[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 130 (Thursday, July 7, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44316-44319]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-16077]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R1-ES-2016-N102; FXES11120100000-167-FF01E00000]
Notice of Intent To Prepare a Draft Environmental Impact
Statement for the Kauai Island Utility Cooperative Long-Term Habitat
Conservation Plan, Kauai, Hawaii
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of intent; announcement of public scoping meeting;
request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), intend to
prepare a draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) to evaluate the
impacts of several alternatives relating to the requested issuance of
an Endangered Species Act (ESA) Incidental Take Permit (ITP) to the
Kauai Island Utility Cooperative (KIUC) that would authorize take of
listed species caused by activities covered under the Kauai Island
Utility Cooperative Long-term Habitat Conservation Plan (KIUC LTHCP).
We also provide this notice to announce a public scoping period.
DATES: The public scoping period begins with the publication of this
notice in the Federal Register and will continue through September 6,
2016. The Service will consider all comments on the scope of the DEIS
analysis that are received or postmarked by this date. Comments
received or postmarked after this date will be considered to the extent
practicable. The Service will also hold one public scoping open house,
at the following time and location during the scoping period:
July 20, 2016--Kauai Community College, 3-1901 Kaumualii
Highway, Lihue, Kauai, HI 96766, 5 to 7 p.m.
The scoping meeting will provide the public an opportunity to ask
questions, discuss issues with Service and State staff regarding the
DEIS, and provide written comments.
ADDRESSES: To request further information or submit written comments,
please use one of the following methods:
U.S. Mail: Field Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, Pacific Islands Fish and Wildlife Office, 300 Ala Moana
Boulevard, Room 3-122, Honolulu, Hawaii 96850. Include ``KIUC HCP and
scoping EIS'' in the subject line of your request or comment.
Email: KIUCLongTermhcp@fws.gov. Include ``KIUC HCP and
scoping EIS'' in the subject line of the message.
Fax: 808-792-9580, Attn: Field Supervisor. Include ``KIUC
HCP and scoping EIS'' in the subject line of the message.
Internet: You may obtain copies of this notice on the
Internet at https://www.fws.gov/pacificislands/, or from the Service's
Pacific Islands Fish and Wildlife Office in Honolulu, Hawaii (see FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section).
We request that you send comments by only one of the methods
described above. See the Public Availability of Comments section below
for more information.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lasha-Lynn Salbosa, by telephone at
808-792-9442, or by email at Lasha-Lynn_Salbosa@fws.gov. Hearing or
speech impaired individuals may call the Federal Information Relay
Service at 800-877-8339 for TTY assistance.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(Service), intend to prepare a draft environmental impact statement
(DEIS) to evaluate the impacts of several alternatives relating to the
requested issuance of an Endangered Species Act (ESA) Incidental Take
Permit (ITP) to the Kauai Island Utility Cooperative (KIUC) that would
authorize take of listed species caused by activities covered under the
Kauai Island Utility Cooperative Long-term Habitat Conservation Plan
(KIUC LTHCP). We also provide this notice to announce a public scoping
period.
The KIUC LTHCP is being prepared by KIUC to address the effects of
its generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity on listed
species within the plan area, which covers the full geographic extent
of the Island of Kauai, Hawaii. KIUC anticipates requesting incidental
take coverage for the endangered Hawaiian petrel (Pterodroma
sandwichensis), threatened Newell's shearwater (Puffinus newelli), and
a species proposed for listing as endangered, the band-rumped storm-
petrel (Oceanodroma castro). These species are collectively referred to
as the ``Covered Species.'' The activities covered under the KIUC LTHCP
(``Covered Activities'') include construction of certain planned
facilities; power line construction, reconfiguration, or
undergrounding; installation and operation of streetlight fixtures at
the request of State, County, or private entities; the operation and
maintenance of all existing and planned KIUC facilities and
infrastructure; and activities associated with the management of
certain lands to mitigate for the take of Covered Species.
This notice was prepared pursuant to the requirements of the
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321
et seq.) (NEPA), and its implementing regulations in the Code of
Federal Regulations at 40 CFR 1506.6, and pursuant to section 10(c) of
the ESA. We intend to prepare a DEIS to evaluate the impacts of several
alternatives related to the potential issuance of an ITP under the KIUC
LTHCP. KIUC intends to request a permit term of 30 years. The primary
purpose of the scoping process is for the public and other agencies to
assist in developing the DEIS by identifying important issues and
identifying alternatives that should be considered.
