[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 24 (Friday, February 6, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6303-6304]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-2554]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R4-ES-2009-N0024; 40120-1112-0000-F2]


Receipt of Applications for the Amendment of Incidental Take 
Permits for Residential Construction in Charlotte County, FL

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of receipt of permit amendment application; request for 
comments.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) issued incidental 
take permits (permits) (TE136149-0, TE136150-0, TE136151-0, and 
TE136153-0), pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered Species 
Act of 1973, as amended, for incidental take of the threatened Florida 
scrub-jay (Aphelocoma coerulescens) (scrub-jay) in Charlotte County, 
Florida to Peter

[[Page 6304]]

Famulari (Applicant). The Applicant has requested an amendment to the 
permits that will change the mitigation option from payment to the 
Florida Scrub-jay Conservation Fund administered by The Nature 
Conservancy to providing the Charlotte County conservation lands 
program an option to purchase land that will result in acquisition of 
79 acres of suitable scrub-jay habitat. The Applicant has agreed to 
follow all other existing habitat conservation plan (HCP) conditions. 
If amended, no additional take will be authorized.

DATES: We must receive your written comments on the permit amendments 
on or before March 9, 2009.

ADDRESSES: See the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below for 
information on how to submit your comments on the permit amendments. 
You may obtain a copy of the permit amendment applications and the HCP 
by writing to the South Florida Ecological Services Office, Attn: 
Permit number TE136149-1/TE136153-1, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 
1339 20th Street, Vero Beach, FL 32960-3559. In addition, we will make 
the permit amendment applications 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 permit 
amendments, you may submit comments by any one of the following 
methods. Please reference permit number TE136149-1/TE136153-1 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.
    Residential construction will take place on six parcels in the 
vicinity of latitude 27.013 and longitude -82.015 in Punta Gorda Isles, 
Punta Gorda, Charlotte County, Florida. These parcels are within scrub-
jay occupied habitat. The parcels encompass about 3.2 acres, and the 
footprint of the structure, infrastructure, and landscaping precludes 
retention of scrub-jay habitat on these parcels. More details on the 
specific parcel locations are available in the HCP (see ADDRESSES). The 
original permits became effective on February 28, 2007. Opportunity for 
public review of the original applications was provided in 71 FR 65125 
(November 7, 2006).
    The Service has made preliminary determinations that amendment of 
the permits is neither a major Federal action that will significantly 
affect the quality of the human environment within the meaning of 
section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), nor 
will they individually or cumulatively have more than a negligible 
effect on the species covered in the HCP. Therefore, the permit 
amendment qualifies as a categorical exclusion under NEPA as provided 
by the Department of Interior Manual (516 DM 2, Appendix 1 and 516 DM 
8.5).

    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: January 16, 2009.
Paul Souza,
Field Supervisor, South Florida Ecological Services Field Office.
[FR Doc. E9-2554 Filed 2-5-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P