[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 221 (Friday, November 17, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 80332-80333]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-25435]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2023-0195; FXES11140400000-245-FF04EA1000]


Receipt of Incidental Take Permit Application and Proposed 
Habitat Conservation Plan for the Alabama Beach Mouse, Baldwin County, 
AL; Categorical Exclusion

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce receipt 
of an application from Christopher Johnson and Gator Wood Properties, 
LLC (applicants) for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the 
Endangered Species Act. The applicants request the ITP to take the 
federally listed Alabama beach mouse (Peromyscus polionotus ammobates) 
incidental to construction of a multi-family development in Gulf 
Shores, Baldwin County, Alabama. We request public comment on the 
application, which includes the applicants' 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 18, 
2023.

ADDRESSES: 
    Obtaining Documents: You may obtain copies of the documents online 
in Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2023-0195 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-2023-0195.
     U.S. mail: Public Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No. 
FWS-R4-ES-2023-0195; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: PRB/3W, 5275 
Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Erin Lentz, Project Manager, by 
telephone at 251-298-3853 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 Christopher Johnson and Gator 
Wood Properties, 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 Alabama beach mouse (Peromyscus polionotus ammobates) (ABM) 
incidental to the construction of a 29-unit multi-family development 
(project) in Gulf Shores, Baldwin County, Alabama. We request public 
comment on the application, which includes the applicants' proposed 
habitat conservation plan (HCP), and 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

[[Page 80333]]

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 50-year ITP to take ABM by converting 
approximately 1.24 acre (ac) of occupied ABM foraging and sheltering 
habitat incidental to the construction of a 29-unit multifamily 
development located on two parcels totaling 1.50 ac in Baldwin County, 
Alabama. The western parcel has already been developed (0.26 ac) and 
the remaining portion of the project area (1.24 ac) is ABM habitat. 
Even though the parcels consist of highly degraded secondary dune 
habitat, it is occupied by ABM. The applicants proposed to mitigate for 
the take of the ABM through a contribution to the City of Gulf Shores 
Dune Enhancement Fund at a rate of $250 per unit ($7,250 annually) for 
the life of the permit (50 years). Contributions to the Gulf Shores 
Dune Enhancement Fund are directed towards the maintenance of suitable 
dune habitat for the ABM within the Gulf Shores City jurisdiction.

Our Preliminary Determination

    The Service has made a preliminary determination that the 
applicants' project, including land clearing, infrastructure building, 
landscaping, and the proposed mitigation and minimization measures, 
would individually and cumulatively have a minor effect on the Alabama 
beach mouse 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 Alabama beach mouse 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 received 
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 on the species. We will 
consider all of the above in determining whether the permit issuance 
criteria of section 10(a)(l)(B) of the ESA have been met. If met, the 
Service will issue ITP number PER4215073 to Christopher Johnson and 
Gator Wood Properties, LLC.

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).

William J. Pearson,
Field Supervisor, Alabama Ecological Service Field Office.
[FR Doc. 2023-25435 Filed 11-16-23; 8:45 am]
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