[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 35 (Tuesday, February 22, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9637-9638]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-03619]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R2-ES-2021-N028; FXES11140200000-223-FF02ENEH00]
Draft Low Effect Screening Form for a Categorical Exclusion and
Candidate Conservation Plan; Texas Kangaroo Rat Candidate Conservation
Agreement With Assurances, Montague, Clay, Wichita, Archer, Wilbarger,
Baylor, Hardeman, Foard, Childress, Cottle, and Motley Counties, Texas
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for public comments.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, make available a draft
low-effect screening form for a categorical exclusion (dCatEx form)
under the National Environmental Policy Act and candidate conservation
agreement with assurances (CCAA) for normal agricultural operations,
recreation, and nature tourism in Montague, Clay, Wichita, Archer,
Wilbarger, Baylor, Hardeman, Foard, Childress, Cottle, and Motley
Counties, in Texas. Texas Parks & Wildlife Department has applied for
an enhancement of survival permit (EOS) under the Endangered Species
Act that would authorize incidental take of the Texas kangaroo rat. The
dCatEx form evaluates the impacts of, and alternatives to,
implementation of the proposed CCAA. We seek public comment on the
CCAA, dCatEx form, and EOS application.
DATES: To ensure consideration, written comments must be received or
postmarked on or before 11:59 p.m. eastern time on March 24, 2022. We
may not consider any comments we receive after the closing date in the
final decision on this action.
ADDRESSES: Accessing Documents: You may access the dCatEx form and CCAA
by any of the following means. In your request for documents, please
reference the ``Texas Kangaroo Rat CCAA.''
Internet: https://www.fws.gov/southwest/es/arlingtontexas/.
U.S. Mail: You may obtain a CD-ROM containing the
documents (limited supply) or printed copies, by request from Ms. Debra
T. Bills, 2005 Northeast Green Oaks Boulevard, Suite 140, Arlington, TX
76006.
Email: arles@fws.gov.
Submitting Comments: You may submit written comments by one of the
following methods. In your comments,
[[Page 9638]]
please reference ``Texas Kangaroo Rat CCAA.''
Email: arles@fws.gov.
U.S. Mail: Debra T. Bills (street address above).
Fax: 817-277-1129.
We request that you send comments by only one of the above methods.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Debra T. Bills, Field Supervisor, by
mail (street address above); via phone at 817-277-1100, ext. 22113; 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, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(Service), may issue permits for incidental take if such take is
authorized under an enhancement of survival of candidate species permit
(EOS permit) and covered by a candidate conservation agreement with
assurances (CCAA). ``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 take of endangered and
threatened species, respectively, are found in the Code of Federal
Regulations at 50 CFR 17.22 and 50 CFR 17.32.
Background
The Texas Parks & Wildlife Department has applied to the Service
for an EOS permit under section 10(a)(1)(A) of the ESA. If granted, the
requested EOS permit would be in effect upon a listing of the Texas
kangaroo rat (Dipodomys elator) under the ESA during the 10-year term
of the CCAA, and would authorize incidental take of the species. The
proposed incidental take would result from activities associated with
otherwise lawful activities, including normal agricultural operations,
recreation, and nature tourism resulting from ground disturbance and
changes in vegetation community composition and structure. The CCAA
includes conservation measures to minimize and mitigate direct and
indirect impacts to the Texas kangaroo rat and provide net conservation
benefits to the species.
Alternatives
Proposed Action
The proposed action involves the issuance of an EOS permit by the
Service for the covered activities in the permit area, under section
10(a)(1)(A) of the ESA. The EOS permit would cover incidental take of
the covered species associated with annual production and preparation
for market of crops, livestock, and livestock products and in the
production and harvesting of agriculture, agronomic, horticulture,
silviculture, and rangeland commodities within the permit area, in the
event the covered species is listed under the ESA during the 10-year
term of the CCAA. An application for an EOS permit 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. The
terms of the CCAA and EOS permit will also ensure that incidental take
will not appreciably reduce the likelihood of the survival and recovery
of the species in the wild.
No Action Alternative
We have considered one alternative to the proposed action as part
of this process: No Action. Under a No Action alternative, the Service
would not issue the requested EOS permit, and the applicant would
proceed in either of the following ways:
1. The applicant would not plant, cultivate, produce, harvest,
process, package, store, or market for wholesale or retail distribution
any agricultural commodities. The applicant would not undertake
management of agricultural waste.
2. The applicant would conduct the above-described activities, but
would do so in a manner that avoids incidental take.
In either of the above two cases in the No Action Alternative, the
applicant would not implement the conservation measures described in
the CCAA.
Next Steps
We will evaluate the CCAA and comments we receive to determine
whether the EOS application meets the requirements of section 10(a) of
the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). 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
use the results of this consultation, in combination with the above
findings, in our final analysis to determine whether to issue an EOS
permit. If all necessary requirements are met, we will issue the EOS
permit 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. We will not consider anonymous
comments. 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 the authority of section 10(c) of the
ESA and its implementing regulations (50 CFR 17.22 and 50 CFR 17.32)
and NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4371 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (40
CFR 1506.6).
Amy L. Lueders,
Regional Director, Southwest Region, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-03619 Filed 2-18-22; 8:45 am]
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