[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 218 (Friday, November 13, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58652-58653]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-27333]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R4-ES-2009-N219]
[41910-1112-0000-F2]


Permit(s); Commercial Park in Brevard County, FL

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of receipt of application for an extension of incidental 
take permit; availability of proposed low-effect habitat conservation 
plans; request for comment/information.

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SUMMARY: We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), have received an 
application from The Commons Group, LLC (Applicant) for an extension of 
incidental take permit (ITP)  TE126179-0 for 10 years under 
the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). We request public 
comment on the permit application and plan, as well as on our 
preliminary determination that the plan qualifies as low-effect under 
the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). To make this 
determination we used our environmental action statement and low-effect 
screening form, which are also available for review.

DATES: To ensure consideration, please send your written comments by 
December 14, 2009.

ADDRESSES: If you wish to review the application and HCP, you may 
request documents by U.S. mail, e-mail, or phone (see below). These 
documents are also available for public inspection by appointment 
during normal business

[[Page 58653]]

hours at the office below. Send your comments or requests by any one of 
the following methods.
    E-mail: [email protected]. Use ``Attn: Permit number TE126179-
0'' as your message subject line.
    Fax: Field Supervisor, (904) 731-3045, Attn.: Permit number 
TE126179-0.
    U.S. mail: Field Supervisor, Jacksonville Ecological Services Field 
Office, Attn: Permit number TE126179-0, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 
7915 Baymeadows Way, Suite 200, Jacksonville, FL 32256.
    In-person drop-off: You may drop off information during regular 
business hours at the above office address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Erin Gawera, telephone: (904) 731-
3121, e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Section 9 of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and our implementing 
Federal regulations in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) at 50 CFR 
17 prohibit the ``take'' of fish or wildlife species listed as 
endangered or threatened. Take of listed fish or wildlife is defined 
under the Act as ``to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, 
trap, capture, or collect, or to attempt to engage in any such 
conduct'' (16 U.S.C. 1532). However, under limited circumstances, we 
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 in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) at 50 
CFR 17.32 and 17.22, respectively. The Act's take prohibitions do not 
apply to federally listed plants on private lands unless such take 
would violate State law. In addition to meeting other criteria, an 
incidental take permit's proposed actions must not jeopardize the 
existence of federally listed fish, wildlife, or plants.

Applicant's Proposal

    The applicant has been approved for take of approximately 7.5 ac of 
occupied Florida scrub-jay foraging and sheltering habitat incidental 
to construction of a commercial park, and seeks a 10-year extension on 
an existing permit. The 9-ac project is located on the southeast corner 
of Wickham Road and Summer Brook Drive within Section 31, Township 26 
South, Range 37 East, Brevard County, Florida. The project includes 
development of a commercial park and the associated infrastructure, and 
landscaping. The applicant has been approved to mitigate for the take 
of the Florida scrub-jay through the deposit of $149,940 to the Nature 
Conservancy's Conservation Fund for the management and conservation of 
the Florida scrub-jay based on Service Mitigation Guidelines available 
on the Internet at http://www.fws.gov/northflorida/Scrub-Jays/scrubjays.htm.

Our Preliminary Determination

    We have determined that the applicant's proposal, including the 
proposed mitigation and minimization measures, would have minor or 
negligible effects on the species covered in the HCP. Therefore, we 
determined that the ITP is a ``low-effect'' project and qualifies for 
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). The notice for this permit was 
published in the Federal Register on November 8, 2006 (71 FR 65540), 
and the ITP was issued on December 14, 2006. A low-effect HCP is one 
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.

Next Steps

    We will evaluate the plan and comments we receive to determine 
whether the ITP extension 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 these requirements, we will issue the extension of 
ITP  TE126179-0. In December 2006 we determined 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 our final analysis to determine whether or not to issue the ITP 
extension. If the requirements are met, we will issue the permit 
extension to the applicant.

Public Comments

    If you wish to comment on the permit application, plan, and 
associated documents, you may submit comments by any one of the methods 
in ADDRESSES.

Public Availability of Comments

    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.

Authority

    We provide this notice under Section 10 of the Act and NEPA 
regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).

    Dated: October 16, 2009.
David L. Hankla,
Field Supervisor, Jacksonville Field Office.
[FR Doc. E9-27333 Filed 11-12-09; 8:45 am]
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