[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 45 (Friday, March 6, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13181-13182]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-04562]
[[Page 13181]]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R8-ES-2019-N015; FXES11140800000-190-FF08EVEN00]
Draft Environmental Assessment and Draft General Conservation
Plan for Oil and Gas Activities in Santa Barbara County, California
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the
availability of a draft General Conservation Plan (GCP), as well as the
associated draft environmental assessment (EA), for oil and gas
activities in Santa Barbara County. The Service developed the GCP in
accordance with the Endangered Species Act to provide a streamlined
mechanism for proponents engaged in oil and gas activities to meet
statutory and regulatory requirements while promoting conservation of
the Santa Barbara County distinct population segment of the California
tiger salamander, California red-legged frog, and Lompoc yerba santa.
The Service prepared the draft EA in accordance with the National
Environmental Policy Act to evaluate the potential effects to the
natural and human environment resulting from issuing permits under the
GCP. We invite public comment on these documents.
DATES: Written comments should be received on or before April 6, 2020.
ADDRESSES: Obtaining documents: You may download a copy of the draft
GCP and draft EA at http://www.fws.gov/ventura/, or you may request
copies of the documents from the Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office by
U.S. mail (address below) or by phone (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT).
Submitting written comments: Please send us your written comments
using one of the following methods:
U.S. mail: Stephen P. Henry, Field Supervisor, Ventura
Fish and Wildlife Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2493 Portola
Road, Suite B, Ventura, CA 93003.
Email: sbc-oilandgasgcp@fws.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rachel Henry, Fish and Wildlife
Biologist, Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office (see ADDRESSES), by phone
at 805-677-3312 or via the Federal Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339 for
TTY assistance.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(Service), announce the availability of a draft General Conservation
Plan (GCP), as well as the associated draft environmental assessment
(EA), for oil and gas activities in Santa Barbara County. The GCP was
developed by the Service in accordance with section 10(a)(2)(A) of the
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et
seq.). The GCP meets the issuance criteria as required by section
10(a)(2)(B) of the ESA for issuance of a section 10(a)(1)(B) incidental
take permit (ITP).
The Service developed the GCP to provide a streamlined mechanism
for proponents engaged in oil and gas development, expansion,
operations, maintenance, and decommissioning of infrastructure to meet
statutory and regulatory requirements while promoting conservation of
the Santa Barbara County distinct population segment (DPS) of the
California tiger salamander (Ambystoma californiense), California red-
legged frog (Rana draytonii), and Lompoc yerba santa (Eriodictyon
capitatum). The GCP includes measures to mitigate and minimize impacts
to the covered species. Permits issued under the GCP would authorize
incidental take of the covered species for up to 20 years after the
plan becomes effective. The Service prepared the draft EA in accordance
with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA; 42 U.S.C.
4321 et seq.) to evaluate the potential effects to the natural and
human environment resulting from issuing permits under the GCP. We
invite public comment on these documents.
Background
The Service listed the Santa Barbara County DPS of the California
tiger salamander as endangered on September 21, 2000 (65 FR 57242); the
Lompoc yerba santa as endangered on March 20, 2000 (65 FR 14888); and
the California red-legged frog as threatened on May 23, 1996 (61 FR
25813).
Section 9 of the ESA and its implementing regulations prohibit the
take of fish or wildlife species listed as endangered or threatened.
The ESA defines ``take'' as 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); however, under section 10(a)(1)(B) of
the ESA, we may issue permits to authorize incidental take of listed
species. Our regulations at 50 CFR 17.3 define ``incidental taking'' as
take that is incidental to, and not the purpose of, carrying out of an
otherwise lawful activity. Regulations governing incidental take
permits for endangered and threatened species are in the Code of
Federal Regulations (CFR) at 50 CFR 17.22 and 17.32, respectively.
Under the ESA, protections for federally listed plants differ from the
protections afforded to federally listed animals. Issuance of an
incidental take permit also must not jeopardize the existence of
federally listed fish, wildlife, or plant species. The permittees would
receive assurances under our ``No Surprises'' regulations ((50 CFR
17.22(b)(5) and 17.32(b)(5)) regarding conservation activities for the
Santa Barbara County DPS of the California tiger salamander, California
red-legged frog, and Lompoc yerba santa.
Proposed Action
The proposed action is approval of the GCP that has been prepared
by the Service in accordance with section 10(a)(2)(A) of the ESA to
provide a more efficient and standardized mechanism for proponents
engaged in commercial oil and gas development, expansion, operations,
maintenance, and decommissioning of infrastructure on non-Federal
lands. The GCP meets the permit issuance criteria as required by
section 10(a)(2)(B) of the ESA and enables the establishment of a
programmatic permitting and conservation process to address a defined
suite of proposed activities over a defined planning area. The proposed
GCP would allow private individuals, local and State agencies, and
other non-Federal entities to meet the statutory and regulatory
requirements of the ESA by applying for a permit and complying with the
requirements of the GCP, including all applicable avoidance,
minimization, and mitigation actions.
The draft EA provides the required NEPA documentation for the
proposed Federal action (i.e., approval of a conservation plan and
subsequent issuance of permits pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(B) of the
ESA), providing information on the environmental baseline and a
discussion of impacts to the human and natural environment that may
occur as a result of implementation of the proposed GCP. Importantly,
the scope of the EA is limited to the evaluation of the proposed GCP as
a mechanism to standardize permit issuance for covered activities; this
EA neither evaluates nor results in approval of oil and gas development
projects or activities.
Alternatives
We are considering a no-action alternative to the proposed action
in the EA. Under this alternative, the Service would not establish the
proposed GCP as a standardized mechanism for
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compliance with section 10 of the ESA. Entities planning to conduct oil
and gas activities involving potential impacts to the Santa Barbara
County DPS of the California tiger salamander and California red-legged
frog would continue to be required to obtain permits with associated
project-specific HCPs.
Public Availability of Comments
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
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying
information from public view, we cannot guarantee that we will be able
to do so.
Authority
We provide this notice under section 10(c) of the ESA (16 U.S.C.
1531 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (50 CFR 17.22 and 17.32)
and NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (40
CFR 1506.6).
Stephen Henry,
Field Supervisor, Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office, Ventura,
California.
[FR Doc. 2020-04562 Filed 3-5-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P