[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 203 (Friday, October 19, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53080-53081]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-22748]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R8-ES-2018-N022; FXES11130800000-189-FF08EVEN00]


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Availability of 
Habitat Conservation Plan and Categorical Exclusion for the Mount 
Hermon June Beetle, Santa Cruz County, California

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have received an 
application from Lantana, LLC for a 5-year incidental take permit under 
the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). The permit would 
authorize ``take'' of the federally endangered Mount Hermon June 
beetle, incidental to the otherwise lawful activities associated with 
the demolition of a single-family home and construction of two duet 
homes at 22 Blake Lane, Scotts Valley, Santa Cruz 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 
November 19, 2018.

ADDRESSES: You may download a copy of the draft habitat conservation 
plan, draft environmental action statement, and draft low-effect 
screening form at http://www.fws.gov/ventura/, or you may request 
copies of the documents by U.S. mail to our Ventura office or by phone 
(see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT). Please address written comments 
to Stephen P. Henry, Field Supervisor, Ventura Fish and Wildlife 
Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2493 Portola Road, Suite B, 
Ventura, CA 93003. You may alternatively send comments by facsimile to 
(805) 644-3958.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Karen Sinclair, Fish and Wildlife 
Biologist, by U.S. mail to the Ventura address in ADDRESSES, or by 
telephone at (805) 677-3315.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We have received an application from 
Lantana, LLC for a 5-year incidental take permit under the Act. The 
application addresses the potential for take of the federally 
endangered Mount Hermon June beetle (Polyphylla barbata) likely to 
occur incidental to the demolition of a single-family home and 
construction of two duet homes at 22 Blake Lane, Scotts Valley, Santa 
Cruz County, California. We invite comments from the public on the 
application package, which includes the Low-Effect Habitat Conservation 
Plan (HCP) for the Mount Hermon June Beetle.

Background

    The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) listed the Mount 
Hermon June beetle as endangered on January 24, 1997 (62 FR 3616). 
Section 9 of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and its implementing 
regulations prohibit the take of fish or wildlife species listed as 
endangered or threatened. ``Take'' is defined under the Act 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 Act, we may issue permits to authorize incidental take of listed 
species. The Act defines ``Incidental Take'' as take that is incidental 
to, and not the purpose of carrying out an otherwise lawful activity. 
Regulations governing incidental take permits for threatened and 
endangered species are in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) at 50 
CFR 17.32 and 17.22, respectively. Issuance of an incidental take 
permit must not jeopardize the existence of federally listed fish, 
wildlife, or plant species. All species covered by the incidental take 
permit associated with this low-effect HCP receive assurances under our 
``No Surprises'' regulations (50 CFR 17.22(b)(5) and 17.32(b)(5)).

Applicant's Proposal

    Lantana, LLC (hereafter, the applicant) has submitted a low-effect 
HCP in support of their application for an incidental take permit (ITP) 
to address take of the Mount Hermon June beetle that is likely to occur 
as the result of direct impacts on up to 0.32 acre (ac) (14,031 square 
feet (sf)) of degraded

[[Page 53081]]

sandhills habitat occupied by the species. Take would be associated 
with the demolition of a single-family home and construction of two 
duet homes on a parcel legally described as Assessor Parcel Number: 
022-172-47. The current site address is 22 Blake Lane in Scotts Valley, 
Santa Cruz County, California. The applicant is requesting a permit for 
take of Mount Hermon June beetle that would result from ``covered 
activities'' that are related to the demolition of a single-family home 
and construction of two duet homes at 22 Blake Lane.
    The applicant proposes to avoid, minimize, and mitigate take of 
Mount Hermon June beetle associated with the covered activities by 
fully implementing the HCP. The following measures will be implemented: 
(1) Locating the project on a developed parcel where habitat is more 
degraded relative to intact habitat; (2) Avoiding the flight season, if 
possible, and using plastic sheeting or other soil-covering material to 
prevent Mount Hermon June beetles from burrowing into exposed soil in 
the construction site when/if soil disturbing activities must occur 
between May and August; (3) Having a qualified biologist translocate 
any larval beetles unearthed during construction activities to a 
portion of the project site outside of the impact area that supports 
intact vegetation; (4) Minimizing hardscaping associated with the 
project, and using native Sandhills plants and non-invasive ornamental 
plants in landscape areas; (5) Minimizing removal of native trees on 
the site, including the ponderosa pines and coast live oaks; (6) 
Revegetating areas of temporary habitat disturbance with native and 
non-invasive ornamental plants that do not degrade Mount Hermon June 
beetle habitat; and (7) Securing off-site mitigation at a ratio of 1:1 
to mitigate for habitat impacts through the acquisition of 0.32 ac 
(14,031 sf) of conservation credits at the Zayante Sandhills 
Conservation Bank. The applicant will fund all elements of the proposed 
conservation strategy to ensure implementation of all minimization 
measures, monitoring, and reporting requirements identified in the HCP.

Our Preliminary Determination

    The Service has made a preliminary determination that issuance of 
the incidental take permit is neither a major Federal action that will 
significantly affect the quality of the human environment within the 
meaning of section 102(2)(C) of NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) nor that 
it will, individually or cumulatively, have more than a negligible 
effect on the Mount Hermon June beetle, the only species covered in the 
HCP. Therefore, the permit qualifies for a categorical exclusion under 
NEPA.

Public Review

    We request comments on our determination that the applicant's 
proposal will have a minor or negligible effect on the Mount Hermon 
June beetle and that the plan qualifies as a low-effect HCP. We will 
evaluate the permit application, including the plan and comments we 
receive, to determine whether the application meets the requirements of 
section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Act. We will use the results of our internal 
Service consultation, in combination with the above findings, in our 
final analysis to determine whether to issue the ITP. If the 
requirements are met, we will issue the ITP to the applicant. We will 
make the final permit decision no sooner than 30 days after the 
publication date of this notice.

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 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.

Authority

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

    Dated: October 11, 2018.
Stephen P. Henry,
Field Supervisor, Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office.
[FR Doc. 2018-22748 Filed 10-18-18; 8:45 am]
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