[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 86 (Wednesday, May 4, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26367-26368]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-09558]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R4-ES-2022-0046; FXES11130400000EA-123-FF04EF1000]


Receipt of Incidental Take Permit Application and Proposed 
Habitat Conservation Plan for the Alabama Beach Mouse, Baldwin County, 
AL; 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 Brett Real Estate Robinson Development Company, 
Inc. (applicant) for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the 
Endangered Species Act. The applicant requests the ITP to take the 
federally listed Alabama beach mouse incidental to construction in the 
City of Gulf Shores, Baldwin County, Alabama. 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 June 3, 2022.

ADDRESSES: 
    Obtaining Documents: You may obtain copies of the documents online 
in Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2022-0046 at https://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: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments on Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2022-0046.
     U.S. mail: Public Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No. 
FWS-R4-ES-2022-0046; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: PRB/3W, 5275 
Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.

[[Page 26368]]


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. William Lynn, Project Manager, by 
telephone at 251-441-5868 or via email at [email protected]. 
Individuals in the United States who are deaf, deafblind, hard of 
hearing, or have a speech disability may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or 
TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay services. Individuals 
outside the United States should use the relay services offered within 
their country to make international calls to the point-of-contact in 
the United States.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), 
announce receipt of an application from Brett Real Estate Robinson 
Development Company, Inc. (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 Alabama beach mouse (Peromyscus polionotus ammobates) 
(ABM) incidental to the construction of a single condominium tower with 
amenities (project) in the City of Gulf Shores, Baldwin County, 
Alabama. 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 low-effect screening form, both 
of which are also available for public review.

Project

    The applicant requests a 50-year ITP to take ABM by converting 
approximately 0.061 acres (ac) of occupied ABM foraging and sheltering 
habitat incidental to the construction of a single condominium tower, 
with 110 beachfront units and amenities, on 0.84 ac of a 3.18-ac parcel 
in Baldwin County, Alabama. The parcel contains 0.713 ac of ABM-
occupied suitable habitat.
    The parcel was previously utilized in 2004 and 2005 for stockpiling 
of Hurricane(s) Ivan and Katrina debris. Most of the larger hurricane 
debris has been removed. However, the northern part of the parcel still 
contains considerable concrete and construction debris, which precludes 
the natural dune repair process.
    As mitigation for incidental take of the ABM, the applicant 
proposes to preserve and enhance the remaining 0.652 ac of ABM-occupied 
habitat on the parcel. Additionally, the applicant will restore a sandy 
area (0.073 ac) on the parcel to vegetated sand dunes. Outside the 
development footprint, the applicant will landscape 0.853 ac with 
native vegetation that may support ABM. After development is completed, 
the parcel will contain 2.34 ac of native habitat (0.853 ac open beach, 
0.725 ac ABM habitat, and 0.762 ac native landscaping), which will be 
permanently managed as coastal dune habitat for the ABM. In addition, 
standard mitigation and minimization measures will be implemented on 
the parcel, including installing sea turtle-friendly lighting and 
tinted windows, landscaping with native vegetation, enhancing the 
frontal dune area, constructing a concrete driveway that will not 
spread widely as a result of storm surge, utilizing refuse-control 
measures during construction that also would be required of future 
residents, and restoring ABM habitat after tropical storms. Free-
roaming cats and the use of exterior rodenticide will be prohibited 
within the development. There also will be monitoring of the on-site 
ABM population via fall, winter, and spring trapping surveys conducted 
quarterly for the life of the permit (50 years). Condominium unit 
owners will be required to pay a $201-per-unit annual fee over the next 
50 years into a mitigation fund set up by the condominium homeowners' 
association, and the accumulated fees will be used for predator 
control, monitoring, and/or improvement of Alabama beach mouse habitat 
on the parcel. The Service would require the applicant to ensure that 
funding for the HCP is available prior to engaging in any 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, 
construction of the condominium tower and amenities, landscaping, and 
the proposed mitigation and minimization measures, would individually 
and cumulatively have a minor or negligible effect on the Alabama beach 
mouse and the environment. Therefore, we have preliminarily concluded 
that the ITP for this project would qualify for categorical exclusion 
and that 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 result in 
significant cumulative effects to environmental values or resources 
over time.

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 on the species. We will 
consider all of the preceding in determining whether the permit 
issuance criteria of section 10(a)(l)(B) of the ESA have been met. If 
met, the Service will issue ITP number ESPER0031364-0 to Brett Real 
Estate Robinson Development Company, Inc.

Authority

    The Service provides this notice under section 10(c) of the ESA (16 
U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (50 CFR 17.32) 
and NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (40 
CFR 1506.6 and 43 CFR 46.305).

William Pearson,
Field Supervisor, Alabama Ecological Service Field Office.
[FR Doc. 2022-09558 Filed 5-3-22; 8:45 am]
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