[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 238 (Wednesday, December 13, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Page 58651]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-26838]



[[Page 58651]]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R4-ES-2017-N129; FXES11130400000EA-123-FF04EF1000]


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Availability of 
Proposed Low-Effect Habitat Conservation Plan; Orange County Utilities, 
Malcolm Road Water Supply Facility, Orange County, FL

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments/information.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. 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). Orange County 
Utilities (Applicant) is requesting a 10-year ITP. We request public 
comment on the permit application and accompanying proposed Malcolm 
Road Water Supply Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP), as well as on our 
preliminary determination that the plan qualifies as low effect under 
the National Environmental Policy Act. 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 
January 12, 2018.

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 T-46110C-0'' 
as your message subject line.
    Fax: Field Supervisor, (904) 731-3191, Attn: Permit number TE-
46110C-0.
    U.S. mail: Field Supervisor, Jacksonville Ecological Services Field 
Office, Attn: Permit number TE-46110C-0, 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: Tera Baird, telephone: (904) 731-3196; 
email: Tera [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' Proposal

    Orange County Utilities is requesting take of approximately 10.9 
acres of occupied sand skink (Neoseps reynoldsi) habitat, incidental to 
the construction of a water supply facility and seek a 10-year permit. 
The project is located east of Avalon Road and west of SR 429 on the 
north side of Malcolm Road within Sections 8 and 17, Township 23 South, 
Range 27 East in Orange County, Florida. The Applicant proposes to 
mitigate for impacts to the species by purchasing 21.8 credits from a 
Service-approved sand skink mitigation bank prior to any land clearing 
activities commence.

Our Preliminary Determination

    We have determined that the applicants' proposal, including the 
proposed mitigation and minimization measures, would have minor or 
negligible effects on the species covered in the HCP. Therefore, our 
proposed issuance of the requested ITP qualifies as a categorical 
exclusion under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), 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). A low-effect HCP involves: (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 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.). 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 ITP number TE-
46110C-0 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).

Heath Rauschenberger,
Acting Field Supervisor, Jacksonville Field Office, Southeast Region.
[FR Doc. 2017-26838 Filed 12-12-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4333-15-P