[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 166 (Monday, August 29, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51086-51088]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-17077]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service


Receipt of Two Applications for Incidental Take Permits for 
Construction of Single-Family Homes in Brevard County, FL

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: Maronda Homes, Inc. of Florida and Duke Construction 
Corporation (Applicants) each request an incidental take permit (ITP) 
pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 
(U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), as amended (Act). The Applicants anticipate 
taking a combined total of about 0.48 acre of Florida scrub-jay 
(Aphelocoma coerulescens) (scrub-jay) foraging, sheltering, and 
possibly nesting habitat incidental to lot preparation for the 
construction of single-family homes and supporting infrastructure in 
Brevard County, Florida (Project). The destruction of 0.48 acre of 
foraging, sheltering, and possibly nesting habitat is expected to 
result in the take of one family of scrub-jays over requested permit 
terms of 10 years (Maronda) and 2 years (Duke).
    The Applicants' Habitat Conservation Plans (HCPs) describe the 
mitigation and minimization measures proposed to address the effects of 
the Projects to the Florida scrub-jay. These measures are outlined in 
the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. We have determined that 
the Applicants' proposals, including the proposed mitigation and 
minimization measures, will individually and cumulatively have a minor 
or negligible effect on the species covered in the HCPs. Therefore, the 
ITPs are ``low-effect'' projects and qualify as categorical exclusions 
under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), as provided by the 
Department of Interior Manual (516 DM 2, Appendix 1 and 516 DM 6, 
Appendix 1). Copies of the HCPs may be obtained by making a request to 
the Regional Office (see ADDRESSES). Requests must be in writing to be 
processed. This notice is provided pursuant to Section 10 of the 
Endangered Species Act and NEPA regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).

DATES: Written comments on the ITP applications and HCPs should be sent 
to the Service's Regional Office (see ADDRESSES) and should be received 
on or before September 28, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Persons wishing to review the applications and HCPs may 
obtain a copy by writing the Service's Southeast Regional Office, 
Atlanta, Georgia. Please reference permit number TE099862-0, for 
Maronda Homes and number TE099859-0, for Duke Construction in such 
requests. Documents will also be available for public inspection by 
appointment during normal business hours at the Regional Office, 1875 
Century Boulevard, Suite 200, Atlanta, Georgia 30345 (Attn: Endangered 
Species Permits), or Field Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 
6620 Southpoint Drive South, Suite 310, Jacksonville, Florida 32216-
0912.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. David Dell, Regional HCP 
Coordinator, (see ADDRESSES above), telephone: 404/679-7313, facsimile: 
404/679-7081; or Ms. Erin Gawera, General Biologist, Jacksonville Field 
Office, Jacksonville, Florida (see ADDRESSES above), telephone: 904/
232-2580, ext. 121.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: If you wish to comment, you may submit

[[Page 51087]]

