[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 166 (Tuesday, August 27, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52965-52966]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-20850]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R4-ES-2013-N193; FXES11120400000-134-FF04EF2000]


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Receipt of 
Application for Incidental Take Permit; Availability of Proposed Low-
Effect Habitat Conservation Plan and Associated Documents; Charlotte 
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), announce the 
availability of an incidental take permit (ITP) application and Habitat 
Conservation Plan (HCP). Connie Stark (applicant) requests an ITP under 
the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). The applicant 
anticipates taking about 1.49 acres of foraging, breeding, and 
sheltering habitat used by the Florida scrub-jay (Aphelocoma 
coerulescens) (scrub-jay) incidental to land preparation and for the 
construction of a single-family residence and associated infrastructure 
in Charlotte County, Florida. The applicant's HCP describes the 
minimization and mitigation measures proposed to address the effects of 
the project on the scrub-jay.

DATES: Written comments on the ITP application and HCP should be sent 
to the South Florida Ecological Services Office (see ADDRESSES) and 
should be received on or before September 26, 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 
TE14189B-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 
``TE14189B-0'' as your message subject line.
    Fax: Elizabeth Landrum, 772-562-4288, Attn.: Permit number 
``TE14189B-0''. U.S. mail: Elizabeth Landrum, South Florida Ecological 
Services Field Office, Attn: Permit number ``TE14189B-0,'' U.S. Fish 
and Wildlife Service, 1339 20th Street, Vero Beach, FL 32960-3559.
    In-person drop-off: You may drop off comments or request 
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 for an incidental take permit, along 
with a proposed habitat conservation plan. The applicant requests a 5-
year permit under section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et 
seq.). If we approve the permit, the applicant anticipates taking 1.49 
acre of Florida scrub-jay breeding, feeding, and sheltering habitat for 
construction of a single family residence and associated 
infrastructure. The project is located on parcel 402423477003 at 
latitude 26.977278, longitude--81.875388, Charlotte County, Florida.
    The applicant proposes to mitigate for the loss of 1.49 acres of 
occupied scrub-jay habitat by onsite establishment of a 3.8 acre 
conservation easement to be managed by Charlotte Harbor Environmental 
Center, along with a fee of $11,400 for perpetual maintenance of the 
donated land, within 30 days of permit issuance.

Our Preliminary Determination

    The Service has made a preliminary determination that the 
applicant's project, including the proposed mitigation and minimization 
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'' action and qualifies as a categorical exclusion 
under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) (40 CFR 1506.6), as 
provided by the Department of the Interior Manual (516 DM 2 Appendix 1 
and 516 DM 6 Appendix 1), and as defined in our Habitat Conservation 
Planning Handbook (November 1996).
    We base our 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 plan, 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. As more fully explained 
in our environmental action statement and associated Low-Effect 
Screening Form, the applicant's proposed project qualifies as a ``low-
effect'' project. 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 application meets 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

[[Page 52966]]

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 for the 
incidental take of the Florida scrub-jay.

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: August 21, 2013.
Larry Williams,
Field Supervisor, South Florida Ecological Services Office.
[FR Doc. 2013-20850 Filed 8-26-13; 8:45 am]
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