[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 235 (Monday, December 8, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72696-72698]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-28696]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R8-ES-2014-N242; FXES11120800000-145-FF08E00000]
Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Maricopa
Sun Solar Complex Multi-Species Habitat Conservation Plan, Kern County,
California
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the
availability of our final environmental impact statement (EIS) for the
Maricopa Sun Solar Complex Multi-Species Habitat Conservation Plan
(HCP), in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969, as amended (NEPA), and its implementing regulations, as well as
in compliance with the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended
(Act). The final EIS was updated to address the comments received on
the 2014 draft EIS and considers the environmental effects of issuing
an incidental take permit for five animal species in response to the
application from Maricopa Sun, LLC (Applicant). The Applicant has
prepared the final Maricopa Sun Solar Complex Habitat Conservation Plan
(HCP) to describe and implement a conservation plan that will minimize
and mitigate environmental effects associated with the incidental take
of five animal species (``Covered Species'') associated with the
construction, operation, maintenance, and decommissioning of an up to
700 megawatt photo-voltaic power generating facility and implementation
of conservation actions associated with the HCP in Kern County,
California.
DATES: A Record of Decision will be signed no sooner than 30 days after
the publication date announcing this final EIS. We will accept comments
received by January 7, 2015.
ADDRESSES: Obtaining Documents: You may download copies of the final
EIS and final HCP from the Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office Web site
at http://www.fws.gov/sacramento. Alternatively you may use one of the
methods below to request a CD-ROM of the documents. Please send your
requests or comments by any one of the following methods.
Submitting Comments: You may submit comments or requests for copies
or more information by one of the following methods.
U.S. Mail: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Sacramento Fish
and Wildlife
[[Page 72697]]
Office; Attn: Mr. Mike Thomas, Chief, Conservation Planning Division;
2800 Cottage Way, W-2605, Sacramento, CA 95825.
In-Person Drop-off, Viewing, or Pickup: Telephone 916-414-
6600 to make an appointment during regular business hours to drop off
comments or view received comments at the Sacramento Fish and Wildlife
Office.
Fax: Mr. Mike Thomas, Chief, Conservation Planning
Division, 916-414-6713.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mike Thomas, Chief, Conservation
Planning Division, or Eric Tattersall, Deputy Assistant Field
Supervisor, at the address in ADDRESSES or at (916) 414-6600
(telephone). Persons who use a telecommunications device for the deaf
(TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at (800)
877-8339 to contact the above individuals during normal business hours.
The FIRS is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to leave a message
or question with the above individuals. You will receive a reply during
normal business hours.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice announces the availability of
the final EIS under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as
amended (42 U.S.C. 4321-4347 et seq.; NEPA), and its implementing
regulations in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) at 40 CFR 1500-
1508, as well as in compliance with section 10(c) of the Endangered
Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531-1544 et seq.; Act).
Background Information
Section 9 of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531-1544 et seq.) and Federal
regulations at 50 CFR 17 prohibit the taking of fish and wildlife
species listed as endangered or threatened under section 4 of the Act.
Take of federally listed fish or wildlife is defined under the Act as
to ``harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or
collect, or attempt to engage in such conduct'' 16 U.S.C. 1532(19)).
The term ``harm'' is defined in the regulations as ``an act which
actually kills or injures wildlife such act may include significant
habitat modification or degradation where it actually kills or injures
wildlife by significantly impairing essential behavioral patterns,
including breeding, feeding, or sheltering'' (50 CFR 17.3). However,
under specified circumstances, the Service may issue permits that allow
the take of federally listed fish or wildlife 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 applicants will, to the maximum extent practicable,
minimize and mitigate the impact of such taking;
(3) The applicants will develop a proposed HCP and ensure that
adequate funding for the HCP 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 applicants will carry out any other measures that the
Service may require as being necessary or appropriate for the purposes
of the HCP.
The final HCP addresses, and the Applicant seeks incidental take
authorization for, five animal species (three federally endangered and
two federally non-listed). The proposed permit would provide take
authorization for all species identified in the final HCP as Covered
Species. Take authorized for listed Covered Species would be effective
upon permit issuance. Take authorization for currently non-listed
Covered Species would become effective concurrent with listing, should
the species be listed under the Act during the proposed 35-year Permit
Term.
The following three federally listed endangered species are
included as Covered Species in the HCP: Blunt-nosed leopard lizard
(Gambelia sila), Tipton kangaroo rat (Dipodomys nitratoides
nitratoides), and San Joaquin kit fox (Vulpes macrotis mutica). The
following two federally non-listed species are included as Covered
Species in the HCP: Western burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia) and
Nelson's antelope squirrel (Ammospermophilus nelsoni).
