[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 14 (Tuesday, January 22, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4428-4429]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-01168]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R4-ES-2012-N290; FXES11120400000-134-FF04EF2000]


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Receipt of an 
Application for an Incidental Take Permit; Availability of Proposed 
Low-Effect Habitat Conservation Plan; Polk County, FL

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

[[Page 4429]]


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

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SUMMARY: We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the 
availability of an incidental take permit (ITP) application and a 
Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP). Palmetto Lake Hamilton-Highway 17, LLC 
(the applicant) requests an ITP under the Endangered Species Act of 
1973, as amended (Act). The applicant anticipates taking about 1.71 
acres of sand skink (Neopseps reynoldsi) and bluetail mole skink 
(Eumeces egregius lividus) (skinks) foraging, breeding, and sheltering 
habitat incidental to land preparation and construction of a Dollar 
General Store, including a storm water retention area and parking lot, 
in Polk County, Florida (project). The applicant's HCP describes the 
mitigation and minimization measures proposed to address the effects of 
the project on the skinks.

DATES: We must receive your written comments on the ITP application and 
HCP on or before February 21, 2013.

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 
the South Florida Ecological Services Office, Attn: Permit number 
TE92046A-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. Elizabeth Landrum, Fish and 
Wildlife Biologist, South Florida Ecological Services Office (see 
ADDRESSES); telephone: 772-469 -4304.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Submitting Comments

    If you wish to comment on the ITP application and HCP, you may 
submit comments by any one of the following methods:
    Email: [email protected]. Use Attn: Permit number 
``TE92046A-0'' as your message subject line.
    Fax: Elizabeth Landrum, 772-562-4288, Attn.: Permit number 
``TE92046A-0.''
    U.S. mail: Elizabeth Landrum, South Florida Ecological Services 
Field Office, Attn: Permit number ``TE92046A-0'', U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service, 1339 20th Street, Vero Beach, FL 32960-3559.
    In-person drop-off: You may drop off information during regular 
business hours at the above office address.

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.

Applicant's Proposed Project

    We received an application from Palmetto Lake Hamilton--Highway 17, 
LLC (the applicant) for an incidental take permit along with a proposed 
habitat conservation plan. The applicant requests a 2-year permit under 
section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Act (87 Stat. 884; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). 
If we approve the permit, the applicant anticipates taking a total of 
approximately 1.71 acres (0.69 hectares (ha)) of sand and blue-tailed 
mole skink breeding, feeding, and sheltering habitat incidental to land 
preparation and construction of a Dollar General Store, including a 
storm water retention area and parking lot, in Polk County, Florida. 
Construction activities associated with the Dollar General Store will 
take place within Section 21, Township 28S, Range 27E, Polk County, 
Florida.
    The applicant proposes to mitigate for impacts by purchasing 
approximately 3.42 mitigation bank credits at the Scrub Conservation 
Bank in Highlands County, Florida, a Bank within the service area of 
skinks. The Service listed this species as threatened in 1987 (January 
21, 1987; 52 FR 2242). The listing became effective December 7, 1987.

Our Preliminary Determination

    The Service has made a preliminary determination that the 
applicant's project, including the mitigation measures, will 
individually and cumulatively have a minor or negligible effect on the 
species covered in the HCP. Therefore, issuance of the ITP is a ``low-
effect'' project and qualifies as a 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). 
We base our preliminary determination that issuance of the ITP 
qualifies as a low-effect action on the following three criteria: (1) 
Implementation of the project would result in minor or negligible 
effects on federally listed, proposed, and candidate species and their 
habitats; (2) Implementation of the project would result in minor or 
negligible effects on other environmental values or resources; and (3) 
Impacts of the project, considered together with the impacts of other 
past, present, and reasonably foreseeable similarly situated projects, 
would not result, over time, in cumulative effects to environmental 
values or resources that would be considered significant. This 
preliminary determination may be revised based on our review of public 
comments that we receive in response to this notice.

Next Steps

    The Service will evaluate the HCP and comments submitted thereon to 
determine whether the applications meet the requirements of section 
10(a) of the Act. The Service 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. The results of this 
consultation, in combination with the above findings, will be used in 
the final analysis to determine whether or not to issue the ITP. If it 
is determined that the requirements of the Act are met, the ITP will be 
issued.

Authority

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

    Dated: January 15, 2013.
Larry Williams,
Field Supervisor, South Florida Ecological Services Office.
[FR Doc. 2013-01168 Filed 1-18-13; 8:45 am]
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