[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 249 (Friday, December 29, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 90195-90196]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-28719]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R8-ES-2023-0191; FXES11140800000-234-FF08ESMF00]
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Draft Habitat
Conservation Plan and Draft Environmental Assessment; Sacramento
Municipal Utility District Operations, Maintenance, and New
Construction Habitat Conservation Plan, Sacramento County, CA
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 Sacramento Municipal Utility District
(applicant) for an incidental take permit (permit) under the Endangered
Species Act and an accompanying draft habitat conservation plan (plan).
We also announce the availability of a draft environmental assessment
pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act. We request public
comment on the application, which includes the applicant's proposed
plan, and the Service's draft environmental assessment. We invite
comment from the public and local, State, Tribal, and Federal agencies.
DATES: We must receive your written comments on or before January 29,
2024.
ADDRESSES:
Obtaining Documents: The documents this notice announces, as well
as any comments and other materials that we
[[Page 90196]]
receive, will be available for public inspection online in Docket No.
FWS-R8-ES-2023-0191 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-R8-ES-2023-0191.
U.S. mail: Public Comments Processing; Attn: Docket No.
FWS-R8-ES-2023-0191; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; MS: PRB/3W; 5275
Leesburg Pike; Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ian Perkins-Taylor, Fish and Wildlife
Biologist, [email protected] (by email), or at the Sacramento
Fish and Wildlife office (by telephone at 916-414-6585). 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 Sacramento Municipal
Utility District (SMUD; applicant) for a 30-year Permit under the
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et
seq.). In support of the application, the applicant prepared a draft
habitat conservation plan (plan) pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(B) of the
Act. The plan includes seven covered species that are all federally
listed as threatened or endangered under the Act. These species
comprise five animals and two plants: California tiger salamander
(Ambystoma californiense) Central California distinct population
segment; giant garter snake (Thamnophis gigas); valley elderberry
longhorn beetle (Desmocerus californicus dimorphus); vernal pool fairy
shrimp (Branchinecta lynchi); vernal pool tadpole shrimp (Lepidurus
packardi); Sacramento Orcutt grass (Orcuttia viscida); and slender
Orcutt grass (Orcuttia tenuis). The plan also includes a conservation
strategy to avoid, minimize, and mitigate for covered activities. The
applicant requests the permit for incidental take of the five covered
animal species incidental to the applicant's ongoing operations and
maintenance activities for the applicant's energy infrastructure in
Sacramento County and surrounding areas, as well as new construction
activities associated with providing energy to its users in Sacramento
County, California.
Background
Section 9 of the Act prohibits ``take'' of fish and wildlife
species listed as 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 Act (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 a permit 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
As described in the applicant's draft plan, the applicant is
proposing to conduct various activities necessary for the ongoing
operations and maintenance of the applicant's energy infrastructure in
Sacramento County and surrounding areas, as well as some construction
of new energy infrastructure to replace or supplement the existing
infrastructure. All seven covered species have known occurrences and
suitable habitat present within or near the locations where these
activities would occur. Therefore, take of the five covered animal
species and adverse effects to the two covered plant species could
occur in association with the proposed activities. The plan includes a
conservation strategy to avoid, minimize, and mitigate impacts to
covered species from the proposed activities. Avoidance and
minimization measures for the covered species will reduce the impacts
to covered species, and the applicant will mitigate for the remaining
unavoidable impacts.
National Environmental Policy Act Compliance
The draft environmental assessment was prepared to analyze the
impacts of issuing a permit based on the plan and to inform the public
of the proposed action, alternatives, and associated impacts and
disclose any irreversible commitments of resources. The proposed permit
issuance triggers the need for compliance with the National
Environmental Policy Act. The proposed action presented in the draft
environmental assessment is compared to the no-action alternative. The
no-action alternative represents estimated future conditions to which
the proposed action's estimated future conditions can be compared. The
Service also considered eight other alternatives, but these were
eliminated from further consideration because they did not meet the
purpose and need of the proposed action or the applicant's objectives.
Next Steps
The Service will evaluate the application and the comments received
to determine whether to issue the requested permit. We will also
conduct an intra-Service consultation pursuant to section 7 of the Act
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 Act have been met. If
met, the Service will issue the permit.
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 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 17.22 and 17.32) and the National Environmental
Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and its implementing regulations
(40 CFR 1500-1508) and the Department of the Interior's National
Environmental Policy Act regulations (43 CFR 46).
Michael Fris,
Field Supervisor, Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office, Sacramento,
California.
[FR Doc. 2023-28719 Filed 12-28-23; 8:45 am]
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