[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 155 (Friday, August 10, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47866-47867]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-19713]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R4-ES-2012-N191; FXES11130400000EA-123-FF04EF1000]


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Receipt of 
Applications for Two Incidental Take Permits; Availability of Proposed 
Low-Effect Habitat Conservation Plans; Reed Motors, Inc. and Clermont 
Land Development, LLC, Lake County, FL

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comment/information.

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SUMMARY: We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), have received two 
applications for incidental take permits (ITP). Reed Motors, Inc. and 
Clermont Land Development, LLC each request a 5-year ITP under the 
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). We request public 
comment on the permit applications and accompanying proposed habitat 
conservation plans (HCPs), as well as on our preliminary determination 
that the plans qualify 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 
September 10, 2012.

ADDRESSES: If you wish to review the applications and HCPs, you may 
request documents by email, U.S. mail, or phone (see below). These 
documents are also available for public inspection by appointment 
during normal business hours at the office below. Send your comments or 
requests by any one of the following methods.
    Email: [email protected]. Use ``Attn: Permit number TE81294A-0'' 
for Reed Motors, Inc. and/or ``Attn: Permit number TE81293A-0'' for 
Clermont Land Development, LLC as your message subject line.
    Fax: David L. Hankla, Field Supervisor, (904) 731-3045, Attn.: 
Permit number TE81294A-0 for Reed Motors, Inc. and/or Attn: Permit 
number TE81293A-0 for Clermont Land Development, LLC.
    U.S. mail: David L. Hankla, Field Supervisor, Jacksonville 
Ecological

[[Page 47867]]

Services Field Office, Attn: Permit number TE81294A-0 for Reed Motors, 
Inc. and/or Attn: Permit number TE81293A-0 for Clermont Land 
Development, LLC, 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 M. Gawera, telephone: (904) 731-
3121; email: [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 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.

Applicants' Proposals

    The applicants are requesting combined take of approximately 2.65 
ac of occupied sand skink foraging and sheltering habitat incidental to 
construction of commercial developments, and they each seek a 5-year 
permit. The 10-ac Reed Motors, Inc. project is located on parcel 
 09-22-26-110000700001 within Section 26, Township 22 South, 
Range 26 East, Lake County, Florida. The 2.49-ac Clermont Land 
Development, LLC project is located on parcel  09-22-26-
160000000100 within Section 29, Township 22 South, Range 26 East, Lake 
County, Florida. The projects include construction of two commercial 
developments and the associated infrastructure, and landscaping. Reed 
Motors, Inc. proposes to mitigate for the take of the sand skink by the 
purchase of 1.0 mitigation credits within the Hatchineha Ranch 
Conservation Bank. Clermont Land Development, LLC proposes to mitigate 
for the take of the sand skink by the purchase of 4.34 mitigation 
credits within the Morgan Lake Wales Preserve Conservation Bank.

Our Preliminary Determination

    We have determined that the applicant's proposals, including the 
proposed mitigation and minimization measures, would have minor or 
negligible effects on the species covered in the HCPs. Therefore, we 
determined that the ITPs are ``low-effect'' projects and qualify 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). 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 HCPs and comments we receive to determine 
whether the ITP applications meet the requirements of section 10(a) of 
the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). If we determine that the applications 
meet these requirements, we will issue ITP  TE81294A-0 and ITP 
 TE81293A-0. We will also evaluate whether issuance of the 
section 10(a)(1)(B) ITPs comply 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 ITPs. If the 
requirements are met, we will issue the permits to the applicants.

Public Comments

    If you wish to comment on the permit applications, HCPs, 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, email 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: August 6, 2012.
David L. Hankla,
Field Supervisor, Jacksonville Field Office, Southeast Region.
[FR Doc. 2012-19713 Filed 8-9-12; 8:45 am]
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