[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 89 (Monday, May 9, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27658-27660]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-09837]


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

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[Docket No. FWS-R3-ES-2022-0040; FXES11140300000-223]


Draft Environmental Assessment and Proposed Habitat Conservation 
Plan; Receipt of an Application for an Incidental Take Permit, Jordan 
Creek Wind Energy Center, Warren and Benton Counties, Indiana

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

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

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

SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have received an 
application from Jordan Creek Wind LLC (applicant), a subsidiary of 
NextEra Energy Resources LLC, for an incidental take permit (ITP) under 
the Endangered Species Act, for its Jordan Creek Wind Energy Center 
(project). If approved, the ITP would be for a 30-year period and

[[Page 27659]]

would authorize the incidental take of an endangered species, the 
Indiana bat, and a threatened species, the northern long-eared bat. The 
applicant has prepared a habitat conservation plan 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-2022-0040 at https://www.regulations.gov.
    Comment submission: Please specify whether your comment addresses 
the proposed HCP, draft EA, or both. 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-2022-0040.
     By hard copy: Submit comments by U.S. mail to Public 
Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No. FWS-R3-ES-2022-0040; 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 telephone at 812-334-4261, extension 214; or 
Andrew Horton, Regional HCP Coordinator, Interior Region 3, by email at 
[email protected] or 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 at 50 CFR 17.22 and 50 CFR 17.32.

Applicant's Proposed Project

    The applicant requests a 30-year ITP to take the federally 
endangered Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis) and threatened northern long-
eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis). The applicant determined that take 
is reasonably certain to occur incidental to operation of 146 wind 
turbines that have a total generating capacity of 404 megawatts and 
cover approximately 70,904 acres of private land. The proposed 
conservation strategy in the applicant's proposed HCP 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 provides on-
site avoidance and minimization measures, which include turbine 
operational adjustments. The authorized level of take from the project 
is 193 Indiana bats and 97 northern long-eared bats over the 30-year 
project duration. To offset the impacts of the taking of Indiana bats 
and northern long-eared bats, the applicant proposes to protect known 
maternity colony habitat and staging/swarming habitat.

National Environmental Policy Act

    The issuance of an ITP 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 proposed action, and a more 
restrictive alternative consisting of feathering at a rate of wind 
speed that results in less impacts to bats.

Next Steps

    The Service will evaluate the permit 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 environmental 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.

[[Page 27660]]

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).

Lori Nordstrom,
Assistant Regional Director, Ecological Services.
[FR Doc. 2022-09837 Filed 5-6-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P