[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 93 (Friday, May 13, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29361-29364]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-09596]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[Docket No. FWS-R1-ES-2020-0101; FXES11140100000-223-FF01E0000]
Final Environmental Impact Statement and Habitat Conservation
Plan for Thurston County, Washington
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the
availability of a final environmental impact statement (FEIS), which
analyzes a proposed habitat conservation plan (HCP) developed by
Thurston County, Washington (applicant, or the County). This FEIS was
prepared jointly by the Service and Thurston County to satisfy both the
National Environmental Policy Act and the Washington State
Environmental Policy Act. The HCP was submitted by the applicant in
support of an application for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the
Endangered Species Act. The applicant is seeking authorization for the
incidental take of six species, which is expected to result from
various County-permitted development activities, as well as
construction and maintenance of County-owned or County-managed
infrastructure, over the next 30 years.
DATES: The Service's ITP decision will occur no sooner than 30 days
after publication of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's notice
of availability of the FEIS in the Federal Register, and will be
documented in a record of decision.
ADDRESSES: You may obtain copies of the documents by any of the
following methods:
Internet: https://www.regulations.gov (Docket No. FWS-R1-
ES-2020-0101) or at https://www.fws.gov/wafwo/.
Phone: You may call Kevin Connally, at 360-753-9440, to
request alternative formats of the documents.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kevin Connally, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, Washington Fish and Wildlife Office (see ADDRESSES);
telephone: 360-753-9440; email: Kevin_Connally@fws.gov. Individuals in
the United States who are deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a
speech disability may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access
telecommunications relay services. Individuals outside the United
States should use the relay services offered within their country to
make international calls to the point-of-contact in the United States.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(Service), announce the availability of a final environmental impact
statement (FEIS) addressing Thurston County's (applicant or County)
proposed habitat conservation plan (HCP). In accordance with the
requirements of the Endangered Species Act, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C.
1531 et seq.), the applicant is seeking an incidental take permit (ITP)
authorizing take of the threatened Yelm pocket gopher (Thomomys mazama
yelmensis), Olympia pocket gopher (T. mazama pugetensis), Tenino pocket
gopher (T. mazama tumuli), and Oregon spotted frog (Rana pretiosa); the
endangered Taylor's checkerspot butterfly (Euphydryas editha taylori);
and the Oregon vesper sparrow (Pooecetes gramineus affinis), which is
under review to determine if Federal listing under the ESA is warranted
(hereafter, ``covered species'').
If issued, the ITP would authorize take of the covered species that
may occur incidental to various County-permitted development
activities, as well as construction and maintenance of County-owned or
County-managed infrastructure, for a period of 30 years. The applicant
would avoid, minimize, and mitigate impacts to covered species, and
would fully offset the impact of taking. In support of the ITP
application, the applicant prepared the HCP, which describes the steps
the applicant would take to avoid, minimize, and mitigate impacts to
covered species associated with the above activities in accordance with
HCP and ITP requirements. Mitigation would be achieved through the
permanent conservation and maintenance of covered species habitat. The
HCP also describes, without limitation, the life history and ecology of
the covered species, the impact of the anticipated taking on covered
species, adaptive management procedures, monitoring procedures, changed
circumstances, and funding assurances for HCP implementation.
This Final EIS provides updates, as needed, to information
presented in the draft EIS, including revisions in response to issues
raised in comments received during the public review period for that
document. No substantial changes to the proposed action or other
alternatives were made that are relevant to environmental concerns, and
no significant new circumstances or information relevant to the impacts
of the alternatives analyzed in the draft EIS were found.
This FEIS was prepared consistent with the Department of the
Interior
[[Page 29362]]
NEPA regulations (43 CFR part 46); longstanding Federal judicial and
regulatory interpretations; and Administration priorities and policies,
including Secretary's Order No. 3399 requiring bureaus and offices to
use ``the same application or level of NEPA that would have been
applied to a proposed action before the 2020 Rule went into effect.''
The FEIS will also be used by Thurston County to satisfy the
requirements of the Washington State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA),
as provided in Revised Code of Washington 43.21C, and SEPA implementing
regulations found at Washington Administrative Code 197-11.
Background
Thurston County is seeking an ITP to cover a variety of activities
for which the County issues permits or approvals, and activities the
County otherwise carries out under its jurisdiction. The covered
activities include:
Residential development;
Development of accessory structures;
Installation, repair, or alteration of septic systems;
Commercial and industrial development;
Public service facility construction;
Transportation projects;
Transportation maintenance and other work within County-
owned road rights-of-way;
Landfill and solid waste management;
Water resources management;
Management of mitigation sites; and
County parks, trails, and land management.
The covered activities would not include mining or forestry. The
proposed covered activities are described further in the FEIS and in
the HCP.
