[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 79 (Tuesday, April 25, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25006-25007]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-08716]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R4-ES-2023-0047; FXES11140400000EA-234-FF04EA1000]


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.

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

SUMMARY: We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce receipt 
of an application from James Bruckmann (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 in the 
City of Orange Beach, 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 25, 2023.

ADDRESSES: 
    Obtaining Documents: You may obtain copies of the documents online 
in Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2023-0047 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 one of the following methods:
     Online: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments on Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2023-0047.
     U.S. Mail: Public Comments Processing; Attn: Docket No. 
FWS-R4-ES-2023-0047; 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 
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 James Bruckmann (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 
three single-family homes (project) in the City of Orange Beach, 
Baldwin County, Alabama. We request public comment on the application, 
which includes the applicant's habitat conservation plan (HCP), and on 
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 30-year ITP to take ABM by converting 
approximately 0.319 acre (ac) of occupied ABM foraging and sheltering 
habitat incidental to the construction of three single-family homes 
located on three parcels totaling 2.79 ac in Baldwin County, Alabama. 
On the largest parcel, there was a previous single-family home that was 
destroyed in 2004 by Hurricane Ivan. The remaining portion of habitat 
on the lot (2.47 ac) will be protected and maintained to continue to 
provide habitat for the ABM. Minimization and mitigation measures 
include pre-construction trapping, relocation, annual monitoring, 
management, and reporting efforts. Habitat enhancement will occur on 
areas in need through augmentation of natural processes, including sand 
fencing. The applicant

[[Page 25007]]

proposes to donate a $2.30-per-square-foot in-lieu fee for the 0.319-ac 
take to the Alabama Coastal Heritage Trust (ACHT), which will use the 
fee to manage, maintain, or acquire ABM habitat within the City of 
Orange Beach or elsewhere within the ABM's range.
    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 2.47 ac of the 2.79-ac 
parcel.

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, 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'' ITP is one that would result in 
(1) minor or nonsignificant 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 
reasonable 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. After considering the 
preceding and other matters, we will determine whether the permit 
issuance criteria of section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA have been met. If 
met, the Service will issue ITP number PER0109456 to James Bruckmann.

Authority

    The Service provides this notice under section 10(c) of the 
Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and its implementing 
regulations (50 CFR 17.32) and the National Environmental Policy Act 
(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. 2023-08716 Filed 4-24-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P