Background
Section 9 of the ESA prohibits ``take'' of fish and wildlife
species listed as endangered under section 4 (16 U.S.C. 1538 and 16
U.S.C. 1533, respectively). The ESA implementing regulations extend,
under certain circumstances, the prohibition of take to threatened
species (50 CFR 17.31). Under section 3 of the ESA, the term ``take''
means to ``harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill,
[[Page 44317]]
trap, capture, or collect, or attempt to engage in any such conduct''
(16 U.S.C. 1532(19)). The term ``harm'' is defined by regulation 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).
The term ``harass'' is defined in the regulations as ``an intentional
or negligent act or omission which creates the likelihood of injury to
wildlife by annoying it 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).
Under section 10(a) of the ESA, the Service may issue permits to
authorize incidental take of listed fish and wildlife species.
``Incidental take'' is defined by the ESA as take that is incidental
to, and not the purpose of, carrying out an otherwise lawful activity.
Section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA contains provisions for issuing ITPs to
non-Federal entities for the take of endangered and threatened species,
provided the following criteria are met:
The taking will be incidental;
The applicant will, to the maximum extent practicable,
minimize and mitigate the impact of such taking;
The applicant will develop a proposed HCP and ensure that
adequate funding for the plan will be provided;
The taking will not appreciably reduce the likelihood of
the survival and recovery of the species in the wild; and
The applicant will carry out any other measures that the
Service may require as being necessary or appropriate for the purposes
of the HCP.
Regulations governing permits for endangered and threatened species
are at 50 CFR 17.22 and 17.32.
KIUC Short-Term HCP
In 2011, the KIUC Short-Term Habitat Conservation Plan (STHCP) was
approved by the Service, and KIUC received an ITP for the Covered
Species (i.e., the Newell's shearwater, Hawaiian petrel, and the band-
rumped storm petrel). The Covered Species are subject to injury or
mortality as a result of colliding with KIUC-owned power lines and
utility infrastructure, and injury or mortality as a result of
attraction to nighttime lighting from KIUC-owned and operated
streetlights and facilities. The ITP authorized an annual take amount
of 162 Newell's shearwaters, two Hawaiian petrels, and two band-rumped
storm petrels over a 5-year period, as a result of attraction to, or
collision with, KIUC facilities. In total, the ITP authorized a
combined take amount of 830 sub-adults or adults of the Covered
Species.
Current estimates of the Newell's shearwater population, of which
90 percent nest on Kauai, range from 16,200 to 24,300, based on at-sea
population estimates from 1998 through 2011 (Joyce 2013), and projected
under various annual levels of decline (Griesemer and Holmes 2011). The
Newell's shearwater rangewide population has experienced an over 75
percent decline from 1993 through 2009 (Day et al. 2003; Holmes et al.
2009). The Hawaiian petrel population nests on several of the
southeastern Hawaiian Islands, including Hawaii and Maui, with the
total population estimated at 20,000 individuals (Spear et al. 1995).
The majority of the breeding population nests on Kauai (Ainley et al.
1997). An updated assessment of the Hawaiian petrel population on Kauai
is under way (A. Raine, personal communication, September 30, 2015).
Seabird colony monitoring data reflect significant threats from feral
pig, cat, barn owl, and rat predation, as well as habitat degradation
from invasive plants. Combined with the take caused by power line
collisions and light attraction, these threat factors have resulted in
the extirpation of at least three breeding colonies of these species on
Kauai since 2011 (Holmes and Troy 2008).
The 2011 STHCP established a comprehensive monitoring and research
program designed to further evaluate the impact of the power line
system on seabird populations and to provide key biological data to
more adequately inform a longer term HCP and take authorization. To
this end, KIUC provides funding to the Kauai Endangered Seabird
Recovery Project (KESRP), a project of the University of Hawaii's
Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit, to monitor seabird colonies and
develop approaches to assess seabird-power line collisions. Due to the
remote location of many power lines on Kauai and the nocturnal behavior
of seabirds, in 2012 KESRP developed an acoustic song-meter monitoring
system to detect seabird collisions. This acoustic system became the
foundation for KIUC's Underline Monitoring Program (UMP) and has been
accepted and is funded by KIUC.