The HCP includes measures to avoid, minimize, and mitigate impacts
to covered species, along with an analysis of projected impacts to
covered species. It is not practical to express the anticipated take
(or to monitor take-related impacts) in terms of number of individuals
of each species; therefore, the HCP uses habitat, measured as habitat
area or as ``functional-acre'' values, as a surrogate for quantifying
impacts to each covered species and related conservation outcomes. The
functional-acre approach weights habitat acreage with values for the
covered species' distribution, habitat condition, and landscape. This
approach provides greater weight to both impacts and mitigation
occurring in or near areas that are a priority for conservation of the
covered species.
Through the HCP, the county would permit or conduct covered
activities that cause take of covered species, monitor the amount and
extent of take, and establish mitigation on permanently protected sites
to fully offset impacts of the taking on covered species. The HCP
conservation program includes performance standards for conservation
lands and measures to minimize the impacts of the activities on each
species.
Development and maintenance activities covered by the HCP will
impact Mazama pocket gopher subspecies, when the activities occur
within habitat in the ranges of the covered species. Fewer HCP-covered
development and maintenance activities will impact the Oregon spotted
frog, the Taylor's checkerspot butterfly, and the Oregon vesper
sparrow, because they have relatively localized ranges in Thurston
County and, as a consequence, they are likely to be exposed to fewer
instances of the covered activities.
Measures to minimize impacts of the taking on covered species
include reducing the extent of habitat impacts through within-site
project design, along with additional species-specific measures for
each group of covered activities, as described in the HCP. To mitigate
for unavoidable impacts to covered species, Thurston County proposes to
permanently protect and manage habitat occupied by covered species by
establishing new permanent habitat reserves, acquiring permanent
conservation easements on working lands, and enhancing and permanently
maintaining habitat quality on existing reserves (collectively
``conservation lands''). The addition of conservation lands to the HCP
conservation lands network would occur incrementally during HCP
implementation at a pace that meets or exceeds the impacts to each
covered species.
The HCP includes funding assurances, monitoring, an adaptive
management process, and changed circumstance provisions to help ensure
that the conservation program achieves the biological goals for the
covered species. Annual reports would confirm the amount, type, and
location of impacts and mitigation, as well as the status of
monitoring, adaptive management, changed circumstances, and funding.
The proposed conservation program and expected effects of HCP
implementation on the covered species and their habitats are described
in greater detail in the HCP and in the FEIS. If the ITP is approved,
the HCP is expected to be implemented for 30 years, and lands conserved
in accordance with the HCP would be permanently maintained for the
covered species.
Endangered Species Act
Section 9 of the ESA prohibits ``take'' of fish and wildlife
species listed as endangered under section 4 (16 U.S.C. 1538 and 16
U.S.C. 1533, respectively). The ESA implementing regulations extend,
under certain circumstances, the prohibition of take to threatened
species (50 CFR 17.31). Under section 3 of the ESA, the term ``take''
means to ``harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap,
capture, or collect, or attempt to engage in any such conduct'' (16
U.S.C. 1532(19)). The term ``harm'' is defined by regulation as ``an
act which actually kills or injures wildlife. Such act may include
significant habitat modification or degradation where it actually kills
or injures wildlife by significantly impairing essential behavioral
patterns, including breeding, feeding, or sheltering'' (50 CFR 17.3).
Under section 10(a) of the ESA, the Service may issue permits to
authorize incidental take of listed fish and wildlife 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.
Section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA contains provisions for issuing ITPs to
non-Federal entities for the take of endangered and threatened species,
provided the following criteria are met:
The taking will be incidental;
The applicant will, to the maximum extent practicable,
minimize and mitigate the impact of such taking;
The applicant will ensure that adequate funding for the
plan will be provided;
The taking will not appreciably reduce the likelihood of
the survival and recovery of the species in the wild; and
The applicant will carry out any other measures that the
Service may require as being necessary or appropriate for the purposes
of the HCP.
Anticipated Permits and Authorizations
In addition to the requested ITP, Thurston County will manage
covered activities to comply with all other applicable laws, including,
without limitation, Washington State endangered and protected species
regulations; the Washington State Growth Management Act, which includes
State and local protection of historic and cultural resources
implemented through the County's comprehensive plan; the Washington
State Shoreline Management Act; the Washington State Hydraulic Code;
[[Page 29363]]
Thurston County critical area ordinances; State and local requirements
for administrative procedures; and other regulations. Individual
projects conducted under the HCP will undergo individual review by the
County for compliance with local codes, and further public review, as
appropriate, through the Washington SEPA.
National Environmental Policy Act
In compliance with NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), the Service
prepared a FEIS, in which we analyze the effects of the proposed action
and a reasonable range of alternatives to the proposed action. The
environmental consequences of each alternative, including the effects
of those alternatives when combined with reasonably foreseeable future
actions and environmental trends, were analyzed to determine if
significant impacts to the human environment would occur. Three
alternatives are analyzed in detail in the FEIS.
