[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 44 (Wednesday, March 6, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14587-14588]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-05237]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R8-ES-2013-N049; 1112-0000-81440-F2]


Kelley-McDonough Low-Effect Habitat Conservation Plan for the 
Morro Shoulderband Snail, Community of Los Osos, San Luis Obispo 
County, California

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), have 
received an application from John Kelley and Denise McDonough for a 10-
year incidental take permit under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, 
as amended. The application addresses the potential for ``take'' of the 
federally endangered Morro shoulderband snail that is likely to occur 
incidental to the construction, maintenance, and occupation of a 
single-family residence on an existing legal single-family-zoned parcel 
in the unincorporated community of Los Osos, San Luis Obispo County, 
California. The applicants would implement a conservation program to 
minimize and mitigate project activities that are likely to result in 
take of the Morro shoulderband snail as described in their plan. We 
invite comments from the public on the application package that 
includes the Kelley-McDonough Low-Effect Habitat Conservation Plan for 
the Morro Shoulderband Snail. This proposed action has been determined 
to be eligible for a Categorical Exclusion under the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA).

DATES: To ensure consideration, please send your written comments by 
April 5, 2013.

ADDRESSES: You may download a copy of the habitat conservation plan, 
draft environmental action statement and low-effect screening form, and 
related documents on the Internet at http://www.fws.gov/ventura/, or 
you may request copies of the documents by U.S. mail or phone (see 
below). Please address written comments to Diane K. Noda, Field 
Supervisor, Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service, 2493 Portola Road, Suite B, Ventura, California 93003. You may 
alternatively send comments by facsimile to 805-644-3958.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Julie M. Vanderwier, Fish and Wildlife 
Biologist, at the above address or by calling 805-644-1766.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Morro shoulderband snail (=banded dune snail; Helminthoglypta 
walkeriana) was listed by the Service as endangered on December 15, 
1994 (59 FR 64613). Section 9 of the Act and its implementing 
regulations (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) prohibit the take of fish or 
wildlife species listed as endangered or threatened. ``Take'' is 
defined under the Act to include the following activities: ``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 section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Act, we may issue permits to authorize 
incidental take of listed species. ``Incidental take'' is defined by 
the Act as take that is not the purpose of carrying out of an otherwise 
lawful activity. Regulations governing incidental take permits for 
threatened and endangered species are provided in the Code of Federal 
Regulations at 50 CFR 17.32 and 17.22. Issuance of an incidental take 
permit must not jeopardize the existence of federally listed fish, 
wildlife, or plant species.
    John Kelley and Denise McDonough (hereafter, the applicants) have 
submitted a low-effect habitat conservation plan (HCP) in support of 
their application for an incidental take permit (ITP) to address take 
of Morro shoulderband snail that is likely to occur as the result of 
direct impacts to up to 0.18 acre (8,000 square feet) of highly 
disturbed habitat invaded by nonnative species that is occupied by the 
species. Take would be associated with the construction, maintenance, 
and occupation of a single-family residence on an existing parcel 
legally described as County of San Luis Obispo Assessor Parcel Number 
074-471-002 and located at 2285 Bay Vista Lane in western portion of 
Los Osos, an unincorporated community of San Luis Obispo County, 
California. The applicants are requesting a permit for take of Morro 
shoulderband snail that would result from HCP ``covered activities,'' 
which include the construction, maintenance, and occupation of a 
single-family residence and associated landscaping/infrastructure.
    The applicants propose to minimize and mitigate take of Morro 
shoulderband snail associated with the covered activities by fully 
implementing the HCP. The following measures would be implemented to 
minimize the effects of the taking: (1) Pre-construction and concurrent 
construction monitoring surveys for Morro shoulderband snail

