[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 108 (Thursday, June 4, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34461-34463]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-12046]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[Docket No. FWS-R3-ES-2020-0046; FXES11140300000-201-FF03E00000]


Draft Environmental Assessment and Draft Habitat Conservation 
Plan; Receipt of an Application for an Incidental Take Permit, Hog 
Creek Wind Project, Hardin County, Ohio

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have received an 
application from Hog Creek Wind Project, LLC (the applicant), for an 
incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, 
as amended, for the Hog Creek Wind Farm Project. If approved, the ITP 
would authorize the incidental take of the Indiana bat and the northern 
long-eared bat for a 30-year term. The applicant has prepared a draft 
habitat conservation plan, which is available for public review. We 
also announce the availability of a draft environmental assessment, 
which has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the 
National Environmental Policy Act. We request public comment on the 
application and associated documents.

DATES: We will accept comments received or postmarked on or before July 
6, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Obtaining documents: Electronic copies of the documents this 
notice announces will be available online in Docket No. FWS-R3-ES-2020-
0046 at http://www.regulations.gov. Public comments will also be 
available online at http://www.regulations.gov.

[[Page 34462]]

    Submitting comments: Please specify whether your comment addresses 
the draft habitat conservation plan, draft environmental assessment, 
any combination of the aforementioned documents, or other supporting 
documents. Please submit written comments by one of the following 
methods:
     Online: http://www.regulations.gov. Search for and submit 
comments on Docket No. FWS-R3-ES-2020-0046.
     By hard copy: Submit comments by U.S. mail to Public 
Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No. FWS-R3-ES-2020-0046; U.S. Fish 
and Wildlife Service; 5275 Leesburg Pike, MS: PRB/3W; Falls Church, VA 
22041-3803.
    For more information, see Public Comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Keith Lott, Wildlife Biologist, or 
Patrice Ashfield, Project Leader, via phone at 614-416-8993, via the 
Federal Relay Service at 800-877-8339, or via U.S. mail at the U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service, Ohio Ecological Services Office, 4625 Morse 
Road, Suite 104, Columbus, OH 43230.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 
(Service), have received an application from Hog Creek Wind Project, 
LLC (the applicant), for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the 
Endangered Species Act (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). If approved, the 
ITP would be for a 30-year period and would authorize incidental take 
of the endangered Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis) and the threatened 
northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis).
    The applicant has prepared a draft habitat conservation plan (HCP), 
which covers the operation of the Hog Creek Wind Farm Project 
(project). The project consists of a wind-powered electric generation 
facility located in an approximately 236-acre area in Hardin County, 
Ohio. The draft HCP describes the following:
    1. Permit duration;
    2. Covered lands;
    3. Covered species;
    4. Project description and covered activities;
    5. Environmental baseline and affected species;
    6. Impact assessment and take authorization request for Indiana 
bats and northern long-eared bats;
    7. Conservation plan, which includes the Biological Goals and 
Objectives, and measures to avoid, minimize, and mitigate the impact of 
the taking;
    8. Monitoring and adaptive management;
    9. Funding assurances;
    10. Alternatives to the taking; and
    11. Changed and unforeseen circumstances.
    Under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA; 43 U.S.C. 4321 
et seq.) and the ESA, the Service announces that we have gathered the 
information necessary to:
    1. Determine the impacts and formulate alternatives for an EA 
related to:
    a. Issuance of an ITP to the applicant for the take of the Indiana 
bat and the northern long-eared bat, and
    b. Implementation of the associated HCP; and
    2. Evaluate the application for ITP issuance, including the HCP, 
which provides measures to minimize and mitigate the effects of the 
proposed incidental take of the Indiana bat and the northern long-eared 
bat.

Background

    The project includes 30 wind turbines, with a total energy-
generating capacity of 66 megawatts (MW). The project began commercial 
operation in December of 2017. The need for the proposed action (i.e., 
issuance of an ITP) is based on the potential that operation of the 
project could result in take of Indiana bats and northern long-eared 
bats.
    The HCP provides a detailed conservation plan to ensure that the 
incidental take caused by the operation of the project will not 
appreciably reduce the likelihood of the survival and recovery of the 
Indiana bat and northern long-eared bat, and includes mitigation to 
fully offset the impact of the taking. Further, the HCP provides a 
long-term monitoring and adaptive management strategy to ensure that 
the ITP terms are satisfied, and to account for changed and unforeseen 
circumstances.

