[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 234 (Friday, December 4, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 78347-78348]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-26667]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R3-ES-2020-0124; FXES11140300000-201]
Draft Environmental Assessment and Proposed Habitat Conservation
Plan; Receipt of an Application for an Incidental Take Permit, Meadow
Lake Wind Resource Area, White and Benton Counties, Indiana
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comment and information.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have received an
application from six wholly owned subsidiaries of EDP Renewables North
America LLC collectively known as Meadow Lake Group (applicant) for an
incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act, for its
Meadow Lake Wind Resource Area wind project. If approved, the ITP would
be for a 29-year period and would authorize the incidental take of the
Indiana bat and the northern long-eared bat. The applicant has prepared
a habitat conservation plan (HCP) that describes the actions and
measures that the applicant would implement to avoid, minimize, and
mitigate incidental take of the species. We also announce the
availability of a draft environmental assessment (DEA), which has been
prepared in response to the permit application in accordance with the
requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act. We request
public comment on the application and associated documents.
DATES: We will accept comments received or postmarked on or before
January 4, 2021.
ADDRESSES: Document availability: Electronic copies of the documents
this notice announces, as well as public comments we receive, will be
available online in Docket No. FWS-R3-ES-2020-0124 at http://www.regulations.gov.
Comment submission: In your comment, please specify whether your
comment addresses the proposed HCP, draft EA, or any combination of the
aforementioned documents, or other supporting documents. You may submit
written comments by one of the following methods:
Online: http://www.regulations.gov. Search for and submit
comments on Docket No. FWS-R3-ES-2020-0124.
By hard copy: Submit comments by U.S. mail to Public
Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No. FWS-R3-ES-2020-0124; U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service; 5275 Leesburg Pike, MS: PRB/3W; Falls Church, VA
22041-3803.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Scott Pruitt, Field Supervisor,
Bloomington Ecological Services Field Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, 620 South Walker Street, Bloomington, IN 47403; telephone:
812-334-4261, extension 214; or Andrew Horton, Regional HCP
Coordinator, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service--Interior Region 3, 5600
American Blvd., West, Suite 990, Bloomington, MN 55437-1458; telephone:
612-713-5337.
Individuals who are hearing impaired or speech impaired may call
the Federal Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339 for TTY assistance.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(Service), have received an application from EDP Renewables' Meadow
Lake Group (applicant) for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et
seq.), for its Meadow Lake Resource Area (project or MLWRA). The MLWRA
consists of 414 turbines that are owned by six companies: Meadow Lake
Wind Farm LLC, Meadow Lake Wind Farm II LLC, Meadow Lake Wind Farm III
LLC, Meadow Lake Wind Farm IV LLC, Meadow Lake Wind Farm V LLC, and
Meadow Lake Wind Farm VI LLC. If approved, the ITP would be for a 29-
year period and would authorize the incidental take of an endangered
species, the Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis), and a threatened species,
the northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis). The applicant has
prepared a habitat conservation plan (HCP) that describes the actions
and measures that the applicant would implement to avoid, minimize, and
mitigate incidental take of the Indiana bat and northern long-eared
bat. We also announce the availability of a draft environmental
assessment (DEA), which has been prepared in response to the permit
application in accordance with the requirements of the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). We request
public comment on the application and associated documents.
Background
Section 9 of the ESA 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,
[[Page 78348]]
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 29-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 414 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 on-
site minimization measures and to provide habitat conservation measures
for Indiana bats and northern long-eared bats to offset any impacts
from operations of the project. The HCP provides on-site avoidance and
minimization measures, which include turbine operational adjustments.
The estimated level of take from the project is 728 Indiana bats and
169 northern long-eared bats over the 29-year project duration. To
offset the impacts of the taking of Indiana bats and northern long-
eared bats, the applicant proposes mitigation that will consist of one
or more of the following: Protection of a hibernaculum, protection of
summer maternity colony habitat, restoration of summer maternity colony
habitat, and protection of swarming habitat.
National Environmental Policy Act
The issuance of an ITP is a Federal action that triggers the need
for compliance with NEPA. 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 a more
restrictive alternative consisting of feathering at a rate of wind
speed that results in less impacts to bats.
Next Steps
The Service will evaluate the permit application and the comments
received to determine whether the application meets the requirements of
section 10(a) of the ESA. 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.
Request for Public Comments
The Service invites comments and suggestions from all interested
parties during a 30-day public comment period (see DATES). In
particular, information and comments regarding the following topics are
requested:
1. The direct, indirect, or cumulative effects that implementation
of any alternative could have on the human environment;
2. Whether or not the significance of the impact on various aspects
of the human environment has been adequately analyzed; and
3. Any other information pertinent to evaluating the effects of the
proposed action on the human environment.
Because this permit application was sufficiently complete prior to
the effective date of the new NEPA regulations, we are exercising our
discretion to conduct our NEPA analysis under the regulations in effect
prior to September 14, 2020.
Availability of Public Comments
You may submit comments by one of the methods shown under
ADDRESSES. 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
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 the
NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4371 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (40 CFR
1506.6 (2019); 43 CFR part 46).
Lori Nordstrom,
Assistant Regional Director, Ecological Services.
[FR Doc. 2020-26667 Filed 12-3-20; 8:45 am]
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