[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 11 (Wednesday, January 17, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2971-2972]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-00751]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2023-0247; FXES11140400000-245-FF04EF4000]
Receipt of Incidental Take Permit Application and Proposed
Habitat Conservation Plan for the Sand Skink and Blue-Tailed Mole
Skink; Polk 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 St. John Methodist Church of Sebring Inc.
(applicant) for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered
Species Act. The applicant requests the ITP to take the federally
listed sand skink (Neoseps reynoldsi) and blue-tailed mole-skink
(Eumeces egregius lividus) incidental to the construction of a
residential development in Highlands County, Florida. We request public
comment on the application, which includes the applicant's 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
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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 February 16,
2024.
ADDRESSES:
Obtaining Documents: The documents this notice announces, as well
as any comments and other materials that we receive, will be available
for public inspection online in Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2023-0247 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 one of the following methods:
Online: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments on Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2023-0247.
U.S. mail: Public Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No.
FWS-R4-ES-2023-0247; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: PRB/3W, 5275
Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alfredo Begazo, by telephone at 772-
469-4234 or via 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 (Service),
announce receipt of an application from St. John Methodist Church of
Sebring Inc. (applicant) for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et
seq.). The applicant requests the ITP to take the federally listed sand
skink (Neoseps reynoldsi) and blue-tailed mole-skink (Eumeces egregius
lividus) (skinks) incidental to the construction and operation of a
church in Highlands County, Florida. We request public comment on the
application, which includes the applicant's proposed 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 applicant requests a 5-year ITP to take skinks via the
conversion of approximately 1.33 acres (ac) of occupied nesting,
foraging, and sheltering skink habitat incidental to the construction
and operation of a church on a 16.33-ac parcel in Section 22, Township
34 South, Range 28 East, Highlands County, Florida. The applicant
proposes to mitigate for take of the skinks by purchasing credits
equivalent to 2.66 ac of skink-occupied habitat from a Service-approved
conservation bank. The Service would require the applicant to purchase
the credits prior to engaging in any construction phase of the project.
Our Preliminary Determination
The Service has made a preliminary determination that the
applicant's project, including the construction of a church, driveways,
parking spaces, green areas, stormwater pond, and associated
infrastructure (e.g., electric, water, and sewer lines), would
individually and cumulatively have a minor effect on the skinks 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 sand
skink 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 permit. 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 PER5348829 to St. John Methodist
Church of Sebring Inc.
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.
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,
Division Manager, Environmental Review, Florida Ecological Services
Office.
[FR Doc. 2024-00751 Filed 1-16-24; 8:45 am]
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