Purpose and Need for Action

    In accordance with NEPA, the Service has prepared a DEA to analyze 
the impacts to the human environment that would occur if the requested 
ITP is issued and the associated HCP is implemented.

Proposed Action

    Section 9 of the ESA prohibits the ``taking'' of threatened and 
endangered species. However, provided certain criteria are met, the 
Service is authorized to issue permits under section 10(a)(1)(B) of the 
ESA for take of federally listed species when, among other things, such 
a taking is incidental to, and not the purpose of, otherwise lawful 
activities. Under the ESA, the term ``take'' means to harass, harm, 
pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect endangered 
and threatened species, or to attempt to engage in any such conduct. 
Our implementing regulations in title 50 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (CFR) define ``harm'' as an act which actually kills or 
injures wildlife, and such act may include significant habitat 
modification or degradation that results in death or injury to listed 
species by significantly impairing essential behavioral patterns, 
including breeding, feeding, or sheltering (50 CFR 17.3).
    The HCP analyzes, and the ITP would authorize, take from killing of 
bats due to the operation of the project. If issued, the ITP would 
authorize incidental take consistent with the applicant's HCP and the 
ITP. To issue the ITP, the Service must find that the application, 
including the associated HCP, satisfies the criteria of section 
10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA and the Service's implementing regulations at 50 
CFR part 13 and Sec.  17.22. If the ITP is issued, the applicant would 
receive assurances under the Service's No Surprises policy, codified at 
50 CFR 17.22(b)(5).
    The applicant proposes to operate a maximum of 30 wind turbines and 
associated facilities for a period of 30 years in Hardin County, Ohio. 
The project consists of wind turbines, associated gravel pads and 
access roads, underground and above-ground electrical collection 
circuits, one substation, a generator lead line, one permanent 
meteorological tower, and an operations and maintenance facility.
    The draft HCP describes the impacts of take associated with the 
operation of the project and includes measures to avoid, minimize, 
mitigate, and monitor the impacts of incidental take on the Indiana bat 
and the northern long-eared bat. The applicant will mitigate for take 
and associated impacts through one or more methods, including 
restoration, if necessary, and permanent protection of documented 
maternity colony habitat and/or swarming habitat, and/or gating of a 
hibernaculum. Habitat mitigation, including any restored habitat, will 
occur on private land and be permanently protected by a conservation 
easement, fee simple acquisition with deed restrictions, or another 
site protection instrument that provides an equivalent level of 
protection, and will be approved by the Service. Chapter 5 of the HCP 
describes the avoidance, minimization measures, and compensatory 
mitigation that will limit and mitigate for the take of Indiana bats 
and northern long-eared bats. This chapter also includes the monitoring 
and adaptive management plans to ensure that the level of take stays 
within permitted levels and mitigation sites are

[[Page 34463]]

maintained as suitable habitat for the Indiana bat and northern long-
eared bat.
    The Service is soliciting information regarding the adequacy of the 
HCP to avoid, minimize, mitigate, and monitor the proposed incidental 
take of the covered species and to provide for adaptive management. In 
compliance with section 10(c) of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1539(c)), the 
Service is making the ITP application materials available for public 
review and comment as described above.
    We invite comments and suggestions from all interested parties on 
the draft documents associated with the ITP application (HCP and HCP 
appendices), and request that comments be as specific as possible. In 
particular, we request information and comments on the following 
topics:
    1. Whether adaptive management, mitigation, and monitoring 
provisions in the proposed action alternative are sufficient;
    2. Any threats to the Indiana bat and the northern long-eared bat 
that may influence their populations over the life of the ITP that are 
not addressed in the draft HCP or DEA;
    3. Any new information on white-nose syndrome effects on the 
Indiana bat and the northern long-eared bat; and
    4. Any other information pertinent to evaluating the effects of the 
proposed action on the Indiana bat and the northern long-eared bat.

