[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 100 (Friday, May 22, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31203-31204]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-10401]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R8-ES-2020-N039; FF08ESMF00-FXES11140800000-201]
Joint Final Environmental Impact Statement and Environmental
Impact Report, Joint Final Habitat Conservation Plan and Natural
Community Conservation Plan; Placer County, California
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), announce the
availability of a joint final environmental impact statement and final
environmental impact report (final EIS/EIR) under the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1967, as amended. We also announce the
availability of a final Western Placer County Habitat Conservation Plan
and Natural Community Conservation Plan (Final Plan). The National
Marine Fisheries Service and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are
cooperating agencies on the final EIS/EIR.
DATES: A record of decision will be signed no sooner than 30 days after
the publication of this notice of availability in the Federal Register.
We must receive any written comments by 5 p.m. on June 22, 2020.
ADDRESSES:
Obtaining Documents: You may obtain electronic copies of the Final
Plan and final EIS/EIR from the Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office
website at http://www.fws.gov/sacramento. Please use the information in
the For Further Information Contact section below with questions on
obtaining documents.
Submitting Comments: Please address written comments to Eric
Tattersall, Assistant Field Supervisor, by facsimile to (916) 414-6713;
or by mail to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Sacramento Fish and
Wildlife Office, 2800 Cottage Way, W-2605, Sacramento, California
95825.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephanie Jentsch, Senior Biologist,
Conservation Planning Division; or Eric Tattersall, Assistant Field
Supervisor, at the Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office address above or
by telephone at (916) 414-6600. If you use a telecommunications device
for the deaf, hard-of-hearing, or speech disabled, please call the
Federal Relay Service at 800-877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The County of Placer, City of Lincoln, South
Placer Regional Transportation Authority, Placer County Water Agency,
and the Placer County Authority (PCA) (collectively, the applicants)
have applied for a 50-year incidental take permit (ITP) under the
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et
seq.). The applicants prepared the Final Plan pursuant to section
10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA and the California Natural Community
Conservation Planning Act of 2002 (NCCPA).
Background
Section 9 of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531-1544 et seq.) and Federal
regulations (50 CFR 17) prohibit the taking of fish and wildlife
species listed as endangered, and certain species listed as threatened
under section 4 of the ESA. Regulations governing permits for
endangered and threatened species are at 50 CFR 17.22 and 17.32. For
more about the Federal habitat conservation plan program, go to http://www.fws.gov/endangered/esa-library/pdf/hcp.pdf. As cooperating
agencies, NMFS may use the EIS analysis to support a decision as to
whether to issue an ITP to the applicants, and the Corps may use the
EIS analysis to support decisions made associated with implementing the
Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.).
NEPA requires Federal agencies to analyze their proposed actions to
determine whether the actions may significantly affect the human
environment. In these NEPA analyses, the Federal agency will identify
direct, indirect, and cumulative effects, as well as possible
mitigation for effects on environmental resources that could occur with
implementation of the proposed action and alternatives.
Proposed Action
The FWS and NMFS would issue an ITP to the applicants for a period
of 50 years for certain covered activities (listed below). The
applicants have requested ITPs for 14 covered animal species (listed
below), of which 7 are listed as endangered or threatened under the
ESA.
[[Page 31204]]
Plan Area
The geographic scope of the Final Plan includes two plan areas.
Plan Area A encompasses approximately 209,000 acres of the City of
Lincoln and unincorporated lands in western Placer County and is the
focus of the Final Plan. Plan Area B includes additional specific areas
in Placer and Sutter Counties that are not included in Plan Area A.
Combined, Plan Areas A and B cover approximately 260,000 acres.
Covered Activities
The proposed section 10 ITPs would allow take of 14 covered species
resulting from covered activities in the proposed plan area. The
applicants are requesting incidental take authorization for covered
species resulting from covered activities, including urban and rural
development, water management, conservation measures, and facilities
maintenance. A complete description of the covered activities is
provided in the Final Plan, Chapter 2. The applicants are also
proposing to implement a number of project design features, including
best management practices, as well as general and species-specific
avoidance and minimization measures to minimize the impacts of the take
from the covered activities.
Covered Species
The following wildlife species federally listed as endangered are
proposed to be covered by the Final Plan: Conservancy fairy shrimp
(Branchinecta conservatio) and vernal pool tadpole shrimp (Lepidurus
packardi). The following wildlife species federally listed as
threatened are proposed to be covered by the Final Plan: Giant garter
snake (Thamnophis gigas), California red-legged frog (Rana draytonii),
valley elderberry longhorn beetle (Desmocerus californicus dimorphus),
and vernal pool fairy shrimp (Branchinecta lynchi). The following
wildlife species that are not federally listed are also proposed to be
covered by the Final Plan: Swainson's hawk (Buteo swainsoni),
California black rail (Laterallus jamaicensis coturniculus), western
burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia hypugaea), tricolored blackbird
(Agelaius tricolor), western pond turtle (Actinemys marmorata), and
foothill yellow-legged frog (Rana boylii).
Two species of fish are proposed to be covered by the Final Plan
under an ITP from NMFS: The Central Valley steelhead (distinct
population segment; Oncorhynchus mykiss irideus), which is federally
listed as threatened; and the Central Valley fall/late-fall run Chinook
salmon (evolutionarily significant unit; Oncorhynchus tshawytscha),
which is not listed.
National Environmental Policy Act Compliance
The final EIS/EIR was prepared to analyze the impacts of issuing an
ITP based on the Final Plan and to inform the public of the proposed
action, alternatives, and associated impacts and to disclose any
irreversible commitments of resources. The final EIS/EIR analyzes three
alternatives in addition to the proposed action described above. The
other alternatives include a no-action (i.e., no ITP) alternative, a
reduced take/reduced fill alternative, and a reduced permit term
alternative, and are all described in the Final EIS/EIR. The final EIS/
EIR also includes all comments received on the draft EIS/EIR, draft
HCP/NCCP, and responses to those comments.
Public Review
The FWS published a notice of intent to prepare a joint EIS/EIR in
the Federal Register on March 7, 2005 (70 FR 11022), announcing a 30-
day public scoping period, during which the public was invited to
provide written comments and attend three public meetings. The FWS
published a notice of availability of the draft EIS/EIR and draft HCP/
NCCP in the Federal Register on June 21, 2019 (84 FR 29224), announcing
a 60-day public comment period, during which the public was invited to
provide written comments and attend two public meetings.
Copies of the final EIS/EIR and Final Plan are available for
inspection (see ADDRESSES). Any comments we receive will become part of
the public record. 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 review, we cannot guarantee that we
will be able to do so.
Next Steps
Issuance of an incidental take permit is a Federal proposed action
subject to compliance with NEPA and the ESA. The FWS and NMFS will
evaluate the application, associated documents, and any public comments
we receive to determine whether the application meets the requirements
of NEPA regulations and sections 7 and 10(a) of the ESA. If FWS and
NMFS determine that those requirements are met, we will issue a permit
to the applicants for the incidental take of the Covered Species.
Authority
We issue this notice pursuant to 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 the National Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 4321 et
seq.) and its implementing regulations (40 CFR 1506.6 and 43 CFR
46.305).
Michael Fris,
Assistant Regional Director, Pacific Southwest Region, Sacramento.
[FR Doc. 2020-10401 Filed 5-21-20; 8:45 am]
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