[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 22 (Thursday, February 1, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4674-4675]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-02015]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R4-ES-2017-N148; FXES11140400000-178-FF04E00000]


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife; Incidental Take Permit 
Application, Habitat Conservation Plan for Skink Species, and 
Environmental Assessment for Roadway Relocation in Polk County, FL

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: Under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA), 
we, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the receipt and 
availability of a proposed habitat conservation plan and environmental 
assessment related to an application for a permit associated with 
relocation of a 1.3-mile segment of Dude Ranch Road (project) located 
in Polk County, Florida. If issued, the permit would authorize take of 
the threatened sand skink and blue-tailed mole skink incidental to 
project construction. We invite the public to comment on these 
documents.

DATES: To ensure consideration, please send your written comments by 
March 5, 2018.

ADDRESSES: 
    Obtaining Documents: Documents are available for public inspection 
by appointment during regular business hours at either of the following 
locations:
     Atlanta Regional Office, Ecological Services, U.S. Fish 
and Wildlife Service, 1875 Century Boulevard, Atlanta, GA 30345.
     South Florida Ecological Services Office, U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service, 1339 20th Street, Vero Beach, FL 32960.
    Submitting Comments: Submit comments by one of the following 
methods. Please reference TE21091C-0 in all comments. For additional 
guidance, please see Public Comments under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.
    U.S. mail: You may mail comments to the Fish and Wildlife Service's 
Atlanta Regional Office.
    Hand-delivery: You may hand-deliver comments to the Atlanta or the 
Vero Beach Offices.
    Email: You may email comments to [email protected]. Please include 
your name and email address in your email message. If you do not 
receive an email confirmation from us that we have received your email 
message, contact us directly at either telephone number in FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. David Dell, Regional HCP 
Coordinator, at the Atlanta Regional Office (see ADDRESSES); or Mr. 
John Wrublik, Project Manager, at the South Florida Ecological Services 
Office (see ADDRESSES); telephone: 772-469-4282. If you use a 
telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), please call the Federal 
Relay Service at 800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as 
amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq., ESA), we, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service, announce the receipt and availability of a proposed habitat 
conservation plan (HCP), accompanying incidental take permit (ITP) 
application, and environmental assessment (EA) related to an 
application from Cemex Construction Materials Florida, LLC (applicant) 
for a permit to take sand skink (Neoseps reynoldsi) and blue-tailed 
mole skink (Eumeces egregius lividus) (covered species), incidental to 
the relocation of a 1.3-mile segment of Dude Ranch Road in Polk County, 
Florida. We invite the public to comment on these documents.
    The applicants' proposed HCP describes the mitigation and 
minimization measures proposed to address the impacts to the covered 
species. Per the National Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 
seq.; NEPA), the EA analyzes the take of the covered species and impact 
to the environment. The applicant requests a 5-year ITP under section 
10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).

Environmental Assessment

    The EA assesses the likely environmental impacts associated with 
the implementation of the activities, including the environmental 
consequences of the no-action alternative, relocation of the roadway 
segment outside of the proposed footprint, and the proposed action. The 
proposed action alternative is issuance of the ITP and implementation 
of the HCP as submitted by the applicant. The applicant anticipates 
destroying approximately 12.1 acres of occupied sand skink and blue-
tailed mole skink habitat incidental to relocation and construction of 
a 1.3-mile section of Dude Ranch Road in Polk County, Florida. The 
existing paved two-lane county roadway is being relocated, per 
permission of Polk County, to allow for sand mining within the existing 
Dude Ranch Road footprint and lands adjacent to this footprint. The 
applicant indicates that sand mining in this area would not be 
financially feasible without relocation of the roadway. Polk County 
requires the applicant to relocate the roadway segment to maintain 
access for local residents and the public to the areas adjacent to the 
project site.

Habitat Conservation Plan

    The HCP includes measures to minimize and mitigate impacts to the 
sand skink and the blue-tailed mole skink resulting from the roadway 
relocation. To minimize impacts to these species and their habitat, the 
footprint of the relocated roadway was reduced to the greatest extent 
practicable. The mitigation proposed by the applicant consists of the 
purchase of 24.2 credits (equaling 12.1 acres of skink habitat) from 
the Scrub Conservation Bank (SCB) in Highlands County, Florida. The 
SCB, which is a Service approved conservation bank, will preserve and 
manage skink habitat in perpetuity.

Public Comments

    We specifically request information, views, and opinions from the 
public on our proposed Federal action, including identification of any 
other aspects of or impacts to the human environment not already 
identified in the EA prepared pursuant to the NEPA regulations at 40 
CFR 1506.6. Further, we specifically solicit information regarding the 
adequacy of the HCP per 50 CFR parts 13 and 17.
    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 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.

Covered Area

    Sand skinks and blue-tailed mole skinks historically occurred 
within xeric uplands throughout the sandy ridges of central Florida. 
The area encompassed by the ITP application and HCP consists of 12.1 
acres of privately owned lands

[[Page 4675]]

currently leased by the applicant in Polk County, Florida.

Next Steps

    We will evaluate the ITP application, including the HCP, and any 
comments we receive to determine whether the application meets the 
requirements of section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA. We will also evaluate 
whether a section 10(a)(1)(B) ITP should be issued, as well as conduct 
an intra-Service consultation pursuant to section 7 of the ESA. We will 
use the results of this consultation and the above findings in our 
final analysis to determine whether to issue the ITP. If we determine 
that the requirements are met, we will issue the ITP number TE21091C-0 
for the incidental take of the sand skink and the blue-tailed mole 
skink to the applicant.

Authority

    We provide this notice under section 10 of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531 
et seq.) and NEPA regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).

Mike Oetker,
Acting Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 2018-02015 Filed 1-31-18; 8:45 am]
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