[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 250 (Wednesday, December 31, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 78899-78901]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-30689]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R8-ES-2014-N147]; [FXES11120000-156-FF08ECAR00]
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Incidental Take
Permit Application; Proposed Low-Effect Habitat Conservation Plan and
Associated Documents; County of San Diego, California
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), have
received an application from Pauma Estates, Inc. (applicant) for a 5-
year incidental take permit for the endangered arroyo toad pursuant to
the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). We are requesting
comments on the permit application and on the preliminary
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determination that the proposed HCP qualifies as a ``low-effect''
Habitat Conservation Plan, eligible for a categorical exclusion under
the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended. The
basis for this determination is discussed in the environmental action
statement (EAS) and associated low-effect screening form, which are
also available for public review.
DATES: Written comments should be received on or before January 30,
2015.
ADDRESSES: Submitting Comments: You may submit comments by one of the
following methods:
U.S. Mail: Field Supervisor, Fish and Wildlife Service,
Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office, 2177 Salk Avenue, Suite 250,
Carlsbad, CA 92008.
Fax: Field Supervisor, 760-431-9624.
Obtaining Documents: To request copies of the application, proposed
HCP, and EAS, contact the Service immediately, by telephone at 760-431-
9440 or by letter to the Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office (see
ADDRESSES). Copies of the proposed HCP and EAS also are available for
public inspection during regular business hours at the Carlsbad Fish
and Wildlife Office (see ADDRESSES).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Karen A. Goebel, Assistant Field
Supervisor, Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office (see ADDRESSES);
telephone 760-431-9440. If you use a telecommunications device for the
deaf (TDD), please call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at
800-877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(Service), have received an application from Pauma Estates, Inc.
(applicant) for a 5-year incidental take permit for one covered species
pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973,
as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq., Act). The application addresses the
potential ``take'' of the endangered arroyo toad in the course of
activities associated with the construction of the Pauma Estates
residential development in unincorporated San Diego County, California.
A conservation program to avoid, minimize, and mitigate for project
activities would be implemented as described in the proposed Habitat
Conservation Plan (HCP) by the applicant.
We are requesting comments on the permit application and on the
preliminary determination that the proposed HCP qualifies as a ``low-
effect'' Habitat Conservation Plan, eligible for a categorical
exclusion under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969,
as amended. The basis for this determination is discussed in the
environmental action statement (EAS) and associated low-effect
screening form, which are also available for public review.
Background
Section 9 of the Act and its implementing Federal regulations
prohibit the ``take'' of animal species listed as endangered or
threatened. Take is defined under the Act as ``to harass, harm, pursue,
hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect listed species, or
to attempt to engage in any such conduct'' (16 U.S.C. 1538). ``Harm''
includes significant habitat modification or degradation that actually
kills or injures listed wildlife by significantly impairing essential
behavioral patterns such as breeding, feeding, or sheltering (50 CFR
17.3). However, under section 10(a) of the Act, the Service may issue
permits to authorize incidental take of listed species. ``Incidental
take'' is defined by the Act as take that is incidental to, and not the
purpose of, carrying out an otherwise lawful activity. Regulations
governing incidental take permits for threatened and endangered
species, respectively, are found at 50 CFR 17.22 and 50 CFR 17.32.
The applicant requests a 5-year permit under section 10(a)(1)(B) of
the Act. If we approve the permit, the applicant anticipates taking
arroyo toad [Anaxyrus (=Bufo) californicus] as a result of permanent
impacts to 10.74 acres (ac) of habitat the species uses for feeding and
sheltering. The take would be incidental to the applicant's activities
associated with the construction of the Pauma Estates residential
development in San Diego County, California, and includes in-perpetuity
management activities within the proposed on-site biological open space
area.
The Pauma Estates project proposes to grade 16 lots for residential
homes, construct the associated initial infrastructure (private road
and utilities installation), and improve 3.8 ac of public road. The
applicant will grade and install the initial infrastructure
improvements necessary to create residential lots that will
subsequently be sold to individual buyers for final buildout (e.g.,
pads, driveways, and landscaping) at an unspecified time in the future.