Alternatives in the Draft Environmental Assessment

    The DEA contains an analysis of four alternatives:
    1. No Action alternative, in which the Service would not issue a 
permit to the applicant, and the project turbines would be feathered 
until wind speeds reach 6.9 m/s from a half-hour before sunset to a 
half-hour after sunrise during the entirety of the fall migration 
season (August 1 through October 31) and spring migration season (March 
15 through May 15), under which conditions take of listed species is 
unlikely to occur;
    2. The applicant's Proposed Alternative, in which the Service would 
issue an ITP to authorize incidental take of covered species associated 
with the project's operations as described in the applicant's HCP. In 
this alternative, the project turbines would be feathered until wind 
speeds reach 3.0 m/s during the spring migration (April 1 through May 
15) from a half-hour before sunset to a half-hour after sunrise, and 
during the fall migration season (August 1 through October 15), project 
turbines would be feathered until wind speeds reach 5.0 m/s from a 
half-hour before sunset to a half-hour after sunrise. While take is not 
anticipated during the summer (May 16-July 31), turbines will be 
feathered until wind speeds reach 3.0 m/s from a half-hour before 
sunset to a half-hour after sunrise. Minimization measures would be 
applicable until the temperature was greater than 10 degrees Celsius 
([deg]C). In this alternative, the applicant estimated take of Indiana 
and northern long-eared bats using an approach that addresses inherent 
uncertainty in take estimates by incorporating a 50 percent confidence 
bound around the mean estimate, and a 50 percent reduction in take from 
application of the proposed cut-in speed regime. The various phases of 
this project began and will end in different years; thus, different 
numbers of turbines will be operational during the three different 
phases, which will change the amount of take during each of the phases. 
Thus, the estimated fatality rates under this alternative are 3.3 
Indiana bats per year, and 1 northern long-eared bat per year. This 
results in a total of 97 Indiana bats and 30 northern long-eared bats 
over the 30-year permit term.
    3. More Restrictive Operations alternative, in which the Service 
would issue an ITP for the HCP, but turbine operations would be 
different than under the applicant's proposed project. All turbines 
would be feathered when the ambient temperature is above 10[deg]C based 
on a 5-minute rolling average from one half-hour before sunset to one 
half-hour after sunrise during the spring migration season (April 1 
through May 15) up to 3.0 m/s, summer (May 16 through July 31) up to 
3.0 m/s, and during the fall migration season (August 1 through October 
15) up to 6.5 m/s. The estimated fatality rates for this alternative 
are 1.5 Indiana bats and 0.5 northern long-eared bats per year. This 
results in a total of 44.9 Indiana bats and 13.8 northern long-eared 
bats over the 30-year permit term. The quantity of mitigation needed to 
offset the impact of the taking and the level of effort of monitoring 
varies between the alternatives, although mitigation, monitoring, 
adaptive management, and funding assurances are components of all three 
action alternatives.
    The DEA considers the direct, indirect, and cumulative effects of 
the alternatives, including any measures intended to minimize and 
mitigate such impacts. The DEA also identifies additional alternatives 
that were considered but were eliminated from analysis as detailed in 
section 2.4 of the DEA.
    The Service invites comments and suggestions from all interested 
parties on the content of the DEA. In particular, information and 
comments regarding the following topics are requested:
    1. The direct, indirect, or cumulative effects that implementation 
of any alternative could have on the human environment;
    2. Whether or not the significance of the impact on various aspects 
of the human environment has been adequately analyzed; and
    3. Any other information pertinent to evaluating the effects of the 
proposed action on the human environment.

Public Comments

    You may submit your comments and materials related to the draft 
HCP, DEA, or other supporting documents by one of the methods listed in 
ADDRESSES. We request you send comments using only one of the methods 
described in ADDRESSES.
    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 review, 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. 
1539(c)) and its implementing regulations (50 CFR 17.22) and the NEPA 
(42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (40 CFR 
1506.6; 43 CFR part 46).

Lori Nordstrom,
Assistant Regional Director, Ecological Services, Great Lakes Region.
[FR Doc. 2020-12046 Filed 6-3-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4333-15-P