[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 228 (Wednesday, November 26, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66478-66479]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-29605]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service


Preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement for Issuance of 
an Incidental Take Permit Associated With a Habitat Conservation Plan 
for the San Diego County Water Authority, California

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 
1969, as amended, we, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) are 
advising the public that we intend to gather information necessary to 
prepare, in coordination with the San Diego County Water Authority 
(Authority), a joint programmatic Environmental Impact Report/
Environmental Impact Statement (EIR/EIS) on the San Diego County Water 
Authority Subregional Natural Community Conservation Plan/Habitat 
Conservation Plan (NCCP/HCP) proposed by the Authority for portions of 
San Diego and Riverside County, California. The HCP is being prepared 
under section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Endangered Species Act of 
1973, as amended, (ESA); whereas the NCCP is being prepared under the 
State of California's Natural Community Conservation Planning Act.
    The purpose of the EIR/EIS is to analyze the impacts of an 
incidental take permit which the Authority will request from the 
Service for 29 federally listed threatened or endangered species and 55 
unlisted species, should they become listed under the ESA during the 
term of the permit. This analysis is needed under NEPA because the 
proposed Federal action of issuing an ESA permit may affect the human 
environment by authorizing take of listed species that could occur from 
development, operations, and maintenance activities over an 
approximately 2,034,787-acre planning area in roughly the coastal half 
of San Diego County and the extreme southwestern portion of Riverside 
County. The proposed NCCP/HCP would identify those actions necessary to 
maintain the viability of coastal sage scrub and other habitat types in 
the planning area.
    We provide this notice to: (1) Advise other Federal and State 
agencies, affected Tribes, and the public of our intentions; (2) 
announce a public meeting and the initiation of a 30-day scoping 
period; and (3) obtain suggestions and information on the scope of 
issues to be included in the EIR/EIS. We invite written comments from 
interested parties to ensure that the full range of issues related to 
the permit request are identified.

DATES: The Service and the Authority will hold a joint public scoping 
meeting on December 11, 2003, from 10 a.m. until 12 noon. The Service 
will accept written comments at the meeting and for 30 days after the 
date of publication of this notice.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the San Diego County Water 
Authority Board Room, 4677 Overland Avenue, San Diego, California 
92123. Comments should be sent to Mr. James Bartel, Field Supervisor, 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office, 6010 
Hidden Valley Road, Carlsbad, California 92009; facsimile (760) 431-
9624.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sandra Marquez, Fish and Wildlife 
Biologist, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (see ADDRESSES), telephone 
(760) 431-9440 for general information; or if you have questions about 
the meeting, contact Tim Cass, Senior Water Resources Specialist, San 
Diego County Water Authority, telephone (858) 522-6758.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Availability of Documents

    Background material may be obtained by contacting Tim Cass by phone 
(see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT) or by letter sent to the San 
Diego County Water Authority, 4677 Overland Avenue, San Diego, 
California 92123.

Background

    Federal agencies are required to conduct NEPA analyses of their 
proposed actions to determine if the actions may affect the human 
environment. The Service expects to make a decision on issuance of an 
ESA section 10(a)(1)(B) permit application expected to be submitted by 
the Authority. Therefore, the Service is seeking public input on the 
scope of the required NEPA analysis, including the range of reasonable 
alternatives and associated impacts of any alternatives.
    Section 9 of the ESA and Federal regulations prohibit the ``take'' 
of animal species listed as endangered or threatened. Take is defined 
under the ESA as follows: to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, 
kill, capture or collect listed wildlife, or to attempt to engage in 
such conduct (16 U.S.C. 1538). Harm includes habitat modification that 
kills or injures wildlife by significantly impairing essential 
behavioral patterns, including breeding, feeding, or sheltering. Under 
limited circumstances, the Service may issue permits for take of listed 
species that is incidental to, and not the purpose of, otherwise lawful 
activities. Regulations governing permits for threatened and endangered 
species are found in 50 CFR 17.32 and 50 CFR 17.22.
    If the Service decides to approve the NCCP/HCP, we would authorize 
incidental take of the California

