[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 57 (Thursday, March 24, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15735-15736]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-06652]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R4-ES-2016-N038]; [FXES11120400000-167-FF04EC1000]


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Availability of 
Proposed Low-Effect Habitat Conservation Plan, Palmas Home Owners 
Association, Palmas Del Mar, Humacao, Puerto Rico

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 an 
application for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered 
Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). Palmas del Mar Home Owners 
Association requests a 10-year ITP. We request public comment on the 
permit application and accompanying proposed habitat conservation plan 
(HCP), as well as on our preliminary determination that the plan 
qualifies 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 
April 25, 2016.

ADDRESSES: If you wish to review the application and HCP, 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 
TE85455B-0'' as the subject line of your email.
     Fax: Deputy Field Supervisor, (787) 851-7440, Attn: Permit 
number TE85455B-0.
     Phone: 787-851-7297, x 206.
     U.S. mail: Field Supervisor, Caribbean Ecological Services 
Field Office; Attn: Permit Number TE85455B-0; U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service; P.O. Box 491; Boquer[oacute]n, PR 00622.
     In-person drop-off: You may drop off information or 
comments during regular business hours at the following office address: 
Caribbean Ecological Services Field Office; Road 301; Km. 5.1; 
Boquer[oacute]n, Puerto Rico.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marelisa Rivera,via telephone at (787) 
851-7297, x 206, or via email at [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.

Applicant's Proposal

    The Palmas Home Owners Association is proposing to renew and amend 
its existing HCP. They will be adding the following five new 
residential development areas to the HCP: Marbella Club, Solera, the 
Beach Club, Palmas Dorada, and Plaza del Mar. For the past 10 years, 
Palmas del Mar has had an ongoing sea turtle monitoring and 
conservation program, implemented sea turtle-friendly lighting in the 
existing developments, planted vegetation screens, and implemented 
avoidance and minimization measures during beach cleaning activities. 
These activities will continue and will be extended to the five new 
areas.

Our Preliminary Determination

    The Service has made a preliminary determination that the 
applicant's project, including the mitigation measures, will 
individually and cumulatively have a minor or negligible effect on the 
species covered in the HCP. Therefore, our proposed issuance of the 
requested incidental take permit qualifies as a categorical exclusion 
under the National Environmental Policy Act, as provided by Department 
of the Interior implementing regulations in part 46 of title 43 of the 
Code of Federal Regulations (43 CFR 46.205, 46.210, and 46.215). We 
base our preliminary determination that issuance of the ITP qualifies 
as a low-effect action on the following three criteria: (1) This

[[Page 15736]]

is a renewal of an existing project, and 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 project, 
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. This preliminary determination 
may be revised based on our review of public comments that we receive 
in response to this notice.

Next Steps

    We will evaluate the HCP and comments we receive to determine 
whether the ITP application meets the requirements of section 10(a) of 
the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). If we determine that the application 
meets these requirements, we will issue ITP # TE85455B-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 ITP. If the requirements are met, we will 
issue the permit to the applicant.

Public Comments

    If you wish to comment on the permit application, HCP, 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).

Edwin E. Mu[ntilde]iz,
Field Supervisor, Caribbean Ecological Services Field Office, Southeast 
Region.
[FR Doc. 2016-06652 Filed 3-23-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4333-15-P