[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 213 (Monday, November 6, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76244-76246]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-24404]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[Docket No. FWS-R8-ES-2023-0190; FXES11140800000-234-FF08ECAR00]


Receipt of Incidental Take Permit Application and Proposed 
Habitat Conservation Plan, City of Santee, California; 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 Mr. Louis Jutras (applicant) for an incidental 
take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The applicant 
requests the ITP to take the federally threatened coastal California 
gnatcatcher (Polioptila californica californica) incidental to 
construction of the Jutras residential home project, in the City of 
Santee, San Diego 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 December 6, 
2023.

ADDRESSES: 
    Obtaining Documents: You may obtain copies of the documents this 
notice announces, along with any comments and other materials that we 
receive, online in Docket No. FWS-R8-ES-2023-0190 at https://www.regulations.gov.
    Submitting Comments: If you wish to submit comments, 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-R8-ES-2023-0190.
     U.S. mail: Public Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No. 
FWS-R8-ES-2023-0190; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: PRB/3W; 5275 
Leesburg Pike; Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.:

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Jonathan Snyder, Assistant Field 
Supervisor, Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office, 760-431-9440 
(telephone). 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 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 
(Service), have received an application from Mr.

[[Page 76245]]

Louis Jutras (applicant) for a 3-year incidental take permit (ITP) for 
one covered species pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered 
Species Act of 1973 (ESA), as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). The 
application addresses the potential ``take'' of the threatened coastal 
California gnatcatcher (Polioptila californica californica) in the 
course of activities associated with the construction of the Jutras 
residential home project, in the City of Santee, San Diego County, 
California. 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

    A conservation program to avoid, minimize, and mitigate for project 
activities would be implemented as described in the proposed Habitat 
Conservation Plan (HCP) by the applicant.
    The applicant requests a 3-year ITP under section 10(a)(1)(B) of 
the ESA. If we approve the permit, the applicant anticipates taking 
coastal California gnatcatcher (Polioptila californica californica) as 
a result of permanent impacts to 0.662 acres (ac) of habitat the 
species uses for breeding, feeding, and sheltering. The take would be 
incidental to the applicant's activities associated with the 
construction of the Jutras residential project in the City of Santee, 
California, and includes preservation of 0.329 ac on site and funding 
for management of preserved land in the City of Santee.
    The Jutras residential project proposes to construct a single-
family residence on a 1.015-ac parcel in the City of Santee. The 
project will permanently impact 0.662 ac of coastal California 
gnatcatcher occupied habitat and 0.032 ac of disturbed land as a result 
of clearing and grading activities. The remaining 0.277 ac of coastal 
California gnatcatcher-occupied Diegan coastal sage scrub (DCSS) and 
0.052 ac of disturbed land would not be impacted.
    To minimize take of coastal California gnatcatcher by the Jutras 
residential development project and offset impacts to its habitat, the 
applicant proposes to mitigate for permanent impacts to 0.662 ac of 
occupied coastal California gnatcatcher habitat through the 
contribution of $54,580 for management of preserved land within the 
City of Santee. The long-term management will be carried out by the 
Endangered Habitat Conservancy and will be funded by a lump-sum initial 
contribution by the applicant. The applicant's proposed HCP also 
contains measures to minimize the effects of construction activities on 
the coastal California gnatcatcher. The clearing of DCSS will not take 
place during the gnatcatcher breeding season (defined as February 15 
through August 31) when active gnatcatcher nests are present in the 
DCSS. In the event it is not feasible to clear outside of the 
gnatcatcher breeding season, pre-construction surveys for nesting birds 
will be conducted within the week prior to initiating grading 
activities to ensure construction activities do not occur within 300 
feet of an active gnatcatcher nest. A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service-
approved biologist will conduct a training session for the grading 
contractor and will be present on site during the initial clearing and 
grubbing activities to ensure that the direct impacts are limited to 
the project footprint.

Proposed Action and Alternatives

    The proposed action consists of the issuance of an incidental take 
permit and implementation of the proposed HCP, which includes measures 
to avoid, minimize, and mitigate impacts to covered species. To comply 
with the requirements for an HCP under ESA section 10(a), alternatives 
to the project and the incidental take of coastal California 
gnatcatcher were evaluated. Under the No Action Alternative, the 
project would not be constructed, and no ITP would be issued. The 
applicant would have no use of their private property. With 
implementation of the project, the single-family home would be situated 
in the northwestern corner of the project site, as close as feasible to 
the existing home to the north and to the adjacent parcel with approved 
TM 08-04 to the west. Previous iterations of the project design with 
the home sited in the middle of the project site were considered; 
however, the impacts to Diegan coastal sage scrub were greater than 
under the current project design and would not avoid incidental take of 
the coastal California gnatcatcher. Therefore, the project is the most 
biologically conservative feasible configuration for development of a 
single-family residence on the project site.

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 gnatcatcher and the human environment. 
Therefore, we have preliminarily determined that the proposed ESA 
section 10(a)(1)(B) ITP 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 permit to the applicant for incidental 
take of coastal California gnatcatcher.

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 may 
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying 
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be 
able to do so.

Authority

    We provide this notice under section 10 of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531 
et seq.) and its implementing regulations (50 CFR 17.22 and 17.32) and 
the National Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C.

[[Page 76246]]

4321 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (40 CFR 1500-1508 and 43 
CFR 46).

Scott A. Sobiech,
Field Supervisor, Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office, Carlsbad, 
California.
[FR Doc. 2023-24404 Filed 11-3-23; 8:45 am]
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