[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 190 (Friday, October 1, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53401-53403]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-25140]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service


Availability of an Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental 
Impact Report and Receipt of an Application for an Incidental Take 
Permit for the San Joaquin County Multi-Species Habitat Conservation 
and Open Space Plan in California

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The San Joaquin Council of Governments has applied to the Fish 
and Wildlife Service (Service) for an incidental take permit pursuant 
to section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as 
amended (Act). The San Joaquin Council of Governments has applied on 
behalf of the cities of Escalon, Lathrop, Lodi, Manteca, Ripon, 
Stockton, and Tracy; San Joaquin County; the East Bay Municipal Utility 
District; California Department of Transportation-District 10 within 
San Joaquin County; San Joaquin Council of Governments; San Joaquin 
Area Flood Control Agency; Stockton East Water District; and the South 
San Joaquin Irrigation District (applicants). The proposed permit would 
authorize incidental take of 16 federally listed species. The proposed 
taking of these species would be incidental to the implementation of 
the San Joaquin County Multi-Species Habitat Conservation and Open 
Space Plan, which provides, in part, for the conversion of open space 
to non-open space uses. The proposed permit also would authorize future 
incidental take of 84 currently unlisted species, should any of them 
become listed under the Act during the life of the permit. The proposed 
permit duration is 50 years. The permit application, available for 
public review, includes a Habitat Conservation Plan (Plan) which 
describes the proposed program and mitigation, and the accompanying 
Implementing Agreement.
    The Service also announces the availability of a joint draft 
Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report (Impact 
Statement/Report) for the incidental take permit application. All 
comments received, including names and addresses, will become part of 
the official administrative record and may be made available to the 
public.

PUBLIC HEARING: A public hearing will be held November 9, 1999, from 
6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Hutchens Street Square, 125 South 
Hutchens St., Lodi, California. For additional hearing information, 
contact Ms. Amy Augustine at (209) 532-7376. Oral and written comments 
will be received at the meeting.

DATES: Written comments should be received on or before January 7, 
2000.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be addressed to the Field Supervisor, Fish 
and Wildlife Service, Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office, 2800 Cottage 
Way, W-2605, Sacramento, California 95825. Written comments may be sent 
by facsimile to (916) 414-6711.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Cay C. Goude, Assistant Field 
Supervisor, at the above address, telephone (916) 414-6601.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Availability of Documents

    Individuals wishing copies of the application, draft Impact 
Statement/Report, Plan, and Implementing Agreement for review should 
immediately contact the San Joaquin Council of Governments by telephone 
at (209) 468-3913 or by letter to the San Joaquin Council of 
Governments at 6 S. El Dorado St., Suite 400, Stockton, California 
95202. Copies of the draft Impact Statement/Report, Plan, and 
Implementing Agreement also are

[[Page 53402]]

available for public inspection at branch libraries in San Joaquin 
County during regular business hours.

Background Information

    Section 9 of the Act and Federal regulation prohibit the ``take'' 
of animal species listed as endangered or threatened. That is, no one 
may harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture or 
collect listed animal species, or attempt to engage in such conduct (16 
USC 1538). Under limited circumstances, the Service, however, may issue 
permits to authorize ``incidental take'' of listed animal species 
(defined by the Act as take that is incidental to, and not the purpose 
of, the carrying out of an otherwise lawful activity). Regulations 
governing permits for threatened species and endangered species, 
respectively are at 50 CFR 17.32 and 50 CFR 17.22.

