[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 230 (Thursday, November 30, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69215-69216]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-20284]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service


Notice of Availability of an Environmental Assessment and Receipt 
of an Application for an Incidental Take Permit for the Oakmont 
Industrial Group Development, City of Ontario, San Bernardino County, 
CA

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability and receipt of application.

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SUMMARY: The Oakmont Industrial Group (Applicant) 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 (Act) of 
1973, as amended. The Service is considering issuing a 5-year permit to 
the Applicant that would authorize take of the federally endangered 
Delhi Sands flower-loving fly (Rhaphiomidas terminatus abdominalis; 
DSF). The proposed permit would authorize the incidental taking of 
individual DSF. The permit is needed by the Applicant because take of 
DSF could occur during the proposed construction of a commercial 
development on a 19-acre site in the City of Ontario, San Bernardino 
County, California.
    The permit application includes the proposed Habitat Conservation 
Plan (Plan), which describes the proposed action and the measures that 
the Applicant will undertake to minimize and mitigate the impact of the 
take of the DSF.

DATES: We must review any written comments on or before January 29, 
2007.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Mr. Jim Bartel, Field Supervisor, 
Fish and Wildlife Service, Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office, 6010 
Hidden Valley Road, Carlsbad, CA 92011. You also may send comments by 
facsimile to (760) 918-0638. To review the permit application and plan, 
see ``Availability of Documents'' under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Karen Goebel, Assistant Field 
Supervisor (see ADDRESSES), (760) 431-9440.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Availability of Documents

    You may obtain copies of these documents for review by contacting 
the office under ADDRESSES. Documents also will be available for public 
inspection, by appointment, during normal business hours at our 
Carlsbad office (see ADDRESSES) and at the San Bernardino County 
Libraries. Addresses for the San Bernardino County Libraries are: (1) 
13180 Central Avenue, Chino, CA 91710; (2) 2003 Grand Avenue, Chino 
Hills, CA 91709; (3) 16860 Valencia Avenue, Fontana, CA 92335; and (4) 
104 West Fourth Street, San Bernardino, CA 92415.

Background

    Section 9 of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and Federal 
regulations prohibit the ``take'' of fish and wildlife species listed 
as endangered or threatened. Take of federally listed fish and wildlife 
is defined under the Act to include ``to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, 
shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or to attempt to engage 
in any such conduct.'' The Service may, under limited circumstances, 
issue permits to authorize incidental take (i.e., take that is 
incidental to, and not the purpose of, the carrying out of an otherwise 
lawful activity). Regulations governing incidental take permits for 
threatened and endangered species are found in 50 CFR 17.32 and 17.22.
    The Applicant is proposing development of commercial facilities on 
19 acres of land in the City of Ontario, San Bernardino County, 
California. The project site is located south of Greystone Drive, north 
of Brentstone Street, and west of Stanford Avenue. The proposed project 
site is bordered by existing commercial facilities to the east and 
west, State Route 60 to the south, and approximately 13 acres of open 
space to the north. Over the past several years, the site has 
experienced heavy use by off-highway vehicles.
    Approximately 10 acres of the site are considered occupied by the 
DSF. The Service has determined that the proposed development would 
result in incidental take of the DSF. No other federally listed species 
are known to utilize the site.
    To mitigate take of DSF on the project site, the Applicant proposes 
to purchase credits towards conservation in perpetuity of 10 acres of 
occupied DSF habitat at the Colton Dunes Conservation Bank in eastern 
San

[[Page 69216]]

Bernardino Valley. The conservation bank collects fees that fund a 
management endowment to ensure the permanent management and monitoring 
of sensitive species and habitats, including the DSF.
    The Service's Environmental Assessment considers the environmental 
consequences of three alternatives, including: (1) The Proposed Project 
Alternative, which consists of issuance of the incidental take permit 
and implementation of the Plan; (2) the Alternative Site Layout, which 
would consist of DSF conservation on the project site and no offsite 
conservation; and (3) the No Action Alternative, which would result in 
no impacts to DSF and no conservation.

National Environmental Policy Act

    Proposed permit issuance triggers the need for compliance with the 
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Accordingly, a draft NEPA 
document has been prepared. The Service is the Lead Agency responsible 
for compliance under NEPA. As the NEPA lead agency, the Service is 
providing notice of the availability and is making available for public 
review the Environmental Assessment.

Public Review

    The Service invites the public to review the Plan and Environmental 
Assessment during a 60-day public comment period (see DATES). Any 
comments received, including names and addresses, will become part of 
the official administrative record and may be made available to the 
public. Our practice is to make comments, including names, home 
addresses, home phone numbers, and email addresses of respondents, 
available for public review. Individual respondents may request that we 
withhold their names and /or homes addresses, etc., but if you wish us 
to consider withholding this information you must state this 
prominently at the beginning of your comments. In addition, you must 
present a rationale for withholding this information. This rationale 
must demonstrate that disclosure would constitute a clearly unwarranted 
invasion of privacy. Unsupported assertions will not meet this burden. 
In the absence of exceptional, documentable circumstances, this 
information will be released. We will always make submissions from 
organization or businesses, and from individuals identifying themselves 
as representatives of or officials of organizations or businesses, 
available for public inspection in their entirety.
    This notice is provided pursuant to section 10(a) of the Act and 
the regulations for implementing NEPA, as amended (40 CFR 1506.6). We 
will evaluate the application, associated documents, and comments 
submitted thereon to determine whether the application meets the 
requirements of NEPA regulations and section 10(a) of the Act. If we 
determine that those requirements are met, we will issue a permit to 
the Applicant for the incidental take of the DSF. We will make our 
final permit decision no sooner than 60 days after the date of this 
notice.

    Dated: November 23, 2006.
Ken McDermond,
Deputy Manager, California/Nevada Operations Office, Sacramento, 
California.
 [FR Doc. E6-20284 Filed 11-29-06; 8:45 am]
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