service, announce
receipt of an application from Malabar PO, LLC and Stellar Communities,
LLC (applicants) for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et
seq.). The applicants request the ITP to take the federally listed
Audubon's crested caracara (Polyborus plancus audubonii) incidental to
the construction, operation, maintenance, vegetative management, and
occupancy of 266 residential units, clubhouse, maintenance facility,
roads and parking spaces, green spaces, and other amenities on a 27.9-
acre site in Brevard County, Florida. We request public comment on the
application, which includes the applicants' habitat conservation plan
(HCP), and on the Service's 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)). To make this
preliminary determination, we prepared a draft environmental action
statement and low-effect screening form, both of which are also
available for public review.
Proposed Project
The applicants request a 5-year ITP to take Audubon's crested
caracara via the impaired reproduction and survival of one Audubon's
crested caracara nest and their young annually. Records of Audubon's
crested caracara, both adult and juvenile, are ubiquitous within a
4921-foot (1,500-meter) radius of the project site. The site contains
habitat suitable for Audubon's crested caracara foraging, and it is
assumed to be part of an existing nesting territory.
[[Page 41983]]
Malabar PO, LLC and Stellar Communities, LLC plan to mitigate for
unavoidable periodic failure of one Audubon's crested caracara nest and
impaired foraging in the project footprint with a contribution of
$12,555.00 (based on 27.9 ac of proposed impact at a cost of $450 per
ac) to the Fish and Wildlife Foundation of Florida's caracara
conservation fund. This sum will be allocated to restore abandoned
citrus groves to habitat suitable for caracara nesting and foraging.
The area of abandoned citrus grove restored to suitable caracara
habitat will be equal to the area of existing suitable habitat that
will be impacted by the proposed action. The contribution to the fund
must be completed prior to construction. Upon contribution of the
$12,555.00, a letter will be secured from the Foundation by the Service
confirming that the full amount of mitigation has been contributed.
Public Availability of Comments
Before including your address, phone number, email address, or
other personal identifying information in your comment, be aware that
your entire comment, including your personal identifying information,
may be made available to the public. While you may request that we
withhold your personal identifying information, we cannot guarantee
that we will be able to do so.
Our Preliminary Determination
The Service has made a preliminary determination that the
applicants' proposed project, including the additional construction
activities, operation, maintenance, vegetative management, and public
use, would individually and cumulatively have a minor effect on
Audubon's crested caracara and the human environment. Therefore, we
have preliminarily determined that the proposed ESA section 10(a)(1)(B)
permit would be a low-effect ITP that individually or cumulatively
would have a minor effect on the eastern indigo snake and may qualify
for application of a categorical exclusion pursuant to the Council on
Environmental Quality's NEPA regulations, DOI's NEPA regulations, and
the DOI Departmental Manual. A low-effect incidental take permit is one
that would result in (1) minor or nonsignificant effects on species
covered in the HCP; (2) nonsignificant effects on the human
environment; and (3) impacts that, when added together with the impacts
of other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable actions, would not
result in significant cumulative effects to the human environment.
Next Steps
The Service will evaluate the application and the comments to
determine whether to issue the requested ITP. 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 preceding and
other matters, we will determine whether the permit issuance criteria
of section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA have been met. If met, the Service
will issue ITP number PER2261354 to Malabar PO, LLC and Stellar
Communities, LLC.
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).
Robert L. Carey,
Manager, Division of Environmental Review, Florida Ecological Services
Office.
[FR Doc. 2023-13781 Filed 6-27-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P