[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 172 (Wednesday, September 5, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45134-45136]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-19187]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R8-ES-2018-N059; FXES1114080000-189-FF08ECAR00]
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Coachella Valley
Association of Governments Incidental Take Permit Application for
Casey's June Beetle and Proposed Low-Effect Habitat Conservation Plan;
City of Palm Springs, Riverside County, California
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), have
received an application from the Coachella Valley Association of
Governments (applicant) for a 30-year incidental take permit (permit)
under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA). The
application addresses the potential for ``take'' of the federally
endangered Casey's June beetle that is likely to occur incidental to
the construction, maintenance, and use of a portion of the CV Link,
which is a multi-modal pathway to be built in the City of Palm Springs,
Riverside County, California. We invite comments from the public on the
application package, which includes a low-effect habitat conservation
plan.
DATES: To ensure consideration, please send your written comments by
October 5, 2018.
ADDRESSES:
Document availability: You may download a copy of the habitat
conservation plan, draft environmental action statement and low-effect
screening form, and related documents from the internet at https://www.fws.gov/carlsbad/HCPs/HCP_Docs.html, or you may request copies of
the documents by U.S. mail from our Palm Springs office at the address
below or by phone (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
Comment submission: Please address written comments to Kennon A.
Corey, Assistant Field Supervisor, Palm Springs Fish and Wildlife
Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 777 East Tahquitz Canyon Way,
Suite 208, Palm Springs, CA 92262. You may alternatively send comments
via electronic mail to [email protected] or by facsimile to
(760) 322-4648.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jenness McBride, Supervisory Fish and
Wildlife Biologist, (760) 322-2070.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We have received an application from the
Coachella Valley Association of Governments for a 30-year incidental
take permit under the ESA. The application addresses the potential for
``take'' of the federally endangered Casey's June beetle (Dinacoma
caseyi) likely to occur incidental to the construction, maintenance,
and use of a portion of the proposed CV Link multi-modal pathway in the
City of Palm Springs, Riverside County, California. We invite comments
from the public on the application package, which includes a low-effect
habitat conservation plan (HCP). We have preliminarily determined that
this proposed action is eligible for a categorical exclusion under the
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), as amended (42 U.S.C.
4321 et seq.). The basis for this determination is discussed in our
draft environmental action statement and associated low-effect
screening form, which are also available for public review.
Background
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) added the Casey's June
beetle to the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife as endangered
on September 22, 2011 (76 FR 58954). Section 9 of the ESA (16 U.S.C.
1531 et seq.) and its implementing regulations in title 50 of the Code
of Federal Regulations (CFR) prohibit the take of fish or wildlife
species listed as endangered or threatened. ``Take'' is defined under
the ESA to include the following activities: ``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 section
10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA, we may issue permits to authorize incidental
take of listed species. ``Incidental taking'' is defined under the ESA
implementing regulations as taking that is incidental to, and not the
purpose of, carrying out an otherwise lawful activity (50 CFR 17.3).
Regulations governing incidental
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take permits for endangered and threatened species are provided at 50
CFR 17.22 and 17.32, respectively.
In addition to meeting the issuance criteria under section
10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA, actions undertaken through implementation of
the HCP must not jeopardize the continued existence of federally listed
animal or plant species (16 U.S.C. 1536). If the permit is issued, the
permittee will receive assurances under our ``No Surprises''
regulations (50 CFR 17.22(b)(5) and 17.32(b)(5)).
Applicant's Proposal
The Coachella Valley Association of Governments (applicant) has
submitted a low-effect HCP in support of its application for an
incidental take permit to address take of the Casey's June beetle that
is likely to occur as the result of direct impacts to approximately
1.78 acres of fragmented habitat occupied by the species. Take would be
associated with the development of an approximately 2-mile portion of
the CV Link, which is a 49-mile-long, paved, multi-modal pathway to be
built through the Coachella Valley. Construction of the pathway will
increase recreational opportunities for cyclists and pedestrians and
provide an alternative transportation corridor for low-speed,
neighborhood electric vehicles. This portion of the CV Link would
involve widening and repaving existing sidewalks and paths adjacent to
patches of habitat occupied by Casey's June beetle in Demuth Park and
the nearby Tahquitz Creek Golf Course in the City of Palm Springs. The
applicant is requesting a permit for take of Casey's June beetle that
would result from activities covered under the HCP related to the CV
Link pathway in this area.
