[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 93 (Monday, May 13, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41458-41460]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-10352]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[Docket No. FWS-R8-ES-2024-0046; FF08ESMF00-245-FXES11140800000]


Azalea Hybrid Power Project Habitat Conservation Plan, Kern 
County, CA; Draft Categorical Exclusion and Draft Habitat Conservation 
Plan

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for public comments.

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SUMMARY: We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce receipt 
of an application from SF Azalea, LLC (applicant) for an incidental 
take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act.

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The applicant requests the ITP to take the federally endangered San 
Joaquin kit fox (Vulpes macrotis mutica) and giant kangaroo rat 
(Dipodomys ingens) incidental to development activities in Kern 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, which is 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 June 12, 
2024.

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-R8-ES-2024-0046 at 
https://www.regulations.gov.
    Submitting Comments: To send written comments, please use one of 
the following methods, and note that your information requests or 
comments are in reference to the draft CatEx, draft HCP, or both.
     Internet: Submit comments at https://www.regulations.gov 
under Docket No. FWS-R8-ES-2024-0046.
     U.S. Mail: Public Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No. 
FWS-R8-ES-2024-0046; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Headquarters, MS: 
PRB/3W; 5275 Leesburg Pike; Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.
    For more information, see Public Comments under SUPPLEMENTARY 
INFORMATION.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Justin Sloan, Senior Wildlife 
Biologist, San Joaquin Valley Division, Sacramento Fish and Wildlife 
Office, by phone at 916-414-6600. 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 SF Azalea, LLC for a 
35-year incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act 
of 1973, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). Application for the 
permit requires the preparation of a habitat conservation plan (HCP) 
with measures to avoid, minimize, and mitigate the impacts of 
incidental take to the maximum extent practicable. The applicant 
prepared the draft Azalea Hybrid Power Project HCP pursuant to section 
10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA.
    We also make available a draft CatEx, prepared pursuant to the 
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 
4321 et seq.), and its implementing regulations in the Code of Federal 
Regulations (CFR) at 40 CFR 1506.6. The purpose of the draft CatEx is 
to assess the effects of issuing the permit and implementing the draft 
HCP on the natural and human environment.
    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 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, 
which is also available for public review.

Background Information

    Section 9 of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531-1544 et seq.) and Federal 
regulations (50 CFR 17) prohibit the taking of fish and wildlife 
species listed as endangered or threatened under section 4 of the ESA. 
Regulations governing permits for endangered and threatened species are 
at 50 CFR 17.22 and 17.32, respectively. For more about the Federal 
habitat conservation plan (HCP) program, go to https://www.fws.gov/service/habitat-conservation-plans.

National Environmental Policy Act Compliance

    The proposed issuance of a permit triggers the need for compliance 
with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA; 
42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). The draft CatEx was prepared to analyze the 
impacts of issuing an ITP based on the draft HCP, to inform the public 
of the proposed action and associated impacts, and to disclose any 
irreversible commitments of resources.

Proposed Action

    Under the Proposed Action Alternative, the Service would issue an 
ITP to the applicant for a period of 35 years for certain covered 
activities (described below). The applicant has requested an ITP for 
two covered species, the federally endangered San Joaquin kit fox 
(Vulpes macrotis mutica) and giant kangaroo rat (Dipodomys ingens)

Habitat Conservation Plan Area

    The geographic scope of the draft HCP encompasses 560 acres in 
northwestern Kern County where the development will occur, and 210 
acres in northwestern Kern County that will be used to mitigate impacts 
from HCP covered activities.

Covered Activities

    The proposed section 10 ITP would allow incidental take of two 
covered species from covered activities in the proposed HCP area. The 
applicant is requesting incidental take authorization for covered 
activities, including site preparation, infrastructure development, 
construction, decommissioning, and management of the conservation 
easement area. The applicant is proposing to implement a number of 
project design features, including best management practices, as well 
as general and species-specific avoidance and minimization measures to 
minimize the impacts of the take from the covered activities.

Public Comments

    We request data, comments, new information, or suggestions from the 
public, other concerned governmental agencies, the scientific 
community, Tribes, industry, or any other interested party on this 
notice, the draft CatEx, and the draft HCP. We particularly seek 
comments on the following:
    1. Biological information concerning the species;
    2. Relevant data concerning the species;
    3. Additional information concerning the range, distribution, 
population size, and population trends of the species;
    4. Current or planned activities in the area and their possible 
impacts on the species;
    5. The presence of archeological sites, buildings and structures, 
historic events, sacred and traditional areas, and other historic 
preservation concerns, which are required to be considered in

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project planning by the National Historic Preservation Act; and
    6. Any other environmental issues that should be considered with 
regard to the proposed development and permit action.

Public Availability of Comments

    Before including your address, phone number, or other personal 
identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that your 
entire comment--including your personal identifying information--might 
be made publicly available at any time. While you can 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.

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 San Joaquin kit fox and giant kangaroo rat, and the 
human 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 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

    Issuance of an incidental take permit is a Federal proposed action 
subject to compliance with NEPA and section 7 of the ESA. We will 
evaluate the application, associated documents, and any public comments 
we receive as part of our NEPA compliance process to determine whether 
the application meets the requirements of section 10(a) of the ESA. If 
we determine that those requirements are met, we will conduct an intra-
Service consultation under section 7 of the ESA for the Federal action 
for the potential issuance of an ITP. If the intra-Service consultation 
confirms that issuance of the ITP will not jeopardize the continued 
existence of any endangered or threatened species, or destroy or 
adversely modify critical habitat, we will issue a permit to the 
applicant for the incidental take of the covered species.

Authority

    We provide 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 the National Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 
4321 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (40 CFR 1500-1508 and 43 
CFR 46).

Michael Fris,
Field Supervisor, Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office.
[FR Doc. 2024-10352 Filed 5-10-24; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4333-15-P