[[Page 66479]]

gnatcatcher and 11other identified federally listed animal species 
through issuance of an ESA incidental take permit. The NCCP/HCP, 
coupled with an Implementation Agreement, could also form the basis for 
issuing an incidental take permit for identified non-listed animal 
species, should these identified species be listed during the term of 
the permit. Although take of plant species is not prohibited under the 
ESA, section 9, identified plant species, both listed and unlisted, 
would be included on the permit in recognition of the conservation 
benefit provided for the species if the Service finds these species are 
adequately covered under the NCCP/HCP.
    On March 25, 1993, the Service issued a Final Rule declaring the 
California gnatcatcher to be a threatened species (50 FR 16742). The 
Final Rule was followed by a Special Rule on December 10, 1993 (50 FR 
65088) to allow take of the California gnatcatcher pursuant to section 
4(d) of the ESA. The Special Rule defined the conditions under which 
take of the coastal California gnatcatcher resulting from specified 
land use activities regulated by state and local government, would not 
violate section 9 of the ESA. In the Special Rule the Service 
recognized the significant efforts undertaken by the State of 
California through the Natural Community Conservation Planning Act of 
1991 and encouraged holistic management of listed species, like the 
coastal California gnatcatcher, and other sensitive species. The 
Service declared its intent to permit incidental take of the California 
gnatcatcher associated with land use activities covered by an approved 
subregional NCCP prepared under the NCCP Program, provided the Service 
determines that the subregional NCCP meets the issuance criteria of an 
incidental take permit pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA and 
50 CFR 17.32(b)(2). The Authority currently intends to obtain the 
Service's approval of the NCCP/HCP through a section 10(a)(1)(B) 
permit.

Proposed Action

    The Service will prepare a joint EIR/EIS with the Authority, lead 
agency for the NCCP/HCP. The Authority will prepare an EIR in 
accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act. The Authority 
will publish a separate Notice of Preparation for the EIR.
    The purpose of this subregional NCCP/HCP is to establish a long-
term plan for the conservation of covered species and the habitats 
associated with Authority activities. The proposed NCCP/HCP will give 
the Authority increased regulatory certainty, and give the Service and 
the CDFG increased certainty that lands will be conserved to provide 
regional habitat resource protection. The Authority proposes to 
approach project design, implementation, and maintenance in a 
systematic, ecologically sensitive manner which focuses on the 
avoidance and minimization of impacts to sensitive species and habitats 
that may be affected by Authority activities. Authority activities 
subject to the NCCP/HCP are anticipated to include certain specific 
development projects (such as expansion of existing reservoirs, 
relocation of pipelines, and construction of new pipelines and support 
facilities) and operation and maintenance activities necessary to 
ensure the proper functioning of existing and future Authority 
facilities.

Preliminary Alternatives

    The EIR/EIS for the San Diego County Water Authority Subregional 
NCCP/HCP will assist the Service during its decision making process by 
enabling us to analyze the environmental consequences of the proposed 
action and a full array of alternatives identified during preparation 
of the NCCP/HCP. Although specific programmatic alternatives for the 
proposed action have not been prepared for public discussion, the range 
of alternatives preliminarily identified for consideration include:

Alternative 1, No Action/Project-by-Project Authorization

    The Authority would continue to seek permits for activities that 
could affect listed species through continuing project-by-project 
review and permitting pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act 
and sections 7 and 10 of the ESA and in accordance with existing 
habitat management efforts. The Authority would not participate in an 
existing NCCP/HCP nor prepare their own plan.

Alternative 2, Participation in an Existing NCCP/HCP

    The Authority would participate in one or more of the existing 
land-use-based subregional NCCP/HCPs in the region, such as the 
Multiple Species Conservation Program in the southern and central 
portions of San Diego County, the draft Multiple Species Habitat 
Conservation Program in the northwestern portion of San Diego County, 
and/or the draft Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan in 
southwestern Riverside County.

Service Scoping

    We invite comments from all interested parties to ensure that the 
full range of issues related to the permit request are addressed and 
that all significant issues are identified. We will conduct 
environmental review of the permit application in accordance with the 
requirements of the NEPA of 1969 as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), 
its implementing regulations (40 CFR parts 1500 through 1508), and with 
other appropriate Federal laws and regulations, policies, and 
procedures of the Service for compliance with those regulations. We 
expect a draft EIR/EIS for the San Diego County Water Authority NCCP/
HCP to be available for public review during Summer 2004.

    Dated: November 20, 2003.
D. Kenneth McDermond,
Deputy Manager, California/Nevada Operations Office, Sacramento, 
California.
[FR Doc. 03-29605 Filed 11-25-03; 8:45 am]
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