[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 194 (Tuesday, October 6, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63134-63136]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-22063]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R2-ES-2020-N119; FXES111602C0000-201-FF02ENEH00]
Candidate Conservation Agreement With Assurances for the False
Spike and Texas Fawnsfoot in the Brazos River Basin
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for public comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have received an
application from the Brazos River Authority, a special district of the
State of Texas responsible for development and management of the water
resources of the Brazos River Basin in Texas. The application is for an
enhancement of survival permit under the Endangered Species Act that
would authorize incidental take of two candidate mussel species, false
spike and Texas fawnsfoot. The application includes a candidate
conservation agreement with assurances (CCAA) for freshwater mussel
conservation and surface water supply and delivery operations and
maintenance activities in the Brazos River Basin in Texas. We have made
a preliminary determination that the CCAA is eligible for categorical
exclusion under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The basis
for this determination is contained in a low-effect screening form for
a categorical exclusion (dCatEx form), which evaluates the impacts of
implementation of the proposed CCAA. The documents available for
comment include the low-effect screening form that supports a
categorical exclusion under NEPA, the CCAA, and an enhancement of
survival permit application.
DATES: To ensure consideration, written comments must be received or
postmarked on or before 11:59 p.m. eastern time on November 5, 2020. We
may not consider any comments we receive after the closing date in the
final decision on this action.
ADDRESSES:
Accessing Documents:
Internet: The dCatEx form, CCAA, and permit application: You may
obtain electronic copies of these documents on the Service's website at
https://www.fws.gov/southwest/es/AustinTexas/.
[[Page 63135]]
U.S. Mail: You may obtain the documents at the following addresses.
In your request for documents, please reference Brazos River Authority
CCAA.
dCatEx form and CCAA: A limited number of CD-ROM and
printed copies of the dCatEx form and CCAA are available, by request,
from Mr. Adam Zerrenner, Field Supervisor, Austin Ecological Services
Field Office, Austin, TX 78758, telephone 512-490-0057.
EOS permit application: The EOS permit application is
available by mail from the Regional Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, P.O. Box 1306, Room 6034, Albuquerque, NM 87103, Attention:
Environmental Review Branch.
Submitting Comments: Regarding any of the documents available for
review, you may submit written comments by one of the following
methods. In your comments, please reference Brazos River Authority
CCAA.
Email: Submit comments to FW2_HCP_Permits@fws.gov.
U.S. Mail: Field Supervisor, Austin Ecological Services
Field Office, 10711 Burnet Road, Suite 200, Austin, TX 78758.
We request that you send comments by only one of the methods described
above.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Adam Zerrenner, Field Supervisor, by
mail at U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 10711 Burnet Road, Suite 200,
Austin, TX 78758; via phone at 512-490-0057; or via the Federal Relay
Service at 800-877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 9 of the Endangered Species Act
(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 the
enhancement of survival (EOS) of candidate 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 such take of endangered and threatened/candidate species,
respectively, are found in the Code of Federal Regulations at 50 CFR
17.22 and 50 CFR 17.32.
Background
The Brazos River Authority (BRA) has applied to the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service (Service) for an EOS under section 10(a)(1)(A) of the
ESA. The requested EOS permit, which would become effective on the date
the species may be listed in the future If the EOS is issued, it would
authorize incidental take of the false spike (Fusconaia mitchelli) and
Texas fawnsfoot (Truncilla macrodon), two mussels species listed as
candidates under the ESA. The permit would be in effect from the
effective date of a listing for the remainder of the 20-year duration
of the CCAA. The proposed incidental take would result from activities
associated with otherwise lawful activities resulting from
implementation of the measures in the CCAA's conservation strategy, and
ongoing and continuing water supply development activities. The CCAA
and associated permit would implement a voluntary conservation strategy
for freshwater mussels developed by the BRA informed by the National
Strategy for the Conservation of Native Freshwater Mussels developed by
the National Freshwater Mollusk Conservation Society. The conservation
strategy includes avoidance and minimization measures to reduce impacts
to candidate mussels and their habitats, a monitoring and adaptive
management program, environmental flow standards, and a public outreach
and education program about threats affecting the candidate mussels. In
addition, it includes development of revised flow standards specific to
candidate mussels, in conjunction with development of hydrologic
modeling to inform adaptive management. There is also support for
development of short-term refugia and research into propagation
methods. The expected result of the implementation of the conservation
strategy is likely a net conservation benefit to the candidate false
spike and candidate Texas fawnsfoot.
The intent of the CCAA and associated permit is to provide the BRA
with the opportunity to voluntarily conserve both species and their
habitat, while carrying out their existing and ongoing water supply and
water delivery operations and providing a net conservation benefit to
the species. If approved, the EOS would be for a 20-year period
following the signature of the CCAA and would authorize incidental take
of the false spike and Texas fawnsfoot, if the species come to be
listed under the ESA.
Proposed Action
The proposed action involves the issuance of an EOS by the Service
for the covered activities in the permit area, under section
10(a)(1)(A) of the ESA. The EOS would cover ``take'' of the covered
species associated with implementation of a conservation strategy for
freshwater mussels and the operation and maintenance of BRA's water
supply and distribution system within the permit area. An application
for an EOS must include a CCAA that describes the conservation measures
the applicant has agreed to undertake to minimize and mitigate for the
impacts of the proposed taking of covered species to the maximum extent
practicable. The applicant will fully implement the CCAA if approved by
the Service.
Next Steps
We will evaluate the CCAA and comments we receive to determine
whether the EOS application meets the requirements of section
10(a)(1)(A) of the ESA. We will also evaluate whether issuance of a
section 10(a)(1)(A) permit would comply with section 7 of the ESA by
conducting an intra-Service section 7 consultation. We will also
evaluate the comments received to determine if the CCAA is eligible for
categorical exclusion under the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA). We will use the results of the combination of the above
findings, in our final analysis to determine whether to issue an EOS.
If all necessary requirements are met, we may issue the EOS to the
applicant.
Public Availability of Comments
Written comments we receive become part of the public 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
We provide this notice under section 10(c) of the ESA 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
[[Page 63136]]
implementing regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).
Amy L. Lueders,
Regional Director, Southwest Region, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
[FR Doc. 2020-22063 Filed 10-5-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P