The project will impact 10.74 ac of arroyo toad upland aestivation
habitat permanently as a result of the residential development
activities.
To minimize take of arroyo toad by the Pauma Estates project and
offset impacts to its habitat, the applicant proposes to mitigate for
permanent impacts to approximately 10.74 ac of occupied arroyo toad
habitat through the on-site preservation of approximately 9.43 ac of
occupied arroyo toad habitat within a dedicated conservation easement.
In addition, the applicant proposes to improve the quality of arroyo
toad habitat within the 9.43-ac biological open space area by providing
funding for and implementing the in-perpetuity management of the
biological open space area pursuant to an approved Resource Management
Plan. The applicant's proposed HCP also contains the following proposed
measures to minimize the effects of activities to arroyo toad:
Grading and construction within arroyo toad upland
aestivation habitat will only take place during the arroyo toad
breeding season (defined as March 15-July 31), when arroyo toads are
less likely to occupy the upland habitat.
A permanent arroyo toad barrier wall will be constructed
between the development area and the on-site biological open space
area.
The above described impacts and mitigation will occur within
designated critical habitat for the arroyo toad. Although the project
site is adjacent to occupied habitat for other federally threatened and
endangered species, no other listed species or designated critical
habitat occur within the project site.
Proposed Action and Alternatives
The Proposed Action consists of the issuance of an incidental take
permit and implementation of the proposed HCP, which includes measures
to avoid, minimize, and mitigate impacts to the arroyo toad. If we
approve the permit, take of arroyo toad would be authorized for the
applicant's activities associated with the construction of the Pauma
Estates residential development. In the proposed HCP, the applicant
considers alternatives to the taking of arroyo toad under the proposed
action. Three alternatives to the taking of the listed species under
the proposed action are considered in the proposed HCP.
(1) Under the Reduced Density Alternative, the project impact
footprint would be reduced; however, the alternative would either
render the project economically infeasible, or would result in
insufficient funding to conserve and manage arroyo toad habitat areas
not proposed for development.
(2) Under the Increased Density Alternative, additional areas of
arroyo toad habitat would be impacted by project development and
adequate
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habitat for the arroyo toad would not remain for conservation and
management, thereby providing no benefit to the species in the project
area.
(3) Under the No Action Alternative, no arroyo toad habitat would
be impacted or conserved.
Our Preliminary Determination
The Service has made a preliminary determination that approval of
the proposed HCP qualifies as a categorical exclusion under NEPA, as
provided by the Department of the Interior Manual (516 DM 2 Appendix 1
and 516 DM 6 Appendix 1) and as a ``low-effect'' plan as defined by the
Habitat Conservation Planning Handbook (November 1996).
We base our determination that a HCP qualifies as a low-effect plan
on the following three criteria:
(1) Implementation of the HCP would result in minor or negligible
effects on federally listed, proposed, and candidate species and their
habitats, including designated critical habitat;
(2) Implementation of the HCP would result in minor or negligible
effects on other environmental values or resources; and
(3) Impacts of the HCP, considered together with the impacts of
other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable similarly situated
projects, would not result, over time, in cumulative effects to
environmental values or resources that would be considered significant.
Based upon this preliminary determination, we do not intend to prepare
further NEPA documentation. We will consider public comments in making
the final determination on whether to prepare such additional
documentation.
Next Steps
We will evaluate the proposed HCP and comments we receive to
determine whether the permit application meets the requirements and
issuance criteria under section 10(a) of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et
seq.). We will also evaluate whether issuance of a section 10(a)(1)(B)
incidental take permit would comply with section 7 of the Act by
conducting an intra-Service 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 a permit. If the
requirements and issuance criteria under section 10(a) are met, we will
issue the permit to the applicant for incidental take of arroyo toad.
Public Comments
If you wish to comment on the permit application, proposed HCP, and
associated documents, you may submit comments by any of the methods
noted in the ADDRESSES section.
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 may
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.
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).
Karen A. Goebel,
Acting Field Supervisor, Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office, Carlsbad,
California.
[FR Doc. 2014-30689 Filed 12-30-14; 8:45 am]
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