[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 147 (Wednesday, August 2, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35988-35989]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-16249]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R8-ES-2017-N078; FXES11140800000-178-FF08EVEN00]


General Conservation Plan for Oil and Gas Activities in Santa 
Barbara County, California; Notice of Intent To Prepare a Draft 
Environmental Analysis/Document; Initiation of Public Scoping Process

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce our 
intent to prepare a draft environmental analysis/document under the 
National Environmental Policy Act, as amended (NEPA), for the proposed 
issuance of an incidental take permit (ITP) under section 10(a)(1)(B) 
of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA), for the draft 
General Conservation Plan for Oil and Gas Activities in Santa Barbara 
County (GCP). The GCP is being developed to streamline environmental 
permitting and compliance with the ESA for proponents engaged in 
geophysical exploration (seismic), development, extraction, storage, 
transport, remediation, and/or distribution of crude oil, natural gas, 
and/or other petroleum products, and construction, maintenance, 
operation, repair, and decommissioning of oil and gas pipelines and 
well field infrastructure. The GCP is a conservation plan as required 
under the ESA for issuance of incidental take permits. Participation in 
the GCP would be voluntary. ITP holders would be authorized for 
incidental take of threatened and endangered wildlife species that 
could result from the activities covered under the GCP. The GCP would 
include conservation measures for an endangered plant species that 
would also be covered under the plan. We also are announcing the 
initiation of a public scoping process to engage Federal, tribal, 
State, and local governments and the public in the identification of 
issues and concerns, potential impacts, and possible alternatives to 
the proposed action. The Service is inviting input regarding 
development of a draft environmental analysis/document, which will 
evaluate the impacts to the human environment associated with issuance 
of ITPs and implementation of the GCP and alternatives.

DATES: In order to be included in the analysis, all comments must be 
received or postmarked on or before September 1, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Please provide comments in writing, by one of the following 
methods:
     Email: [email protected];
     Facsimile: 805-644-3958, Attn: VFWO GCP; or
     U.S. mail: Field Supervisor, Ventura Fish and Wildlife 
Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2493 Portola Road, Suite B, 
Ventura, CA 93101. Please specify that your information request or 
comments concern the VFWO GCP.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rachel Henry, by U.S. mail (see 
ADDRESSES), or by phone at 805-677-3312. If you use a 
telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), please call the Federal 
Information Relay Service at 800-877- 8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 
(Service), intend to prepare either a draft environmental analysis/
document under the National Environmental Policy Act, as amended (42 
U.S.C. 4321 et seq.; NEPA), for the proposed General Conservation Plan 
for Oil and Gas Activities in Santa Barbara County (GCP). The GCP is a 
conservation plan as required under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, 
as amended (16 U.S.C. 1539(c); ESA), for issuance of a 10(a)(1)(B) 
incidental take permit (ITP). Participation in the GCP and making an 
application for take authorization are voluntary. The proposed ITP 
would authorize the incidental take of threatened and endangered 
wildlife species that could result from the activities covered under 
the GCP, and would include conservation measures for an endangered 
plant species that also would be covered under the ITP. The GCP is 
being prepared by the Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office to address 
prospective activities that may be covered by the GCP. We also are 
announcing the initiation of a public scoping process to engage 
Federal, tribal, state, and local governments and the public in the 
identification of issues and concerns, potential impacts, and possible 
alternatives to the proposed action. The decision to prepare a draft 
environmental analysis/document will be, in part, contingent on the 
complexity of issues identified during, and following, the scoping 
phase of the NEPA process.

Background

    Section 9 of the ESA and its implementing regulations prohibit 
``take'' of fish and wildlife species listed as endangered or 
threatened (16 U.S.C. 1531-1544). Under section 3 of the ESA, the term 
``take'' means 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(19)). The term ``harm'' is further defined by regulation as 
an act that actually kills or injures wildlife. Such act may include 
significant habitat modification or degradation where it actually kills 
or injures wildlife by significantly impairing essential behavioral 
patterns, including breeding, feeding, or sheltering (50 CFR 17.3). The 
term ``harass'' is also further defined in the regulations as an 
intentional or negligent act or omission that creates the likelihood of 
injury to wildlife by annoying it to such an extent as to significantly 
disrupt normal behavioral patterns, which include, but are not limited 
to, breeding, feeding, or sheltering (50 CFR 17.3).
    Under section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Act, the Secretary of the Interior 
may authorize the taking of federally listed wildlife species if such 
taking occurs incidental to otherwise legal activities and where a 
conservation plan has been developed under section 10(a)(2)(A) that 
describes: (1) The impact that will likely result from such taking; (2) 
the steps an applicant will take to minimize and mitigate that take to 
the maximum extent practicable and the funding that will be available 
to implement such steps; (3) the alternative actions to such taking 
that an applicant considered and the reasons why such alternatives are 
not being utilized; and (4) other measures that the Service may require 
as being necessary or appropriate for the purposes of the plan. 
Issuance criteria under section 10(a)(2)(B) for an incidental take 
permit require the Service to find that: (1) The taking will be 
incidental to otherwise lawful activities; (2) an applicant will, to 
the