[[Page 14588]]

would be conducted, (2) all identified individuals of any life stage of 
Morro shoulderband snail would be captured and moved out of harm's way 
to a Service-approved receptor site by an individual in possession of a 
current valid recovery permit for the species, and (3) a contractor and 
employee training program for Morro shoulderband snail would be 
developed and presented. To mitigate for unavoidable take, the 
applicants would contribute $4,000 to an impact-directed environmental 
account held and administered by the National Fish and Wildlife 
Foundation. These funds would be used to implement recovery tasks 
identified in the Recovery Plan for the Morro Shoulderband Snail and 
Four Plants from Western San Luis Obispo County, California (USFWS 
1998). The applicants would fund up to $4,000, as needed, to ensure 
implementation of all of the minimization measures and reporting 
requirements identified in the HCP.
    In the proposed HCP, the applicants consider two alternatives to 
the proposed action: ``No Action'' and ``Project Design.'' Under the 
``No Action'' alternative, an ITP for the Kelley-McDonough single-
family residence would not be issued. The Kelly-McDonough single-family 
residence would not be built, and a contribution of in-lieu fees would 
not be provided to effect recovery actions for the Morro shoulderband 
snail. Since the property is privately owned, there are ongoing 
economic considerations associated with continued ownership without 
use, including payment of associated taxes. The sale of this property 
for purposes other than the identified activity is not considered 
economically feasible. Because of economic considerations and because 
the proposed action results in a net benefit for the covered species, 
Morro shoulderband snail, the No Action Alternative has been rejected.
    Under the ``Project Redesign'' alternative, the project would be 
redesigned to avoid or further reduce take of Morro shoulderband snail. 
The onsite habitats occupied by Morro shoulderband snail are highly 
degraded in nature, and the parcel is not of sufficient size to 
accommodate a redesign that would substantially improve the 
conservation benefit to the species beyond what would be achieved in 
the proposed project. For these reasons, the alternate design 
alternative has also been rejected.
    We are requesting comments on our preliminary determination that 
the applicants' proposal will have a minor or negligible effect on the 
Morro shoulderband snail and that the plan qualifies as a low-effect 
HCP as defined by our Habitat Conservation Planning Handbook (November 
1996). We base our determinations on three criteria: (1) Implementation 
of the proposed project as described in the HCP would result in minor 
or negligible effects on federally listed, proposed, and/or candidate 
species and their habitats; (2) implementation of the HCP would result 
in minor negligible effects on other environmental values or resources; 
and (3) HCP impacts, considered together with those of other past, 
present, and reasonably foreseeable future projects, would not result 
in cumulatively significant effects. In our analysis of these criteria, 
we have made a preliminary determination that the approval of the HCP 
and issuance of an ITP qualify for categorical exclusion under the NEPA 
(42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), as provided by the Department of Interior 
Manual (516 DM 2 Appendix 2 and 516 DM 8); however, based upon our 
review of public comments that we receive in response to this notice, 
this preliminary determination may be revised.

Next Steps

    We will evaluate the permit application, including the plan and 
comments we receive, to determine whether the application meets the 
requirements of section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Act. We will also evaluate 
whether issuance of the ITP would comply with section 7(a)(2) of the 
Act by conducting an intra-Service Section 7 consultation.

Public Review

    We provide this notice under section 10(c) of the Act and the NEPA 
public involvement regulations (40 CFR 1500.1(b), 1500.2(d), and 
1506.6). We are requesting comments on our determination that the 
applicants' proposal will have a minor or neglible effect on the Morro 
shoulderband snail and that the plan qualifies as a low-effect HCP. We 
will evaluate the permit application, including the plan and comments 
we receive, to determine whether the application meets the requirements 
of section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Act. We will use the results of our 
internal Service consultation, in combination with the above findings, 
in our final analysis to determine whether to issue the permits. If the 
requirements are met, we will issue an ITP to the applicants for the 
incidental take of Morro shoulderband snail. We will make the final 
permit decision no sooner than 30 days after the date of this notice.

Public Comments

    If you wish to comment on the permit applications, plans, 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 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 view, we cannot guarantee that we will be able 
to do so.

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: February 27, 2013.
Diane K. Noda,
Field Supervisor, Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office. Ventura, 
California.
[FR Doc. 2013-05237 Filed 3-5-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P