[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 93 (Friday, May 13, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29361-29364]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-09596]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[Docket No. FWS-R1-ES-2020-0101; FXES11140100000-223-FF01E0000]


Final Environmental Impact Statement and Habitat Conservation 
Plan for Thurston County, Washington

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the 
availability of a final environmental impact statement (FEIS), which 
analyzes a proposed habitat conservation plan (HCP) developed by 
Thurston County, Washington (applicant, or the County). This FEIS was 
prepared jointly by the Service and Thurston County to satisfy both the 
National Environmental Policy Act and the Washington State 
Environmental Policy Act. The HCP was submitted by the applicant in 
support of an application for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the 
Endangered Species Act. The applicant is seeking authorization for the 
incidental take of six species, which is expected to result from 
various County-permitted development activities, as well as 
construction and maintenance of County-owned or County-managed 
infrastructure, over the next 30 years.

DATES: The Service's ITP decision will occur no sooner than 30 days 
after publication of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's notice 
of availability of the FEIS in the Federal Register, and will be 
documented in a record of decision.

ADDRESSES: You may obtain copies of the documents by any of the 
following methods:
     Internet: https://www.regulations.gov (Docket No. FWS-R1-
ES-2020-0101) or at https://www.fws.gov/wafwo/.
     Phone: You may call Kevin Connally, at 360-753-9440, to 
request alternative formats of the documents.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kevin Connally, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service, Washington Fish and Wildlife Office (see ADDRESSES); 
telephone: 360-753-9440; email: [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 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 
(Service), announce the availability of a final environmental impact 
statement (FEIS) addressing Thurston County's (applicant or County) 
proposed habitat conservation plan (HCP). In accordance with the 
requirements of the Endangered Species Act, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 
1531 et seq.), the applicant is seeking an incidental take permit (ITP) 
authorizing take of the threatened Yelm pocket gopher (Thomomys mazama 
yelmensis), Olympia pocket gopher (T. mazama pugetensis), Tenino pocket 
gopher (T. mazama tumuli), and Oregon spotted frog (Rana pretiosa); the 
endangered Taylor's checkerspot butterfly (Euphydryas editha taylori); 
and the Oregon vesper sparrow (Pooecetes gramineus affinis), which is 
under review to determine if Federal listing under the ESA is warranted 
(hereafter, ``covered species'').
    If issued, the ITP would authorize take of the covered species that 
may occur incidental to various County-permitted development 
activities, as well as construction and maintenance of County-owned or 
County-managed infrastructure, for a period of 30 years. The applicant 
would avoid, minimize, and mitigate impacts to covered species, and 
would fully offset the impact of taking. In support of the ITP 
application, the applicant prepared the HCP, which describes the steps 
the applicant would take to avoid, minimize, and mitigate impacts to 
covered species associated with the above activities in accordance with 
HCP and ITP requirements. Mitigation would be achieved through the 
permanent conservation and maintenance of covered species habitat. The 
HCP also describes, without limitation, the life history and ecology of 
the covered species, the impact of the anticipated taking on covered 
species, adaptive management procedures, monitoring procedures, changed 
circumstances, and funding assurances for HCP implementation.
    This Final EIS provides updates, as needed, to information 
presented in the draft EIS, including revisions in response to issues 
raised in comments received during the public review period for that 
document. No substantial changes to the proposed action or other 
alternatives were made that are relevant to environmental concerns, and 
no significant new circumstances or information relevant to the impacts 
of the alternatives analyzed in the draft EIS were found.
    This FEIS was prepared consistent with the Department of the 
Interior

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NEPA regulations (43 CFR part 46); longstanding Federal judicial and 
regulatory interpretations; and Administration priorities and policies, 
including Secretary's Order No. 3399 requiring bureaus and offices to 
use ``the same application or level of NEPA that would have been 
applied to a proposed action before the 2020 Rule went into effect.''
    The FEIS will also be used by Thurston County to satisfy the 
requirements of the Washington State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA), 
as provided in Revised Code of Washington 43.21C, and SEPA implementing 
regulations found at Washington Administrative Code 197-11.