During the course of implementation of the KIUC STHCP, KESRP
observed a total of 28 seabird power line collisions using night vision
equipment. Of the 28 seabird power line collisions observed, only one
of these collision events definitively resulted in an immediate
grounded bird within the observer's field of view. Additionally, about
25 deceased Newell's shearwaters have been opportunistically found from
2011 through 2015, associated with KIUC power lines or lights. The
acoustic system, which is able to monitor the power lines for seabird
collisions more extensively than human observers can, has detected a
minimum of 1,012 and 1,002 seabird collision events in 2014 and 2015,
respectively (KIUC STHCP 2014 and 2015 UMP Reports). Since 2012, KESRP,
in collaboration with KIUC, has identified all high and medium risk
power line spans that pose a threat to the Covered Species. These high
and medium risk lines are continually monitored every year, and those
data are used to plan and test for effective minimization measures,
including reconfiguring lines or installing bird diverters. While the
acoustic system has been successful in detecting seabird power line
collisions, only a subset of the power line system can be monitored and
therefore collisions outside of the monitored areas must be estimated.
Moreover, while a minimum of 1,002 seabird collision events have been
detected in 2015, the fate of the birds that collided with these lines
is unknown. Based on KESRP field observations, it is certain that some
portion of these collisions results in immediate grounding or
mortality, and that some additional proportion results in harm or
injury, or potential mortality sometime after the collision event.
Previous scientific studies based on waterfowl and their interactions
with power lines have estimated that this subsequent mortality after
the collision event could range from 20 percent to 74 percent of total
detected collisions (Bevanger 1995; Bevanger 1999; Beaulaurier 1981;
and Shaw et al. 2010).
The STHCP has been successful in guiding measures that KIUC has
implemented to mitigate the effects of its existing facilities on the
Covered Species; increasing knowledge related to the impact of KIUC's
power line system on seabird populations; providing key biological data
concerning the Covered Species; and improving our understanding of the
effectiveness of conservation measures to more adequately inform a
longer term habitat conservation plan and take authorization.
In 2015, KIUC spent $2.32 million to implement the conservation
program under the STHCP. Sixty-two percent of this budget funded
seabird colony management (i.e., predator control and monitoring).
Under the STHCP, KIUC is funding a total of 851 acres of seabird colony
management (i.e., predator
[[Page 44318]]
control) at three sites within the State's Hono o Na Pali Natural Area
Reserve, and a larger location within the National Tropical Botanical
Garden's Upper Limahuli Preserve. The remaining budget funds the
retrieval and rehabilitation of seabirds on Kauai, and the KIUC
Underline Monitoring Program, which includes testing and installation
of avian deterrent devices. KIUC has undergrounded or reconfigured 25
percent of their identified high collision-risk power lines since 2011.
KIUC continues to use the underline monitoring data to direct
minimization actions, including reconfiguring or undergrounding power
lines, and installing bird deterrent devices to minimize impacts from
high collision-risk power lines. Although KIUC's current mitigation and
minimization programs are meaningful, these efforts are likely not
commensurate with the actual level of take occurring.
The STHCP expiration date was in May 2016. On April 12, 2016, we
received an application for renewal of that permit pending preparation
of the LTHCP.
Proposed Long-Term Habitat Conservation Plan
The KIUC LTHCP is being prepared by KIUC to cover the generation,
transmission, and distribution of electricity within the plan area,
which covers the full geographic extent of the Island of Kauai, Hawaii.
KIUC intends to submit the LTHCP as part of the its application for a
Federal ITP and a State incidental take license, in accordance with
respective Federal and State permit issuance criteria. KIUC intends to
develop the LTHCP in coordination with the Service, Hawaii Department
of Land and Natural Resources-Division of Forestry and Wildlife, Kauai
Endangered Seabird Recovery Project, Kauai Seabird Habitat Conservation
Program, Kauai Humane Society, and the National Tropical Botanical
Garden.
In response to the Service's recommendation in 2011, KIUC was
participating in the planning for a State-sponsored islandwide HCP (the
``Kauai Seabird Habitat Conservation Program'' or ``KSHCP'') which was
intended to address take of the Covered Species from attraction to, or
collision with various lights and power lines on the island of Kauai,
due to activities by numerous entities in addition to KIUC. However, in
November 2015, the State, in consultation with the Service, decided to
limit the KSHCP planning effort just to light attraction take. As a
result of this decision to limit the KSHCP to light attraction take,
KIUC is now seeking long-term incidental take authorization through its
own separate KIUC LTHCP.
