[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 30 (Wednesday, February 13, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3811-3812]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-02191]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R4-ES-2018-N143; FXES11140400000-178-FF04EF2000]


Renewal of Incidental Take Permit for Sand Skink and Blue-Tailed 
Mole Skink, Osceola County, FL

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments and information.

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SUMMARY: We, the Fish and Wildlife Service, announce receipt of an 
application for the renewal of an existing incidental take permit 
(ITP). The applicants are requesting a 5-year renewal of their existing 
2-year ITP under the Endangered Species Act. The existing ITP expired 
on June 6, 2018. If granted, the renewed ITP would extend authorization 
for take of the federally threatened sand skink and blue-tailed mole 
skink (skinks) incidental to the construction of a single-family 
residential development located in Osceola County, Florida. The co-
applicants are JKAF Investments, LLC, and Kathryn Kendrick Davidow 
Trust. We request public comments on the permit application, the 
habitat conservation plan (HCP), and our preliminary determination that 
this HCP qualifies as low effect under the National Environmental 
Policy Act (NEPA). To make this determination, we used our 
environmental action statement and low-effect screening form, which is 
also available for review.

DATES: We must receive your written comments on or before March 15, 
2019.

ADDRESSES: 
    Obtaining Documents: You may obtain copies of the documents by any 
of the following methods:
     Telephone: Alfredo Begazo, 772-469-4234 (telephone).
     Email: [email protected].
     U.S. mail: Alfredo Begazo, South Florida Ecological 
Services Office; Attn: JKAF Investments, LLC, and Kathryn Kendrick 
Davidow Trust Permit TE 8166B-1, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1339 
20th Street, Vero Beach, FL 32960-3559.
     In-person review: The documents are available for public 
inspection by appointment during normal business hours at the above 
address. Please call to make an appointment.
     Fax: Alfredo Begazo, 772-562-4288.
    Submitting Comments: If you wish to comment on any of the 
documents, you may do so by submitting your comment in writing to the 
email address, U.S. mail address (mail or hand-carrying), or fax number 
above. Please also see Public Availability of Comments in SUPPLEMENTARY 
INFORMATION.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Alfredo Begazo, Fish and Wildlife 
Biologist, South Florida Ecological Services Office (see ADDRESSES), 
772-469-4234 (telephone).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), 
announce receipt of an application for the renewal of an existing ITP 
under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 
1531 et seq.). The co-applicants are JKAF Investments, LLC, and Kathryn 
Kendrick Davidow Trust, and they seek a 5-year renewal of an ITP that 
expired on June 29, 2018. Renewal would give

[[Page 3812]]

them the authority to take the federally listed sand skink (Neoseps 
reynoldsi) and threatened blue-tailed mole skink (Eumeces egregious) 
(hereafter, skinks) in Osceola County, Florida. We request public 
comment on this permit renewal application and habitat conservation 
plan (HCP), and on our preliminary determination that this HCP 
qualifies as categorical exclusion under the National Environmental Act 
(NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). To make this determination, we used our 
environmental action statement and low-effect screening form, which are 
also available for review.

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 may 
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.

Applicants' Proposed Project

    JKAF Investments, LLC, and Kathryn Kendrick Davidow Trust request a 
renewal of an expired permit under section 10(a)(1)(B) of the 
Endangered Species Act. If we issue the permit, the applicants 
anticipated taking sand skink and blue-tailed mole skink incidental to 
land preparation and construction on 0.5 acres of occupied skinks 
habitat for the residential development in Section 30, Township 25 
South, and Range 27 East, in Osceola County, Florida. The applicants 
proposes to mitigate for the take resulting from this project by 
purchasing and protecting 1 acre of skink-occupied habitat at a 
Service-approved mitigation bank prior to any clearing activities.

Our Preliminary Determination

    The Service has made a preliminary determination that the 
applicants' project, including the mitigation measures, will 
individually and cumulatively have a minor or negligible effect on the 
species covered in its HCP. Therefore, we have determined that the 
renewal of the expired ITP for this project would be ``low effect'' and 
qualify for categorical exclusions under the NEPA, as provided by 43 
CFR 46.205 and 46.210. A low-effect HCP is one involving: (1) Minor or 
negligible effects on federally listed, proposed, and candidate species 
and their habitats; (2) minor or negligible effects on other 
environmental values or resources; and (3) impacts that, when 
considered together with the impacts of other past, present, and 
reasonable foreseeable similarly situated projects, would not result 
over time in cumulative effects to environmental values or resources 
that would be considered significant.

Next Step

    We will evaluate the HCP and the comments we receive to determine 
whether the ITP application meets the requirements of section 
10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA. We will also conduct an intra-Service 
consultation on the application to evaluate take of the skinks in 
accordance with section 7 of the ESA. We will use the results of the 
consultation, in combination with the above findings, in our analysis 
of whether or not to issue the ITP. If the requirements are met, we 
will issue ITP number TE8166B-1 to JKAF Investments, LLC, and Kathryn 
Kendrick Davidow Trust.

Authority

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

Roxanna Hinzman,
Field Supervisor, South Florida Ecological Services Office.
[FR Doc. 2019-02191 Filed 2-12-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4333-15-P