[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 223 (Tuesday, November 21, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 81097-81098]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-25747]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2023-0197; FXES11140400000-245-FF04EF4000]


Receipt of Incidental Take Permit Application and Proposed 
Habitat Conservation Plan for the Sand Skink and Blue-Tailed Mole 
Skink; Polk 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 Mountain Lake Corporation (Olmsted Ridge Site 
Expansion) (applicant) for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the 
Endangered Species Act. The applicant requests the ITP to take the 
federally listed sand skink (Neoseps reynoldsi) and blue-tailed mole 
skink (Eumeces egregius lividus) incidental to the construction of a 
housing development in Polk 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 December 21, 
2023.

ADDRESSES: 
    Obtaining Documents: You may obtain copies of the documents online 
in Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2023-0197 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-2023-0197;
     U.S. mail: Public Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No. 
FWS-R4-ES-2023-0197; 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 Mountain Lake Corporation 
(Olmsted Ridge Site Expansion) (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 
federally listed sand skinks (Neoseps reynoldsi) and blue-tailed mole 
skinks (Eumeces egregius lividus) (skinks) incidental to the 
construction and operation of a housing development in Polk County, 
Florida. 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

    The applicant requests a 5-year ITP to take skinks via the 
conversion of approximately 11 acres (ac) of occupied nesting, 
foraging, and sheltering skink habitat incidental to the construction 
and operation of a housing development

[[Page 81098]]

on 63.7 ac on Parcel ID: 272922866300005010 in Section 22, Township 29 
S, Range 27 E, Polk County, Florida. The applicant proposes to mitigate 
for take of the skinks by purchasing credits equivalent to 22 ac of 
skink-occupied habitat within the Lake Wales Ridge Conservation Bank or 
another Service-approved conservation bank. The Service would require 
the applicant to purchase the credits prior to engaging in any 
construction phase of the project.

Our Preliminary Determination

    The Service has made a preliminary determination that the 
applicant's proposed project, including the construction of the 
buildings and associated infrastructure (e.g., electric, water, and 
sewer lines), would individually and cumulatively have a minor effect 
on the skinks 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 skinks 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 PER 2875481 to Mountain Lake 
Corporation (Olmsted Ridge Site Expansion).

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. 2023-25747 Filed 11-20-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P