Background

    The San Joaquin Council of Governments seeks a permit for take of 
the following federally listed species: threatened Aleutian Canada 
goose (Branta canadensis leucopareia), giant garter snake (Thamnophis 
gigas), California red-legged frog (Rana aurora draytonii), delta smelt 
(Hypomesus transpacificus), Sacramento splittail (Pogonichthys 
macrolepidotus), vernal pool fairy shrimp (Branchinecta lynchi), valley 
elderberry longhorn beetle (Desmocerus californicus dimorphus), fleshy 
owl's-clover (Castilleja campestris ssp. succulenta), Colusa grass 
(Neostapfia colusana), and endangered San Joaquin kit fox (Vulpes 
macrotis mutica), Conservancy fairy shrimp (Branchinecta conservatio), 
longhorn fairy shrimp (Branchinecta longiantenna), vernal pool tadpole 
shrimp (Lepidurus packardi), large-flowered fiddleneck (Amsinckia 
grandiflora), palmate-bracted bird's-beak (Cordylanthus palmatus), and 
Greene's tuctoria (Tuctoria greenei). This take would be incidental to 
the applicants' conversion of open space to non-open space uses within 
the 900,000+ acre planning area in San Joaquin County, California. The 
proposed permit also would authorize future incidental take of 84 
species that are not currently federally listed, should any of them 
become listed under the Act during the life of the permit. The 84 
currently unlisted species include 24 plant species, 2 fish species, 5 
invertebrate species, 3 amphibian species, 3 reptile species, 32 bird 
species, and 15 mammal species (9 of which are bats). Collectively, the 
100 listed and unlisted species addressed in the Plan are referred to 
as the ``covered species'' for the San Joaquin County Multi-Species 
Habitat Conservation and Open Space Plan.
    In the Plan, the applicants have proposed the conversion of 
approximately 109,302 acres from open space to non-open space uses 
throughout the life of the permit, primarily by activities already 
addressed in adopted plans of the local cities and County. These 
activities include residential, commercial, and industrial development; 
aggregate mining; construction and maintenance of transportation 
facilities, public utilities, schools, and parks and trails; minor 
dredging, non-federal flood control and irrigation district projects; 
agricultural conversions of vernal pool grasslands; managing reserves; 
and other anticipated projects. A more detailed description of covered 
activities is provided in the Plan.
    The Plan classifies the County's land uses into four general 
categories: Natural Lands, Agricultural Lands, Multi-Purpose Open 
Space, and Urban Lands. Habitat preservation and/or creation will be 
required to mitigate for loss of Natural and Agricultural Lands. For 
Agricultural Land (e.g., row and field crops), 1 acre will be preserved 
for each acre impacted. For Natural Lands, mitigation varies according 
to habitat type: (a) for non-wetland habitat (e.g., grasslands, oak 
woodlands, scrub), 3 acres will be preserved for each acre lost; (b) 
for vernal pools in the designated ``Vernal Pool Zone'', 2 acres will 
be preserved and 1 acre will be created for each acre lost; (c) for 
vernal pools in the ``Southwest Zone'', 3 acres of preservation will be 
required for each acre lost (unless vernal pool conservancy shrimp or 
vernal pool longhorn shrimp are impacted which will require 5 acres of 
preservation for each acre lost); and (d) for wetlands other than 
vernal pools (e.g., channel islands, riparian creeks, sloughs), each 
acre lost will be mitigated through 3 acres of preservation, at least 1 
acre of which will be created. Up to 71,837 acres of Natural and 
Agricultural Lands could be converted under the plan, requiring 
approximately 100,241 acres of habitat preservation and/or creation. 
Additionally, up to 37,465 acres of Multi-Purpose Open Space are 
expected to be converted, requiring mitigation in the form of fee 
payments to help finance enhancement, management, and administration 
costs associated with the preserve system. The amount of land that will 
actually be converted during the life of the permit is unknown, but 
maximum acreage limits have been set based on existing local land use 
plans.
    An additional 600 acres will be preserved under the Plan to 
compensate for potential impacts to covered species which stray from 
preserve lands onto neighboring lands. At the election of landowners 
within 0.5 mile of preserve land, agricultural and aggregate mining 
activities will receive incidental take authorization for covered 
species, except for foraging Swainson's hawks, that become established 
on the property after the adjacent land has been preserved. For 
foraging Swainson's hawks, landowners within 10 miles of established 
preserves may receive neighboring land protections at their discretion. 
Exceptions to this coverage and other details regarding these 
neighboring land protections are provided in the Plan.
    Preservation is anticipated to be achieved primarily through the 
purchase of conservation easements (approximately 90 percent) with some 
purchase of lands in fee title (approximately 10 percent). Conservation 
easements would stress the preservation of existing agricultural 
practices which are deemed compatible with the conservation of the 
covered species. It is anticipated that about 100,841 acres of Preserve 
will be acquired (about 100,241 to mitigate loss of Natural and 
Agricultural Lands and 600 acres to mitigate for neighboring land 
protections) during the 50-year term of the Plan. These lands would be 
preserved and managed for wildlife values in perpetuity.
    The Plan includes measures to avoid and minimize incidental take 
for each of the covered species, emphasizing project design 
modifications to protect both habitats and species individuals. A 
monitoring and reporting plan will gauge the Plan's success, based on 
biological success criteria, and ensure that compensation keeps pace 
with open space conversions. The Plan also includes adaptive management 
which allows for changes in the conservation program if the biological 
success criteria are not met, or new information becomes available to 
improve the efficacy of the Plan's conservation strategy.
    In addition to incidental take avoidance measures, the Plan 
includes requirements for conserving corridors for the San Joaquin kit 
fox and for avoiding the creation of linear barriers to species 
dispersal. The Plan also establishes limits on Natural Land conversions 
and for particular species covered by the Plan. Details of avoidance 
and minimization measures, and preserve design and management are 
presented in the Plan.

