[Federal Register: June 17, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 116)]
[Notices]
[Page 34476-34477]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr17jn10-94]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R4-ES-2010-N102; 40120-1112-0000-F2]
Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for Incidental
Take and Wetland Fill Permits for Two Condominium Developments on the
Fort Morgan Peninsula, Baldwin County, AL
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice: receipt of applications for incidental take permits
(ITPs) for Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP); availability of proposed
HCP and draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (dSEIS);
request for comment.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announces the
availability of a proposed HCP, accompanying ITP applications, and a
dSEIS related to two proposed developments that would take the Alabama
beach mouse (Peromyscus polionotus ammobates) and place fill in
wetlands on the Fort Morgan peninsula, Baldwin County, Alabama. The HCP
analyzes the take of the Federally endangered Alabama beach mouse and
fill in wetlands incidental to construction and occupation of adjacent
residential and recreational condominium developments: Beach Club West
and Gulf Highlands Condominiums (collectively BCWGH) projects. Fort
Morgan Paradise Joint Venture and Gulf Highlands Condominiums, LLC
(applicants) request ITPs under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as
amended, (Act) as well as permits from the Department of the Army,
Corps of Engineers (Corps) for placing fill in wetlands under
jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act. The Applicants' HCP describes the
minimization and mitigation measures proposed to address the effects to
the species and to wetlands.
DATES: We must receive any written comments on the ITP applications,
joint HCP, and dSEIS at our Regional Office (see ADDRESSES) on or
before September 15, 2010.
ADDRESSES: Documents will be available for public inspection by
appointment
[[Page 34477]]
during normal business hours at the Regional Office, 1875 Century
Boulevard, Suite 200, Atlanta, GA 30345 (Attn: David Dell), or at the
Fish and Wildlife Service Field Office, 1208-B Main Street, Daphne, AL
36526 (Attn: Field Supervisor).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. David Dell, Regional HCP
Coordinator (see ADDRESSES), telephone: 404/679-4144, or Mr. Carl
Couret, Field Office Project Manager, at the Alabama Field Office (see
ADDRESSES), telephone: 251/441-5868.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We announce the availability of applications
for two ITPs, a joint HCP, and the availability of a dSEIS. The dSEIS
is a combined assessment addressing the environmental impacts
associated with these projects both individually and cumulatively. The
applicants request 30-year ITPs under section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Act
(16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and also request permits from the Corps under
section 404 of the Clean Water Act to place fill in jurisdictional
wetlands. The Corps is a cooperating agency in the development of the
dSEIS.
We specifically request information, views, and opinions from the
public via this notice on our proposed Federal action, including
identification of any other aspects of the human environment not
already identified in the dSEIS under NEPA regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).
Further, we specifically request information regarding the adequacy of
the HCP per 50 CFR parts 13 and 17.
The dSEIS analyzes the preferred alternative, as well as a full
range of reasonable alternatives and the associated impacts of each.
Alternative 3 (Preferred Alternative) is located 1,100 to 1,300 feet
from the Gulf of Mexico and north of tertiary dune habitat. This
alternative mitigates for the unavoidable loss of 1.36 acres of
wetlands and dedicates 135.2 acres of applicant-owned lands into
conservation status via covenants, conditions and restrictions attached
to the property, and conditions of any ITP that may be issued.
The Service previously issued ITPs in 2007 for one of the BCWGH
alternatives that was preferred at that time. Following legal
challenges and resultant court rulings, those ITPs were abandoned by
the applicants. The Environmental Impact Statement for those previous
ITPs has been revised to evaluate a new preferred alternative and now
serves as the dSEIS for the new ITP applications.
Public Comments
If you wish to comment, you may submit comments by any one of
several methods. Please reference application numbers TE08894A-0 and
TE08896A-0 in such comments. You may mail comments to our Regional
Office or the Alabama Field Office (see ADDRESSES). You may also
comment via the Internet to david_dell@fws.gov or carl_
couret@fws.gov. Please include your name and return mailing address in
your e-mail message. If you do not receive a confirmation from us that
we have received your e-mail, contact us directly at either telephone
number listed (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
Finally, you may hand-deliver comments to either of our offices
listed under ADDRESSES. Before including your address, phone number, e-
mail 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 review, we cannot guarantee that we
will be able to do so.
Covered Area
The proposed BCWGH developments would be located on approximately
181.9 acres on the Fort Morgan peninsula, Baldwin County, Alabama,
between State Highway 180 and the Gulf of Mexico (Section 28, Township
9 South, Range 2 East) about 12 miles west of Highway 59 in Gulf
Shores, Alabama, on the Fort Morgan Peninsula. The ITPs would be for
development of two condominium complexes totaling 38.7 acres. Under the
preferred alternative, project development would result in the
permanent and temporary loss of 48.1 acres of Alabama beach mouse
habitat.
Next Steps
We will evaluate these ITP applications, including the HCP and any
comments we receive, to determine whether these applications meet the
requirements of section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Act. We will also evaluate
whether issuance of the section 10(a)(1)(B) ITP complies with section 7
of the Act by conducting an intra-Service section 7 consultation. We
will use the results of this consultation, in combination with the
above findings, in our final analysis to determine whether or not to
issue the ITP. If we determine that the requirements are met, we will
issue the ITP for the incidental take of the Alabama beach mouse.
Authority: We provide this notice under section 10 of the Act
(16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and NEPA regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).
Dated: May 10, 2010.
Jacquelyn B. Parrish,
Acting Regional Director, Southeast Region.
[FR Doc. 2010-14617 Filed 6-16-10; 8:45 am]
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