[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 237 (Tuesday, December 10, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67473-67474]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-26491]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R5-ES-2014-0050; FXES111X0500000-XXX-FF05E00000]
Receipt of Incidental Take Permit Application and Proposed
Habitat Conservation Plan for Indiana Bat (Myotis Sodalis) and Northern
Long-Eared Bat (Myotis Septentrionalis) at the Copenhagen Wind Farm,
Jefferson and Lewis Counties, New York; and Draft Environmental
Assessment
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability of documents; request for comment and
information.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the
receipt of an application from Copenhagen Wind Farm, LLC (applicant),
for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act
(ESA). The applicant requests the ITP for take of the federally
endangered Indiana bat and threatened northern long-eared bat
incidental to otherwise lawful activities associated with operation of
its Copenhagen Wind Farm, a 40-turbine wind farm that has been
constructed in Jefferson and Lewis Counties, New York. The applicant
proposes a conservation program to minimize and mitigate for the
unavoidable incidental take as described in its Indiana Bat and
Northern Long-eared Bat Habitat Conservation Plan for the Copenhagen
Wind Farm, Lewis and Jefferson Counties, New York (HCP). We request
public comment on the application, which includes the applicant's
proposed HCP, and the Service's draft environmental assessment,
prepared pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act. We provide
this notice to seek comments from the public and Federal, Tribal,
State, and local governments.
DATES: We will accept comments received or postmarked on or before
January 9, 2020. Comments submitted electronically using the Federal
eRulemaking Portal (see ADDRESSES) must be received by 11:59 p.m.
Eastern Standard Time on the closing date.
ADDRESSES: Obtaining documents:
Internet: You may obtain copies of the application
including the HCP and draft environmental assessment (EA) on the
internet at the New York Ecological Services Field Office's website at
https://www.fws.gov/northeast/nyfo/ or at http://www.regulations.gov at
Docket No. FWS-R5-ES-2014-0050.
In-person: Documents are available for public inspection
by appointment during regular business hours at the New York Ecological
Services Field Office, 3817 Luker Road, Cortland, NY 13045. Call 607-
753-49334 to make an appointment.
Submitting Comments: If you wish to submit comments on any of the
documents, you may do so by one of the following methods. Please
reference Docket Number FWS-R5-ES-2014-0050 in all comments. For
additional guidance on submitting comments, please see Public Comments
under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.
Electronically: Go to the Federal eRulemaking Portal
website at: http://www.regulations.gov. In the Search box, enter FWS-
R5-2014-0050, which is the docket number for this notice. Click on the
appropriate link to locate this document and submit a comment.
By hard copy: You may submit by mail or hand-delivery to
Public Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No. FWS-R5-ES-2014-0050, New
York Ecological Services Field Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
3817 Luker Road, Cortland, NY 13045. We request that you send comments
by only the methods described above.
[[Page 67474]]
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robyn Niver, by mail at New York
Ecological Services Field Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 3817
Luker Road, Cortland, NY 13045; or by phone at 607-753-9334.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Section 9 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA;
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 ESA 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 ESA, we may issue permits to authorize incidental
take of listed 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. Regulations governing incidental take
permits for endangered and threatened species, respectively, are found
in the Code of Federal Regulations at 50 CFR 17.22 and 50 CFR 17.32.
Applicant's Proposed Project
The applicant requests a 25-year ITP to take the federally
endangered Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis) and threatened northern long-
eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis). The applicant determined that
unavoidable take is reasonably certain to occur incidental to operation
of 40 previously constructed wind turbines. The proposed conservation
strategy in the applicant's proposed HCP is designed to avoid,
minimize, and mitigate the impacts of the covered activity on the
covered species. The biological goals and objectives are to minimize
potential take of Indiana bats and northern long-eared bats through
onsite minimization measures and to provide habitat conservation
measures for Indiana bats and northern long-eared bats to offset any
unavoidable impacts from operations of the project. The HCP provides
onsite avoidance and minimization measures, which include turbine
operational adjustments. The estimated level of take from the project
is 4 Indiana bats and 16 northern long-eared bats over the 25-year
project duration. To offset the impacts of the unavoidable taking of
Indiana bats and northern long-eared bats, the applicant proposes to
protect a high priority winter hibernaculum by installing a gate.
National Environmental Policy Act
The issuance of an ITP is a Federal action that triggers the need
for compliance with NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). We prepared a draft
EA that analyzes the environmental impacts on the human environment
resulting from three alternatives: A no-action alternative, the
proposed action, and an alternative consisting of feathering below the
manufacturer's cut-in wind speed.
Next Steps
The Service will evaluate the application and the comments received
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 conduct
an intra-Service consultation pursuant to section 7 of the ESA to
evaluate the effects of the proposed take. After considering the above
findings, we will determine whether the permit issuance criteria of
section 10(a)(l)(B) of the ESA have been met. If met, the Service will
issue the requested ITP to the applicant.
Public Comments
The Service invites the public to comment on the proposed HCP and
draft EA during a 30-day public comment period (see DATES). You may
submit comments by one of the methods shown under ADDRESSES.
Public Availability of Comments
We will post on http://regulations.gov all public comments and
information received electronically or via hardcopy. All comments
received, including names and addresses, will become part of the
administrative record associated with this action. 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 can request in your
comment that we withhold your personal identifying information from
public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. All
submissions from organizations or businesses, and from individuals
identifying themselves as representatives or officials of organizations
or businesses, will be made available for public disclosure in their
entirety.
Authority
The Service provides this notice under section 10(c) (16 U.S.C.
1539(c)) of the ESA and NEPA regulation 40 CFR 1506.6.
Glenn S. Smith,
Acting Assistant Regional Director, Ecological Services, North
Atlantic-Appalachian Region.
[FR Doc. 2019-26491 Filed 12-9-19; 8:45 am]
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