Background

    Thurston County is seeking an ITP to cover a variety of activities 
for which the County issues permits or approvals, and activities the 
County otherwise carries out under its jurisdiction. The covered 
activities include:
     Residential development;
     Development of accessory structures;
     Installation, repair, or alteration of septic systems;
     Commercial and industrial development;
     Public service facility construction;
     Transportation projects;
     Transportation maintenance and other work within County-
owned road rights-of-way;
     Landfill and solid waste management;
     Water resources management;
     Management of mitigation sites; and
     County parks, trails, and land management.
    The covered activities would not include mining or forestry. The 
proposed covered activities are described further in the FEIS and in 
the HCP.
    The HCP includes measures to avoid, minimize, and mitigate impacts 
to covered species, along with an analysis of projected impacts to 
covered species. It is not practical to express the anticipated take 
(or to monitor take-related impacts) in terms of number of individuals 
of each species; therefore, the HCP uses habitat, measured as habitat 
area or as ``functional-acre'' values, as a surrogate for quantifying 
impacts to each covered species and related conservation outcomes. The 
functional-acre approach weights habitat acreage with values for the 
covered species' distribution, habitat condition, and landscape. This 
approach provides greater weight to both impacts and mitigation 
occurring in or near areas that are a priority for conservation of the 
covered species.
    Through the HCP, the county would permit or conduct covered 
activities that cause take of covered species, monitor the amount and 
extent of take, and establish mitigation on permanently protected sites 
to fully offset impacts of the taking on covered species. The HCP 
conservation program includes performance standards for conservation 
lands and measures to minimize the impacts of the activities on each 
species.
    Development and maintenance activities covered by the HCP will 
impact Mazama pocket gopher subspecies, when the activities occur 
within habitat in the ranges of the covered species. Fewer HCP-covered 
development and maintenance activities will impact the Oregon spotted 
frog, the Taylor's checkerspot butterfly, and the Oregon vesper 
sparrow, because they have relatively localized ranges in Thurston 
County and, as a consequence, they are likely to be exposed to fewer 
instances of the covered activities.
    Measures to minimize impacts of the taking on covered species 
include reducing the extent of habitat impacts through within-site 
project design, along with additional species-specific measures for 
each group of covered activities, as described in the HCP. To mitigate 
for unavoidable impacts to covered species, Thurston County proposes to 
permanently protect and manage habitat occupied by covered species by 
establishing new permanent habitat reserves, acquiring permanent 
conservation easements on working lands, and enhancing and permanently 
maintaining habitat quality on existing reserves (collectively 
``conservation lands''). The addition of conservation lands to the HCP 
conservation lands network would occur incrementally during HCP 
implementation at a pace that meets or exceeds the impacts to each 
covered species.
    The HCP includes funding assurances, monitoring, an adaptive 
management process, and changed circumstance provisions to help ensure 
that the conservation program achieves the biological goals for the 
covered species. Annual reports would confirm the amount, type, and 
location of impacts and mitigation, as well as the status of 
monitoring, adaptive management, changed circumstances, and funding. 
The proposed conservation program and expected effects of HCP 
implementation on the covered species and their habitats are described 
in greater detail in the HCP and in the FEIS. If the ITP is approved, 
the HCP is expected to be implemented for 30 years, and lands conserved 
in accordance with the HCP would be permanently maintained for the 
covered species.

Endangered Species Act

    Section 9 of the ESA prohibits ``take'' of fish and wildlife 
species listed as endangered under section 4 (16 U.S.C. 1538 and 16 
U.S.C. 1533, respectively). The ESA implementing regulations extend, 
under certain circumstances, the prohibition of take to threatened 
species (50 CFR 17.31). Under section 3 of the ESA, the term ``take'' 
means to ``harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, 
capture, or collect, or attempt to engage in any such conduct'' (16 
U.S.C. 1532(19)). The term ``harm'' is defined by regulation as ``an 
act which actually kills or injures wildlife. Such act may include 
significant habitat modification or degradation where it actually kills 
or injures wildlife by significantly impairing essential behavioral 
patterns, including breeding, feeding, or sheltering'' (50 CFR 17.3).
    Under section 10(a) of the ESA, the Service may issue permits to 
authorize incidental take of listed fish and wildlife 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. 
Section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA contains provisions for issuing ITPs to 
non-Federal entities for the take of endangered and threatened species, 
provided the following criteria are met:
     The taking will be incidental;
     The applicant will, to the maximum extent practicable, 
minimize and mitigate the impact of such taking;
     The applicant will ensure that adequate funding for the 
plan will be provided;
     The taking will not appreciably reduce the likelihood of 
the survival and recovery of the species in the wild; and
     The applicant will carry out any other measures that the 
Service may require as being necessary or appropriate for the purposes 
of the HCP.

Anticipated Permits and Authorizations

    In addition to the requested ITP, Thurston County will manage 
covered activities to comply with all other applicable laws, including, 
without limitation, Washington State endangered and protected species 
regulations; the Washington State Growth Management Act, which includes 
State and local protection of historic and cultural resources 
implemented through the County's comprehensive plan; the Washington 
State Shoreline Management Act; the Washington State Hydraulic Code;

[[Page 29363]]

Thurston County critical area ordinances; State and local requirements 
for administrative procedures; and other regulations. Individual 
projects conducted under the HCP will undergo individual review by the 
County for compliance with local codes, and further public review, as 
appropriate, through the Washington SEPA.

