[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 118 (Tuesday, June 19, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28444-28446]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-13127]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R8-ES-2018-N042; FXES11130800000-189-FF08EVEN00]


Habitat Conservation Plan and Environmental Assessment for 
Gavilan College San Benito Campus and Fairview Corners Residential 
Development

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability; receipt of permit application, draft 
environmental assessment, draft habitat conservation plan, request for 
comment.

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SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that we, the U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service, have prepared a draft environmental assessment under 
the National Environmental Policy Act of 1967, as amended, and it's 
implementing regulations. This notice also announces the receipt of an 
application for an incidental take permit under the Endangered Species 
Act of 1973, as amended, and receipt of a draft habitat conservation 
plan.

DATES: Submitting Comments: To ensure consideration, written comments 
must be received by July 19, 2018.

ADDRESSES: You may obtain a copy of the draft Habitat Conservation 
Plan, draft Environmental Assessment, and related documents on the 
internet at http://www.fws.gov/ventura, or you may request copies of 
the documents by writing to the Ventura Fish and Wildlife Ecological 
Services Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2493 Portola Road, 
Suite B, Ventura, CA 93003. Please address written comments to Stephen 
P. Henry, Field Supervisor, at the address above. Comments may also be 
sent by facsimile to (805) 644-3958.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Chad Mitcham, Fish and Wildlife 
Biologist, by mail to the address in

[[Page 28445]]

ADDRESSES or by phone at (805) 677-3328.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice advises the public that we, the 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), have prepared the draft 
environmental assessment (EA) under the National Environmental Policy 
Act of 1967, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.; NEPA), and its 
implementing regulations in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) at 40 
CFR 1506.6.
    This notice also announces the receipt of an application from Mary 
Beth Long of Fairview Corners LLC and Frederick Harris of the Gavilan 
Joint Community College District (Applicants) for a 25-year incidental 
take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended 
(16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.; Act). The Applicants prepared the draft 
Gavilan College San Benito Campus and Fairview Corners Residential 
Development Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) pursuant to section 
10(a)(1)(B) of the Act. The Applicants are requesting the authorization 
of incidental take for the federally threatened California tiger 
salamander (Ambystoma californiense) and the federally endangered San 
Joaquin kit fox (Vulpes macrotis mutica) that could result from 
activities covered under the HCP.

Introduction

    The HCP is a combined effort between the Gavilan Joint Community 
College District and Fairview Corners, LLC, for development of a 
college campus and residential subdivision (maximum 220 units) on an 
approximately 137-acre site located southeast of the City of Hollister, 
in unincorporated San Benito County. In addition to measures proposed 
for the protection of the covered species during construction within 
the project site, the Applicants propose to mitigate impacts to the 
covered species and their habitat by placing a conservation easement 
over approximately 329 acres of the Mariposa Peak Conservation Preserve 
in eastern Santa Clara County.

Background Information

    Section 9 of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531-1544 et seq.) and Federal 
regulations (50 CFR 17) prohibit the taking of fish and wildlife 
species listed as endangered or threatened under section 4 of the Act. 
Take of federally listed fish or wildlife is defined under the Act as 
to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or 
collect listed species, or attempt to engage in such conduct. The term 
``harass'' is defined in the regulations as to carry out actions that 
create the likelihood of injury to listed species 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). The 
term ``harm'' is defined in the regulations as significant habitat 
modification or degradation that results in death or injury of listed 
species by significantly impairing essential behavioral patterns, 
including breeding, feeding, or sheltering (50 CFR 17.3). However, 
under specified circumstances, the Service may issue permits that allow 
the take of federally listed species, provided that the take that 
occurs is incidental to, but not the purpose of, an otherwise lawful 
activity.
    Regulations governing permits for endangered and threatened species 
are at 50 CFR 17.22 and 17.32, respectively. Section 10(a)(1)(B) of the 
Act contains provisions for issuing such incidental take permits to 
non-Federal entities for the take of endangered and threatened species, 
provided the following criteria are met:
    (1) The taking will be incidental;
    (2) The applicants will, to the maximum extent practicable, 
minimize and mitigate the impact of such taking;
    (3) The applicants will develop a proposed HCP and ensure that 
adequate funding for the HCP 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 applicants will carry out any other measures that the 
Service may require as being necessary or appropriate for the purposes 
of the HCP.

