[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 220 (Friday, November 14, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68289-68291]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-27021]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R1-ES-2014-N131; FXES11120100000-145-FF01E00000]
Draft Multi-Species General Conservation Plan and Draft
Environmental Assessment; Douglas County, Washington
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the
availability of a draft multi-species general conservation plan (MSGCP)
for Douglas County, Washington. The Service and the Foster Creek
Conservation District (FCCD) developed the draft MSGCP as a
programmatic approach to streamline the development of individual farm
plans by non-Federal agricultural landowners and operators to
facilitate their applying for incidental take permits (ITPs) under the
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). The ITPs would
authorize take of the federally endangered Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit
and three other nonlisted species, should they become listed, resulting
from otherwise lawful activities on non-
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Federal agricultural lands within Douglas County. The Service also
announces the availability of a draft environmental assessment (EA) for
public review and comment.
DATES: To ensure consideration, please send your written comments by
January 13, 2015.
ADDRESSES: To request further information or submit written comments,
please use one of the following methods, and note that your information
request or comments are in reference to the Douglas County MSGCP:
Internet: Documents may be viewed on the Internet at
http://www.fws.gov/wafwo/.
In-Person Viewing or Pickup: Documents will be available
for public inspection by appointment during normal business hours at
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Eastern Washington Field Office,
11103 E. Montgomery Dr., Spokane Valley, WA 99206; and at the Foster
Creek Conservation District Office, Douglas County Courthouse-3rd
Floor, 203 Rainier, Waterville, WA 98858.
Email: FW1DouglasCountyGCP@fws.gov. Include ``Douglas
County MSGCP'' in the subject line of the message.
U.S. Mail: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Eastern
Washington Field Office, 11103 E. Montgomery Dr., Spokane Valley, WA
99206.
Fax: Eastern Washington Field Office, 509-891-6748, Attn.:
Douglas County MSGCP.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michelle Eames, Project Manager,
Eastern Washington Field Office (see ADDRESSES), telephone: 509-893-
8010. If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf, please call
the Federal Information Relay Service at 800-877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Section 9 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act;
16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) prohibits take of fish and wildlife species
listed as endangered or threatened under section 4 of the Act. Under
the Act, the term ``take'' means 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(19)). The term ``harm,'' as defined in our
regulations, includes significant habitat modification or degradation
that results in death or injury to listed species by significantly
impairing essential behavioral patterns, including breeding, feeding,
or sheltering (50 CFR 17.3). The term ``harass'' is defined in our
regulations as to carry out actions that create the likelihood of
injury to listed species to such an extent as to significantly disrupt
normal behavioral patterns, which include, but are not limited to,
breeding, feeding, or sheltering (50 CFR 17.3).
However, under specified circumstances, the Service may issue
permits that allow take of federally listed species, provided that the
take that occurs is incidental to, but not the purpose of, an otherwise
lawful activity. Regulations governing permits for endangered and
threatened species are at 50 CFR 17.22 and 17.32, respectively. Section
10(a)(1)(B) of the Act contains provisions for issuing such incidental
take permits to non-Federal entities for the take of endangered and
threatened species, provided the following criteria are met:
(1) The taking will be incidental;
(2) The applicant will, to the maximum extent practicable, minimize
and mitigate the impact of such taking;
(3) The applicant will ensure that adequate funding for the plan
will be provided;
(4) The taking will not appreciably reduce the likelihood of the
survival and recovery of the species in the wild; and
(5) The applicant will carry out any other measures that the
Service may require as being necessary or appropriate for the purposes
of the plan.
Proposed Action
The Service and the FCCD developed the proposed MSGCP for Douglas
County, Washington, as a programmatic approach to streamline the
development of individual farm plans to support ITP applications under
section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Act. The MSGCP would expedite Service review
of such permit applications. The MSGCP is a type of programmatic
conservation plan, under which multiple section 10 permits can be
issued. The proposed MSGCP provides land management guidance for
protecting the federally endangered Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit
(Brachylagus idahoensis) and three nonlisted wildlife species, over
approximately 879,000 acres of private agricultural lands in Douglas
County, Washington, for the next 50 years. The three nonlisted species
include the greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus), Washington
ground squirrel (Urocitellus washingtoni), and the sharp-tailed grouse
(Tympanuchus phasianellus). Collectively these four species are
hereafter referred to as the ``covered species.'' The MSGCP does not
cover private, nonagricultural land uses within Douglas County, and it
does not cover activities on Federal land. It also does not cover
State-owned land, unless those lands are leased for agricultural
production to private operators, as can occur with lands managed by the
Washington Department of Natural Resources.
