[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 249 (Friday, December 29, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 90195-90196]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-28719]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R8-ES-2023-0191; FXES11140800000-234-FF08ESMF00]


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Draft Habitat 
Conservation Plan and Draft Environmental Assessment; Sacramento 
Municipal Utility District Operations, Maintenance, and New 
Construction Habitat Conservation Plan, Sacramento County, CA

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 Sacramento Municipal Utility District 
(applicant) for an incidental take permit (permit) under the Endangered 
Species Act and an accompanying draft habitat conservation plan (plan). 
We also announce the availability of a draft environmental assessment 
pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act. We request public 
comment on the application, which includes the applicant's proposed 
plan, and the Service's draft environmental assessment. We invite 
comment from the public and local, State, Tribal, and Federal agencies.

DATES: We must receive your written comments on or before January 29, 
2024.

ADDRESSES: 
    Obtaining Documents: The documents this notice announces, as well 
as any comments and other materials that we

[[Page 90196]]

receive, will be available for public inspection online in Docket No. 
FWS-R8-ES-2023-0191 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-R8-ES-2023-0191.
     U.S. mail: Public Comments Processing; Attn: Docket No. 
FWS-R8-ES-2023-0191; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; MS: PRB/3W; 5275 
Leesburg Pike; Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ian Perkins-Taylor, Fish and Wildlife 
Biologist, [email protected] (by email), or at the Sacramento 
Fish and Wildlife office (by telephone at 916-414-6585). 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), announce receipt of an application from Sacramento Municipal 
Utility District (SMUD; applicant) for a 30-year Permit under the 
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et 
seq.). In support of the application, the applicant prepared a draft 
habitat conservation plan (plan) pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(B) of the 
Act. The plan includes seven covered species that are all federally 
listed as threatened or endangered under the Act. These species 
comprise five animals and two plants: California tiger salamander 
(Ambystoma californiense) Central California distinct population 
segment; giant garter snake (Thamnophis gigas); valley elderberry 
longhorn beetle (Desmocerus californicus dimorphus); vernal pool fairy 
shrimp (Branchinecta lynchi); vernal pool tadpole shrimp (Lepidurus 
packardi); Sacramento Orcutt grass (Orcuttia viscida); and slender 
Orcutt grass (Orcuttia tenuis). The plan also includes a conservation 
strategy to avoid, minimize, and mitigate for covered activities. The 
applicant requests the permit for incidental take of the five covered 
animal species incidental to the applicant's ongoing operations and 
maintenance activities for the applicant's energy infrastructure in 
Sacramento County and surrounding areas, as well as new construction 
activities associated with providing energy to its users in Sacramento 
County, California.

Background

    Section 9 of the Act prohibits ``take'' of fish and wildlife 
species listed as endangered (16 U.S.C. 1538), where take is defined to 
include the following activities: ``to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, 
shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or to attempt to engage 
in any such conduct'' (16 U.S.C. 1532). Under section 10(a)(1)(B) of 
the Act (16 U.S.C. 1539(a)(1)(B)), we may issue permits to authorize 
take of listed fish and wildlife species that is incidental to, and not 
the purpose of, carrying out an otherwise lawful activity. Regulations 
governing incidental take permits for endangered and threatened species 
are in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) at 50 CFR 17.22 and 17.32, 
respectively. Issuance of a permit also must not jeopardize the 
existence of federally listed fish, wildlife, or plant species. The 
permittee would receive assurances under our ``No Surprises'' 
regulations (50 CFR 17.22(b)(5) and 17.32(b)(5)).

Applicant's Proposed Activities

    As described in the applicant's draft plan, the applicant is 
proposing to conduct various activities necessary for the ongoing 
operations and maintenance of the applicant's energy infrastructure in 
Sacramento County and surrounding areas, as well as some construction 
of new energy infrastructure to replace or supplement the existing 
infrastructure. All seven covered species have known occurrences and 
suitable habitat present within or near the locations where these 
activities would occur. Therefore, take of the five covered animal 
species and adverse effects to the two covered plant species could 
occur in association with the proposed activities. The plan includes a 
conservation strategy to avoid, minimize, and mitigate impacts to 
covered species from the proposed activities. Avoidance and 
minimization measures for the covered species will reduce the impacts 
to covered species, and the applicant will mitigate for the remaining 
unavoidable impacts.

National Environmental Policy Act Compliance

    The draft environmental assessment was prepared to analyze the 
impacts of issuing a permit based on the plan and to inform the public 
of the proposed action, alternatives, and associated impacts and 
disclose any irreversible commitments of resources. The proposed permit 
issuance triggers the need for compliance with the National 
Environmental Policy Act. The proposed action presented in the draft 
environmental assessment is compared to the no-action alternative. The 
no-action alternative represents estimated future conditions to which 
the proposed action's estimated future conditions can be compared. The 
Service also considered eight other alternatives, but these were 
eliminated from further consideration because they did not meet the 
purpose and need of the proposed action or the applicant's objectives.

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 Act 
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 Act have been met. If 
met, the Service will issue the permit.

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 can 
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying 
information from public view, 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 17.22 and 17.32) and the National Environmental 
Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and its implementing regulations 
(40 CFR 1500-1508) and the Department of the Interior's National 
Environmental Policy Act regulations (43 CFR 46).

Michael Fris,
Field Supervisor, Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office, Sacramento, 
California.
[FR Doc. 2023-28719 Filed 12-28-23; 8:45 am]
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