[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 35 (Monday, February 23, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9475-9477]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-03565]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R1-ES-2015-N007; FXES11120100000-156-FF01E00000]
Draft Candidate Conservation Agreement With Assurances, Receipt
of Application for an Enhancement of Survival Permit for the Greater
Sage-Grouse on Oregon Department of State Lands, and Draft
Environmental Assessment
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 the Oregon Department of State Lands (DSL)
for an enhancement of survival (EOS) permit under the Endangered
Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA). The permit application includes
a draft candidate conservation agreement with assurances (CCAA) for the
greater sage-grouse, addressing rangeland management activities on
Oregon State Trust Lands administered by DSL. The Service also
announces the availability of a draft environmental assessment (EA),
prepared pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969
(NEPA), addressing the proposed CCAA and issuance of an EOS permit. We
invite comments from all interested parties on the application,
including the draft CCAA and the draft EA.
DATES: To ensure consideration, written comments must be received from
interested parties no later than March 25, 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 DSL CCAA.
Internet: Documents may be viewed on the Internet at
http://www.fws.gov/oregonfwo/.
Email: Jeff_Everett@fws.gov. Include ``DSL CCAA'' in the
subject line of the message.
U.S. Mail: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Oregon Fish and
Wildlife Office, 2600 SE 98th Ave., Suite 100, Portland, OR 97266.
Fax: 503-231-6195, Attn: DSL CCAA.
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, Oregon Fish and Wildlife Office,
2600 SE 98th Ave., Suite 100, Portland, OR.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeff Everett or Jennifer Siani, U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, Oregon Fish and Wildlife Office (see
ADDRESSES), telephone: 503-231-6179. If you use a telecommunications
device for the deaf, please call the Federal Information Relay Service
at 800-877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We have received an application from DSL for
an EOS permit under section 10(a)(1)(A) the ESA for incidental take of
sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus). The permit application
includes a draft
[[Page 9476]]
CCAA prepared by the Service and the DSL to conserve the greater sage-
grouse and its habitat on Oregon State Trust lands administered by DSL.
Background Information
Private and other non-Federal property owners are encouraged to
enter into CCAAs, in which they voluntarily undertake management
activities on their properties to enhance, restore, or maintain habitat
benefiting species that are proposed for listing under the ESA,
candidates for listing, or species that may become candidates or
proposed for listing. Through a CCAA and its associated EOS permit, the
Service provides assurances to property owners that they will not be
subjected to increased land use restrictions if the covered species
become listed under the ESA in the future, provided certain conditions
are met.
Application requirements and issuance criteria for EOS permits for
CCAAs are found in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) at 50 CFR
17.22(d) and 17.32(d), respectively. See also our joint policy on
CCAAs, which we published in the Federal Register with the Department
of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National
Marine Fisheries Service (64 FR 32726; June 17, 1999).
On March 23, 2010, the Service determined that listing the greater
sage-grouse under the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1538) was warranted, but precluded
by the need to address higher priority species first. In anticipation
of the potential listing of sage-grouse under the ESA, the DSL
requested assistance from the Service in developing a sage-grouse CCAA
for rangeland management activities on Oregon State Trust lands.
Proposed Action
The Service proposes to approve the draft CCAA and to issue an EOS
permit, both with a term of 30 years, to the DSL for incidental take of
greater sage-grouse caused by covered activities, if permit issuance
criteria are met. Covered activities on DSL lands would include sage-
grouse conservation, rangeland treatments, livestock management,
recreation, and existing agricultural operations. Covered activities
may be conducted by DSL or their authorized agents including lessees of
DSL lands. The area covered under the proposed CCAA is approximately
633,000 acres of Oregon State Trust Lands located in Baker, Crook,
Deschutes, Grant, Harney, Lake, Malheur, and Union Counties, Oregon.
The covered lands encompass approximately 380,705 acres of low-density
sage-grouse habitat (or preliminary general habitat/PGH) and
approximately 153,107 acres of core area sage-grouse habitat (or
preliminary priority habitat/PPH). Sage-grouse currently use habitats
on these lands for lekking (communal breeding displays), late-brood
rearing, and wintering.
