[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 141 (Monday, July 24, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41834-41835]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-11721]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service


Receipt of Application for Incidental Take Permit for 
Construction of a Single-Family Home, Brevard County, FL

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the 
availability of an incidental take permit (ITP) application and Habitat 
Conservation Plan (HCP). Lawrence Bank (Applicant) requests an ITP, for 
a 2-year term, for an individual lot pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(B) of 
the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). The Applicant 
anticipates taking about .25 acres of Florida scrub-jay (Aphelocoma 
coerulescens) (scrub-jay) foraging and sheltering habitat incidental to 
lot preparation for the construction of one single-family home and 
supporting infrastructure in Brevard County, Florida (Projects). The 
destruction of .25 acres of foraging and sheltering habitat is expected 
to result in the take of one family of scrub-jays. The Applicant's 
Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) describes the mitigation and 
minimization measures proposed to address the effects of the Project to 
the Florida scrub-jay.

DATES: Written comments on the ITP application and HCP should be sent 
to the Jacksonville Field Office (see ADDRESSES) and should be received 
on or before August 23, 2006.

ADDRESSES: Persons wishing to review the application and HCP may obtain 
a copy by writing the Service's Jacksonville Field Office. Please 
reference permit number TE128564-0 in such requests. Documents will 
also be available for public inspection by appointment during normal 
business hours at the Jacksonville Field Office, 6620 Southpoint Drive 
South, Suite 310, Jacksonville, Florida 32216-0912.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Michael Jennings, Fish and 
Wildlife Biologist, Jacksonville Field Office, Jacksonville, Florida 
(see ADDRESSES), telephone: 904/232-2580, ext. 113.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: If you wish to comment, you may submit 
comments by any one of several methods. Please reference permit number 
TE128564-0 in such requests. You may mail comments to the Service's 
Jacksonville Field Office (see ADDRESSES). You may also comment via the 
Internet to [email protected]. Please 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 the telephone number listed under FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT. Finally, you may hand deliver comments to the 
Service office listed above (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.
    Residential construction will take place within section 02, 
Township 24 South, Range 35 East, Cocoa, Brevard County, Florida, on 
lot 14, Block 28. This lot is within locations where scrub-jays were 
sighted during surveys for this species from 1999 through 2003.
    The lot encompasses about 1.00 acres, of which .25 acres will be 
used for the footprint of the home, infrastructure, and landscaping. 
The remaining .75 acres will be retained as scrub-jay habitat. In order 
to minimize take on site, the Applicant proposes to preserve the 
remaining .75 acres of scrub habitat on site and not clear the property 
or begin construction until the completion of the nesting season (March 
1-June 30).
    The Applicant proposes to mitigate for the loss of .25 acres of 
scrub-jay habitat by contributing a total of $4,200 to the Florida 
Scrub-jay Conservation Fund administered by The Nature Conservancy. 
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 Service has determined that the Applicant's proposal, including 
the proposed mitigation and minimization measures, will have a minor or 
negligible effect on the species covered in the HCP. Therefore, the ITP 
is a ``low-effect'' project and qualifies as a categorical exclusion 
under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), as provided by the 
Department of the Interior Manual (516 DM 2, Appendix 1 and 516 DM 6, 
Appendix 1). This preliminary information may be revised based on our 
review of public comments that we receive in response to this notice. 
Low-effect HCPs are those involving (1) minor or negligible effects on 
federally listed or candidate species

[[Page 41835]]

and their habitats, and (2) minor or negligible effects on other 
environmental values or resources.
    The Service will evaluate the HCP and comments submitted thereon to 
determine whether the application meets the requirements of section 
10(a) of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). If it is determined that 
those requirements are met, the ITP will be issued for the incidental 
take of the Florida scrub-jay. The Service will also evaluate whether 
issuance of the section 10(a)(1)(B) ITP complies 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 
ITP.

    Authority: This notice is provided pursuant to section 10 of the 
Endangered Species Act and NEPA regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).

    Dated: July 18, 2006.
David L. Hankla,
Field Supervisor, Jacksonville Field Office.
[FR Doc. E6-11721 Filed 7-21-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P