[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 141 (Tuesday, July 22, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Page 42593]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-16727]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R4-ES-2008-N00161; 40120-1112-0000-F2]


Receipt of an Application for an Incidental Take Permit for 
Commercial Construction in Charlotte 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) and Habitat 
Conservation Plan (HCP). Charlotte County (applicant) requests an ITP 
pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, 
as amended (Act). The applicant anticipates taking about 0.46 acre of 
foraging and sheltering habitat occupied by the threatened Florida 
scrub-jay (Aphelocoma coerulescens) (scrub-jay) incidental to lot 
preparation for the construction of a library and supporting 
infrastructure in Charlotte County, Florida (Project). The applicant's 
Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) describes the mitigation and 
minimization measures proposed to address the effects of the Project to 
the scrub-jay.

DATES: We must receive your written comments on the ITP application and 
HCP on or before August 21, 2008.

ADDRESSES: See the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below for 
information on how to submit your comments on the ITP application and 
HCP. You may obtain a copy of the ITP application and HCP by writing to 
the South Florida Ecological Services Office, Attn: Permit number 
TE165374-0, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1339 20th Street, Vero 
Beach, FL 32960-3559. In addition, we will make the ITP application and 
HCP available for public inspection by appointment during normal 
business hours at the above address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Trish Adams, Fish and Wildlife 
Biologist, South Florida Ecological Services Office (see ADDRESSES); 
telephone: (772) 562-3909, ext. 232.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: If you wish to comment on the ITP 
application and HCP, you may submit comments by any one of the 
following methods. Please reference permit number TE165374-0 in such 
comments.
    1. Mail or hand-deliver comments to our South Florida Ecological 
Services Office address (see ADDRESSES).
    2. E-mail comments to [email protected]. If you do not receive a 
confirmation that we have received your e-mail message, contact us 
directly at the telephone number listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT.
    Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or 
other personal identifying information in your comments, you should be 
aware that your entire comment--including your personal identifying 
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can 
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying 
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be 
able to do so.
    Commercial construction for the West County Library HCP will take 
place at latitude 26.942 and longitude 82.271 in Englewood, Charlotte 
County, Florida. This lot is within scrub-jay occupied habitat.
    The lot encompasses about 12.06 acres, and the footprint of the 
library, infrastructure, and landscaping preclude retention of scrub-
jay habitat. In order to minimize take on site, the applicant proposes 
to mitigate for the loss of 0.46 acre of scrub-jay habitat by restoring 
and protecting in perpetuity 1.16 acres of occupied scrub-jay habitat 
adjacent to existing conservation lands.
    We have 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) (40 CFR 1506.6), as 
provided by the Department of the Interior Manual (516 DM 2 Appendix 1 
and 516 DM 6 Appendix 1). 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. Based on our review of public 
comments that we receive in response to this notice, we may revise this 
preliminary determination.
    We 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 we determine that the 
application meets the requirements, we will issue the ITP for 
incidental take of the Florida scrub-jay. We 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. We will use 
the results of this consultation, in combination with the above 
findings, in the final analysis to determine whether or not to issue 
the ITP.

    Authority: We provide this notice pursuant to section 10 of the 
Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and NEPA regulations 
(40 CFR 1506.6).

    Dated: June 25, 2008.
Paul Souza,
Field Supervisor, South Florida Ecological Services Office.
 [FR Doc. E8-16727 Filed 7-21-08; 8:45 am]
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