[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 70 (Tuesday, April 12, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21585-21587]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-08345]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R8-ES-2016-N032; FXES11120800000-167-FF08ECAR00]
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Application To
Amend Incidental Take Permit; Revised Diversified Pacific Low-Effect
Habitat Conservation Plan and Associated Documents, City of Redlands,
San Bernardino County, California
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 Diversified Pacific (applicant), to amend
a 5-year incidental take permit (permit). The application includes the
applicant's revised habitat conservation plan (HCP), as required by the
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). If approved, the
amended permit would authorize incidental take of the endangered San
Bernardino Merriam's kangaroo rat (SBKR) in the course of routine
construction activities associated with the development of residential
houses in the City of Redlands. We invite public comment on the
application for a permit amendment and the revised HCP, and on our
preliminary determination that the revised HCP continues to qualify as
``low-effect'' for a categorical exclusion under the National
Environmental Policy Act. To make this determination we used our low-
effect screening form.
DATES: To ensure consideration, please send your written comments by
May 12, 2016.
ADDRESSES: You may request a copy of the amended permit application,
the low-effect screening form, and/or the revised HCP by email,
telephone, fax, or U.S. mail (see below). These documents are also
available for public inspection by appointment during normal business
hours at the office below. Please send your requests or comments by any
one of the following methods, and specify ``Diversified Pacific Low-
Effect HCP'' in your request or comment.
Email: karin_cleary-rose@fws.gov. Include ``Diversified
Pacific Low-Effect HCP'' in the subject line of your message.
Telephone: Karin Cleary-Rose, Palm Springs Fish and
Wildlife Office, 760-322-2070 extension 206.
Fax: Karin Cleary-Rose, Palm Springs Fish and Wildlife
Office, 760-322-4648, Attn.: Diversified Pacific Low-Effect HCP.
U.S. Mail: Karin Cleary-Rose, Palm Springs Fish and
Wildlife Office, Attn.: Diversified Pacific Low-Effect HCP, U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, 777 East Tahquitz Canyon Way, Suite 208, Palm
Springs, California 92262.
In-Person Viewing or Pickup of Documents, or Delivery of
Comments: Call 760-322-2070 to make an appointment during regular
business hours at the above address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Karin Cleary-Rose, Inland Division
Chief, Palm Springs Fish and Wildlife Office; telephone 760-332-2070
extension 206. If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf
(TDD), please call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 800-
877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Introduction
The Service issued an incidental take permit under section
10(a)(1)(B) of the Act to the applicant, Diversified Pacific, on August
21, 2015. The permit authorizes the applicant to take SBKR as a result
of permanent impacts to 7.7 acres of habitat that the species uses for
breeding, feeding, and sheltering. Take of SBKR is incidental to the
applicant's activities associated with the construction of residential
houses in the City of Redlands, San Bernardino County, California. The
site is located southwest and southeast of the intersection of Pioneer
Avenue and Judson Street in the City of Redlands, San Bernardino
County, California. The proposed project site is surrounded by
residential development and a mix of active and abandoned citrus
orchards. An active municipal airport is located approximately 0.25
mile northeast of the project site.
The original permit required the applicant to mitigate impacts to
the
[[Page 21586]]
SBKR by translocating HCP individuals (up to approximately 38
individuals) to a conserved property within the Santa Ana River
watershed, monitoring those translocated individuals for 5 years, and
funding the perpetual management of 20.9 acres of high-quality SBKR
habitat at the conserved 100-acre Redlands Conservancy property in
Redlands, California. The applicant captured 41 SBKR from 4.4 acres
before commencement of ground disturbance on the project site and
translocated them to an area of the Cajon Creek Conservation Bank in
the City of Muscoy, San Bernardino County, California, where they
augmented a low-density population of SBKR. These animals will be
monitored for 5 years, including annual reporting.
The applicant requests a permit amendment to expand the SBKR
translocation program permitted in the HCP to allow for additional
capture and translocation of SBKR from the project site to a Service-
approved receiver site as described in the revised HCP. Upon inspection
of the remaining undeveloped areas within the permit area, the SBKR
biologist determined that 9.7 acres may still be occupied, for a total
of 14.1 acres of occupied SBKR habitat. To minimize impacts associated
with the expanded translocation program, the applicant will provide
funding for the perpetual management and monitoring of 7.3 acres of
additional occupied high-quality SBKR habitat in the City of Redlands,
owned and conserved by the Redlands Land Conservancy into perpetuity as
part of the revised HCP. This increase in the SBKR population across a
larger portion of the permit area was unexpected given the overall poor
quality of the conditions onsite and the limited number of SBKR
previously trapped. The abnormally wet 2015 summer season allowed for
increased seed production of summer annual plants. In turn, the SBKR on
the project site experienced high reproductive success, which led to an
expansion of distribution of SBKR on the site. Because the project site
is within an urban matrix and physically isolated from other areas that
support SBKR, the project site still does not provide long-term
conservation value for the species. Pursuant to the terms of the
original permit, the applicant prepared a management plan for and
provided financial assurances for long-term funding of the management
of 20.9 acres of high-value SBKR conservation land at the Redlands
Conservancy Conservation Area. Under the permit amendment, the
applicant would fund an endowment account for management of an
additional 7.3 acres of Conservancy lands, for a total of 28.2 acres of
Conservancy lands with high-value SBKR land protected and managed in
perpetuity.
We published a final rule to list SBKR as endangered on September
24, 1998 (63 FR 51005). The rule became effective September 24, 1998.
Final designation of critical habitat was published on April 23, 2002
(67 FR 19812). A 5-year review of the species was published on May 21,
2010 (75 FR 28636).
