[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 89 (Monday, May 9, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27660-27661]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-09836]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[Docket No. FWS-R3-ES-2022-0003; FXES11140300000-223]


Draft Environmental Assessment and Proposed Habitat Conservation 
Plan Amendment; Receipt of an Application for an Incidental Take Permit 
Amendment, Fowler Ridge Wind Farm, Benton County, Indiana

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

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

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have received an 
application from Fowler Ridge Wind Farm LLC, Fowler Ridge II Wind Farm 
LLC, Fowler Ridge III Wind Farm LLC, and Fowler Ridge IV Wind Farm LLC, 
collectively referred to as Fowler Ridge (applicant), to amend an 
existing incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act, 
for its Fowler Ridge Wind Farm (project). If approved, the ITP would be 
extended for an additional 10-year period and would add authorization 
of incidental take of a threatened species, the northern long-eared 
bat, to the currently existing authorization to incidentally take the 
endangered Indiana bat. The applicant has prepared a proposed habitat 
conservation plan amendment that describes the actions and measures 
that the applicant would implement to avoid, minimize, and mitigate 
incidental take of the Indiana bat and northern long-eared bat. We also 
announce the availability of a draft environmental assessment, which 
has been prepared in response to the permit application 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 June 
8, 2022.

ADDRESSES: 
    Document availability: Electronic copies of the documents this 
notice announces, along with public comments received, will be 
available online in Docket No. FWS-R3-ES-2022-0003 at http://www.regulations.gov.
    Comment submission: In your comment, please specify whether your 
comment addresses the proposed HCP, draft EA, or any combination of the 
aforementioned documents, or other supporting documents. You may submit 
written comments by one of the following methods:
     Online: https://www.regulations.gov. Search for and submit 
comments on Docket No. FWS-R3-ES-2022-0003.
     By hard copy: Submit comments by U.S. mail to Public 
Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No. FWS-R3-ES-2022-0003; U.S. Fish 
and Wildlife Service; 5275 Leesburg Pike, MS: PRB/3W; Falls Church, VA 
22041-3803.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Scott Pruitt, Field Supervisor, 
Indiana Ecological Services Field Office, by email at 
[email protected], or by telephone at 812-334-4261, extension 214; 
or Andrew Horton, Regional HCP Coordinator, Interior Region 3, by email 
at [email protected], or by telephone at 612-713-5337.
    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:

Background

    Section 9 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA; 
16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), and its implementing regulations prohibit the 
``take'' of animal species listed as endangered or threatened. ``Take'' 
is defined under the ESA as to ``harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, 
wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect [listed animal species], or to 
attempt to engage in such conduct'' (16 U.S.C. 1538). However, under 
section 10(a) of the ESA, we may issue permits to authorize incidental 
take of listed species. ``Incidental take'' is defined by the ESA as 
take that is incidental to, and not the purpose of, carrying out an 
otherwise lawful activity. Regulations governing incidental take 
permits for endangered and threatened species, respectively, are found 
in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) at 50 CFR 17.22 and 50 CFR 
17.32.

Applicant's Proposed Project

    The applicant requests to amend their current 21-year ITP 
(TE95012A-0). The proposed HCP amendment, if approved, would extend the 
current permit term by 10 years. Because of the time already elapsed 
since the original issuance of the ITP, this extension would result in 
an amended ITP with a total 23-year permit term (2022-2044). In 
addition, the HCP amendment would add authorization to incidentally 
take the federally threatened northern long-eared bat (Myotis 
septentrionalis) to the ITP, and would in effect increase the allowable 
take of the federally endangered Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis), due to 
the permit term extension. The applicant determined that take is 
reasonably certain to occur incidental to operation of the 420 wind 
turbines at the project. The proposed conservation strategy in the 
applicant's proposed HCP amendment is designed to avoid, minimize, and 
mitigate the impacts of the covered activity on the covered species. 
The biological goals and objectives are to minimize potential take of 
Indiana bats and northern long-eared bats through on-site minimization 
measures and to provide habitat conservation measures for Indiana bats 
and northern long-eared bats to offset any impacts from operations of 
the project. The HCP amendment provides on-site avoidance and 
minimization measures, which include turbine operational adjustments. 
The estimated level of take from the project is 120 northern long-eared 
bats over the 24-year project duration and an additional 151 Indiana 
bats (above the 184 Indiana bats already authorized in the original 
ITP) due to the 10-year extension. To offset the impacts of the taking 
of Indiana bats and northern long-eared bats, the applicant proposes to 
protect known maternity colony habitat.

National Environmental Policy Act

    The issuance of an ITP amendment is a Federal action that triggers 
the need for compliance with NEPA. We prepared a draft EA that analyzes 
the environmental impacts on the human environment resulting from three 
alternatives: A no-action alternative, the applicants' proposed 
alternative, and an alternative that provides coverage of only the 
northern long-eared bat.

[[Page 27661]]

Next Steps

    The Service will evaluate the permit amendment application and the 
comments received to determine whether the application meets the 
requirements of section 10(a) of the ESA. 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)(l)(B) of the ESA have been met. If met, the Service will issue 
the requested ITP to the applicant.

Request for Public Comments

    The Service invites comments and suggestions from all interested 
parties during a 30-day public comment period (see DATES). In 
particular, information and comments regarding the following topics are 
requested:
    1. The 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;
    3. 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 proposed HCP or EA; and
    4. Any other information pertinent to evaluating the effects of the 
proposed action on the human environment.

Availability of Public Comments

    You may submit comments by one of the methods shown under 
ADDRESSES. We will post on https://regulations.gov all public comments 
and information received electronically or via hardcopy. All comments 
received, including names and addresses, will become part of the 
administrative record associated with this action. 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 request in your 
comment that we withhold your personal identifying information from 
public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. All 
submissions from organizations or businesses, and from individuals 
identifying themselves as representatives or officials of organizations 
or businesses, will be made available for public disclosure in their 
entirety.

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 the 
NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4371 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (40 CFR 
1506.6; 43 CFR part 46).

Sean Marsan,
Acting Assistant Regional Director, Ecological Services.
[FR Doc. 2022-09836 Filed 5-6-22; 8:45 am]
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