[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 148 (Wednesday, August 2, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39417-39418]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-18980]



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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Availability of an Environmental Assessment and Receipt of an 
Application for an Incidental Take Permit for a Timber Harvest 
Operation by Pine Belt Regional Solid Waste Management Authority in 
Perry County, Mississippi

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: Pine Belt Regional Solid Waste Management Authority 
(Applicant) is seeking an incidental take permit from the Fish and 
Wildlife Service (Service), pursuant to Section 10(a)(1)(B) of the 
Endangered Species Act (Act), as amended. The permit would authorize 
the take of the gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus), a threatened 
species, in Perry County, Mississippi for a period of 20 years. The 
proposed taking is incidental to the construction and operation of a 
solid waste landfill within a 340-acre tract located approximately 2 
miles north of Runnelstown in Sections 8 and 9, Township 5 North, Range 
11 West. The Service also announces the availability of an 
environmental assessment (EA) and habitat conservation plan (HCP) for 
the incidental take application. The Service prepared the EA and the 
HCP was developed by the Applicant. Copies of the EA and HCP may be 
obtained by making a request to the Regional Office address below. This 
notice is provided pursuant to Section 10(c) of the Act and National 
Environmental Policy Act Regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).

DATES: Written comments on the permit application, EA, and HCP should 
be received on or before September 1, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Persons wishing to review the application, HCP, and EA may 
obtain a copy by writing the Service's Southeast Regional Office, 
Atlanta, Georgia. Requests must be in writing to be processed. 
Documents will also be available for public inspection by appointment 
during normal business hours at the Regional Office, or the Jackson, 
Mississippi, Field Office. Written data or comments concerning the 
application, EA, or HCP should be submitted to the Regional Office. 
Please reference permit under PRT-804406 in such comments.
    Regional Permit Coordinator, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1875 
Century Boulevard, Suite 200, Atlanta, Georgia 30345, (telephone 404/
679-7110, fax 404/679-7280).
    Field Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 6578 Dogwood View 
Parkway, Jackson, Mississippi 39213, (telephone 601/965-4900, fax 601/
965-4340).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Will MacDearman at the Jackson, 
Mississippi Field Office, or Rick G. Gooch at the Atlanta, Georgia 
Regional Office.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The gopher tortoise, Gopherus polyphemus, is 
listed as a threatened species in the western part of its range, from 
the Tombigbee and Mobile Rivers in Alabama west to southeastern 
Louisiana. As a native burrowing species of the fire-maintained 
longleaf pine ecosystem, typical gopher tortoise habitat consists of 
frequently burned longleaf pine or longleaf pine/scrub oak uplands on 
moderately well-drained to xeric soils. About 80 percent of the 
original habitat for gopher tortoises has been lost due to urbanization 
and agriculture. Certain forest management practices in remaining 
upland pine habitats have also adversely affected the gopher tortoise. 
Silvicultural systems using intensive site preparation, dense 
plantations and stands of loblolly pine or slash pine, and infrequent 
fire have reduced or eliminated the open forest and sunny forest floor 
of grasses and forbs where gopher tortoises burrow, nest, and feed. 
Though gopher tortoises are widely distributed in south Mississippi, 
most populations are fragmented, small in size, and functionally non-
viable.
    Section 9 of the Act, and implementing regulations, prohibits 
taking the gopher tortoise. Taking, in part, is defined as an activity 
that kills, injures, harms, or harasses a listed endangered or 
threatened species. Section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Act provides an 
exemption, under certain circumstances, to the Section 9 prohibition if 
the taking is incidental to, and not the purpose of otherwise lawful 
activities.
    Gopher tortoise surveys conducted by the Applicant have identified 
at least one tortoise and six other burrows in the landfill operations 
area. Two of these burrows exhibited signs of recent gopher tortoise 
use within the past year. This area will consist of four waste disposal 
cells and sites for the excavation and stocking of soil to be used to 
cover solid wastes. Tortoises within the area would be expected to be 
taken as an incidental consequence of landfill construction and 
operation. Heavy equipment operations can directly kill or injure 
tortoises as a result of their becoming crushed or entombed in burrows. 
The HCP describes measures the Applicant will take to avoid and 
mitigate such taking. Prior to landfill construction, the Applicant 
will survey the operations area to identify, trap, and relocate gopher 
tortoises to an adjacent site designated as a permanent gopher tortoise 
habitat conservation area. The conservation area, owned by the 
Applicant, consists predominately of suitable habitat, a longleaf pine/
blackjack oak upland, that is partially occupied by other gopher 
tortoises. The Applicant will manage the conservation area using a 
program of prescribed fire and tree thinning to maintain and improve 
habitat conditions for the gopher tortoise. Without such active 
management, particularly the use of prescribed fire, gopher tortoise 
habitat would deteriorate as a natural consequence of ecological 
succession.
    Also, a temporary conservation area will be managed using the same 
methods as in the permanent conservation area. About one-half of the 
temporary area contains solid waste cells that are forecast to be used 
about 20 years from now. No tortoises currently occupy this portion, 
though habitat is suitable. The remaining portion of the temporary 
area, which is occupied by tortoises, may be used within 5-10 years to 
provide soil for waste overfill. Tortoises in this remaining portion 
will be relocated to the permanent conservation area prior to landfill 
operations.
    The EA considers the environmental consequences of two 
alternatives; issue the requested permit as conditioned by the HCP, or 
take no action (deny permit). The Service has made a preliminary 
determination that the Applicant has satisfactorily complied with the 
statutory and regulatory criteria for permit issuance. The Service's 
proposed alternative is to issue the requested incidental take permit. 
The principal environmental consequence of 

[[Page 39418]]
permit issuance, in the Service's assessment, is to the gopher 
tortoise. Permits authorizing the disposal and management of solid 
wastes at the landfill are otherwise administered according to Federal 
and State statutory/regulatory standards by the Environmental 
Protection Agency, the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, 
and the Mississippi Permit Board.

    Dated: July 26, 1995.
Garland B. Pardue,
Acting Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 95-18980 Filed 8-1-95; 8:45 am]
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