[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 123 (Wednesday, June 28, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41982-41983]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-13781]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2023-0066; FXES11140400000-234-FF04EF4000]


Receipt of Incidental Take Permit Application and Proposed 
Habitat Conservation Plan for the Audubon's Crested Caracara, Brevard 
County, FL; Categorical Exclusion

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce receipt 
of an application from Malabar PO, LLC and Stellar Communities, LLC 
(applicants) for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered 
Species Act. The applicants request the ITP to take the federally 
listed Audubon's crested caracara (Polyborus plancus audubonii) 
incidental to the construction, operation, maintenance, vegetative 
management, and occupancy of a residential development in Brevard 
County, Florida. We request public comment on the application, which 
includes the applicants' proposed habitat conservation plan (HCP), and 
on 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 July 28, 
2023.

ADDRESSES: Obtaining Documents: You may obtain copies of the documents 
online in Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2023-0066 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-2023-0066.
     U.S. mail: Public Comments Processing; Attn: Docket No. 
FWS-R4-ES-2023-0066; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: PRB/3W; 5275 
Leesburg Pike; Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kenneth McDonald, by U.S. mail (see 
ADDRESSES), via phone at 772-562-3909, 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, announce 
receipt of an application from Malabar PO, LLC and Stellar Communities, 
LLC (applicants) for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the 
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et 
seq.). The applicants request the ITP to take the federally listed 
Audubon's crested caracara (Polyborus plancus audubonii) incidental to 
the construction, operation, maintenance, vegetative management, and 
occupancy of 266 residential units, clubhouse, maintenance facility, 
roads and parking spaces, green spaces, and other amenities on a 27.9-
acre site in Brevard County, Florida. We request public comment on the 
application, which includes the applicants' 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 applicants request a 5-year ITP to take Audubon's crested 
caracara via the impaired reproduction and survival of one Audubon's 
crested caracara nest and their young annually. Records of Audubon's 
crested caracara, both adult and juvenile, are ubiquitous within a 
4921-foot (1,500-meter) radius of the project site. The site contains 
habitat suitable for Audubon's crested caracara foraging, and it is 
assumed to be part of an existing nesting territory.

[[Page 41983]]

    Malabar PO, LLC and Stellar Communities, LLC plan to mitigate for 
unavoidable periodic failure of one Audubon's crested caracara nest and 
impaired foraging in the project footprint with a contribution of 
$12,555.00 (based on 27.9 ac of proposed impact at a cost of $450 per 
ac) to the Fish and Wildlife Foundation of Florida's caracara 
conservation fund. This sum will be allocated to restore abandoned 
citrus groves to habitat suitable for caracara nesting and foraging. 
The area of abandoned citrus grove restored to suitable caracara 
habitat will be equal to the area of existing suitable habitat that 
will be impacted by the proposed action. The contribution to the fund 
must be completed prior to construction. Upon contribution of the 
$12,555.00, a letter will be secured from the Foundation by the Service 
confirming that the full amount of mitigation has been contributed.

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 
applicants' proposed project, including the additional construction 
activities, operation, maintenance, vegetative management, and public 
use, would individually and cumulatively have a minor effect on 
Audubon's crested caracara 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 eastern indigo snake 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 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 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 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 PER2261354 to Malabar PO, LLC and Stellar 
Communities, LLC.

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).

Robert L. Carey,
Manager, Division of Environmental Review, Florida Ecological Services 
Office.
[FR Doc. 2023-13781 Filed 6-27-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P