[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 149 (Monday, August 4, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Page 45216]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-18310]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R4-ES-2014-N107; 40120-1112-0000-F2]


Incidental Take Permit and Environmental Assessment for 
Condominium Construction, Perdido Key, Escambia County, Florida

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: Under the Endangered Species Act (Act), we, the U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service, announce the receipt and availability of a proposed 
habitat conservation plan (HCP) and environmental assessment (EA) for 
take of the Perdido Key beach mouse incidental to construction of a 
multi-unit condominium in Escambia County, Florida. We invite public 
comments on these documents.

DATES: We must receive any written comments at our Regional Office (see 
ADDRESSES) on or before October 3, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Documents are 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; 
or the Panama City Field Office, Fish and Wildlife Service, 1601 Balboa 
Avenue, Panama City, FL 32405.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. David Dell, Regional HCP 
Coordinator (see ADDRESSES), telephone: 404-679-7313; or Ms. Kristi 
Yanchis, Field Office Project Manager, at the Panama City Field Office 
(see ADDRESSES), telephone: 850-769-0552.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We announce the availability of the proposed 
HCP, accompanying incidental take permit (ITP) application, and an 
environmental assessment (EA), which analyze the take of the endangered 
Perdido Key beach mouse (Peromyscus polionotus trissyllepsis) 
incidental to construction and occupation of a condominium development. 
The Applicant, Millennium Group LLC, requests a 25-year ITP under 
section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), as amended. 
The Applicant's HCP describes the mitigation and minimization measures 
proposed to address the impacts to the species.
    We specifically request scientific or technical information, views, 
and opinions from the public via this notice on our proposed Federal 
action, including identification of any other aspects of the human 
environment not already identified in the EA pursuant to National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations in the Code of Federal 
Regulations (CFR) at 40 CFR 1506.6. Further, we specifically solicit 
information regarding the adequacy of the HCP per 50 CFR parts 13 and 
17.
    The EA assesses the likely environmental impacts associated with 
the implementation of the activities, including the environmental 
consequences of the no-action alternative and the proposed action. The 
proposed action alternative is issuance of the ITP and implementation 
of the HCP as submitted by the Applicant. The HCP covers land clearing, 
construction, and occupation of a 15-unit condominium, which would 
permanently alter 0.428 acre of the 1.21 acres owned by the Applicant. 
Avoidance, minimization, and mitigation measures include retention of 
natural habitat on 0.782 acre of the property, enhancement of natural 
habitat with native vegetation plantings, protection of portions of the 
natural habitat via a conservation easement, operational covenants to 
minimize impacts, and endowment of off-site habitat acquisition and 
management via the existing Perdido Key Conservation Fund.

Public 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 review, we cannot guarantee that we will be 
able to do so.
    If you wish to comment, you may submit comments by any one of 
several methods. Please reference TE143687-0 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.

Covered Area

    Perdido Key, a barrier island 16.9 miles long, constitutes the 
entire historic range of the Perdido Key beach mouse. The area 
encompassed by the HCP and ITP application is a 1.21-acre Gulf front 
lot in Escambia County, within the central portions of Perdido Key.

Next Steps

    We will evaluate the ITP application, including the HCP and any 
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 a section 10(a)(1)(B) ITP complies 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 ITP. If we determine that the requirements are met, we will 
issue the ITP for the incidental take of Perdido Key beach mouse.

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: June 24, 2014.
Jeffrey M. Fleming,
Acting Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 2014-18310 Filed 8-1-14; 8:45 am]
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