[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 137 (Wednesday, July 19, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46173-46174]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-15277]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R8-ES-2023-0076; FXES11140800000-234-FF08EVEN00]


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Draft Habitat 
Conservation Plan and Draft Categorical Exclusion; Blacklake Sewer 
System Consolidation Project, San Luis Obispo County, CA

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 Nipomo Community Service District (Applicant) 
for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act. 
The Applicant requests the ITP to take the California red-legged frog 
(Rana draytonii) incidental to the construction of a new lift station 
and associated facilities to decommission the existing Blacklake 
Wastewater Reclamation Facility, in San Luis Obispo County, California. 
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 August 18, 
2023.

ADDRESSES: 
    Obtaining Documents: The documents this notice announces, as well 
as any comments and other materials that we receive, will be available 
for public inspection online in Docket No. FWS-R8-ES-2023-0076 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-R8-ES-2023-0076.

[[Page 46174]]

     U.S. mail: Public Comments Processing; Attn: Docket No. 
FWS-R8-ES-2023-0076; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; MS: PRB/3W; 5275 
Leesburg Pike; Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kirby Bartlett, Fish and Wildlife 
Biologist, [email protected] (by electronic mail), or at the 
Ventura Fish and Wildlife office (by telephone) at 805-644-1766. 
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 Nipomo Community Service 
District (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 California red-legged 
frog (Rana draytonii) incidental to activities associated with the 
decommissioning of the Blacklake Wastewater Reclamation Facility (WRF) 
and the construction of a lift station to divert wastewater in San Luis 
Obispo County, California. We request public comment on the 
application, which includes the Applicant's proposed 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 part 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.

Background

    The Service listed the California red-legged frog as threatened on 
May 23, 1996 (61 FR 25813). Section 9 of the ESA prohibits ``take'' of 
fish and wildlife species listed as endangered (16 U.S.C. 1538), where 
take is defined to include the following activities: ``to harass, harm, 
pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or to 
attempt to engage in any such conduct'' (16 U.S.C. 1532). Under section 
10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1539(a)(1)(B)), we may issue permits 
to authorize take of listed fish and wildlife species that is 
incidental to, and not the purpose of, carrying out an otherwise lawful 
activity. Regulations governing incidental take permits for endangered 
and threatened species are in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) at 
50 CFR 17.22 and 17.32, respectively. Issuance of an ITP also must not 
jeopardize the existence of federally listed fish, wildlife, or plant 
species. The permittee would receive assurances under our ``No 
Surprises'' regulations (50 CFR 17.22(b)(5) and 17.32(b)(5)).

Applicant's Proposed Activities

    The Applicant has applied for a permit for incidental take of 
California red-legged frog. The take would occur in association with 
activities necessary for the decommissioning of the Blacklake WRF and 
the construction of a lift station to divert wastewater. The California 
red-legged frog has a known breeding population adjacent to the 
Blacklake WRF, in a wastewater effluent pond on a private golf course. 
The proposed decommissioning of the Blacklake WRF will result in the 
elimination of the primary water source maintaining the adjacent 
effluent storage pond. Therefore, it is assumed that it will no longer 
provide suitable aquatic breeding habitat for the species.
    The HCP includes avoidance and minimization measures for the 
California red-legged frog and mitigation for unavoidable loss of 
occupied habitat. The Applicant has proposed a one-time fixed payment 
to fund conservation activities for the California red-legged frog to 
compensate for unavoidable impacts.

Public Availability of Comments

    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 
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying 
information from public view, 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 would individually and cumulatively have a 
minor effect on the California red-legged frog 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 
species 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 the ITP.

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 parts 
1500-1508 and 43 CFR part 46).

Stephen P. Henry,
Field Supervisor, Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office, Ventura, 
California.
[FR Doc. 2023-15277 Filed 7-18-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P