The applicant's conservation strategy, in part, proposes to
mitigate the impacts to Casey's June beetle by dedicating a
conservation easement on approximately 10.38 acres at the Tahquitz
Creek Golf Course that would be restored from golf course landscaping
to native habitat suitable for Casey's June beetle. A 30-year permit is
requested to authorize take that would occur incidental to
construction, maintenance, and use of this portion of the CV Link
pathway as well as to cover potential short-term impacts within the
conservation easement area as a result of habitat enhancement,
restoration, and creation activities.
The applicant proposes to avoid, minimize, and mitigate impacts to
the Casey's June beetle associated with the covered activities by fully
implementing the HCP. The following measures would be implemented:
(1) No construction would occur during the Casey's June beetle
flight season (March 1 to May 31);
(2) lighting fixtures would be turned off or non-insect-attracting
lights would be used during the flight season;
(3) no electronic ``bug zappers'' would be used;
(4) up to five educational kiosks would be installed along the
pathway;
(5) approximately 10.38 acres of contiguous and nearby mitigation
sites pre-selected by the Service, in or adjacent to Palm Canyon Wash
at the Tahquitz Creek Golf Course, would be preserved under
conservation easement and managed to enhance, restore, and create
Casey's June beetle habitat;
(6) mitigation sites would be dedicated to future translocation of
Casey's June beetles from other development sites or release of Casey's
June beetles from a future Service program for controlled propagation
of Casey's June beetles; and
(7) mitigation sites would be monitored and managed by a qualified
land management organization approved by the Service.
The Coachella Valley Association of Governments would fund
acquisition and initial restoration of the mitigation sites from its
Active Transportation Program and would fund a non-wasting endowment in
the amount of $160,075 for the long-term management of the mitigation
sites.
In the proposed HCP, the applicant considers a ``No Project''
alternative to the proposed action. Under the ``No Project''
alternative, a permit for the incidental take of Casey's June beetle
would not be issued for the CV Link project and the proposed
conservation strategy and subsequent habitat restoration would not
occur to assist recovery actions for Casey's June beetle. The ``No
Project'' alternative would not result in upgrading existing sidewalks
and paths to CV Link standards at Demuth Park and Tahquitz Creek Golf
Course and would not result in conservation for Casey's June beetle;
therefore, the applicant did not propose to utilize the ``No Project''
alternative.
Our Preliminary Determination
The Service has made a preliminary determination that approval of
the HCP and issuance of an incidental take permit qualify for
categorical exclusion under NEPA, as provided by the Department of the
Interior implementing regulations in 43 CFR 46.205, 46.210, and 46.215,
and that the HCP qualifies as a ``low-effect'' plan as defined by the
Revised Habitat Conservation Planning Handbook (December 2016).
We base our determination that a HCP qualifies as a low-effect plan
on the following three criteria: (1) Implementation of the HCP would
result in minor or negligible effects on federally listed, proposed,
and/or candidate species and their habitats; (2) implementation of the
HCP would result in minor or negligible effects on other environmental
values or resources; and (3) impacts of the HCP, considered together
with those 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. However, based upon our review of public comments that we
receive in response to this notice, this preliminary determination may
be revised.
Next Steps
We will evaluate the proposed HCP and comments we receive to
determine whether the permit application meets the requirements and
issuance criteria under section 10(a) of the ESA. We will also evaluate
whether issuance of a section 10(a)(1)(B) permit would comply with
section 7(a)(2) of the ESA by conducting an intra-Service 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 a permit. If the requirements and issuance criteria under section
10(a)(1)(B) are met, we will issue the permit to the applicant for
incidental take of Casey's June beetle.
Public Comments
If you wish to comment on the permit application, proposed HCP, and
associated documents, you may submit comments by any of the methods
noted in ADDRESSES.
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 view, we cannot guarantee that we will be able
to do so.
[[Page 45136]]
Authority
We provide this notice under section 10 of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531
et seq.) and NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).
G. Mendel Stewart,
Field Supervisor, Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office, Carlsbad,
California.
[FR Doc. 2018-19187 Filed 9-4-18; 8:45 am]
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