[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 35 (Wednesday, February 22, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10929-10930]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-03646]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R8-ES-2022-0170; FXES11140800000-234-FF08ECAR00]
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Wind Energy Condor
Action Team Projects, Kern County, CA; Incidental Take Permit
Application and Draft Conservation Plan; Draft Environmental Assessment
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have received an
application from the Wind Energy Condor Action Team (WECAT) for an
incidental take permit under the Endangered Species Act. The permit, if
granted, would authorize take of the federally endangered California
condor (Gymnogyps californianus), incidental to otherwise lawful
activities associated with the operation of WECAT members' separate
wind energy projects. Available for comment are the draft conservation
plan that WECAT prepared in support of their application, and a draft
environmental assessment, which we have prepared pursuant to the
National Environmental Policy Act. We invite comments from the public
and Federal, Tribal, State, and local governments. We will take
comments into consideration before deciding whether to issue an
incidental take permit.
DATES: Written comments should be received on or before March 24, 2023.
ADDRESSES:
Obtaining Documents: You may obtain copies of the documents online
in Docket No. FWS-R8-ES-2022-0170 at https://www.regulations.gov, or
you may request copies of the documents by phone or email (see FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
Submitting Written Comments: Please submit your written comments
using one of the following methods:
Online: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments on Docket No. FWS-R8-ES-2022-0170.
U.S. mail: Public Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No.
FWS-R8-ES-2022-0170; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: PRB/3W, 5275
Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.
For more information, see Public Availability of Comments under
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Peter Sanzenbacher, Fish and Wildlife
Biologist, by email at peter_sanzenbacher@fws.gov or via phone at (442)
222-0165. Individuals in the
[[Page 10930]]
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), have received an application from the Wind Energy Condor
Action Team (WECAT) for an incidental take permit under the Endangered
Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). The
application addresses the potential take of the federally endangered
California condor (condor; Gymnogyps californianus), incidental to the
otherwise lawful operation of wind energy projects owned by WECAT
members, as described in the WECAT conservation plan.
Background
The Service listed the California condor as endangered on February
24, 1967 (67 FR 2758). Section 9 of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1538) and
Federal regulations prohibit the ``take'' of animal species listed as
endangered or threatened without special exemption. Under the ESA,
``take'' is defined to include the following activities: ``to harass,
harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or
to attempt to engage in any such conduct'' (16 U.S.C. 1532). Under
section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1539(a)(1)(B)), we may issue
permits to authorize take of listed fish and wildlife species that is
incidental to, and not the purpose of, carrying out an otherwise lawful
activity. Regulations governing incidental take permits for endangered
species are set forth in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) at 50
CFR 17.22. Issuance of an incidental take permit also must not
jeopardize the existence of federally listed fish, wildlife, or plant
species, pursuant to section 7 of the ESA and 50 CFR 402.02. The
permittee would receive assurances under our ``No Surprises''
regulations (50 CFR 17.22(b)(5)).
Permit Application and Associated Documents
WECAT has submitted a draft conservation plan that describes the
activities that would be covered by the incidental take permit, which
include the operation of wind turbines and other wind energy facility
infrastructure (i.e., above-ground power lines and poles,
meteorological towers, and substations and switchyards) at WECAT member
projects. To minimize the risk of incidental take of California
condors, the WECAT members will maintain programs to detect condors
approaching covered projects, and temporarily curtail operation of wind
turbines when appropriate. The conservation plan also includes use of
adaptive management to allow for maintaining the protection of condors
as technologies, condor behavior, and other factors change over time.
To mitigate the impact of incidental take, the applicants propose to
work with an existing captive breeding facility to fund the production
of additional condors for release into the wild. The Service and
applicants used the results of population modeling and a population
viability analysis conducted by a team of independent researchers to
inform the mitigation strategy and ensure that the level of potential
injury and mortality of condors permitted at covered projects would not
impede the recovery of the species. A report documenting the methods
and results of these analyses is appended to the draft conservation
plan. A ``Frequently Asked Questions'' document for the analyses
described above is attached to the draft environmental assessment (EA).
The draft conservation plan and the draft EA also consider alternatives
to the proposed action, including a no action alternative.
National Environmental Policy Act Compliance
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et
seq.) requires Federal agencies to analyze their proposed actions to
determine whether the actions may significantly affect the human
environment. In the NEPA analysis, the Federal agency will identify the
effects, as well as possible mitigation for effects on environmental
resources, that could occur with the implementation of the proposed
action and alternatives. The Federal action in this case is the
Service's proposed issuance of an incidental take permit for the
federally endangered California condor. The Service prepared a draft EA
to analyze the impacts of issuing the incidental take permit as
described in the conservation plan, and to inform the public of the
proposed action, alternatives, and associated impacts.
Public Availability of Comments
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 view, we cannot guarantee that we will be able
to do so.
Authority
We provide this notice under section 10(c) of the Endangered
Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and its implementing
regulations (50 CFR 17.22) and the National Environmental Policy Act
(42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (40 CFR
1506.6).
Scott Sobiech,
Field Supervisor, Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office, Carlsbad,
California.
[FR Doc. 2023-03646 Filed 2-21-23; 8:45 am]
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