comments by any one of several methods. Please reference permit number 
TE099862-0, for Maronda Homes and number TE099859-0, for Duke 
Construction in such requests. You may mail comments to the Service's 
Regional Office (see ADDRESSES). You may also comment via the Internet 
to [email protected]. Please submit comments over the Internet as an 
ASCII file avoiding the use of special characters and any form of 
encryption. Please also include your name and return address in your 
Internet message. If you do not receive a confirmation from us that we 
have received your Internet message, contact us directly at either 
telephone number listed below (see FURTHER INFORMATION). Finally, you 
may hand deliver comments to either Service office listed below (see 
ADDRESSES). Our practice is to make comments, including names and home 
addresses of respondents, available for public review during regular 
business hours. Individual respondents may request that we withhold 
their home address from the administrative record. We will honor such 
requests to the extent allowable by law. There may also be other 
circumstances in which we would withhold from the administrative record 
a respondent's identity, as allowable by law. If you wish us to 
withhold your name and address, you must state this prominently at the 
beginning of your comments. We will not, however, consider anonymous 
comments. We will make all submissions from organizations or 
businesses, and from individuals identifying themselves as 
representatives or officials of organizations or businesses, available 
for public inspection in their entirety.
    The Florida scrub-jay (scrub-jay) is geographically isolated from 
other species of scrub-jays found in Mexico and the western United 
States. The scrub-jay is found exclusively in peninsular Florida and is 
restricted to xeric uplands (predominately in oak-dominated scrub). 
Increasing urban and agricultural development have resulted in habitat 
loss and fragmentation which has adversely affected the distribution 
and numbers of scrub-jays. The total estimated population is between 
7,000 and 11,000 individuals.
    The decline in the number and distribution of scrub-jays in east 
central Florida has been exacerbated by tremendous urban growth in the 
past 50 years. Much of the historic commercial and residential 
development has occurred on the dry soils which previously supported 
scrub-jay habitat. Based on existing soils data, much of the historic 
and current scrub-jay habitat of coastal east-central Florida occurs 
proximal to the current shoreline and larger river basins. Much of this 
area of Florida was settled early because few wetlands restricted urban 
and agricultural development. Due to the effects of urban and 
agricultural development over the past 100 years, much of the remaining 
scrub-jay habitat is now relatively small and isolated. What remains is 
largely degraded due to the exclusion of fire which is needed to 
maintain xeric uplands in conditions suitable for scrub-jays.
    Residential construction for Maronda Homes will take place within 
Section 23, Township 23 South, Range 35 East, Port St. Johns, Brevard 
County, Florida, on Lot 19, Block 67. Residential construction for Duke 
Construction will take place within Section 23, Township 34 South, 
Range 23 East, Port St. Johns, Brevard County, Florida, on Lot 15, 
Block 43. Each of these lots are within locations where scrub-jays were 
sighted during surveys for this species from 1999-2003.
    Scrub-jays affected by the issuance of this permit are found on the 
extreme western edge of a large area supporting a 16-family cluster of 
birds that inhabits urban areas, commercial development, and 
undeveloped native habitat in the ``Tico'' and ``Grissom'' territory 
cluster just south of Port St. John, Florida. This cluster of scrub-
jays is part of a larger metapopulation complex of scrub-jays that 
persists in northern Brevard County. The number of scrub-jay families 
in the vicinity of the project site and in the northern Brevard County 
metapopulation has declined in recent years. Survey results indicate 
that the number of scrub-jay families has declined in the Tico and 
Grissom cluster from 72 in the early 1990s to 47 in 2002 (33 percent 
decline). Similarly, the number of families of scrub-jays within the 
northern Brevard County metapopulation, which includes the Tico and 
Grissom territory cluster, has declined from 102 to 67 families (34 
percent decline) during this same time period. Both of these observed 
rates of decline approximate the four percent per year decline 
estimated by recent research findings.
    The decline in numbers of scrub-jay families in northern Brevard 
County is the cumulative result of habitat destruction, fragmentation, 
and degradation. Metapopulation viability analysis suggests that this 
metapopulation of scrub-jays has a high quasi-extinction risk if no 
further conservation efforts are undertaken to acquire and manage land 
for the benefit of scrub-jays. However, with active acquisition and 
management of habitat in the metapopulation, the quasi-extinction risk 
decreases substantially.
    The demographic viability, and thus future biological value, of 
scrub-jays within highly urbanized areas (e.g., residential areas, 
industrial sites, and other commercial development) is problematic in 
most situations but the contribution urban scrub-jays have on 
metapopulation dynamics is not certain. Research conducted in central 
Florida suggests that juvenile and adult scrub-jays living within urban 
areas have low survival rates and that the persistence of scrub-jays in 
these environments is largely dependent on immigration from other low-
quality habitat. In this instance, urban scrub-jays may have a negative 
impact on the demographic viability of the overall metapopulation since 
available breeders are essentially lost to habitats in which mortality 
exceeds recruitment. Other research conducted in east-central Florida 
suggests that recruitment will exceed mortality if optimal habitat 
conditions exist, regardless of whether the habitat is in a pristine or 
urban setting. In this case, urban scrub-jays would be as 
demographically important as scrub-jays in more pristine habitats.
    Regardless of whether the breeding territory is in an urbanized 
area or more pristine natural area, the success of a breeding pair is 
highly dependent on the quality of habitat within the territory. In 
most instances, scrub-jay habitat in urban settings is degraded due to 
long-term fire suppression and there is no indication that habitat in 
these settings will be managed in the future. Thus, we generally 
believe, and existing research supports, that in most urban settings, 
scrub-jays occupy less than optimal habitat and are therefore less 
demographically viable than birds occupying habitat in areas that are 
actively managed. Consequently, scrub-jays living within suburban areas 
of Port St. John and urbanized areas of Brevard County appear to be 
demographically doomed over the long term and the only potential 
biological value these birds currently have is in providing a source of 
breeders for other adjacent lands that are actively managed for 
conservation purposes. One such site is located approximately two miles 
north off of County Road 50 in the southern end of Titusville. The 52 
acres of scrub at this site is managed for scrub-jays through Brevard 
County's Environmentally Endangered Lands Program (EELS). Future 
acquisition is proposed by EELS for areas northwest and south of the 
project site, but until these lands are secured and managed, dispersing 
scrub-jays from the city may not find suitable habitat.

