[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 44 (Wednesday, March 6, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14587-14588]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-05237]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R8-ES-2013-N049; 1112-0000-81440-F2]
Kelley-McDonough Low-Effect Habitat Conservation Plan for the
Morro Shoulderband Snail, Community of Los Osos, San Luis Obispo
County, California
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comment.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), have
received an application from John Kelley and Denise McDonough for a 10-
year incidental take permit under the Endangered Species Act of 1973,
as amended. The application addresses the potential for ``take'' of the
federally endangered Morro shoulderband snail that is likely to occur
incidental to the construction, maintenance, and occupation of a
single-family residence on an existing legal single-family-zoned parcel
in the unincorporated community of Los Osos, San Luis Obispo County,
California. The applicants would implement a conservation program to
minimize and mitigate project activities that are likely to result in
take of the Morro shoulderband snail as described in their plan. We
invite comments from the public on the application package that
includes the Kelley-McDonough Low-Effect Habitat Conservation Plan for
the Morro Shoulderband Snail. This proposed action has been determined
to be eligible for a Categorical Exclusion under the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA).
DATES: To ensure consideration, please send your written comments by
April 5, 2013.
ADDRESSES: You may download a copy of the habitat conservation plan,
draft environmental action statement and low-effect screening form, and
related documents on the Internet at http://www.fws.gov/ventura/, or
you may request copies of the documents by U.S. mail or phone (see
below). Please address written comments to Diane K. Noda, Field
Supervisor, Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, 2493 Portola Road, Suite B, Ventura, California 93003. You may
alternatively send comments by facsimile to 805-644-3958.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Julie M. Vanderwier, Fish and Wildlife
Biologist, at the above address or by calling 805-644-1766.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Morro shoulderband snail (=banded dune snail; Helminthoglypta
walkeriana) was listed by the Service as endangered on December 15,
1994 (59 FR 64613). Section 9 of the Act and its implementing
regulations (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) prohibit the take of fish or
wildlife species listed as endangered or threatened. ``Take'' is
defined under the Act 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); however,
under section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Act, we may issue permits to authorize
incidental take of listed species. ``Incidental take'' is defined by
the Act as take that is not the purpose of carrying out of an otherwise
lawful activity. Regulations governing incidental take permits for
threatened and endangered species are provided in the Code of Federal
Regulations at 50 CFR 17.32 and 17.22. Issuance of an incidental take
permit must not jeopardize the existence of federally listed fish,
wildlife, or plant species.
John Kelley and Denise McDonough (hereafter, the applicants) have
submitted a low-effect habitat conservation plan (HCP) in support of
their application for an incidental take permit (ITP) to address take
of Morro shoulderband snail that is likely to occur as the result of
direct impacts to up to 0.18 acre (8,000 square feet) of highly
disturbed habitat invaded by nonnative species that is occupied by the
species. Take would be associated with the construction, maintenance,
and occupation of a single-family residence on an existing parcel
legally described as County of San Luis Obispo Assessor Parcel Number
074-471-002 and located at 2285 Bay Vista Lane in western portion of
Los Osos, an unincorporated community of San Luis Obispo County,
California. The applicants are requesting a permit for take of Morro
shoulderband snail that would result from HCP ``covered activities,''
which include the construction, maintenance, and occupation of a
single-family residence and associated landscaping/infrastructure.
The applicants propose to minimize and mitigate take of Morro
shoulderband snail associated with the covered activities by fully
implementing the HCP. The following measures would be implemented to
minimize the effects of the taking: (1) Pre-construction and concurrent
construction monitoring surveys for Morro shoulderband snail
[[Page 14588]]
would be conducted, (2) all identified individuals of any life stage of
Morro shoulderband snail would be captured and moved out of harm's way
to a Service-approved receptor site by an individual in possession of a
current valid recovery permit for the species, and (3) a contractor and
employee training program for Morro shoulderband snail would be
developed and presented. To mitigate for unavoidable take, the
applicants would contribute $4,000 to an impact-directed environmental
account held and administered by the National Fish and Wildlife
Foundation. These funds would be used to implement recovery tasks
identified in the Recovery Plan for the Morro Shoulderband Snail and
Four Plants from Western San Luis Obispo County, California (USFWS
1998). The applicants would fund up to $4,000, as needed, to ensure
implementation of all of the minimization measures and reporting
requirements identified in the HCP.