Background
Section 9 of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531-1544 et seq.) and Federal
regulations (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 listed species, or attempt to engage in such conduct. The term
``harass'' is defined in the 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). The
term ``harm'' is defined in the regulations as significant habitat
modification or degradation that results in death or injury of listed
species 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 species, provided that the take that
occurs is incidental to, but not the purpose of, an otherwise lawful
activity.
Regulations governing incidental take permits for threatened and
endangered species are at 50 CFR 17.32 and 17.22, respectively. In
addition to meeting other criteria, activities covered by an incidental
take permit must not jeopardize the continued existence in the wild of
federally listed wildlife or plants.
Applicant's Proposal
The applicant requests an amendment to the 5-year permit under
section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Act to allow for expanded translocation of
SBKR from the project site to high-quality habitat receiver sites. Upon
issuance of the current permit, and as a condition of construction
within the project area, the SBKR biologist trapped 4.4 acres of the
estimated 7.7 acres of occupied habitat and discontinued trapping as
the maximum take of SBKR had occurred. Upon further inspection, the
SBKR biologist determined that 9.7 acres of undeveloped portions of the
project area remained occupied by SBKR, for a total of 14.1 acres of
occupied SBKR habitat.
We think that the abnormally wet 2015 summer season allowed for
increased seed production of summer annual plants. In turn, the SBKR on
the project site experienced high reproductive success and recruitment
of juveniles, which increased the total numbers of individuals on the
site and led to an expansion of distribution of SBKR on the site.
Because the project site is within an urban matrix and physically
isolated from other areas that support SBKR, we still believe that the
project site does not provide long-term conservation value for the
species.
If we approve the permit, the applicant would translocate all
remaining SBKR to other Service-approved receiver sites from the
remaining undeveloped portion of property as identified in the revised
HCP. Translocation of SBKR from the project site is a requirement under
the current permit as mitigation for impacts to SBKR, and it is
recognized that moving the species off of the project site, which
provides no connectivity to other SBKR populations, to approved
receiver sites is a conservation benefit to the species. To mitigate
take of SBKR at the project site, the applicant proposes the following
mitigation strategy:
1. All SBKR captured prior to ground disturbance on the project
site will be translocated to one or more Service-approved receiver
sites in the Santa Ana River Watershed. These animals will be monitored
for 5 years, including annual reporting.
2. The applicant will provide funding for the perpetual management
and monitoring of 7.3 acres of additional high-quality occupied SBKR
habitat in the City of Redlands, owned and conserved by the Redlands
Land Conservancy into perpetuity as part of the revised HCP. In total
for both the original HCP and the revised HCP, the applicant will fund
the perpetual management and monitoring of 28.2 acres of SBKR habitat.
Proposed Habitat Conservation Plan Alternatives
In the revised HCP, the applicant considers alternatives to the
taking of SBKR under the proposed action. Our proposed action is to
issue an amended permit to the applicant, who would implement the
revised HCP. If we approve the amended permit, additional take of SBKR
would be authorized for
[[Page 21587]]
the applicant's construction activities associated with the development
of residential houses in the City of Redlands. The applicant's revised
HCP identifies a no-build alternative that would not result in
additional incidental take of SBKR; however, it is infeasible for the
applicant to accept this alternative, as it would result in no
development of the land and associated infrastructure improvements
necessary to the City of Redlands and surrounding community. The
revised HCP also examined participation in a regional HCP as an
alternative to an individual HCP. This alternative plan is infeasible
because there is currently no completed regional plan, and the timing
for completion of a regional plan is unknown.
Our Preliminary Determination
We invite comments on our preliminary determination that our
proposed action, based on the applicant's proposed activities to expand
SBKR translocation minimization and mitigation measures, would have a
minor or negligible effect on SBKR, and that the revised HCP qualifies
as ``low effect'' as defined by our Habitat Conservation Planning
Handbook (November 1996).
We base our determination that this 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;
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.
As more fully explained in our associated low-effect screening
form, the applicant's revised HCP qualifies as a low-effect HCP for the
following reasons:
1. The project is small in size and the loss of this habitat would
not jeopardize the continued existence of the SBKR.
2. The project site is not in designated critical habitat for the
SBKR.
3. The translocation of additional SBKR off of the project site to
conserved receiver sites would increase the local genetic diversity of
SBKR at multiple locations in the Santa Ana River watershed,
contributing to species recovery.
Therefore, our proposed issuance of the requested incidental take
permit qualifies as a categorical exclusion under the National
Environmental Policy Act, as provided by Department of the Interior
implementing regulations in part 46 of title 43 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (43 CFR 46.205, 46.210, and 46.215). Based on our review of
public comments we receive in response to this notice, we may revise
this preliminary determination.
Public Review
The Service invites the public to comment on the application to
amend the permit, including the revised HCP, during the public comment
period. Copies of the documents will be available during a 30-day
public comment period (see DATES). If you wish to comment, you may
submit your comments to the address listed in ADDRESSES. 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.
Next Steps
We will evaluate the revised HCP and comments we receive to
determine whether the application for a permit amendment 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 an
amended section 10(a)(1)(B) incidental take permit would comply with
section 7 of the Act by reinitiating intra-Service consultation. We
will use the results of the reinitiation, in combination with the above
findings, in our final analysis to determine whether or not to issue a
permit amendment. If the requirements and issuance criteria under
section 10(a) are met, we will issue the permit amendment to the
applicant for incidental take of SBKR associated with expanded
translocation activities.
Scott A. Sobiech,
Acting Field Supervisor, Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office, Carlsbad,
California.
[FR Doc. 2016-08345 Filed 4-11-16; 8:45 am]
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