[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 62 (Friday, March 29, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22176-22177]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-06693]
[[Page 22176]]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2024-0036; FXES11140400000-245-FF04EF4000]
Receipt of Incidental Take Permit Application and Proposed
Habitat Conservation Plan for the Sand Skink and Blue-Tailed Mole
Skink; Osceola County, FL; Categorical Exclusion
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce receipt
of an application from the Toho Water Authority (applicant) for an
incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act. The
applicant requests the ITP to take the federally listed sand skink
(Neoseps reynoldsi) and blue-tailed mole skink (Eumeces egregius
lividus) incidental to the construction of the Westside Boulevard
Extension in Osceola County, Florida. We request public comment on the
application, which includes the applicant's proposed habitat
conservation plan (HCP), and on the Service's preliminary determination
that the proposed permitting action may be eligible for a categorical
exclusion pursuant to the Council on Environmental Quality's National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations, the Department of the
Interior's (DOI) NEPA regulations, and the DOI Departmental Manual. To
make this preliminary determination, we prepared a draft environmental
action statement and low-effect screening form, both of which are also
available for public review. We invite comment from the public and
local, State, Tribal, and Federal agencies.
DATES: We must receive your written comments on or before April 29,
2024.
ADDRESSES:
Obtaining Documents: The documents this notice announces, as well
as any comments and other materials that we receive, will be available
for public inspection online in Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2024-0036 at
https://www.regulations.gov.
Submitting Comments: If you wish to submit comments on any of the
documents, you may do so in writing by one of the following methods:
Online: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments on Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2024-0036.
U.S. mail: Public Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No.
FWS-R4-ES-2024-0036; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: PRB/3W, 5275
Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Wrublik, by telephone at 772-226-
8130 or via email at [email protected]. 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 Fish and Wildlife Service (Service),
announce receipt of an application from the Toho Water Authority
(applicant) for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered
Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). The
applicant requests the ITP to take the federally listed sand skink
(Neoseps reynoldsi) and blue-tailed mole-skink (Eumeces egregius
lividus) (skinks) incidental to the construction of the Westside
Boulevard Extension in Osceola County, Florida. We request public
comment on the application, which includes the applicant's proposed
habitat conservation plan (HCP), and on the Service's preliminary
determination that this proposed ITP qualifies as low effect, and may
qualify for a categorical exclusion pursuant to the Council on
Environmental Quality's National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
regulations (40 CFR 1501.4), the Department of the Interior's (DOI)
NEPA regulations (43 CFR part 46), and the DOI's Departmental Manual
(516 DM 8.5(C)(2)). To make this preliminary determination, we prepared
a draft environmental action statement and low-effect screening form,
both of which are also available for public review.
Proposed Project
The applicant requests a 5-year ITP to take skinks via the
conversion of approximately 9.2 acres (ac) of occupied nesting,
foraging, and sheltering skink habitat incidental to the construction
of the Westside Boulevard Extension within a 17-ac parcel at latitude
28.295591[deg], longitude -81.648670[deg], Osceola County, Florida. The
applicant proposes to mitigate for take of the skinks by purchasing
credits equivalent to 18.41 ac of skink-occupied habitat from a
Service-approved conservation bank. The Service would require the
applicant to purchase the credits within 30 days of the issuance of the
permit and prior to engaging in any construction phase of the project.
Our Preliminary Determination
The Service has made a preliminary determination that the
applicant's project would individually and cumulatively have a minor or
negligible effect on the skinks and the human environment. Therefore,
we have preliminarily determined that the proposed ESA section
10(a)(1)(B) permit would be a low-effect ITP that individually or
cumulatively would have a minor effect on the sand skink and may
qualify for application of a categorical exclusion pursuant to the
Council on Environmental Quality's NEPA regulations, DOI's NEPA
regulations, and the DOI Departmental Manual. A low-effect incidental
take permit is one that would result in (1) minor or nonsignificant
effects on species covered in the HCP; (2) nonsignificant effects on
the human environment; and (3) impacts that, when added together with
the impacts of other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable actions,
would not result in significant cumulative effects to the human
environment.
Next Steps
The Service will evaluate the application and the comments to
determine whether to issue the requested permit. 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
preceding and other matters, we will determine whether the permit
issuance criteria of section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA have been met. If
met, the Service will issue ITP number PER 7310948 to the Toho Water
Authority.
Public Availability of Comments
Before including your address, phone number, email address, or
other personal identifying information in your comment, be aware that
your entire comment, including your personal identifying information,
may be made available to the public. While you may request that we
withhold your personal identifying information, we cannot guarantee
that we will be able to do so.
Authority
The Service provides this notice under section 10(c) of the
Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and its implementing
regulations (50 CFR 17.32) and the National Environmental Policy Act
(42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and
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its implementing regulations (40 CFR parts 1500-1508 and 43 CFR part
46).
Robert L. Carey,
Division Manager, Environmental Review, Florida Ecological Services
Office.
[FR Doc. 2024-06693 Filed 3-28-24; 8:45 am]
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