[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 234 (Thursday, December 5, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66692-66694]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-26287]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
Fish and Wildlife Service
[20X LLUTC03000 L14400000 ER0000 LXSSJ0740000; UTU-93620; 13-08807]
Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement To
Consider a Highway Right-of-Way With Associated Issuance of an
Incidental Take Permit, and Resource Management Plan Amendments,
Washington County, UT
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior; Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of intent.
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SUMMARY: In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969, as amended (NEPA), the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of
1976, as amended, and the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA), as
amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and the Fish and Wildlife
Service (FWS), as co-lead agencies, intend to prepare an Environmental
Impact Statement (EIS) to consider a right-of-way application submitted
by the Utah Department of Transportation (referred to henceforth as the
Northern Corridor project), potential amendments to the St. George
Field Office and Red Cliffs National Conservation Area (NCA) Resource
Management Plans (RMPs), and the issuance of an Incidental Take Permit
(ITP) to Washington County, Utah, under Section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA.
DATES: This Notice initiates the public scoping process. Scoping
comments may be submitted in writing until January 6, 2020. The date(s)
and location(s) of any scoping meetings will be announced at least 15
days in advance through a news release to local and regional media
outlets and the BLM website at: https://www.blm.gov/news/utah. In order
to be considered during the preparation of the Draft EIS, all comments
must be received prior to the close of the 30-day scoping period or 15
days after the last public meeting, whichever is later. The BLM and FWS
will provide additional opportunities for public participation upon
publication of the Draft EIS.
ADDRESSES: You may submit written comments related to the proposed
actions by any of the following methods:
Website: https://go.usa.gov/xpC6H.
Email: BLM_UT_NorthernCorridor@blm.gov.
Mail: Bureau of Land Management, Attn: Northern Corridor,
345 East Riverside Drive, St. George, UT 84790.
Documents pertinent to this proposal may be examined at the BLM St.
George Field Office, 345 East Riverside Drive, St. George, Utah 84790
and FWS Utah Ecological Services Field Office, 2369 W. Orton Circle,
West Valley City, Utah 84119.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gloria Tibbetts, Color Country
District Planning and Environmental Coordinator, telephone (435) 865-
3063; address 176 DL Sargent Dr., Cedar City, UT 84721; email
BLM_UT_NorthernCorridor@blm.gov. Persons who use a telecommunications
device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Relay Service (FRS) at
1-800-877-8339 to contact Ms. Tibbetts during normal business hours.
The FRS is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to leave a message
or question. You will receive a reply during normal business hours.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On September 4, 2018, the Utah Department of
Transportation submitted an application for a right-of-way (ROW) grant
for the Northern Corridor project north of the city of St. George,
Utah, on BLM-managed public lands in the Red Cliffs NCA and the Red
Cliffs Desert Reserve--an area set aside for Mojave desert tortoise
mitigation under the 1995 Washington County Habitat Conservation Plan
(HCP). The FWS is working with Washington County (County) on an HCP
pursuant to Section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA in response to the proposed
Northern Corridor project and other development in the county. The BLM
is also considering amendments to the St. George Field Office and Red
Cliffs NCA RMPs that would allow consideration of and mitigation for
the proposed Northern Corridor project.
The EIS will analyze four proposed actions: (1) Whether the BLM
will approve a 1.75-mile ROW section of the approximately 4-mile long
Northern Corridor project that crosses the 62,000-acre Red Cliffs
Desert Reserve and the 45,000-acre congressionally established Red
Cliffs NCA; (2) Whether the BLM will amend the Red Cliffs NCA RMP to
allow for a transportation ROW and/or corridor within the NCA; (3)
Whether the BLM will amend the St. George Field Office RMP to modify
management on approximately 6,800 acres outside the Reserve and NCA to
offset the ROW impacts; and (4) Whether the FWS will issue an
associated ITP for the Mojave desert tortoise for specific land use and
land development activities in Washington County.
[[Page 66693]]
The BLM and FWS decisions that will stem from the Northern Corridor
project analysis in the EIS are related, allowing the Department of the
Interior to consolidate the effort. The BLM will work jointly with the
FWS to ensure both agencies' requirements are addressed through all
aspects of the NEPA process and development of the EIS. For these
reasons, the agencies are analyzing these connected actions within one
EIS.
ITP--Background
Section 9 of the ESA prohibits ``take'' of fish and wildlife
species listed as endangered or threatened. See 16 U.S.C. 1538(a).
Under Section 3 of the ESA, the term ``take'' means to harass, harm,
pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or to
attempt to engage in any such conduct.'' 16 U.S.C. 1532(19). The term
``harm'' is further defined by regulation as ``an act which actually
kills or injures wildlife.'' 50 CFR 17.3. ``Such an 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.'' Id. The term
``harass'' is also further defined in the regulations as ``an
intentional or negligent act or omission that 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.'' Id.
