[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 12 (Friday, January 17, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3075-3076]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-00663]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2020-0001; FXES11130400000EA-123-FF04EF1000]


Receipt of Incidental Take Permit Application and Proposed 
Habitat Conservation Plan for the Scrub-Jay, Brevard County, FL; 
Categorical Exclusion

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

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

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SUMMARY: We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce receipt 
of an application from Dean Wooley (applicant) for an incidental take 
permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act. The applicant requests 
the ITP to take the federally listed scrub-jay incidental to 
construction in Brevard County, Florida. We request public comment on 
the application, which includes the applicant's proposed habitat 
conservation plan (HCP) and the Service's preliminary determination 
that this HCP qualifies as ``low-effect,'' categorically excluded, 
under the National Environmental Policy Act. To make this 
determination, we used our environmental action statement and low-
effect screening form, both of which are also available for public 
review.

DATES: We must receive your written comments on or before February 18, 
2020.

ADDRESSES:
    Obtaining Documents: You may obtain copies of the documents online 
in Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2020-0001 at http://www.regulations.gov.
    Submitting Comments: If you wish to submit comments on any of the 
documents, you may do so in writing by any of the following methods:
     Online: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments on Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2020-0001.
     U.S. mail or hand-delivery: Public Comments Processing, 
Attn: Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2020-0001; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 
MS: JAO/1N, 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Erin M. Gawera, by telephone at 904-
731-3121 or via email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), 
announce receipt of an application from Dean Wooley (applicant) for an 
incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, 
as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). The applicant requests the 
ITP to take the federally listed Florida scrub-jay (Aphelocoma 
coerulescens) incidental to the construction of a residential 
development (project) in Brevard County, Florida. We request public 
comment on the application, which includes the applicant's proposed 
habitat conservation plan (HCP) and the Service's preliminary 
determination that this HCP qualifies as ``low-effect,'' categorically 
excluded, under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 
4231 et seq.). To make this determination, we used our environmental 
action statement and

[[Page 3076]]

low-effect screening form, which are also available for public review.

Project

    Dean Wooley requests a 5-year ITP to take scrub-jays incidental to 
converting approximately 1.02 acres (ac) of occupied scrub-jay foraging 
and sheltering habitat incidental to the construction of residential 
homes located on five lots with Tax ID numbers 2943000, 2942922, 
2942997, 2942925, and 2942940, totaling 6.73 ac in Section 27, Township 
29 South, and Range 37 East, Brevard County, Florida. The applicant 
proposes to mitigate for take of the scrub-jays by contributing 
$58,507.00 to the Florida Scrub-jay Conservation Fund, which is 
administered by The Nature Conservancy. The Service would require the 
applicant to make this contribution prior to engaging in activities 
associated with the project.

Public Availability of Comments

    Before including your address, phone number, email address, or 
other personal identifying information in your comment, be aware that 
your entire comment--including your personal identifying information--
may be made available to the public. While you may request that we 
withhold your personal identifying information, we cannot guarantee 
that we will be able to do so.

Our Preliminary Determination

    The Service has made a preliminary determination that the 
applicant's project, including land clearing, infrastructure building, 
landscaping, and the proposed mitigation measure, would individually 
and cumulatively have a minor or negligible effect on the scrub-jays 
and the environment. Therefore, we have preliminarily concluded that 
the ITP for this project would qualify for categorical exclusion and 
the HCP is low effect under our NEPA regulations at 43 CFR 46.205 and 
46.210. A low-effect HCP is one that would result in (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 
reasonably foreseeable similarly situated projects, would not over time 
result in significant cumulative effects to environmental values or 
resources.

Next Steps

    The Service will evaluate the application and the comments received 
to determine whether to issue the requested permit. We will also 
conduct an intra-Service consultation pursuant to section 7 of the ESA 
to evaluate the effects of the proposed take. After considering the 
above findings, we will determine whether the permit issuance criteria 
of section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA have been met. If met, the Service 
will issue ITP number TE 56400D-0 to Dean Wooley.

Authority

    The Service provides this notice under section 10(c) (16 U.S.C. 
1539(c)) of the ESA and NEPA regulation 40 CFR 1506.6.

Jay Herrington,
Field Supervisor, Jacksonville Field Office.
[FR Doc. 2020-00663 Filed 1-16-20; 8:45 am]
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