Activities proposed for coverage under the incidental take permit
(``Covered Activities'') include, but are not limited to the following
general categories: Construction and operation activities within Solar
Sites; management and maintenance activities within Movement Corridors;
management activities within the areas designated for conservation
(Conservation Sites), including monitoring and reporting actions;
activities associated with implementation of the conservation program
specified in the final HCP; decommissioning; and implementation of the
conservation program.
Construction-related activities could include grading and
compaction, trenching, paving of access roads, installation of solar
arrays, meteorological stations, transmission lines, septic leech
fields, fencing, and landscaping. Construction of solar facilities on
all sites is anticipated to be completed over an 8-to-10-year period
from the commencement of the initial development; however, could it
extend to a 10-to-15-year period. Construction of the project will
occur in a series of approximately 1-megawatt blocks, generally
consisting of 5 to 8.64 acres each. It is anticipated that construction
of each section (640 acres) within the Maricopa Sun Solar Complex will
take 12 to 18 months. Operation-related activities could include solar
panel maintenance, on-site parking, operation of solar modules,
inspection, and repair of equipment, and operation of lighting. Typical
activities associated with decommissioning of the solar energy facility
include removal of all solar electric systems, buildings, cabling,
electrical components, breaking up of concrete pads and foundations,
removal of access roads, additional grading, and replacement of soil
disturbed from decommissioning. Preservation/enhancement and
conservation plan management activities could include vegetation
control (i.e., grazing and mowing), fence installation, special status
species monitoring (i.e., surveys such as trapping, use of remote
cameras and spotlighting), and habitat restoration and creation.
The proposed Covered Activities related to development and
operations and maintenance of the solar sites would result in the
permanent or temporary disturbance of up to 3,798 acres of existing
land cover within the proposed 5,784-acre Permit Area. The proposed
Covered Activities related to management of the Conservation Sites
would also result in some disturbance of land cover, but overall these
actions are expected to benefit the Covered Species. The Solar Site
Parcels encompass 3,798 acres (plus 91 acres of existing public
easements), and Conservation Sites total 1,894 acres. The Covered Lands
are primarily comprised of currently undeveloped and vacant
agricultural land, and are relatively flat. Surrounding land uses are
both active and inactive agricultural land; they also include lands
designated as flood hazard areas, public facilities, lands designated
for the protection of important watershed recharge areas or wildlife
habitat, lands having important value as a buffer between resource
areas
[[Page 72698]]
and urban areas, and lands designated for industrial uses. Covered
Activity impacts to existing land cover types were used as a surrogate
to identify maximum potential impacts to species and the potential take
of each Covered Species. The proposed HCP conservation strategy
prescribes conditions for implementing each Covered Activity that avoid
or minimize potential take of the Covered Species, and identifies
mitigation for species impacts that cannot be avoided.
National Environmental Policy Act Compliance
Our proposed permit issuance decision triggers compliance with
NEPA, which requires that environmental information be available to
public officials and citizens before Federal decisions are made and
before Federal actions are taken. We formally initiated an
environmental review of the draft EIS through publication of a notice
of intent (NOI) to prepare a draft EIS in the Federal Register on
Friday, December 23, 2011 (76 FR 80385). That notice also announced a
public scoping period, during which we invited interested parties to
provide written comments expressing their issues or concerns related to
the proposal. A public scoping meeting was held in Bakersfield,
California, on January 23, 2012. We prepared a draft EIS and published
a notice of availability (NOA) in the Federal Register on Wednesday,
May 28, 2014 (79 FR 30638). We received one comment letter on the draft
EIS. A response to the comment received has been included in the final
EIS and revisions to the final EIS. The analysis provided in the final
EIS is intended to accomplish the following: Inform the public of the
Service's proposed permit action and alternatives and the environmental
impacts of the alternatives, and address public comments received on
the draft EIS.
Public Comments
The Service invites the public to review the permit application,
final EIS, and final HCP during the public comment period (see DATES).
You may submit any comments and materials by one of the methods listed
in ADDRESSES. Before including your address, phone number, or other
personal identifying information in your comment, you should be aware
that your entire comment--including your personal identifying
information--might 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.
Next Steps
We will evaluate the application, associated documents, and
comments submitted to determine whether the application meets the
requirements of section 10(a) of the Act. The Service will then prepare
a Record of Decision. A permit decision will be made no sooner than 30
days after the publication of the final EIS notice in the Federal
Register and completion of the Record of Decision.
Dated: December 2, 2014.
Paul B. McKim
Deputy Regional Director, Fish and Wildlife Service, Pacific Southwest
Region, Sacramento, California.
[FR Doc. 2014-28696 Filed 12-5-14; 8:45 am]
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