Covered Species and Activities: The Covered Species addressed in
the LTHCP will be the same as those addressed in the STHCP: The
endangered Hawaiian petrel, threatened Newell's shearwater, and the
band-rumped storm-petrel, a species proposed for listing as endangered.
As noted above, the Covered Species are subject to collisions with
power lines and other infrastructure while flying at night between
their nesting colonies and at-sea foraging areas. The Covered Species,
particularly fledglings, are also affected by and attracted to bright
nighttime lights. Disoriented birds are commonly observed circling
repeatedly around exterior light sources until they fall exhausted to
the ground or collide with structures.
The KIUC LTHCP and ITP will address the incidental take of the
Covered Species caused by Covered Activities that are described and
analyzed in the LTHCP. In accordance with the requirements of section
10(a)(2)(A) of the ESA, the LTHCP will also address: The impacts to the
Covered Species caused by the taking; the steps KIUC will take to
minimize and mitigate those impacts; the funding that will be available
to implement those steps; what alternative actions to the taking that
KIUC considered and the reasons why such alternatives are not being
utilized; and other measures that the Service may require as being
necessary or appropriate for purposes of the plan.
The KIUC intends to utilize new information generated through
implementation of the STHCP to develop a long-term HCP addressing the
Covered Species in support of its request for a 30-year ITP. It is
anticipated that KIUC will request authorization for the lethal take of
approximately 100 to 1,000 individuals annually of the Covered Species
combined. A more specific total combined amount of take, and a more
specific amount of take for each Covered Species that KIUC will request
will be described in the LTHCP.
KIUC's existing facilities include over 1,400 miles of electrical
transmission and distribution lines, two fossil fuel-fired generating
stations, two hydroelectric stations, two 12-megawatt solar energy
parks, twelve substations, and approximately 3,500 streetlights.
Covered Activities under the KIUC LTHCP are expected to include: (1)
KIUC operations, including actions necessary to construct, operate,
maintain and repair all existing and certain planned KIUC facilities
and infrastructure; (2) minimization measures, including installation
of bird deterrents, undergrounding power lines, line reconfiguring,
line removal, relocating facilities, and line rerouting; and (3)
mitigation measures, including construction and maintenance of
predator-proof fenced enclosures, invasive predator reduction efforts,
and seabird colony monitoring and habitat management activities to
create or enhance seabird breeding habitat. The KIUC LTHCP is also
expected to include the following as Covered Activities: 600 new
streetlights; approximately 15 miles of new transmission lines (much of
it on already constructed poles or underground); approximately 15 miles
per year of line improvements, re-configured, or undergrounded
distribution lines; the closure of one substation and the construction
of 3 or more new facilities, including the Aepo Substation,
Hanahanapuni Switching Station, and the Kilohana Switching station.
Additional substations may also be built for renewable projects that
cannot be integrated into the existing facilities due to their
location, capacity, or operation constraints.
Minimization and Mitigation Measures: The KIUC LTHCP is expected to
include a comprehensive minimization program that will be based on the
results of extensive underline monitoring conducted under the STHCP.
These minimization measures would be designed to reduce the amount of
Covered Species collisions with power lines in areas known to have a
high risk of seabird-line collisions. These minimization measures are
likely to include installation of bird deterrents and line
reconfiguring.
The KIUC LTHCP is expected to include a variety of conservation
measures to mitigate unavoidable impacts to the Covered Species. One
set of measures is intended to improve the breeding success of the
Covered Species. These measures are likely to include: the installation
and maintenance of predator-proof fencing at two or more locations
encompassing at least several hundred acres of existing Covered Species
breeding colonies in northern, interior areas of Kauai; post-fencing
efforts to greatly reduce or eliminate predator populations from within
the fenced areas; efforts to reduce predator populations at other
locations; and one or more social attraction projects to create new
breeding areas within appropriate habitat for the Covered Species.
Other mitigation measures are expected to include: continued
implementation of
[[Page 44319]]
the Save Our Shearwaters program which retrieves downed seabirds and
releases them back to the wild following evaluation and any necessary
rehabilitation; surveys to identify the location of additional breeding
colonies of the Covered Species on Kauai; and research to evaluate
methods of improving Covered Species breeding success through habitat
and predator management.