Alternative 1--No-Action Alternative: The Service would not issue
incidental take authorization to the County, and the County would not
implement the HCP. The County would continue to conduct, permit, and
approve activities on a case-by-case basis in compliance with Federal,
State, and local requirements, including the Thurston County Critical
Areas code. The County and individual project proponents would continue
to evaluate each project to ensure avoidance of unauthorized take of
listed species. The County would not implement a coordinated, County-
wide conservation program for ESA-listed species. This alternative is
the current situation in Thurston County.
Alternative 2--Proposed Action: The Service would, in accordance
with applicable law, issue the requested ITP to Thurston County for the
incidental take of covered species by the covered activities. The
County would implement the Thurston County HCP and its conservation
program, including, without limitation, implementation of measures to
minimize effects of covered activities, mitigation measures to fully
offset the impacts of the taking on covered species, and monitoring and
reporting. The County would also ensure funding for HCP implementation.
Under the proposed action, the County would mitigate for the impacts of
the taking on covered species, in part, through the execution of
conservation easements on working agricultural lands, the enhancement
of existing conservation reserves, and the establishment and management
of new conservation reserves. The proposed action is the Service's
agency-preferred alternative because it provides a practical approach
for durable conservation outcomes in the permit area.
Alternative 3--Modified HCP: The Service would, in accordance with
applicable law, issue an ITP to Thurston County with the same permit
area, permit term, covered species, and covered activities, and many of
the HCP elements described in the proposed action. This alternative
explores whether the HCP could be modified to provide higher
conservation value to covered species by acquiring new habitat reserves
and managing them to achieve the highest habitat quality. Under this
alternative, the County would mitigate for the impacts of the taking on
covered species solely through the establishment and management of new
conservation reserves. The County would not execute conservation
easements on working agricultural lands, or include the enhancement of
existing conservation reserves in the mitigation strategy. Under this
alternative, fewer acres of new conserved habitat may be needed to
fully offset the impacts of the taking to covered species.
Public Involvement
The Service published a notice of intent to prepare an EIS, opening
public scoping periods on March 20, 2013 (78 FR 17224), and on October
16, 2020 (85 FR 65861). A public meeting was held during the 2013
public scoping period, and two public meetings were held during the
2020 public scoping period. Additionally, Thurston County conducted
numerous stakeholder meetings during development of the HCP between
2013 and 2021. In consideration of comments, information, alternatives,
and analyses received through public scoping, the Service and the
County jointly prepared a DEIS and opened concurrent 45-day public
comment periods on the DEIS and draft HCP on September 24, 2021 (86 FR
53111; Washington Department of Ecology SEPA# 202105300), under NEPA,
ESA section 10(c), and SEPA, as applicable. Two virtual public meetings
were held during the comment period. The comment period ended on
November 8, 2021. Considering all comments received by the Service and
County together, a total of 33 public comments were received during the
DEIS comment period, including duplicates.
In preparation of the FEIS, the Service and the County considered
all of the public comments on the DEIS together, in accordance with the
requirements of NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and pursuant to the
Council on Environmental Quality's implementing NEPA regulations at 40
CFR parts 1500-1508.
EPA's Role in the EIS Process
The EPA is charged with reviewing all Federal agencies' EISs and
commenting on the adequacy and acceptability of the environmental
impacts of proposed actions. Therefore, EPA is publishing a notice in
the Federal Register announcing this FEIS, as required under section
309 of the Clean Air Act. EPA's notices are published on Fridays. EPA
serves as the repository (EIS database) for EISs prepared by Federal
agencies. You may search for EPA comments on EISs, along with EISs
themselves, at https://cdxapps.epa.gov/cdx-enepa-II/public/action/eis/search.
Public Review
We are not requesting public comments on the FEIS and HCP, but any
written comments received will 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.
Next Steps
The Service will evaluate the permit application, associated
documents, and public comments in reaching a final decision on whether
the application meets the requirements of an ITP (16 U.S.C.
1539(a)(2)(B)). We will evaluate whether the proposed permit action
would comply with section 7 of the ESA by conducting an intra-Service
consultation (16 U.S.C. 1536). We will complete the required procedures
under section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (54 U.S.C.
306108). We will issue a record of decision and issue or deny the ITP
no sooner than 30 days after publication of the EPA's notice of
availability of the FEIS in the Federal Register, in accordance with
applicable timeframes established in 40 CFR 1506.11.
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Authority
We provide this notice in accordance with the ESA and its
implementing regulations (50 CFR 17.22 and 17.32) and NEPA and its
implementing regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).
Robyn Thorson,
Regional Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-09596 Filed 5-12-22; 8:45 am]
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