[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 114 (Monday, June 15, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34168-34169]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-14650]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R4-ES-2015-N109; FXES11130400000EA-123-FF04EF1000]


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Availability of 
Proposed Low-Effect Habitat Conservation Plans, Lake, Brevard, and 
Volusia 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), have received 
three applications for incidental take permits (ITPs) under the 
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). DCS Capital 
Investments I, LLC requests a 15-year ITP; Preferred Materials, Inc., 
doing business as Conrad Yelvington Distributers, requests a 3-year 
ITP; and Wickham Summerbrook, LLC requests a 5-year ITP. We request 
public comment on the permit applications and accompanying proposed 
habitat conservation plans (HCPs), as well as on our preliminary 
determination that the plans qualify as low-effect under the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). To make this determination, we used 
our environmental action statement and low-effect screening form, which 
are also available for review.

DATES: To ensure consideration, please send your written comments by 
July 15, 2015.

ADDRESSES: If you wish to review the applications and HCPs, you may 
request documents by email, U.S. mail, or phone (see below). These 
documents are also available for public inspection by appointment 
during normal business hours at the office below. Send your comments or 
requests by any one of the following methods.
    Email: [email protected]. Use ``Attn: Permit number TE52650B-0'' 
as your message subject line for DCS Capital Investments I, LLC; 
``Attn: Permit number TE66050B-0'' for Preferred Materials, Inc.; and 
``Attn: Permit number TE66047B-0'' for Wickham Summerbrook, LLC.
    Fax: Field Supervisor, (904) 731-3191, Attn: Permit number [Insert 
permit number].
    U.S. mail: Field Supervisor, Jacksonville Ecological Services Field 
Office, Attn: Permit number [Insert permit number], U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service, 7915 Baymeadows Way, Suite 200, Jacksonville, FL 
32256.
    In-person drop-off: You may drop off information during regular 
business hours at the above office address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Erin M. Gawera, telephone: (904) 731-
3121; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    Section 9 of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and our implementing 
Federal regulations in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) at 50 CFR 
17 prohibit the ``take'' of fish or wildlife species listed as 
endangered or threatened. Take of listed fish or wildlife is defined 
under the Act as ``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 limited circumstances, we 
issue permits to authorize incidental take--i.e., take that is 
incidental to, and not the purpose of, the carrying out of an otherwise 
lawful activity.
    Regulations governing incidental take permits for threatened and 
endangered species are at 50 CFR 17.32 and 17.22, respectively. The 
Act's take prohibitions do not apply to federally listed plants on 
private lands unless such take would violate State law. In addition to 
meeting other criteria, an incidental take permit's proposed actions 
must not jeopardize the existence of federally listed fish, wildlife, 
or plants.

Applicants' Proposals

DCS Capital Investments I, LLC

    DCS Capital Investments I, LLC is requesting take of approximately 
.99 ac of occupied sand skink foraging and sheltering habitat 
incidental to construction of residential developments, and they seek a 
15-year permit. The 86.99-ac project is located on parcel #s 05-22-26-
000300000600 and 05-22-26-000400001300 within Section 5, Township 22 
South and Range 26 East, Lake County, Florida. The project includes 
construction of a residential development and the associated 
infrastructure, and landscaping. The applicant proposes to mitigate for 
the take of the sand skink by the purchase of 2.0 mitigation credits 
within the Hatchineha Conservation Bank.

Preferred Materials, Inc. (Conrad Yelvington Distributers)

    Preferred Materials, Inc. (Conrad Yelvington Distributers) is 
requesting take of approximately .68 ac of occupied Florida scrub-jay 
foraging and sheltering habitat incidental to construction of an 
industrial park, and they seek a 3-year permit. The 15-ac project is 
located on parcel #04-19-30-16-00-000I within Section 4, Township 19 
South and Range 30 East, Volusia County, Florida. The project includes 
construction of an industrial park and the associated infrastructure, 
and landscaping. The applicant proposes to mitigate for the take of the 
Florida scrub-jay through the deposit of funds in the amount of 
$20,844.72 to the Nature Conservancy's Conservation Fund, for the 
management and conservation of the Florida scrub-jay based on Service 
Mitigation Guidelines.

[[Page 34169]]

Wickham Summerbrook, LLC

    Wickham Summerbrook, LLC is requesting take of approximately 4.64 
ac of occupied Florida scrub-jay foraging and sheltering habitat 
incidental to construction of a commercial development, and they seek a 
5-year permit. The 8.98-ac project is located on parcel #26-37-31-00-
00262.0-0000.00 within Section 31, Township 26 South and Range 37 East, 
Brevard County, Florida. The project includes construction of a 
commercial development and the associated infrastructure, and 
landscaping. The applicant proposes to mitigate for the take of the 
Florida scrub-jay through the preservation of approximately 9.5 acres 
of high-quality Florida scrub-jay habitat within the Valkaria Site of 
the Brevard Coastal Scrub Ecosystem. The Applicant will preserve and 
donate six currently unencumbered parcels (Brevard County tax account 
numbers 2955405, 2955273, 2955322, 2955313, 2955314, and 2954810) to 
the Brevard County Environmentally Endangered Lands (EEL) Program so 
that these parcels can be managed and maintained as suitable Florida 
scrub-jay habitat in perpetuity. The Applicant will also provide the 
EEL Program with a $1,200.00/acre (totaling $11,400.00) management 
endowment to ensure the continued success of monitoring and maintaining 
these lands as suitable Florida scrub-jay habitat.

Our Preliminary Determination

    We have determined that the applicants' proposals, including the 
proposed mitigation and minimization measures, would have minor or 
negligible effects on the species covered in their HCPs. Therefore, we 
determined that the ITPs for each of the applicants are ``low-effect'' 
projects and qualify for 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). A low-
effect HCP is one involving (1) Minor or negligible effects on 
federally listed or candidate species and their habitats, and (2) minor 
or negligible effects on other environmental values or resources.

Next Steps

    We will evaluate the HCPs and comments we receive to determine 
whether the ITP applications meet the requirements of section 10(a) of 
the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). If we determine that the applications 
meet these requirements, we will issue ITP #s TE52650B-0, TE66050B-0, 
and TE66047B-0. We 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. 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 ITPs. If the 
requirements are met, we will issue the permits to the applicants.

Public Comments

    If you wish to comment on the permit applications, HCPs, 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 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.

Authority

    We provide this notice under Section 10 of the Act and NEPA 
regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).

    Dated: June 5, 2015.
Jay B. Herrington,
Field Supervisor, Jacksonville Field Office, Southeast Region.
[FR Doc. 2015-14650 Filed 6-12-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4310-55-P