[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 211 (Wednesday, October 31, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54769-54771]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-23762]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R8-ES-2018-N094; FXES11140800000-178-FF08E00000]


Draft City of Rancho Palos Verdes Natural Community Conservation 
Plan and Habitat Conservation Plan and Draft Environmental Assessment, 
City of Rancho Palos Verdes, Los Angeles County, California

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for public comment.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announce the receipt 
and availability of a draft Natural Community Conservation Plan/Habitat 
Conservation Plan (NCCP/HCP) and draft environmental assessment (EA), 
which evaluates the impacts of, and alternatives to, the proposed City 
of Rancho Palos Verdes (City of RPV) NCCP/HCP. The City of RPV NCCP/HCP 
was submitted by the City of Rancho Palos Verdes in support of an 
application under the Endangered Species Act, for a permit authorizing 
the incidental take of 10 covered species resulting from covered 
projects/activities and a permit under the State of California's 
Natural Community Conservation Planning Act of 2002. We request review 
and comment on the City of RPV NCCP/HCP and the draft EA from local, 
State, and Federal agencies; Tribes; and the public.

DATES: To ensure consideration, please send your written comments by 
December 31, 2018.

ADDRESSES: 
    Obtaining Documents: You may obtain copies of the City of RPV NCCP/
HCP and the draft EA by the following methods. Please specify that your 
request pertains to the City of RPV NCCP/HCP.
     Email: [email protected].
     Internet: http://www.rpvca.gov/490/Palos-Verdes-Nature-Preserve-NCCP-PUMP-H.
     U.S. Mail: A limited number of CD-ROM and printed copies 
are available, by request, from the following locations:
    [ssquf] Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office, 2177 Salk Avenue, Suite 
250, Carlsbad, CA 92008;
    [ssquf] Rancho Palos Verdes City Hall (see address under In-Person, 
below).
     In-Person: Copies are available for public inspection and 
review at the following locations, by appointment and written request 
only:
    [ssquf] Rancho Palos Verdes City Hall, 30940 Hawthorne Blvd., 
Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 90275 (telephone: 310-554-5267; 7:30 a.m. to 
5:30 p.m., Monday through Thursday, and 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on 
Friday); and
    [ssquf] Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy, 916 Silver Spur 
Road, Suite 207, Rolling Hills Estates, CA 90274 (9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., 
Monday through Friday).
    Submitting Comments: You may submit comments by one of the 
following methods:
     Email: [email protected]; please include ``City of 
RPV NCCP/HCP'' in the subject line.
     U.S. Mail: Karen Goebel, Attn: City of RPV NCCP/HCP (use 
the Carlsbad

[[Page 54770]]

Fish and Wildlife Office address under Obtaining Documents).
     Telephone: Karen Goebel, 760-431-9440.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary Beth Woulfe, 760-431-9440.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 
(Service), announce the receipt and availability of a draft Natural 
Community Conservation Plan/Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP/NCCP) and 
draft environmental assessment (EA), which evaluates the impacts of, 
and alternatives to, the proposed City of Rancho Palos Verdes (RPV) 
NCCP/HCP. The City of RPV NCCP/HCP was submitted by the City of Rancho 
Palos Verdes in support of an application under section 10 of the 
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et 
seq.), for a permit authorizing the incidental take of 10 covered 
species resulting from covered projects/activities. The proposed City 
of RPV NCCP/HCP plan area encompasses approximately 8,616.6 acres on 
the Palos Verdes Peninsula, Los Angeles County, California.

Introduction

    Under section 10(c) of the ESA and under the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), this notice advises 
the public of the receipt and availability for public review of the 
draft City of RPV NCCP/HCP and draft EA, which evaluates the impacts 
of, and alternatives to, the City of RPV NCCP/HCP, submitted with an 
application for a permit to authorize the incidental take of federally 
listed covered species resulting from covered projects/activities 
within the plan area. The Service is the Lead Agency pursuant to NEPA. 
The proposed Federal action is issuance of an incidental take permit 
(ITP) under section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA to the City of Rancho Palos 
Verdes and their habitat manager, Palos Verdes Peninsula Land 
Conservancy.

Background

    Section 9 of the ESA prohibits ``take'' of fish and wildlife 
species listed as endangered under section 4 (16 U.S.C. 1538, 1533, 
respectively). Section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA provides for the issuance 
of a permit for the taking of listed fish and wildlife species that is 
incidental to, and not the purpose of, the carrying out of an otherwise 
lawful activity (``incidental take''). The ESA implementing regulations 
extend, under certain circumstances, the prohibition of take to 
threatened species (50 CFR 17.31). Regulations governing permits for 
endangered and threatened species are at 50 CFR 17.22 and 17.32. For 
more about the HCP program, go to http://www.fws.gov/endangered/esa-library/pdf/hcp.pdf.
    Under section 10(a) of the ESA, the Service may issue permits to 
authorize incidental take of listed fish and wildlife species. Section 
10(a)(2)(B) of the ESA contains criteria for issuing ITPs to non-
Federal entities for the take of endangered and threatened species, 
provided the following criteria are met:
     The taking will be incidental;
     The applicant will, to the maximum extent practicable, 
minimize and mitigate the impact of such taking;
     The applicant will develop an HCP and ensure that adequate 
funding for the plan will be provided;
     The taking will not appreciably reduce the likelihood of 
the survival and recovery of the species in the wild; and
     The applicant will carry out any other measures that the 
Secretary may require as being necessary or appropriate for the 
purposes of the HCP.
    The purpose of issuing an ITP to the City of Rancho Palos Verdes 
would be to permit incidental take of the covered species resulting 
from identified covered City of Rancho Palos Verdes and private 
projects/activities within the plan area. Implementation of the City of 
RPV NCCP/HCP is intended to maximize conservation for covered species 
while providing cost-savings and reducing potential time-delays 
associated with processing individual ITPs for each covered project/
activity within the plan area.
    The proposed City of RPV NCCP/HCP includes measures intended to 
minimize and mitigate the impacts of the taking to the maximum extent 
practicable from covered City of Rancho Palos Verdes and private 
projects/activities within the plan area.

