[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 203 (Monday, October 23, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72774-72775]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-23335]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2023-0198; FXES11140400000-234-FF04EF4000]


Receipt of Incidental Take Permit Application and Proposed 
Habitat Conservation Plan for the Florida Scrub-Jay and 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 Founders Ridge Development, LLC and Founders 
Ridge Development II, LLC (Minneola Town Center) (applicants) for an 
incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act. The 
applicants request the ITP to take federally listed Florida scrub-jays 
(Aphelocoma coerulescens) and sand skinks (Neoseps reynoldsi) 
incidental to the construction of a mixed-use development in Lake 
County, Florida. 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 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 November 22, 
2023.

ADDRESSES: 
    Obtaining Documents: You may obtain copies of the documents online 
in Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2023-0198; 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-2023-0198.
     U.S. mail: Public Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No. 
FWS-R4-ES-2023-0198; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: PRB/3W, 5275 
Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Erin Gawera, by U.S. mail (see 
ADDRESSES), 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 Founders Ridge Development, LLC 
and Founders Ridge Development II, LLC (Minneola Town Center) 
(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 Florida scrub-jays 
(Aphelocoma coerulescens) (scrub-jays) and sand skinks (Neoseps 
reynoldsi) (skinks) incidental to the construction and operation of a 
mixed-use

[[Page 72775]]

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 15-year ITP to take scrub jays and skinks 
via the conversion of approximately 20.25 acres (ac) of occupied 
nesting, foraging, and sheltering scrub-jay habitat and 6.82 ac of 
occupied nesting, foraging, and sheltering skink habitat incidental to 
the construction and operation of a mixed use development on 325.54 ac 
on Lake County Property Appraiser Alternate Key Numbers 3839022, 
3839020, 3853668, 3853667, and 3839020 in Sections 5 and 6, Township 22 
South, and Range 26 East, Lake County, Florida. The applicants propose 
to mitigate for take of the scrub-jays and skinks through funding 
contributed in 2008 for a previous ITP (TE137074-0) obtained for this 
same property. The actions authorized under ITP (TE137074-0) did not 
occur, however, the mitigation was completed. A total of $427,242 was 
provided and approved by USFWS to restore habitat within the Ocala 
National Forest at a 2:1 ratio for 63.4 ac. This mitigation will now be 
applied towards the take of scrub-jays on 20.25 ac of 
occupied scrub-jay habitat and the take of sand skinks on the 
6.82 ac of occupied sand skink habitat at a 2:1 ratio. A 
remaining 9.26 ac of mitigation that was paid for will not 
be applied to any impact for listed wildlife species.

Our Preliminary Determination

    The Service has made a preliminary determination that the 
applicant's proposed project, including the construction of the mixed-
use development and associated infrastructure (e.g., electric, water, 
and sewer lines), would individually and cumulatively have a minor or 
negligible effect on the scrub-jays and sand skink and the 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 scrub-jay and 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 permit. 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 PER0863404 to Founders Ridge 
Development, LLC and Founders Ridge Development II, LLC (Minneola Town 
Center).

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.

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 
Field Office.
[FR Doc. 2023-23335 Filed 10-20-23; 8:45 am]
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