[[Page 53403]]

    The Plan would be implemented by a Joint Powers Authority which 
would be advised by a Technical Advisory Committee including 
representatives from the Fish and Wildlife Service, California 
Department of Fish and Game, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, among 
others. Additional assistance will be provided to the Joint Powers 
Authority by conservation, agricultural, and business interests, and 
other stakeholders in the County.
    Funding for the Plan is anticipated to be provided by multiple 
sources including development fees (to fund 67 percent of the Plan); 
local, state and federal funding sources (16 percent of Plan funding); 
Plan-generated income (e.g., through lease revenues--approximately 5 
percent of funding); conservation bank revenues (2 percent); and 
revolving funds (10 percent).
    The draft Impact Statement/Report considers five alternatives, 
including the Proposed Action and the No-Action Alternatives. Under the 
No-Action Alternative, landowners within the County would continue to 
apply for individual incidental take permits on a case-by-case basis, 
resulting in piecemeal planning that would establish isolated patches 
of mitigation land scattered throughout the County. This could result 
in cumulatively significant adverse impacts to those species which 
would benefit from larger tracts of interconnected habitats.
    Under the Reduced Land Acquisition/Increased Preserve Enhancement 
Alternative, mitigation would focus on habitat enhancement which could 
interfere substantially with agricultural activities, creating 
significant adverse impact to agricultural productivity in the County. 
This alternative would have questionable benefits to the covered 
species because habitat enhancement is unpredictable and may be 
unsuccessful.
    Under the No Wetlands Coverage Alternative, landowners within the 
County would continue to apply for individual permits pursuant to the 
Federal Clean Water Act, resulting in piecemeal planning. Mitigation 
lands would consist of smaller and more widely scattered habitat blocks 
than would occur with the Proposed Action, resulting in cumulatively 
significant adverse impacts to those wetland-dependent species which 
would benefit from larger tracts of interconnected habitats.
    Under the Preserve Location Outside of the County Alternative, 
significantly less habitat within the County would be preserved than 
with the Proposed Action, adversely impacting some covered species by 
creating gaps in the species' range and potentially disrupting the 
genetic integrity of some populations. This alternative could also 
adversely impact relatively immobile species that are unable to 
relocate to distant newly created habitats.
    The California Department of Fish and Game intends to use this 
draft Impact Statement/Report and the Plan as a basis for issuing state 
permits for incidental take equivalent to the actions described above.
    In addition, under a separate action, the U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers may use this draft Impact Report/Statement and the Plan as a 
basis for developing a programmatic general permit pursuant to section 
404(e) of the Federal Clean Water Act [33 CFR 322.2(f) and 323.2(h)] in 
consultation with the Environmental Protection Agency covering Waters 
of the United States for the San Joaquin County Multi-Species Habitat 
Conservation and Open Space Plan covered activities conducted on 
jurisdictional lands. In conjunction, these documents will be used by 
the California State Water Resources Control Board or Central Valley 
Regional Water Quality Control Board to consider the issuance of a 
water quality certification or waiver pursuant to section 401 of the 
Federal Clean Water Act after issuance of the programmatic section 
404(e) general permit.
    This notice is provided pursuant to section 10(a) of the Endangered 
Species Act and Fish and Wildlife Service regulations for implementing 
the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (40 CFR 1506.6).

    Dated: September 22, 1999.
Elizabeth H. Stevens,
Deputy Manager, Region 1, California/Nevada Operations Office, 
Sacramento, California.
[FR Doc. 99-25140 Filed 9-30-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P