Proposed Action

    The proposed action is the issuance of an ITP by the Service to 
City of Rancho Palos Verdes and their habitat manager, Palos Verdes 
Peninsula Land Conservancy, for the incidental take of covered species 
from identified covered projects/activities, including the avoidance, 
minimization, and mitigation of impacts to covered species within the 
8,616.6-acre plan area for 40 years. The proposed City of RPV NCCP/HCP 
is a conservation plan for the following 10 species:

Federally listed as endangered:
    Palos Verdes blue butterfly
    El Segundo blue butterfly
Federally listed as threatened:
    Coastal California gnatcatcher
Unlisted:
    Cactus wren
    Aphanisma
    South coast salt scale
    Catalina crossosoma
    Island green dudleya
    Santa Catalina Island desert-thorn
    Woolly seablite

    There are 17 City of Rancho Palos Verdes projects/activities and 5 
private projects/activities proposed to be covered by the ITP. The City 
of Rancho Palos Verdes projects/activities include landslide abatement, 
drainage improvement, dewatering wells, road and canyon repairs, fuel 
modification, and maintenance; private projects/activities include 
development, remedial grading, and fuel modification. Public use is 
also identified as a conditionally allowable use. Potential impacts to 
covered species include disruption of normal behavior by covered 
projects/activities and injury or death due to construction activities. 
The City of RPV NCCP/HCP provides a comprehensive approach to the 
conservation and management of these species and their habitat within 
the plan area.
    The plan area is approximately 8,616.6 acres and includes the 
entire boundary of the City of Rancho Palos Verdes. The plan area is 
constant for all of the alternatives analyzed in the EA. The City of 
RPV NCCP/HCP quantifies the expected loss of habitat and the proposed 
mitigation, including management and monitoring of the preserve.

Alternatives

    We considered five alternatives in the EA: (1) No Action 
Alternative; (2) Alternative A, Peninsula NCCP Working Group 
Alternative; (3) Alternative B, Landowner Alternative; (4) Alternative 
C, The City of Rancho Palos Verdes' Alternative; and (5) Alternative D, 
The Proposed Action.
    Under the No Action Alternative, the City of Rancho Palos Verdes 
NCCP/HCP would not move forward for approval and an ITP would not be 
issued. All projects/activities proposed in City of RPV NCCP/HCP would 
continue to be reviewed in accordance with existing State land use and 
environmental regulations. Alternative A was developed by the working 
group, which consisted of stakeholders within the City of Rancho Palos 
Verdes, and included the largest preserve area, totaling about 1,559.1 
acres. Alternative B was developed by the major landowners in 1999 and 
proposed the smallest preserve area of all of the alternatives. 
Alternative C was developed by the City of Rancho Palos

[[Page 54771]]

Verdes and was a compromise of Alternative A and B. The preserve size 
under Alternative C is slightly larger than that under the Proposed 
Action (Alternative D), but the total amount of coastal sage scrub 
habitat under Alternative C is slightly lower than that in the Proposed 
Action (Alternative D).
    The Proposed Action (Alternative D) is the same as Alternative C, 
with the following exceptions: (1) A 27.0-acre parcel in the Upper 
Filiorum property has been removed from the preserve and is now 
identified as a covered project, including the associated dedication of 
30 acres of functional and connected habitat; (2) 40.0 acres of a 
former archery range property have been removed from the preserve due 
to landslide and legal constraints; and (3) 61.5 acres of Malaga Canyon 
have been purchased by the City of Rancho Palos Verdes and have been 
incorporated into the preserve. The preserve in Alternative D totals 
1,402.4 acres.

Request for Comments

    Consistent with section 10(c) of the ESA, we invite your submission 
of written comments, data, or arguments with respect to the City of 
Rancho Palos Verdes' permit application, the City of RPV NCCP/HCP, and 
proposed permitting decision.

Public Availability of Comments

    Written comments we receive become part of the public record 
associated with this action. 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 may request in your comment that we withhold 
your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot 
guarantee that we will be able to do so. All submissions from 
organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying 
themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or 
businesses, will be made available for public disclosure in their 
entirety.

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 section 10(a) of the 
ESA. 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 60 days after the 
public comment period closes.

Authority

    We provide this notice under section 10(c) of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 
1531 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (50 CFR 17.22 and 17.32) 
and NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (40 
CFR 1506.6).

Scott Sobiech,
Acting Field Supervisor, Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office, Carlsbad, 
California.
[FR Doc. 2018-23762 Filed 10-30-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4333-15-P