In the proposed HCP, the applicants consider two alternatives to
the proposed action: ``No Action'' and ``Project Design.'' Under the
``No Action'' alternative, an ITP for the Kelley-McDonough single-
family residence would not be issued. The Kelly-McDonough single-family
residence would not be built, and a contribution of in-lieu fees would
not be provided to effect recovery actions for the Morro shoulderband
snail. Since the property is privately owned, there are ongoing
economic considerations associated with continued ownership without
use, including payment of associated taxes. The sale of this property
for purposes other than the identified activity is not considered
economically feasible. Because of economic considerations and because
the proposed action results in a net benefit for the covered species,
Morro shoulderband snail, the No Action Alternative has been rejected.
Under the ``Project Redesign'' alternative, the project would be
redesigned to avoid or further reduce take of Morro shoulderband snail.
The onsite habitats occupied by Morro shoulderband snail are highly
degraded in nature, and the parcel is not of sufficient size to
accommodate a redesign that would substantially improve the
conservation benefit to the species beyond what would be achieved in
the proposed project. For these reasons, the alternate design
alternative has also been rejected.
We are requesting comments on our preliminary determination that
the applicants' proposal will have a minor or negligible effect on the
Morro shoulderband snail and that the plan qualifies as a low-effect
HCP as defined by our Habitat Conservation Planning Handbook (November
1996). We base our determinations on three criteria: (1) Implementation
of the proposed project as described in the HCP would result in minor
or negligible effects on federally listed, proposed, and/or candidate
species and their habitats; (2) implementation of the HCP would result
in minor negligible effects on other environmental values or resources;
and (3) HCP impacts, considered together with those of other past,
present, and reasonably foreseeable future projects, would not result
in cumulatively significant effects. In our analysis of these criteria,
we have made a preliminary determination that the approval of the HCP
and issuance of an ITP qualify for categorical exclusion under the NEPA
(42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), as provided by the Department of Interior
Manual (516 DM 2 Appendix 2 and 516 DM 8); however, based upon our
review of public comments that we receive in response to this notice,
this preliminary determination may be revised.
Next Steps
We will evaluate the permit application, including the plan and
comments we receive, to determine whether the application meets the
requirements of section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Act. We will also evaluate
whether issuance of the ITP would comply with section 7(a)(2) of the
Act by conducting an intra-Service Section 7 consultation.
Public Review
We provide this notice under section 10(c) of the Act and the NEPA
public involvement regulations (40 CFR 1500.1(b), 1500.2(d), and
1506.6). We are requesting comments on our determination that the
applicants' proposal will have a minor or neglible effect on the Morro
shoulderband snail and that the plan qualifies as a low-effect HCP. We
will evaluate the permit application, including the plan and comments
we receive, to determine whether the application meets the requirements
of section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Act. We will use the results of our
internal Service consultation, in combination with the above findings,
in our final analysis to determine whether to issue the permits. If the
requirements are met, we will issue an ITP to the applicants for the
incidental take of Morro shoulderband snail. We will make the final
permit decision no sooner than 30 days after the date of this notice.
Public Comments
If you wish to comment on the permit applications, plans, and
associated documents, you may submit comments by any one of the methods
in ADDRESSES.
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
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: February 27, 2013.
Diane K. Noda,
Field Supervisor, Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office. Ventura,
California.
[FR Doc. 2013-05237 Filed 3-5-13; 8:45 am]
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