[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 145 (Thursday, July 28, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49686-49687]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-17866]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R5-ES-2015-N203]; [50120-1112-0000-F2]
Receipt of an Application for an Incidental Take Permit for
Karner Blue Butterfly, From the Slack Chemical Company, and
Availability of Proposed Habitat Conservation Plan
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability, receipt of application.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the
availability of an application for an Incidental Take Permit (ITP) and
a proposed Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) from the Slack Chemical
Company for public review and comment. We received the permit
application from the Slack Chemical Company for incidental take of the
endangered Karner blue butterfly resulting from the construction of a
gravel access road, as well as from proposed mitigation activities over
the next 10 years. Our preliminary determination is that the proposed
HCP qualifies as low-effect in accordance with our Handbook for Habitat
Conservation Planning and Incidental Taking Permitting Process. To make
this determination, we used our Low-Effect HCP Screening Form/
Environmental Action Statement (EAS), the preliminary version of which
is also available for review.
We provide this notice to (1) seek public comments on the proposed
HCP and application; (2) seek public comments on our preliminary
determination that the HCP qualifies as low-effect and is therefore
eligible for a categorical exclusion under the National Environmental
Policy Act (NEPA); and (3) advise other Federal and State agencies,
affected Tribes, and the public of our intent to issue an ITP.
DATES: To ensure consideration, we must receive your written comments
by August 29, 2016.
ADDRESSES: Reviewing documents: You may obtain copies of the proposed
HCP and preliminary EAS for review by any of the following methods:
Internet: New York Field Office Web site, at http://www.fws.gov/northeast/nyfo/;
In-person: Copies will be available for public review during
regular business hours at the New York Field Office (see FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT);
U.S. mail: You may request copies by sending a letter to the New
York Field Office (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT); or
Telephone: Those who do not have access to the Web site or cannot
visit our office may request copies by telephone at 607-753-9334.
Submitting comments: You may submit written comments by any one of
the following methods:
Email: FW5ES_NYFO@fws.gov. Please put Slack Chemical HCP in the
subject line; or
U.S. mail: Noelle Rayman-Metcalf (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Noelle Rayman-Metcalf, by U.S. mail at
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, New York Field Office, 3817 Luker Road,
Cortland, NY 13045; or via phone at 607-753-9334.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We received an application from the Slack
Chemical Company for an ITP for take of the federally listed endangered
Karner blue butterfly (Lycaeides melissa samuelis) resulting from the
construction of a gravel access road, as well as from proposed
mitigation activities. To minimize and mitigate for the incidental
take, the Slack Chemical Company will implement a conservation program
as described in its proposed HCP. We prepared a preliminary EAS to
comply with NEPA. The Service will evaluate whether the proposed
action, issuance of an ITP to the Slack Chemical Company, is adequate
to support a categorical exclusion. We are requesting comments on the
proposed HCP and our preliminary determination that the plan qualifies
as low-effect under NEPA.
Background
Section 9 of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and its implementing
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 animal species, or to attempt to engage in such conduct'' (16
U.S.C. 1538). However, under section 10(a) of the Act, we 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 in the Code of Federal Regulations
(October 1, 2006, 50 CFR 17.22; October 1, 2001, 50 CFR 17.32).
Proposed Project
Slack Chemical Company is seeking a permit for the incidental take
of the Karner blue butterfly for a term of 10 years. Incidental take of
this species will occur in an approximate 0.10-acre area within a
National Grid right-of-way (ROW). Slack Chemical Company proposes to
construct a gravel access road through the ROW to access approximately
8 acres for construction of a parking lot for their trucking fleet and
a building. The project is located in Grande Industrial Park, Saratoga
Springs, Saratoga County, New York. An additional 4.81 acres of
temporary impacts to enhance Karner blue butterfly habitat will occur
due to periodic mowing.
Proposed covered activities include the new construction of a
gravel access road, as well as periodic mowing of occupied habitat of
two existing New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
management areas, and one National Grid easement area, as well as the
seeding of wild blue lupine and other nectar species within a 0.10 acre
patch in National Grid's ROW. The HCP's proposed conservation strategy
is designed to minimize and mitigate the impacts of covered activities
on the covered species. The biological goal is to complement the
existing conservation efforts in New York State for the butterfly.
The proposed action consists of the issuance of an ITP and
implementation of the proposed HCP. One alternative to the proposed
action was considered in the HCP: No action (i.e., operation of the
project without an ITP and without avoidance, minimization, or
mitigation of Karner blue butterfly impacts). This alternative was
deemed not practicable by Slack Chemical Company because the project
would not have the important protections of the ITP and would not have
the conservation benefits proposed by the Slack Chemical Company.
National Environmental Policy Act
We have made a preliminary determination that the Slack Chemical
Company's proposed HCP, including proposed minimization and mitigation
measures, will have a minor or negligible effect on the species covered
in the plan, and that the plan qualifies
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as a ``low-effect'' HCP as described in the Service's HCP Handbook (61
FR 63854, December 2, 1996). 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).
As further explained in the preliminary EAS, included for public
review, our preliminary determination that the plan qualifies as a low-
effect HCP is based on the following three criteria:
(1) Implementation of the plan would result in minor or negligible
effects on federally listed, proposed, and candidate species and their
habitats;
(2) Implementation of the plan would result in minor or negligible
effects on other environmental values or resources prior to
implementation of the mitigation measures; and
(3) Impacts of the plan, considered together with the impacts of
other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable similarly situated
projects, would not result, over time, in cumulative effects to the
environmental values or resources that would be considered significant.
Next Steps
We will evaluate the proposed HCP and comments we receive to
determine whether the permit application meets the requirements of
section 10(a) of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). We will also
evaluate whether issuance of a section 10(a)(1)(B) permit would comply
with section 7 of the ESA by conducting an intra-Service section 7
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 are met, we will
issue the permit to the applicant.
Public Comments
We invite the public to comment on the proposed HCP and preliminary
EAS during a 30-day public comment period (see DATES). You may submit
written comments by one of the methods in the ADDRESSES section.
All comments received, including names and addresses, will become
part of the administrative record and will be available to the public.
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--will be publicly available. If you submit a hard copy
comment that includes personal identifying information, you may request
at the top of your document that we withhold this information from
public review. However, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do
so.
Authority
We provide this notice pursuant to section 10(c) of the ESA (16
U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and NEPA regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).
Dated: July 21, 2016.
Cindy Schulz,
Acting Assistant Regional Director--Ecological Services, Northeast
Region.
[FR Doc. 2016-17866 Filed 7-27-16; 8:45 am]
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