[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 250 (Wednesday, December 31, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 78899-78901]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-30689]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R8-ES-2014-N147]; [FXES11120000-156-FF08ECAR00]


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Incidental Take 
Permit Application; Proposed Low-Effect Habitat Conservation Plan and 
Associated Documents; County of San Diego, California

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), have 
received an application from Pauma Estates, Inc. (applicant) for a 5-
year incidental take permit for the endangered arroyo toad pursuant to 
the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). We are requesting 
comments on the permit application and on the preliminary

[[Page 78900]]

determination that the proposed HCP qualifies as a ``low-effect'' 
Habitat Conservation Plan, eligible for a categorical exclusion under 
the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended. The 
basis for this determination is discussed in the environmental action 
statement (EAS) and associated low-effect screening form, which are 
also available for public review.

DATES: Written comments should be received on or before January 30, 
2015.

ADDRESSES: Submitting Comments: You may submit comments by one of the 
following methods:
     U.S. Mail: Field Supervisor, Fish and Wildlife Service, 
Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office, 2177 Salk Avenue, Suite 250, 
Carlsbad, CA 92008.
     Fax: Field Supervisor, 760-431-9624.
    Obtaining Documents: To request copies of the application, proposed 
HCP, and EAS, contact the Service immediately, by telephone at 760-431-
9440 or by letter to the Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office (see 
ADDRESSES). Copies of the proposed HCP and EAS also are available for 
public inspection during regular business hours at the Carlsbad Fish 
and Wildlife Office (see ADDRESSES).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Karen A. Goebel, Assistant Field 
Supervisor, Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office (see ADDRESSES); 
telephone 760-431-9440. If you use a telecommunications device for the 
deaf (TDD), please call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 
800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 
(Service), have received an application from Pauma Estates, Inc. 
(applicant) for a 5-year incidental take permit for one covered species 
pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, 
as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq., Act). The application addresses the 
potential ``take'' of the endangered arroyo toad in the course of 
activities associated with the construction of the Pauma Estates 
residential development in unincorporated San Diego County, California. 
A conservation program to avoid, minimize, and mitigate for project 
activities would be implemented as described in the proposed Habitat 
Conservation Plan (HCP) by the applicant.
    We are requesting comments on the permit application and on the 
preliminary determination that the proposed HCP qualifies as a ``low-
effect'' Habitat Conservation Plan, eligible for a categorical 
exclusion under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, 
as amended. The basis for this determination is discussed in the 
environmental action statement (EAS) and associated low-effect 
screening form, which are also available for public review.

Background

    Section 9 of the Act and its implementing Federal regulations 
prohibit the ``take'' of animal species listed as endangered or 
threatened. Take is defined under the Act as ``to harass, harm, pursue, 
hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect listed species, or 
to attempt to engage in any such conduct'' (16 U.S.C. 1538). ``Harm'' 
includes significant habitat modification or degradation that actually 
kills or injures listed wildlife by significantly impairing essential 
behavioral patterns such as breeding, feeding, or sheltering (50 CFR 
17.3). However, under section 10(a) of the Act, the Service may issue 
permits to authorize incidental take of listed species. ``Incidental 
take'' is defined by the Act as take that is incidental to, and not the 
purpose of, carrying out an otherwise lawful activity. Regulations 
governing incidental take permits for threatened and endangered 
species, respectively, are found at 50 CFR 17.22 and 50 CFR 17.32.
    The applicant requests a 5-year permit under section 10(a)(1)(B) of 
the Act. If we approve the permit, the applicant anticipates taking 
arroyo toad [Anaxyrus (=Bufo) californicus] as a result of permanent 
impacts to 10.74 acres (ac) of habitat the species uses for feeding and 
sheltering. The take would be incidental to the applicant's activities 
associated with the construction of the Pauma Estates residential 
development in San Diego County, California, and includes in-perpetuity 
management activities within the proposed on-site biological open space 
area.
    The Pauma Estates project proposes to grade 16 lots for residential 
homes, construct the associated initial infrastructure (private road 
and utilities installation), and improve 3.8 ac of public road. The 
applicant will grade and install the initial infrastructure 
improvements necessary to create residential lots that will 
subsequently be sold to individual buyers for final buildout (e.g., 
pads, driveways, and landscaping) at an unspecified time in the future.
    The project will impact 10.74 ac of arroyo toad upland aestivation 
habitat permanently as a result of the residential development 
activities.
    To minimize take of arroyo toad by the Pauma Estates project and 
offset impacts to its habitat, the applicant proposes to mitigate for 
permanent impacts to approximately 10.74 ac of occupied arroyo toad 
habitat through the on-site preservation of approximately 9.43 ac of 
occupied arroyo toad habitat within a dedicated conservation easement. 
In addition, the applicant proposes to improve the quality of arroyo 
toad habitat within the 9.43-ac biological open space area by providing 
funding for and implementing the in-perpetuity management of the 
biological open space area pursuant to an approved Resource Management 
Plan. The applicant's proposed HCP also contains the following proposed 
measures to minimize the effects of activities to arroyo toad:
     Grading and construction within arroyo toad upland 
aestivation habitat will only take place during the arroyo toad 
breeding season (defined as March 15-July 31), when arroyo toads are 
less likely to occupy the upland habitat.
     A permanent arroyo toad barrier wall will be constructed 
between the development area and the on-site biological open space 
area.
    The above described impacts and mitigation will occur within 
designated critical habitat for the arroyo toad. Although the project 
site is adjacent to occupied habitat for other federally threatened and 
endangered species, no other listed species or designated critical 
habitat occur within the project site.