Draft Environmental Impact Statement
NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) requires that Federal agencies
conduct an environmental analysis of their proposed actions to
determine if the actions may significantly affect the human
environment. Based on 40 CFR 1508.27 and 40 CFR 1508.2, we have
determined that the proposed KIUC LTHCP and ITP may have significant
effects on the human environment. Therefore, before deciding whether to
issue an ITP, we will prepare a DEIS to analyze the environmental
impacts associated with that action.
The DEIS will consider the impacts of the issuance of an ESA
section 10(a)(1)(B) permit on the human environment. The DEIS will also
include an analysis of a reasonable range of alternatives. Such
alternatives may include, but are not limited to, variations in: The
permit term or permit structure; the level of take allowed; the level,
location, or type of minimization, mitigation, or monitoring provided
under the HCP; the scope of Covered Activities; the list of Covered
Species; or a combination of these factors. Other alternatives could
include undergrounding, reconfiguring or taking other measures to
minimize the take at all five power line segments that accounted for 72
percent of all seabird collisions in 2014, expanding existing predator
control areas to maximize seabird protection, and the addition of one
or more seabird colony management sites in the Upper Manoa Valley.
Additionally, a No Action Alternative will be included. Under the No
Action Alternative, the Service would not issue an ITP, and KIUC would
be obligated to avoid incidental take of federally-listed species or
risk violation of Federal and State law.
The DEIS will identify and describe direct, indirect, and
cumulative impacts on biological resources, land use, air quality,
water quality, water resources, socioeconomics, climate, and other
environmental resources that could occur with the implementation of the
proposed action and alternatives. The Service will also identify
measures, consistent with NEPA and other relevant considerations of
national policy, to avoid or minimize any significant effects of the
proposed action on the quality of the human environment. Following
completion of the environmental review, the Service will publish a
notice of availability and a request for comment on the DEIS, which
will include a draft of the proposed KIUC LTHCP.
Request for Information
We request data, comments, new information, or suggestions from the
public, other concerned governmental agencies, the scientific
community, Native Hawaiian organizations or entities, industry, or any
other interested party on this notice. We will consider these comments
in developing the DEIS. We seek specific comments on:
1. Biological information and relevant data concerning the Covered
Species;
2. Additional information concerning the range, distribution,
population size, and population trends of the Covered Species;
3. Potential direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts that
implementation of the proposed Covered Activities and mitigation/
minimization measures could have on the Covered Species; and other
endangered or threatened species, and their communities or habitats;
and other aspects of the human environment;
4. Whether there are connected, similar, or reasonably foreseeable
cumulative actions;
5. Other possible alternatives to the proposed permit action that
the Service should consider, including additional or alternative
mitigation and minimization measures;
6. Other current or planned activities in the subject area and
their possible impacts on Covered Species;
7. The presence of archaeological sites, buildings and structures,
historic events, sacred and traditional areas, and other historic
preservation concerns, which are required to be considered in project
planning by the National Historic Preservation Act; and
8. Identification of any other environmental issues that should be
considered with regard to the proposed KIUC LTHCP and permit action.
Public Availability of Comments
You may submit your comments and materials by one of the methods
listed above in the ADDRESSES section. 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.
Comments and materials we receive, as well as supporting
documentation we use in preparing the DEIS, will be available for
public inspection by appointment, during normal business hours, at the
Service's Pacific Islands Fish and Wildlife Office (see FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT section).
Scoping Meeting
See DATES section above for the date and time of the public scoping
meeting. The primary purpose of the meeting and the public comment
period is to provide the public with a general understanding of the
background of the proposed action and to solicit suggestions and
information on the scope of issues and alternatives we should consider
when preparing the DEIS. Written comments will be accepted at the
meeting. Comments can also be submitted by the methods listed in the
ADDRESSES section. Once the DEIS and proposed KIUC LTHCP are complete
and made available for review, there will be additional opportunity for
public comment on the content of these documents.
Persons needing reasonable accommodations in order to attend and
participate in the public scoping meeting should contact the Service's
Pacific Islands Fish and Wildlife Office using one of the methods
listed above in ADDRESSES as soon as possible. In order to allow
sufficient time to process requests, please make contact no later than
one week before the public meeting. Information regarding this proposed
action is available in alternative formats upon request.
Authority
We provide this notice in accordance with the requirements of
section 10 of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), and per NEPA
regulations (40 CFR 1501.7, 40 CFR 1506.5 and 1508.22).
Theresa Rabot,
Deputy Regional Director, Pacific Region, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, Portland, Oregon.
[FR Doc. 2016-16077 Filed 7-6-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P