Under Section 10(a)(l)(B) of the ESA, the Secretary of the Interior
may authorize the taking of federally listed species if such taking
occurs incidental to otherwise legal activities and where a
conservation plan has been developed. Section 10(a)(2)(A) requires that
the conservation plan describe: (1) The impact that will likely result
from such taking; (2) The steps an applicant will take to minimize and
mitigate that take to the maximum extent practicable and the funding
that will be available to implement such steps; (3) The alternative
actions to such taking that an applicant considered and the reasons why
such alternatives are not being utilized; and (4) Other measures that
the FWS may require as being necessary or appropriate for the purposes
of the plan. Issuance criteria under Section 10(a)(2)(B) for an ITP
require the FWS to find that: (1) The taking will be incidental to
otherwise lawful activities; (2) An applicant will, to the maximum
extent practicable, minimize and mitigate the impacts of such taking;
(3) An applicant has ensured that adequate funding for the plan will be
provided; (4) The taking will not appreciably reduce the likelihood of
the survival and recovery of the species in the wild; and (5) The
measures, if any, that FWS requires as necessary or appropriate for the
purposes of the plan will be met. Regulations governing permits for
endangered and threatened species are at 50 CFR 17.22 and Sec. 17.32,
respectively.
Washington County's ITP expired in 2016 and the FWS granted an
extension to allow time for a renewal. If approved, the Northern
Corridor would require an amendment to the HCP because it would impact
the Red Cliff Desert Reserve's function as mitigation under the HCP.
Before renewal of the ITP can be approved, the Utah Department of
Transportation and the County must demonstrate that impacts to the
previous value of the Reserve from the highway would be fully offset.
RMPs--Background
The BLM approved the Red Cliffs RMP on December 21, 2016. The
Approved RMP satisfies the legislative direction in Section 1974(d)(1)
of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 (16 U.S.C 460www,
Pub. L. 111-11) that the Secretary of the Interior, through the BLM,
develop a comprehensive RMP for the Red Cliffs NCA to achieve the
following Congressionally-defined purposes: ``(1) To conserve, protect,
and enhance for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future
generations the ecological, scenic, wildlife, recreational, cultural,
historical, natural, educational, and scientific resources of the
National Conservation Area; and (2) To protect each species that is
located in the National Conservation Area; and listed as a threatened
or endangered species on the list of threatened species or the list of
endangered species published under [the Endangered Species Act of
1973].'' 16 U.S.C. 460www(a).
The St. George Field Office RMP was approved on March 15, 1999, to
fulfill the planning requirements of the Federal Land Policy and
Management Act of 1976 and to provide a vision and direction for future
public land management in Washington County. The BLM approved an
amendment to the St. George Field Office RMP on December 21, 2016, to
protect endangered native plant species listed as threatened and
endangered and to update OHV area designations. The BLM is considering
amending the St. George RMP again to allow for possible measures that
the County proposed to mitigate the potential loss of tortoise habitat
by any development of a ROW corridor. Specifically, the County has
proposed creating a new habitat Zone 6 in the Reserve to provide
additional desert tortoise habitat and to offset habitat loss
potentially occurring from a ROW.
NEPA Process
The BLM and FWS will use an interdisciplinary approach to develop
the EIS in order to consider the variety of resource issues and
concerns identified during the scoping period. Potential direct,
indirect, residual, and cumulative impacts from the proposed actions
will be analyzed in the EIS.
The purpose of the public scoping process is to identify relevant
subject areas that will influence the scope of the environmental
analysis, including potential alternatives, and guide the process for
developing the EIS. At present, the BLM and FWS have identified the
following preliminary subject areas: Impacts to threatened and
endangered species, including the federally listed Mojave desert
tortoise; impacts to the mitigation for the 1995 HCP; impacts to the
Red Cliffs NCA's purposes for designation, impacts to recreation and
livestock grazing, and socioeconomic and transportation impacts in the
surrounding communities.
The BLM and FWS will follow the NEPA public participation
requirements to satisfy the public involvement requirements under
Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) (16 U.S.C.
470(f)) pursuant to 36 CFR 800.2(d)(3). Any information about historic
and cultural resources within the area potentially affected by the
proposed project will assist the BLM and FWS in identifying and
evaluating impacts to such resources in the context of both NEPA and
Section 106 of the NHPA.
The BLM and FWS will consult with Indian tribes on a government-to-
government basis in accordance with Executive Order 13175 and other
policies. Tribal concerns, including impacts on Indian trust assets and
potential impacts to cultural resources, will be given due
consideration. Federal, State, and local agencies, along with tribes
and other stakeholders that may be interested in or affected by the
proposed Northern Corridor project, associated RMP amendments, and
possible ESA 10(a)(1)(b) permit issuance are invited to participate in
the scoping process and, if eligible, may request or be requested by
the BLM to participate in the development of the environmental analysis
as a cooperating agency.
[[Page 66694]]
(Authority: 40 CFR 1501.7 and 43 CFR 1610.2)
Edwin L. Roberson,
State Director.
Noreen Walsh,
Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 2019-26287 Filed 12-4-19; 8:45 am]
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