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maximum extent practicable, minimize and mitigate the impacts of such 
taking; (3) an applicant has ensured that adequate funding for the plan 
will be provided; (4) the taking will not appreciably reduce the 
likelihood of the survival and recovery of the species in the wild; and 
(5) the measures, if any, we require as necessary or appropriate for 
the purposes of the plan will be met. Regulations governing permits for 
endangered and threatened species are at 50 CFR 17.22 and 17.32, 
respectively.

Public Scoping

    A primary purpose of the scoping process is to receive suggestions 
and information on the scope of issues and alternatives to consider 
when drafting the environmental analysis/document, and to identify 
significant issues and reasonable alternatives related to the Service's 
proposed action (issuance of ITPs under the GCP). In order to ensure 
that we identify a range of issues and alternatives related to the 
proposed action, we invite comments and suggestions from all interested 
parties. We will conduct a review of this project according to the 
requirements of NEPA and its regulations, other relevant Federal laws, 
regulations, policies, and guidance, and our procedures for compliance 
with applicable regulations. Once the draft environmental analysis/
document and draft GCP are prepared, we will offer further 
opportunities for public comment on the content of the NEPA document 
and the GCP through an appropriate public comment period.

Proposed Action

    The proposed action is issuance of an incidental take permit for 
the covered species to proponents engaged in geophysical exploration 
(seismic), development, extraction, storage, transport, remediation, 
and/or distribution of crude oil, natural gas, and/or other petroleum 
products, and construction, maintenance, operation, repair, and 
decommissioning of oil and gas pipelines and well field infrastructure. 
The proposed GCP, which must meet the requirements in section 
10(a)(2)(A) of the Act, would be developed by the Service and 
implemented by proponents that are issued ITPs under the plan. This 
will allow for a comprehensive mitigation approach for authorized 
impacts, which will result in more effective conservation, while at the 
same time providing a more efficient mechanism for permit processing 
for the Service and proponents.
    Actions covered under the requested incidental take permit may 
include possible take of covered species associated with activities 
including, but not limited to, geophysical exploration (seismic), 
development, extraction, storage, transport, remediation, and/or 
distribution of crude oil, natural gas, and/or other petroleum 
products, and construction, maintenance, operation, repair, and 
decommissioning of oil and gas pipelines and well field infrastructure. 
The proposed permits would provide coverage for a period of the 
specified lifetime of each individual project permitted under the GCP. 
This proposed plan would not circumvent the need for project compliance 
with other permit requirements for oil and gas projects or other 
required approval processes that may include county hearings and local 
approval. The species covered under the requested incidental take 
permit are the California tiger salamander (Ambystoma californiense), 
California red-legged frog (Rana draytonii), and the Lompoc yerba santa 
(Eriodictyon capitatum).

Other Alternatives

    We seek information regarding other reasonable alternatives during 
this scoping period and will evaluate the impacts associated with such 
alternatives in the draft environmental analysis/document.

Public Availability of Comments

    Written comments we receive become part of the public record 
associated with this action. Before including your address, phone 
number, email address, or other personal identifying information in 
your comment, you should be aware that the 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. Comments and materials we 
receive, as well as supporting documentation we use in preparing the 
draft environmental analysis/document, will be available for public 
inspection, by appointment, during normal business hours at the 
Service's Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office in Ventura, California (see 
ADDRESSES, above).

Authority

    We publish this notice in compliance with the NEPA and its 
implementing regulations (40 CFR 1501.7, 1506.6, and 1508.22), the 
Department of the Interior's NEPA implementing regulations at 43 CFR 
46.235, and section 10(c) of the ESA.

    Dated: July 26, 2017.
Stephen P. Henry,
Field Supervisor, Pacific Southwest Region, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2017-16249 Filed 8-1-17; 8:45 am]
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