[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 225 (Friday, November 24, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 82394-82395]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-25949]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2023-0221; FXES1114040000-245-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 Vistas at Davenport, LLC (applicant) for an 
incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act. The 
applicant requests the ITP to take the federally listed sand skink and 
blue-tailed mole skink incidental to the construction of a residential 
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 26, 
2023.

ADDRESSES: Obtaining Documents: The documents this notice announces, as 
well as any comments and other materials that we receive, will be 
available for public inspection online in Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2023-
0221 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-2023-0221.
     U.S. mail: Public Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No. 
FWS-R4-ES-2023-0221; U.S. Fish and Wildlife

[[Page 82395]]

Service, MS: PRB/3W, 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alfredo Begazo, by U.S. mail (see 
ADDRESSES), by telephone at 772-469-4234, 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 Vistas at Davenport, LLC 
(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 the federally listed sand skink 
(Neoseps reynoldsi) and blue-tailed mole-skink (Eumeces egregius 
lividus) (skinks) incidental to the construction and operation of a 
residential 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 15-year ITP to take skinks via the 
conversion of approximately 6.71 acres (ac) of occupied nesting, 
foraging, and sheltering skink habitat incidental to the construction 
and operation of a residential development on a 56.5-ac parcel in 
Sections 23 and 24, Township 26 South, Range 27 East in Polk County, 
Florida. The applicant proposes to mitigate for take of the skinks by 
purchasing credits equivalent to 13.42 ac of skink-occupied habitat 
from a 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 project, including the construction of multiple single-
family residences, driveways, parking spaces, green areas, stormwater 
pond, and associated infrastructure (e.g., electric, water, and sewer 
lines), would individually and cumulatively have a minor or negligible 
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 ITP is one that would result in (1) 
minor or negligible 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 PER5062905 to Vistas at 
Davenport, 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).

Robert L. Carey,
Manager, Division of Environmental Review, Florida Ecological Services 
Field Office.
[FR Doc. 2023-25949 Filed 11-22-23; 8:45 am]
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