[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 151 (Tuesday, August 8, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53514-53515]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-16936]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2023-0150; FXES11140400000-234-FF04EF4000]


Receipt of Incidental Take Permit Application and Proposed 
Habitat Conservation Plan for the Sand Skink; Lake 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 Helen Crittenden et al. (Helen Crittenden, 
Alexander van den Berg, and Nancy van den Berg; applicants) for an 
incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act. The 
applicants request the ITP to take the federally listed sand skink 
incidental to the construction of a residential development in Lake 
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 September 7, 
2023.

ADDRESSES: Obtaining Documents: You may obtain copies of the documents 
online in Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2023-0150 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-2023-0150; 
or
     U.S. mail: Public Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No. 
FWS-R4-ES-2023-0150; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: PRB/3W, 5275 
Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Erin Gawera, by telephone at 904-731-
3121 or via 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 Helen Crittenden et al. (Helen 
Crittenden, Alexander van den Berg, and Nancy van den Berg) 
(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 federally listed sand skinks 
(Neoseps reynoldsi) (skink) incidental to the construction and 
operation of a commercial and residential development in Lake 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 skinks via the 
conversion of approximately 0.63 acres (ac) of occupied nesting, 
foraging, and sheltering skink habitat incidental to the construction 
and operation of a commercial and residential development on 111.53-ac 
on parcel numbers 22-21-25-0003-0000-1800, 22-21-25-0003-0000-1000, 22-
21-25-0003-0000-1901, 22-21-25-0003-0000-1902, and 22-21-25-0003-0000-
1700 in Sections 21, 22, 27 and 28, Township 21 South, Range 25 East, 
Lake County, Florida. The applicants propose to mitigate for take of 
the skinks by purchasing credits equivalent to 1.26 ac

[[Page 53515]]

of skink-occupied habitat within the Lake Wales Ridge Conservation Bank 
or another Service-approved conservation bank. The Service would 
require the applicants to purchase the credits prior to engaging in any 
construction phase of 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 
applicants' proposed project, including the construction of commercial 
and residential buildings and associated infrastructure (e.g., 
electric, water, and sewer lines), would individually and cumulatively 
have a minor effect on the sand skink 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 sand skink 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 PER0549463 to the applicants.

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,
Division Manager, Environmental Review, Florida Ecological Services 
Office.
[FR Doc. 2023-16936 Filed 8-7-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P