Proposed Action

    The Service would issue an ITP to the Applicants for a period of 25 
years for covered activities at the proposed project site in San Benito 
County. The proposed project would result in the permanent loss of 
approximately 137 acres of suitable habitat for the California tiger 
salamander and San Joaquin kit fox.

Plan Area

    The project site is located southeast of the City of Hollister, in 
unincorporated San Benito County. The Gavilan Join Community College 
District owns approximately 77 acres of the southern portion of the 
137-acre project site, while Fairview Corners, LLC, owns the remaining 
60 acres. The project site currently consists of unimproved rangeland 
and agricultural fields of cultivated barley that are annually disked 
and periodically grazed by cattle.

Covered Activities

    The proposed section 10 ITP would allow take of covered wildlife 
species resulting from covered activities in the proposed HCP area. The 
Applicants are requesting incidental take authorization for covered 
species that could be affected by all activities associated with the 
construction of the Gavilan College San Benito Campus and Fairview 
Corners Residential Development project, as identified in the HCP.

Covered Species

    Covered species are those species addressed in the HCP for which 
conservation actions will be implemented and for which the Applicants 
are seeking an ITP for a period of 25 years. Proposed covered species 
include the federally threatened California tiger salamander (Ambystoma 
californiense) and the federally endangered San Joaquin kit fox (Vulpes 
macrotis mutica).

National Environmental Policy Act Compliance

    The EA was prepared to analyze the impacts of issuing an ITP based 
on the HCP and to inform the public of the proposed action, 
alternatives, and associated impacts and disclose any irreversible 
commitments of resources.
    The proposed permit issuance triggers the need for compliance with 
NEPA. The proposed action presented in the EA is compared to the no-
action and reduced development scale alternatives. The No-Action and 
Reduced Development Scale alternatives represent estimated future 
conditions to which the proposed action's estimated future conditions 
can be compared.

No-Action Alternative

    Under the No-Action Alternative, the Service would not issue an 
ITP, and the HCP would not be implemented. Under this alternative, the 
project site would continue to be utilized for the purposes of 
cultivation of barley and the periodic grazing of cattle. Under the No-
Action Alternative, the permanent loss of suitable habitat for the 
covered species would not occur; although, agricultural activities 
would continue resulting in negative effects to the species. 
Additionally, offsite mitigation of higher quality habitat would not 
occur.

Reduced Development Scale Alternative

    This alternative assumes that the Fairview Corners Residential 
Development would be developed with estate homes on minimum 5-acre 
lots, and a reduced version of the Gavilan College project would be 
also developed. This alternative could

[[Page 28446]]

include the preservation of a portion of the project site for the 
California tiger salamander in and around the area of the former stock 
pond; however, this would potentially increase the likelihood of the 
area to function as a population sink, primarily due to the loss of 
suitable upland habitat in the immediate vicinity. The biological 
resource impacts under this alternative would be similar to and 
potentially more significant that those identified under the proposed 
project.

Public Comments

    If you wish to comment on this notice, the EA, and HCP, you may 
submit comments by any one of the methods in ADDRESSES.

Public Availability of Comments

    Before including your address, phone number, or other personal 
identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that your 
entire comment--including your personal identifying information--might 
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.

Next Steps

    Issuance of an incidental take permit is a Federal proposed action 
subject to compliance with NEPA. We will evaluate the application, 
associated documents, and any public comments we receive to determine 
whether the application meets the requirements of NEPA regulations and 
section 10(a) of the Act. If we determine that those requirements are 
met, we will issue a permit to the applicant for the incidental take of 
the Covered Species. We will make our final permit decision no sooner 
than 30 days after the public comment period closes.

Authority

    We publish this notice under the National Environmental Policy Act 
of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321-4347 et seq.; NEPA), and its 
implementing regulations in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) at 40 
CFR 1500-1508, as well as in compliance with section 10(c) of the 
Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531-1544 et seq.; Act).

    Dated: June 13, 2018.
Stephen P. Henry,
Field Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Ventura Fish and 
Wildlife Office, Ventura, California.
[FR Doc. 2018-13127 Filed 6-18-18; 8:45 am]
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