[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 147 (Tuesday, August 2, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47190-47192]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-16473]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XC228]


Endangered Species; File No. 21516

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice: Receipt of application for permit modification and 
request for public comments.

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[[Page 47191]]

SUMMARY: NMFS received a request from Virginia Electric and Power 
Company, D.B.A. Dominion Virginia Power for modification of an 
incidental take permit, pursuant to the Endangered Species Act for 
activities associated with the otherwise lawful continued operation and 
maintenance of the Dominion Chesterfield Power Station in Chesterfield, 
VA. We are publishing this notice to inform the public that we are 
considering re-issuing the permit to authorize additional take of 
Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus) from the Chesapeake 
Bay Distinct Population Segment.

DATES: To allow for timely processing of the permit application, we 
must receive your comments no later than September 1, 2022.

ADDRESSES: The application is available for download and review at 
https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/endangered-species-conservation/incidental-take-permits and at http://www.regulations.gov. 
The application is also available upon request by emailing 
[email protected].
    Submit your comments by including NOAA-NMFS-2022-0077, by either of 
the following methods.
     Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public 
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal.
    1. Go to www.regulations.gov and enter NOAA-NMFS-2022-0077 in the 
Search box.
    2. Click the ``Comment Now!'' icon, complete the required fields.
    3. Enter or attach your comments.
     Email: Submit information to [email protected].
    Instructions: We may not consider comments if they are sent by any 
other method, to any other address or individual, or received after the 
end of the specified period. All comments received are a part of the 
public record and will generally be posted for public viewing on 
www.regulations.gov without change. All personal identifying 
information (e.g., name, address, etc.) confidential business 
information, or otherwise sensitive or protected information submitted 
voluntarily by the sender is publicly accessible. We will accept 
anonymous comments (enter ``N/A'' in the required fields if you wish to 
remain anonymous).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lynn Lankshear, (978) 282-8473.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We, NMFS, published notice in the Federal 
Register on January 11, 2021 (86 FR 1945), that we had issued an 
Incidental Take Permit (ITP) (No. 21516) to Virginia Electric and Power 
Company, D.B.A. Dominion Virginia Power (Dominion) pursuant to the 
Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973, as amended, for the incidental 
take of Atlantic sturgeon larvae (Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus) 
associated with the otherwise lawful operation of the Dominion 
Chesterfield Power Station (CPS) in Chesterfield, VA. All of the larvae 
would belong to the Chesapeake Bay Distinct Population Segment of 
Atlantic sturgeon (Chesapeake Bay DPS) based on where CPS is located. 
The permit was issued for a duration of 5 years.
    In September 2021, Dominion captured three Atlantic sturgeon eggs 
belonging to the Chesapeake Bay DPS while it was carrying out required 
entrainment monitoring at CPS. The best available information supports 
that all free-floating sturgeon eggs are non-viable. However, take of 
Atlantic sturgeon eggs was not anticipated or authorized in the permit. 
Therefore, Dominion is requesting modification of their permit to 
authorize the incidental take of up to 36,985 Atlantic sturgeon eggs 
belonging to the Chesapeake Bay DPS for the duration of the permit 
(i.e., through December 30, 2025). Dominion has also requested several 
changes to the permit conditions based on new information and changes 
to the cooling water intake operations at CPS.

Background

    Section 9 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and Federal 
regulations prohibit the ``take'' of Atlantic sturgeon belonging to the 
Chesapeake Bay DPS. The ESA defines ``take'' to mean harass, harm, 
pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or to 
attempt to engage in any such conduct. However, under section 
10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA, we may issue permits to authorize incidental 
take. ``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 ITPs for threatened and endangered 
species are found at 50 CFR 222.307.
    Dominion is requesting authorization to: (1) Allow for the 
incidental take of up to 36,985 Atlantic sturgeon eggs from the 
Chesapeake Bay DPS through December 30, 2025, based on an average take 
of 12,328 (range 3,066-31,968) eggs per high flow event and assuming 
three high-flow events over the remainder of the permit; (2) allow 
entrainment sampling for monitoring to occur at the furthest upriver 
cooling water intake structure that is operational at CPS at the time 
monitoring occurs; (3) allow entrainment sampling for monitoring to be 
paused on the rare occasion that all CPS river circulating pumps are 
not operating; (4) require visual inspections of the CWIS trash racks 
only from September through October; (5) require Dominion to annually 
inspect (i.e., by diver(s)) the intake guards at potentially operating 
CPS cooling water intake structures to confirm that the guards are 
intact and capable of excluding any adult Atlantic sturgeon as designed 
and, as needed based on the dive inspection, make repairs to the guards 
in advance of the fall Atlantic sturgeon spawning season; (6) require 
Dominion to clean the trash racks only as operationally necessary or, 
in the event a unit specific intake guard is found to be in jeopardy of 
not functioning as designed, require trash raking at the specific 
intake unit twice per day (once per 12-hour shift during daylight 
hours) during the fall sturgeon spawning window as identified by the 
real-time telemetry system; (7) retain the previously identified 
studies for mitigation but revise those, as needed, to include 
consideration for the possible seasonal presence of unattached Atlantic 
sturgeon eggs in the river as it flows past CPS; (8) revise the 
monitoring and reporting requirements to include Atlantic sturgeon 
eggs; and (9) correct the current permit condition IV.C.4.g. to reflect 
the 8-week time period (i.e., September 1 through October 31) that 
Dominion conducts entrainment monitoring for Atlantic sturgeon at CPS.

Conservation Plan

    Dominion is proposing to mitigate for the take of Atlantic sturgeon 
eggs with the same studies that serve as the mitigation for the take of 
Atlantic sturgeon larvae, ``Sturgeon Research Movement'' and ``Digital 
Holography,'' with revisions to the studies as needed.

National Environmental Policy Act

    In compliance with NEPA, we analyzed the impacts of the proposed 
modifications of the ITP and the HCP. We prepared a draft Supplemental 
Information Report (SIR) that describes why there is no need to 
supplement the 2020 EA and FONSI. We have made the draft SIR available 
for public inspection online (see ADDRESSES).
    We will also evaluate whether modification of the permit would 
comply with section 7 of the ESA by conducting an intra-Service section 
7 consultation. We will use the results of this consultation, in 
combination with the above findings, in our final analysis. If the 
requirements are met, we will issue the modified permit to the 
applicant.
    We will publish a record of our final action in the Federal 
Register.

[[Page 47192]]

    Authority: This notice is provided pursuant to section 10(c) of the 
ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and NEPA regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).

    Dated: July 27, 2022.
Angela Somma,
Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected Resources, 
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-16473 Filed 8-1-22; 8:45 am]
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