[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 116 (Thursday, June 17, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34480-34481]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-14629]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R4-ES-2010-N113; 40120-1112-0000-F2]


Receipt of Application for Renewal of an Incidental Take Permit 
Associated With a Low-Effect Habitat Conservation Plan; Residential 
Development, Brevard County, FL

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: We, the Fish and Wildlife Service, have received from David 
Sime (applicant) a request for renewal of an incidental take permit 
(ITP) associated with an existing habitat conservation plan (HCP), 
related to the construction of a single-family home that would take 
0.33 acre of suitable habitat for the threatened Florida Scrub-jay 
(Aphelocoma coerulescens) in Brevard County, Florida (project).

DATES: We must receive any written comments on the ITP renewal 
application at our Regional Office (see ADDRESSES) on or before July 
19, 2010.

ADDRESSES: Documents will be available for public inspection by 
appointment during normal business hours at the Fish and Wildlife 
Service's Regional Office, 1875 Century Boulevard, Suite 200, Atlanta, 
GA 30345 (Attn: Holly Herod); or at the Fish and Wildlife Service Field 
Office, 7915 Baymeadows Way, Suite 200, Jacksonville, FL 32256 (Attn: 
Field Supervisor).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Holly Herod, Regional Project 
Manager (see ADDRESSES), telephone: 404/679-7089; or Ms. Erin Gawera, 
Field Office Project Manager, at the Jacksonville Field Office (see 
ADDRESSES), telephone: (904) 731-3121.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We announce our receipt of a request for 
renewal of an ITP application that authorizes the loss of 0.33 acre of 
suitable habitat for the Florida Scrub-jay. David Sime, the applicant, 
requests a 5-year ITP under section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered 
Species Act of 1973 (Act; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), as amended. The 
applicant remains in compliance with all the conditions and 
authorizations in the original permit (TE086774).
    After our receipt of the applicant's original application, we 
published a Federal Register notice making available the application 
and proposed HCP for a 30-day public review and comment period (July 
20, 2004; 69 FR 43429). We determined at the time that the applicant's 
original proposal, including the proposed mitigation and minimization 
measures, would individually and cumulatively have a minor or 
negligible effect on the species covered in the HCP. Therefore, we 
determined that the ITP was a ``low-effect'' project qualifying as a 
categorical exclusion under the National Environmental Policy Act 
(NEPA), as provided by the Department of Interior Manual (516 DM2 
Appendix 1 and 516 DM 6 Appendix 1). We issued the applicant an ITP on 
March 11, 2005, which expired on March 31, 2010. The ITP described the 
mitigation and minimization measures proposed to address the effects of 
the project to the Florida Scrub-jay. Since the issuance of the 
original ITP, the parcel has remained undisturbed. The applicant 
remains in compliance with the original ITP and HCP, and requests a 5-
year renewal of the ITP. Our proposed action is renewed issuance of the 
ITP and implementation of the existing HCP as submitted by the 
applicant. The HCP covers activities associated with the construction 
and maintenance of a single-family home. Avoidance, minimization, and 
mitigation measures include seasonal restrictions on vegetation removal 
and donating funds to the Florida Scrub-jay Conservation Fund.
    We specifically request information, views, and opinions from the 
public via this notice on our proposed Federal action.

Public Comments

    If you wish to comment, you may submit comments by any one of 
several methods. Please reference TE086774-1 in such comments. You may 
mail comments to the Fish and Wildlife Service's Regional 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 either 
telephone number listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
    Finally, you may hand-deliver comments to either of our offices 
listed under ADDRESSES. Before including your address, phone number, e-
mail address,

[[Page 34481]]

or other personal identifying information in your comment, 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.

Covered Area

    The area encompassed under the HCP and ITP application is a 0.33-
acre parcel of property that contains 0.33 acres of suitable, currently 
undeveloped Florida Scrub-jay habitat. The Project area is located in 
Brevard County, Florida. The Florida Scrub-jay is geographically 
isolated from other species of scrub-jays found in Mexico and the 
western United States. The Florida Scrub-jay is found exclusively in 
peninsular Florida and is restricted to xeric uplands (predominately in 
oak-dominated scrub).

Next Steps

    We will evaluate the ITP renewal application, including the 
existing HCP and any comments we receive, to determine whether the 
application meets the requirements of section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Act 
and our implementing regulations at 50 CFR 17.32(b). We will also 
evaluate whether reissuance of the section 10(a)(1)(B) ITP complies 
with section 7 of the Endangered Species 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. If we determine 
that the requirements are met, we will issue the ITP for the incidental 
take of the Florida Scrub-jay.

Authority

    We provide this notice under section 10 of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 
et seq.) and NEPA regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).

    Dated: May 27, 2010.
Mark J. Musaus,
Acting Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 2010-14629 Filed 6-16-10; 8:45 am]
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