[[Page 51088]]

    The Applicants agree to avoid construction during the nesting 
season if active nests are found onsite, but no other on-site 
minimization measures are proposed to reduce take of scrub-jays. The 
lots combined encompass about 0.48 acre (0.24 acre each) and the 
footprint of the homes, infrastructure, and landscaping preclude 
retention of scrub-jay habitat. On-site minimization may not be a 
biologically viable alternative due to increasing negative demographic 
effects caused by urbanization.
    Based on the above information, we believe that scrub-jays in the 
vicinity of the Applicant's lots, currently have little long-term 
demographic value to the metapopulation overall. Consequently, we feel 
that the loss of 0.48 acres of habitat is likely to result in only 
minor or negligible impacts on the species.
    In combination, the Applicants propose to mitigate for the loss of 
0.48 acres of scrub-jay habitat by contributing a total of $6,432 
($3,216 for Maronda Homes and $3,216 for Duke Construction) to the 
Florida Scrub-jay Conservation Fund administered by the National Fish 
and Wildlife Foundation. Funds in this account are ear-marked for use 
in the conservation and recovery of scrub-jays and may include habitat 
acquisition, restoration, and/or management. The $6,432 is sufficient 
to acquire and perpetually manage about 0.96 acres of suitable occupied 
scrub-jay habitat based on a replacement ratio of two mitigation acres 
per one impact acre. The cost is based on previous acquisitions of 
mitigation lands in southern Brevard County at an average $5,700 per 
acre, plus a $1,000 per acre management endowment necessary to ensure 
future management of acquired scrub-jay habitat.
    We have determined that the HCPs are low-effect plans that are 
categorically excluded from further NEPA analysis, and do not require 
the preparation of an EA or EIS. This preliminary information may be 
revised due to public comment received in response to this notice. Low-
effect HCPs are those involving: (1) minor or negligible effects on 
federally listed or candidate species and their habitats, and (2) minor 
or negligible effects on other environmental values or resources. The 
Applicants' HCPs qualify for the following reasons:
    1. Approval of each of the HCPs would result in minor or negligible 
effects on the Florida scrub-jay population as a whole. We do not 
anticipate significant direct or cumulative effects to the Florida 
scrub-jay population as a result of the construction projects.
    2. Approval of each of the HCPs would not have adverse effects on 
known unique geographic, historic or cultural sites, or involve unique 
or unknown environmental risks.
    3. Approval of each of the HCPs would not result in any significant 
adverse effects on public health or safety.
    4. The projects do not require compliance with Executive Order 
11988 (Floodplain Management), Executive Order 11990 (Protection of 
Wetlands), or the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act, nor do they 
threaten to violate a Federal, State, local or tribal law or 
requirement imposed for the protection of the environment.
    5. Approval of the Plans would not establish a precedent for future 
action or represent a decision in principle about future actions with 
potentially significant environmental effects.
    We have determined that issuance of these incidental take permits 
qualify as a categorical exclusion under the NEPA, as provided by the 
Department of the Interior Manual (516 DM 2, Appendix 1 and 516 DM 6, 
Appendix 1). Therefore, no further NEPA documentation will be prepared.
    We will evaluate the HCPs and comments submitted thereon to 
determine whether the applications meet the requirements of section 
10(a) of the Act. If it is determined that those requirements are met, 
the ITPs will be issued for the incidental take of the Florida scrub-
jay. We will also evaluate whether issuance of the section 10(a)(1)(B) 
ITPs comply with section 7 of the Act by conducting an intra-Service 
section 7 consultation. The results of this consultation, in 
combination with the above findings, will be used in the final analysis 
to determine whether or not to issue the ITPs.

    Dated: August 11, 2005.
Cynthia K. Dohner,
Acting Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 05-17077 Filed 8-26-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P