[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 45 (Friday, March 6, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13181-13182]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-04562]



[[Page 13181]]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R8-ES-2019-N015; FXES11140800000-190-FF08EVEN00]


Draft Environmental Assessment and Draft General Conservation 
Plan for Oil and Gas Activities in Santa Barbara County, California

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the 
availability of a draft General Conservation Plan (GCP), as well as the 
associated draft environmental assessment (EA), for oil and gas 
activities in Santa Barbara County. The Service developed the GCP in 
accordance with the Endangered Species Act to provide a streamlined 
mechanism for proponents engaged in oil and gas activities to meet 
statutory and regulatory requirements while promoting conservation of 
the Santa Barbara County distinct population segment of the California 
tiger salamander, California red-legged frog, and Lompoc yerba santa. 
The Service prepared the draft EA in accordance with the National 
Environmental Policy Act to evaluate the potential effects to the 
natural and human environment resulting from issuing permits under the 
GCP. We invite public comment on these documents.

DATES: Written comments should be received on or before April 6, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Obtaining documents: You may download a copy of the draft 
GCP and draft EA at http://www.fws.gov/ventura/, or you may request 
copies of the documents from the Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office by 
U.S. mail (address below) or by phone (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT).
    Submitting written comments: Please send us your written comments 
using one of the following methods:
     U.S. mail: Stephen P. Henry, Field Supervisor, Ventura 
Fish and Wildlife Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2493 Portola 
Road, Suite B, Ventura, CA 93003.
     Email: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rachel Henry, Fish and Wildlife 
Biologist, Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office (see ADDRESSES), by phone 
at 805-677-3312 or via the Federal Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339 for 
TTY assistance.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 
(Service), announce the availability of a draft General Conservation 
Plan (GCP), as well as the associated draft environmental assessment 
(EA), for oil and gas activities in Santa Barbara County. The GCP was 
developed by the Service in accordance with section 10(a)(2)(A) of the 
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et 
seq.). The GCP meets the issuance criteria as required by section 
10(a)(2)(B) of the ESA for issuance of a section 10(a)(1)(B) incidental 
take permit (ITP).
    The Service developed the GCP to provide a streamlined mechanism 
for proponents engaged in oil and gas development, expansion, 
operations, maintenance, and decommissioning of infrastructure to meet 
statutory and regulatory requirements while promoting conservation of 
the Santa Barbara County distinct population segment (DPS) of the 
California tiger salamander (Ambystoma californiense), California red-
legged frog (Rana draytonii), and Lompoc yerba santa (Eriodictyon 
capitatum). The GCP includes measures to mitigate and minimize impacts 
to the covered species. Permits issued under the GCP would authorize 
incidental take of the covered species for up to 20 years after the 
plan becomes effective. The Service prepared the draft EA in accordance 
with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 
4321 et seq.) to evaluate the potential effects to the natural and 
human environment resulting from issuing permits under the GCP. We 
invite public comment on these documents.

Background

    The Service listed the Santa Barbara County DPS of the California 
tiger salamander as endangered on September 21, 2000 (65 FR 57242); the 
Lompoc yerba santa as endangered on March 20, 2000 (65 FR 14888); and 
the California red-legged frog as threatened on May 23, 1996 (61 FR 
25813).
    Section 9 of the ESA and its implementing regulations prohibit the 
take of fish or wildlife species listed as endangered or threatened. 
The ESA defines ``take'' as 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. Our regulations at 50 CFR 17.3 define ``incidental taking'' as 
take that is incidental to, and not the purpose of, carrying out of an 
otherwise lawful activity. Regulations governing incidental take 
permits for endangered and threatened species are in the Code of 
Federal Regulations (CFR) at 50 CFR 17.22 and 17.32, respectively. 
Under the ESA, protections for federally listed plants differ from the 
protections afforded to federally listed animals. Issuance of an 
incidental take permit also must not jeopardize the existence of 
federally listed fish, wildlife, or plant species. The permittees would 
receive assurances under our ``No Surprises'' regulations ((50 CFR 
17.22(b)(5) and 17.32(b)(5)) regarding conservation activities for the 
Santa Barbara County DPS of the California tiger salamander, California 
red-legged frog, and Lompoc yerba santa.

Proposed Action

    The proposed action is approval of the GCP that has been prepared 
by the Service in accordance with section 10(a)(2)(A) of the ESA to 
provide a more efficient and standardized mechanism for proponents 
engaged in commercial oil and gas development, expansion, operations, 
maintenance, and decommissioning of infrastructure on non-Federal 
lands. The GCP meets the permit issuance criteria as required by 
section 10(a)(2)(B) of the ESA and enables the establishment of a 
programmatic permitting and conservation process to address a defined 
suite of proposed activities over a defined planning area. The proposed 
GCP would allow private individuals, local and State agencies, and 
other non-Federal entities to meet the statutory and regulatory 
requirements of the ESA by applying for a permit and complying with the 
requirements of the GCP, including all applicable avoidance, 
minimization, and mitigation actions.
    The draft EA provides the required NEPA documentation for the 
proposed Federal action (i.e., approval of a conservation plan and 
subsequent issuance of permits pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(B) of the 
ESA), providing information on the environmental baseline and a 
discussion of impacts to the human and natural environment that may 
occur as a result of implementation of the proposed GCP. Importantly, 
the scope of the EA is limited to the evaluation of the proposed GCP as 
a mechanism to standardize permit issuance for covered activities; this 
EA neither evaluates nor results in approval of oil and gas development 
projects or activities.

Alternatives

    We are considering a no-action alternative to the proposed action 
in the EA. Under this alternative, the Service would not establish the 
proposed GCP as a standardized mechanism for

[[Page 13182]]

compliance with section 10 of the ESA. Entities planning to conduct oil 
and gas activities involving potential impacts to the Santa Barbara 
County DPS of the California tiger salamander and California red-legged 
frog would continue to be required to obtain permits with associated 
project-specific HCPs.

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(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).

Stephen Henry,
Field Supervisor, Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office, Ventura, 
California.
[FR Doc. 2020-04562 Filed 3-5-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P