National Environmental Policy Act

    In compliance with NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), the Service 
prepared a FEIS, in which we analyze the effects of the proposed action 
and a reasonable range of alternatives to the proposed action. The 
environmental consequences of each alternative, including the effects 
of those alternatives when combined with reasonably foreseeable future 
actions and environmental trends, were analyzed to determine if 
significant impacts to the human environment would occur. Three 
alternatives are analyzed in detail in the FEIS.
    Alternative 1--No-Action Alternative: The Service would not issue 
incidental take authorization to the County, and the County would not 
implement the HCP. The County would continue to conduct, permit, and 
approve activities on a case-by-case basis in compliance with Federal, 
State, and local requirements, including the Thurston County Critical 
Areas code. The County and individual project proponents would continue 
to evaluate each project to ensure avoidance of unauthorized take of 
listed species. The County would not implement a coordinated, County-
wide conservation program for ESA-listed species. This alternative is 
the current situation in Thurston County.
    Alternative 2--Proposed Action: The Service would, in accordance 
with applicable law, issue the requested ITP to Thurston County for the 
incidental take of covered species by the covered activities. The 
County would implement the Thurston County HCP and its conservation 
program, including, without limitation, implementation of measures to 
minimize effects of covered activities, mitigation measures to fully 
offset the impacts of the taking on covered species, and monitoring and 
reporting. The County would also ensure funding for HCP implementation. 
Under the proposed action, the County would mitigate for the impacts of 
the taking on covered species, in part, through the execution of 
conservation easements on working agricultural lands, the enhancement 
of existing conservation reserves, and the establishment and management 
of new conservation reserves. The proposed action is the Service's 
agency-preferred alternative because it provides a practical approach 
for durable conservation outcomes in the permit area.
    Alternative 3--Modified HCP: The Service would, in accordance with 
applicable law, issue an ITP to Thurston County with the same permit 
area, permit term, covered species, and covered activities, and many of 
the HCP elements described in the proposed action. This alternative 
explores whether the HCP could be modified to provide higher 
conservation value to covered species by acquiring new habitat reserves 
and managing them to achieve the highest habitat quality. Under this 
alternative, the County would mitigate for the impacts of the taking on 
covered species solely through the establishment and management of new 
conservation reserves. The County would not execute conservation 
easements on working agricultural lands, or include the enhancement of 
existing conservation reserves in the mitigation strategy. Under this 
alternative, fewer acres of new conserved habitat may be needed to 
fully offset the impacts of the taking to covered species.

Public Involvement

    The Service published a notice of intent to prepare an EIS, opening 
public scoping periods on March 20, 2013 (78 FR 17224), and on October 
16, 2020 (85 FR 65861). A public meeting was held during the 2013 
public scoping period, and two public meetings were held during the 
2020 public scoping period. Additionally, Thurston County conducted 
numerous stakeholder meetings during development of the HCP between 
2013 and 2021. In consideration of comments, information, alternatives, 
and analyses received through public scoping, the Service and the 
County jointly prepared a DEIS and opened concurrent 45-day public 
comment periods on the DEIS and draft HCP on September 24, 2021 (86 FR 
53111; Washington Department of Ecology SEPA# 202105300), under NEPA, 
ESA section 10(c), and SEPA, as applicable. Two virtual public meetings 
were held during the comment period. The comment period ended on 
November 8, 2021. Considering all comments received by the Service and 
County together, a total of 33 public comments were received during the 
DEIS comment period, including duplicates.
    In preparation of the FEIS, the Service and the County considered 
all of the public comments on the DEIS together, in accordance with the 
requirements of NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and pursuant to the 
Council on Environmental Quality's implementing NEPA regulations at 40 
CFR parts 1500-1508.

EPA's Role in the EIS Process

    The EPA is charged with reviewing all Federal agencies' EISs and 
commenting on the adequacy and acceptability of the environmental 
impacts of proposed actions. Therefore, EPA is publishing a notice in 
the Federal Register announcing this FEIS, as required under section 
309 of the Clean Air Act. EPA's notices are published on Fridays. EPA 
serves as the repository (EIS database) for EISs prepared by Federal 
agencies. You may search for EPA comments on EISs, along with EISs 
themselves, at https://cdxapps.epa.gov/cdx-enepa-II/public/action/eis/search.

Public Review

    We are not requesting public comments on the FEIS and HCP, but any 
written comments received will become part of the public 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.

Next Steps

    The Service will evaluate the permit application, associated 
documents, and public comments in reaching a final decision on whether 
the application meets the requirements of an ITP (16 U.S.C. 
1539(a)(2)(B)). We will evaluate whether the proposed permit action 
would comply with section 7 of the ESA by conducting an intra-Service 
consultation (16 U.S.C. 1536). We will complete the required procedures 
under section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (54 U.S.C. 
306108). We will issue a record of decision and issue or deny the ITP 
no sooner than 30 days after publication of the EPA's notice of 
availability of the FEIS in the Federal Register, in accordance with 
applicable timeframes established in 40 CFR 1506.11.

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Authority

    We provide this notice in accordance with the ESA and its 
implementing regulations (50 CFR 17.22 and 17.32) and NEPA and its 
implementing regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).

Robyn Thorson,
Regional Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-09596 Filed 5-12-22; 8:45 am]
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