The draft CCAA describes all of the threats to sage-grouse that
have been identified on the covered lands, including: Loss and
fragmentation of sagebrush habitat; large wildfires, as well as lack of
fire in some areas; encroachment of junipers and other conifers;
improper grazing; invasive plants; vegetation treatments that reduce or
degrade sagebrush habitat; degradation of riparian areas; drought, as
well as catastrophic flooding; disturbance from recreation and other
activities; predation; West Nile virus; wild horses and burros; and
insecticide use. The CCAAs also describe conservation measures the DSL
would implement to address each threat.
Under the CCAA, the DSL would prepare a Sage Grouse Habitat
Assessment (SGHA), which would serve as a site-specific plan, for each
land parcel under DSL administration. The SGHA would include
conservation measures from the draft CCAA that would address all
threats occurring on that parcel of land. The Service will review
submitted SGHAs and approve them through a letter of concurrence if the
SGHAs are consistent with the CCAA, EOS permit terms and conditions,
and the CCAA standard. Should the sage-grouse become listed, take
authorization would be effective once a minimum of 25 percent of the
covered lands have completed and approved SGHAs. The amount of
incidental take authorized will be proportional to the acres of habitat
where SGHAs are being properly implemented. DSL staff will implement
many of the conservation measures identified in the SGHAs, but measures
directly related to grazing operations may be included as lessee
responsibilities in their annual operating plans.
National Environmental Policy Act Compliance
Approval of a CCAA and issuance of an EOS permit are Federal
actions that trigger the need for compliance with NEPA. Pursuant to
NEPA, we have prepared a draft EA to analyze the environmental impacts
related to the issuance of an EOS permit for sage-grouse and
implementation of the conservation measures under the proposed CCAA.
The EA analyses two alternatives: The proposed action, which is
described above, and the ``no action'' alternative. Under the no action
alternative, the Service would not enter into the CCAA with DSL, nor
issue the EOS permit. The Service also considered, but did not analyze
in detail, two additional alternatives. The first of these would have
required DSL to implement all grazing CMs immediately upon approval of
the CCAA. This alternative was rejected, because immediate
implementation would have to proceed prior to having the benefit of the
completed SGHAs. The second additional alternative was a substantial
reduction in the amount of cattle grazing on DSL lands. This
alternative was rejected because it would be contrary to the economic
purposes of State Trust Lands and could eventually lead to lands being
used for other purposes less compatible with conservation of sage-
grouse habitat.
Public Comments
You may submit your comments and materials by one of the methods
listed in the ADDRESSES section. We request data, information,
opinions, or suggestions from the public, other concerned governmental
agencies, the scientific community, Tribes, industry, or any other
interested party on our proposed permit action. We particularly seek
comments on the following: (1) Biological information and relevant data
concerning the greater sage-grouse; (2) current or planned activities
in the subject area and their possible impacts on the greater sage-
grouse; (3) identification of any other environmental issues that
should be considered with regard to the proposed permit action; and (4)
information regarding the adequacy of the draft CCAA pursuant to the
requirements for permits 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 Oregon Fish and
Wildlife Office (see ADDRESSES).
[[Page 9477]]
Next Steps
After completion of the EA based on consideration of public
comments, we will determine whether adoption of the proposed CCAA
warrants a finding of no significant impact or whether an environmental
impact statement should be prepared. We will evaluate the proposed CCAA
as well as any comments we receive, to determine whether implementation
of the proposed CCAA would meet the requirements for issuance of an EOS
permit under section 10(a)(1)(A) of the ESA. We will also evaluate
whether the proposed permit action would comply with section 7 of the
ESA by conducting an intra-Service section 7 consultation. We will
consider the results of this consultation, in combination with the
above findings, in our final analysis to determine whether or not to
issue an EOS permit to the DSL. We will not make our final decision
until after the end of the 30-day public comment period, and we will
fully consider all comments we receive during the public comment
period.
Authority
We provide this notice in accordance with the requirements of
section 10 of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), and NEPA (42 U.S.C.
4321 et seq.) and their implementing regulations (50 CFR 17.22 and 40
CFR 1506.6, respectively).
Dated: February 10, 2015.
Richard Hannan,
Deputy Regional Director, Pacific Region, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, Portland, Oregon.
[FR Doc. 2015-03565 Filed 2-20-15; 8:45 am]
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