The Douglas County MSGCP will streamline the development of future
ITP applications, which, if approved, would authorize the incidental
take of federally endangered or threatened species resulting from
otherwise lawful activities on non-Federal agricultural lands within
Douglas County. Should any of the nonlisted covered species become
federally listed as endangered or threatened under the Act during the
term of an ITP, take authorization for those species would become
effective upon listing, as long as the permittee is in compliance with
the terms of the MSGCP and ITP. Agricultural landowners and operators
participating in the Douglas County MSGCP under an ITP would be
provided with legal authority to conduct covered agricultural
activities that cause incidental take of listed species. The MSGCP
covers numerous activities associated with dryland farming, ranching,
and some irrigated farming in Douglas County. Farmers and ranchers in
Douglas County may voluntarily apply for ITPs under the MSGCP. The
Service will publish notice of the receipt of applications in the
Federal Register and request public comments. If an application is
consistent with expectations of the MSGCP, the EA and related documents
and all other applicable Federal laws and regulations, the USFWS will
issue the ITP. An ITP is needed to authorize the incidental take of
federally endangered and threatened species that may occur as a result
of covered agricultural activities.
The proposed Douglas County MSGCP includes measures to minimize and
mitigate, to the maximum extent practicable, the impacts of farming and
ranching activities that may incidentally take the covered species.
Avoidance, minimization, and mitigation measures in the MSGCP include
development of farm plans, implementation of best management practices,
and an adaptive management and monitoring plan. The draft MSGCP and
draft EA address and analyze the impacts of incidental take of the
covered species resulting from agricultural activities.
The purpose of developing a MSGCP is to allow potential applicants
for an ITP to use the provisions in the MSGCP instead of developing
their own individual habitat conservation plans. Under this scenario,
the MSGCP allows multiple applicants to conduct similar
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activities within a predetermined area, while jointly conserving the
covered species and their habitats. Implementation of the Douglas
County MSGCP, rather than a species-by-species or plan-by-plan
approach, will maximize the benefits of conservation measures for
covered species at a larger landscape scale and facilitate future
review of multiple individual ITPs.
National Environmental Policy Act Compliance
The development of the draft MSGCP for Douglas County and the
proposed issuance of ITPs under this plan is a Federal action that
triggers the need for compliance with the National Environmental Policy
Act of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.; NEPA). We have
prepared a draft EA to analyze the environmental impacts of three
alternatives related to the issuance of ITPs and implementation of the
conservation program under the proposed MSGCP. The three alternatives
include the proposed action, a no-action alternative, and an expanded
conservation lands alternative.
The proposed action alternative is the implementation of the MSGCP
and issuance of ITPs to participating agricultural landowners and
operators in Douglas County.
Under the no-action alternative, the proposed MSGCP would not be
implemented and no ITPs would be issued to agricultural landowners and
operators in Douglas County to cover the incidental take of covered
species resulting from farming and ranching activities. The no-action
alternative would not give agricultural landowners and operators
regulatory certainty, and actions that could result in take of listed
species on non-Federal lands would be prohibited under section 9 of the
Act.
The expanded conservation lands alternative would include many of
the same features as described for the proposed action alternative,
including the same covered activities, covered species, and monitoring
and adaptive management. The key difference would be in the approach to
managing conservation lands. In recent years, the conservation of all
wildlife species in Douglas County has been considerably improved by
implementation of the Natural Resources Conservation Service's
Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). Prior to 2009, about 33 percent of
the ``eligible lands'' in Douglas County (186,144 acres) were enrolled
in the CRP. This expanded conservation lands alternative involves an
increase in the extent of lands enrolled in the CRP or similar
protected lands by 100,000 acres above the 2009 benchmark of 186,144
acres over the next 10 years, to a level of about 50 percent of the
eligible lands in Douglas County. This would be a voluntary commitment
on the part of landowners.
Public Comments
You may submit your comments and materials by one of the methods
listed in the ADDRESSES section. We specifically request information,
views, and opinions from the public on our proposed Federal action,
including identification of any other aspects of the human environment
not already identified in the draft EA pursuant to NEPA regulations in
the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) at 40 CFR 1506.6. Further, we
specifically solicit information regarding the adequacy of the MSGCP
pursuant to the requirements for ITPs at 50 CFR parts 13 and 17.
Public Availability of Comments
All comments and materials we receive become part of the public
record associated with this action. Before including your address,
phone number, email address, or other personally identifiable
information (PII) in your comments, you should be aware that your
entire comment--including your PII--may be made publicly available at
any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your PII
from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.
Comments and materials we receive, as well as supporting documentation
we use in preparing the EA, will be available for public inspection by
appointment, during normal business hours, at our Eastern Washington
Field Office (see ADDRESSES).
Next Steps
After completion of the EA, we will determine whether adoption of
the Douglas County MSGCP warrants a finding of no significant impact or
whether an environmental impact statement should be prepared. We will
evaluate the Douglas County MSGCP and its potential use by future ITP
applicants, as well as any comments we receive, to determine whether
the MSGCP, when used by ITP applicants, would meet the requirements for
issuance of ITPs under section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Act. We will also
evaluate whether issuance of section 10(a)(1)(B) ITPs under the MSGCP
would comply with section 7 of the Act by conducting an intra-Service
section 7 consultation on anticipated ITP actions.
Authority
We provide this notice in accordance with the requirements of
section 10 of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and NEPA regulations (40
CFR 1501.7, 1506.6, and 1508.22).
Dated: October 21, 2014.
Richard Hannan,
Deputy Regional Director, Pacific Region, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, Portland, Oregon.
[FR Doc. 2014-27021 Filed 11-13-14; 8:45 am]
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