[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 67 (Friday, April 7, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20901-20902]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-07356]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R4-ES-2023-0048; FXES11130400000EA-123-FF04EF1000]


Receipt of Incidental Take Permit Application and Proposed 
Habitat Conservation Plan for the Alabama Beach Mouse, Baldwin County, 
AL; Categorical Exclusion

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce receipt 
of an application from Sampath Srikanth (applicant) for an incidental 
take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act. The applicant 
requests the ITP to take the federally listed Alabama beach mouse 
(Peromyscus polionotus ammobates) incidental to construction on Fort 
Morgan Peninsula, Baldwin County, Alabama. We request public comment on 
the application, which includes the applicant's proposed habitat 
conservation plan (HCP), and the Service's preliminary determination 
that the proposed permitting action may be eligible for a categorical 
exclusion pursuant to the Council on Environmental Quality's National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations, the Department of the 
Interior's (DOI) NEPA regulations, and the DOI Departmental Manual. To 
make this preliminary determination, we prepared a draft environmental 
action statement and low-effect screening form, both of which are also 
available for public review. We invite comment from the public and 
local, State, Tribal, and Federal agencies.

DATES: We must receive your written comments on or before May 8, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Obtaining Documents: You may obtain copies of the documents 
online in Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2023-0048 at https://www.regulations.gov.
    Submitting Comments: If you wish to submit comments on any of the 
documents, you may do so in writing by any of the following methods:
     Online: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments on Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2023-0048.
     U.S. mail: Public Comments Processing; Attn: Docket No. 
FWS-R4-ES-2023-0048; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; MS: PRB/3W; 5275 
Leesburg Pike; Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. William Lynn, Project Manager, by 
U.S. mail (see ADDRESSES), via telephone at 251-441-5868, or by email 
at [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 Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), 
announce receipt of an application from Sampath Srikanth (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 endangered Alabama beach mouse (ABM; 
Peromyscus polionotus ammobates) incidental to the construction of a 
single-family home (project) on Fort Morgan Peninsula, Baldwin County, 
Alabama. We request public comment on the application, which includes 
the applicant's proposed habitat conservation plan (HCP), and the 
Service's preliminary determination that this proposed ITP qualifies as 
``low effect,'' and may qualify for a categorical exclusion pursuant to 
the Council on Environmental Quality's National Environmental Policy 
Act (NEPA) regulations (40 CFR 1501.4), the Department of the 
Interior's (DOI) NEPA regulations (43 CFR 46), and the DOI's 
Departmental Manual (516 DM 8.5(C)(2)). To make this preliminary 
determination, we prepared a draft environmental action statement and 
low-effect screening form, both of which are also available for public 
review.

Proposed Project

    The applicant requests a 25-year ITP to take ABM by converting 
approximately 0.079 acre (ac) of occupied ABM foraging and sheltering 
habitat incidental to the construction of a single-family home located 
on a 0.492-ac parcel within the Government Subdivision #1, located on 
the central portion of Fort Morgan Peninsula in Baldwin County, 
Alabama. The proposed use of the parcel will provide for a compressed 
development footprint, which allows for areas of contiguous habitat to 
remain post development. Landforms and vegetative communities on the 
parcel consist of 0.418 ac of secondary dune ABM habitat. The applicant 
would impact 0.079 ac of the occupied 0.418 ac of ABM habitat in 
constructing the single-family home. The remaining 0.34 ac of suitable

[[Page 20902]]

habitat on the parcel will be enhanced and perpetually maintained. The 
applicant proposes to donate a $2.30-per-square-foot in-lieu fee 
totaling $7,921 to the Alabama Coastal Heritage Trust (ACHT) for the 
0.079-ac impact. ACHT will use the donation to manage, maintain, or 
acquire ABM habitat within Fort Morgan or elsewhere within the range of 
the ABM.
    The applicant also proposes to implement standard minimization and 
mitigation measures to retain habitat within all areas outside the core 
footprint of the residence and, where possible, augment such habitat 
with native landscaping and topographic enhancement methods. The 
standard mitigation and minimization measures to be implemented on the 
site include installing sea turtle-friendly lighting and tinted 
windows, landscaping with native vegetation, enhancing the frontal dune 
area, constructing a concrete driveway that will not disperse in a 
storm surge, implementing refuse-control measures during construction 
and requiring that future residents utilize such measures, and 
restoring ABM habitat after tropical storms. Free-roaming cats and the 
use of exterior rodenticide will be prohibited within the parcel. Post-
construction ABM habitat on site should total 0.34 ac of the 0.49-ac 
parcel. The Service would require the applicant to donate the total 
contribution to ACHT prior to engaging in any construction activities 
on the parcel that are associated with the project.

Public Availability of Comments

    Before including your address, phone number, email address, or 
other personal identifying information in your comment, be aware that 
your entire comment--including your personal identifying information--
may be made available to the public. While you may request that we 
withhold your personal identifying information, we cannot guarantee 
that we will be able to do so.

Our Preliminary Determination

    The Service has made a preliminary determination that the 
applicant's proposed project, including land clearing, infrastructure 
building, and landscaping, and the proposed mitigation and minimization 
measures, would individually and cumulatively have a minor effect on 
the Alabama beach mouse and the human environment. Therefore, we have 
preliminarily determined that the proposed ESA section 10(a)(1)(B) 
permit would be a ``low-effect'' ITP that individually or cumulatively 
would have a minor effect on the ABM and may qualify for application of 
a categorical exclusion pursuant to the Council on Environmental 
Quality's NEPA regulations, DOI's NEPA regulations, and the DOI 
Departmental Manual. A ``low-effect'' incidental take permit is one 
that would result in (1) minor or negligible effects on species covered 
in the HCP; (2) nonsignificant effects on the human environment; and 
(3) impacts that, when added together with the impacts of other past, 
present, and reasonably foreseeable actions, would not result in 
significant cumulative effects to the human environment.

Next Steps

    The Service will evaluate the application and the comments received 
to determine whether to issue the requested ITP. We will also conduct 
an intra-Service consultation pursuant to section 7 of the ESA to 
evaluate the effects of the proposed take on the species. We will 
consider all of the above in determining whether the permit issuance 
criteria of section 10(a)(l)(B) of the ESA have been met. If met, the 
Service will issue ITP number PER0271956 to Sampath Srikanth.

Authority

    The Service provides this notice under section 10(c) of the ESA (16 
U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (50 CFR 17.32) 
and NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (40 
CFR 1500-1508 and 43 CFR 46).

William J. Pearson,
Field Supervisor, Alabama Ecological Service Field Office.
[FR Doc. 2023-07356 Filed 4-6-23; 8:45 am]
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