[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 24 (Monday, February 6, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7753-7755]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-02417]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[Docket No. FWS-R3-ES-2022-0171; FXES11140300000-234]


Receipt of Incidental Take Permit Application and Proposed 
Habitat Conservation Plan for the Great Pathfinder Wind Project, 
Hamilton and Boone Counties, Iowa; Categorical Exclusion

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

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

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have received an 
application from Great Pathfinder Wind LLC (applicant), for an 
incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act. If 
approved, the ITP would be for a 6-year period and would authorize the 
incidental take of two endangered species, the Indiana bat and the 
northern long-eared bat. The applicant has prepared a habitat 
conservation plan (HCP) in support of their application. We have made a 
preliminary determination that the HCP and permit application are 
eligible for categorical exclusion under the National Environmental 
Policy Act. We invite comments from the public and Federal, Tribal, 
State, and local governments.

DATES: We will accept comments received or postmarked on or before 
March 8, 2023.

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-2022-0171 at https://www.regulations.gov.
    Comment submission: Please specify whether your comment addresses 
the proposed habitat conservation plan, draft environmental action 
statement, any combination of the aforementioned documents, or other 
documents. You may submit written comments by one of the following 
methods:
     Online: https://www.regulations.gov. Search for and

[[Page 7754]]

submit comments on Docket No. FWS-R3-ES-2022-0171.
     By hard copy: Submit comments by U.S. mail to Public 
Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No. FWS-R3-ES-2022-0171; U.S. Fish 
and Wildlife Service; 5275 Leesburg Pike, MS: PRB/3W; Falls Church, VA 
22041-3803.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kraig McPeek, Field Supervisor, 
Illinois-Iowa Ecological Services Field Office, by email at 
[email protected], or telephone at 309-757-5800, extension 202; or 
Andrew Horton, Regional HCP Coordinator, Midwest Region, 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: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have 
received an application from Great Pathfinder Wind LLC (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 Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis) and 
northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis) incidental to the 
operation of 66 wind turbines with a total generating capacity of 225 
megawatts (MW) at the Great Pathfinder Wind Project in Hamilton and 
Boone Counties, Iowa. While the ITP is for 6 years, the operational 
life of most new wind energy facilities is 30 years, and intensive 
monitoring conducted during this permit term will inform the need for 
future avoidance or a future long-term ITP for the remaining life of 
the project that will comply with a future National Environmental 
Policy Act (NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) analysis and habitat 
conservation plan (HCP). The applicant has prepared an HCP that 
describes the actions and measures that the applicant would implement 
to avoid, minimize, and mitigate incidental take of the covered species 
for the first 6 years.
    We request public comment on the application, which includes the 
applicant's proposed HCP, and on the Service's preliminary 
determination that this HCP qualifies as ``low-effect,'' categorically 
excluded under NEPA; to make this determination, we used our 
environmental action statement and low-effect screening form, both of 
which are also able for public review.

Background

    Section 9 of the ESA, as amended (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 (ITPs) 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 a 6-year ITP to take the federally 
endangered Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis) and northern long-eared bat 
(Myotis septentrionalis). The applicant determined that take is 
reasonably certain to occur incidental to operation of 66 previously 
constructed wind turbines in Hamilton and Boone Counties, Iowa, 
covering approximately 19,690 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 the Indiana bat and northern long-eared bat 
through on-site minimization measures, and to provide habitat 
conservation measures for the two species to offset any impacts from 
project operations. The HCP provides on-site avoidance and minimization 
measures, which include turbine operational adjustments. The authorized 
level of take from the project is 18 Indiana bat and 18 northern long-
eared bat over the 6-year permit duration. To offset the impacts of 
taking Indiana bats and northern long-eared bats, the applicant will 
implement one or more of the following mitigation options:
     Purchase credits from an approved conservation bank;
     Contribute to an in-lieu fee mitigation fund;
     Implement permittee-responsible mitigation project; or
     Contribute to a white-nose syndrome treatment fund, if 
available and approved by the Service.

Our Preliminary Determination

    We are requesting comments on our preliminary determination that 
the applicant's proposal will have a minor or negligible effect on the 
Indiana bat and northern long-eared bat and that the plan qualifies as 
a low-effect HCP as defined by our Habitat Conservation Planning 
Handbook (December 2016). We base our determinations on three criteria: 
(1) Implementation of the proposed project as described in the HCP 
would result in minor or negligible effects on federally listed, 
proposed, and/or candidate species and their habitats; (2) 
implementation of the HCP would result in minor or negligible effects 
on other environmental values or resources; and (3) HCP impacts, 
considered together with those of other past, present, and reasonably 
foreseeable future projects, would not result in cumulatively 
significant effects. In our analysis of these criteria, we have made a 
preliminary determination that the approval of the HCP and issuance of 
an ITP qualify for categorical exclusion under the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), as provided 
by the Department of the Interior implementing regulations in part 46 
of title 43 of the Code of Federal Regulations (43 CFR 46.205, and 
46.215). However, based upon our review of public comments that we 
receive in response to this notice, this preliminary determination may 
be revised.

National Environmental Policy Act

    Issuance of an ITP is a Federal action that triggers the need for 
compliance with NEPA. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) has 
made a preliminary determination that the applicant's project and the 
proposed mitigation measures would individually and cumulatively have a 
minor or negligible effect on the covered species and the environment. 
Therefore, we have preliminarily concluded that the ITP for this 
project would qualify for categorical exclusion, and the HCP would be 
low effect under our NEPA regulations at 43 CFR 46.205.

Next Steps

    The Service will evaluate the application and the comments received 
to determine whether the permit 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

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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 on the proposed habitat conservation plan (HCP) and screening 
form during a 30-day public comment period (see DATES). Information and 
comments regarding the following topics are requested:
    1. Whether the adaptive management, monitoring, and mitigation 
provisions in the proposed HCP are sufficient;
    2. The requested 6-year ITP term;
    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 screening form;
    4. Any new information on white-nose syndrome effects on the 
Indiana bat and the northern long-eared bat;
    5. Whether or not the significance of the impact on various aspects 
of the human environment has been adequately analyzed; and
    6. Any other information pertinent to evaluating the effects of the 
proposed action on the human environment, including those on the 
Indiana bat and the northern long-eared bat.

Availability of Public Comments

    You may submit comments by one of the methods shown under 
ADDRESSES. We will post on https://www.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 Endangered 
Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and its implementing regulations 
(50 CFR 17.22) and the National Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 
4371 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (40 CFR 1500-1508; 43 
CFR part 46).

Lori Nordstrom,
Assistant Regional Director, Ecological Services.
[FR Doc. 2023-02417 Filed 2-3-23; 8:45 am]
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