Proposed Action and Alternatives

    The Proposed Action consists of the issuance of an incidental take 
permit and implementation of the proposed HCP, which includes measures 
to avoid, minimize, and mitigate impacts to the arroyo toad. If we 
approve the permit, take of arroyo toad would be authorized for the 
applicant's activities associated with the construction of the Pauma 
Estates residential development. In the proposed HCP, the applicant 
considers alternatives to the taking of arroyo toad under the proposed 
action. Three alternatives to the taking of the listed species under 
the proposed action are considered in the proposed HCP.
    (1) Under the Reduced Density Alternative, the project impact 
footprint would be reduced; however, the alternative would either 
render the project economically infeasible, or would result in 
insufficient funding to conserve and manage arroyo toad habitat areas 
not proposed for development.
    (2) Under the Increased Density Alternative, additional areas of 
arroyo toad habitat would be impacted by project development and 
adequate

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habitat for the arroyo toad would not remain for conservation and 
management, thereby providing no benefit to the species in the project 
area.
    (3) Under the No Action Alternative, no arroyo toad habitat would 
be impacted or conserved.

Our Preliminary Determination

    The Service has made a preliminary determination that approval of 
the proposed HCP qualifies as a categorical exclusion under NEPA, as 
provided by the Department of the Interior Manual (516 DM 2 Appendix 1 
and 516 DM 6 Appendix 1) and as a ``low-effect'' plan as defined by the 
Habitat Conservation Planning Handbook (November 1996).
    We base our determination that a HCP qualifies as a low-effect plan 
on the following three criteria:
    (1) Implementation of the HCP would result in minor or negligible 
effects on federally listed, proposed, and candidate species and their 
habitats, including designated critical habitat;
    (2) Implementation of the HCP would result in minor or negligible 
effects on other environmental values or resources; and
    (3) Impacts of the HCP, 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.

Based upon this preliminary determination, we do not intend to prepare 
further NEPA documentation. We will consider public comments in making 
the final determination on whether to prepare such additional 
documentation.

Next Steps

    We will evaluate the proposed HCP and comments we receive to 
determine whether the permit application meets the requirements and 
issuance criteria under section 10(a) of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et 
seq.). We will also evaluate whether issuance of a section 10(a)(1)(B) 
incidental take permit would comply with section 7 of the Act by 
conducting an intra-Service 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 a permit. If the 
requirements and issuance criteria under section 10(a) are met, we will 
issue the permit to the applicant for incidental take of arroyo toad.

Public Comments

    If you wish to comment on the permit application, proposed HCP, and 
associated documents, you may submit comments by any of the methods 
noted in the ADDRESSES section.

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 may 
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 (16 U.S.C. 1531 
et seq.) and NEPA regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).

Karen A. Goebel,
Acting Field Supervisor, Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office, Carlsbad, 
California.
[FR Doc. 2014-30689 Filed 12-30-14; 8:45 am]
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