[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 121 (Monday, June 24, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52493-52494]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-13753]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2024-0085; FXES11140400000-245-FF04EF4000]


Receipt of Incidental Take Permit Application and Proposed 
Habitat Conservation Plan for the Sand 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 Vivek Investment Corporation (Watersong Phase 
III) (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 bluetail mole skink (skinks) 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 July 24, 
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-R4-ES-2024-0085 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-2024-0085.
     U.S. mail: Public Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No. 
FWS-R4-ES-2024-0085; 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 904-404-2464, 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 Vivek Investment Corporation 
(Watersong Phase III) (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 bluetail mole skink (Eumeces 
egregius lividus) (skinks), both of which are listed as threatened 
under the ESA, 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 10-year ITP to take skinks via the 
conversion of approximately 1.82 acres (ac) of occupied nesting, 
foraging, and sheltering skink habitat incidental to the construction 
and operation of a residential development on 102.99 ac on

[[Page 52494]]

Parcel 27-26-24-706192-002760 in Section 24, Township 26 S, Range 27 E, 
Polk County, Florida. The applicant proposes to mitigate for take of 
the skinks by purchasing credits equivalent to 3.62 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 phase of 
the project.

Our Preliminary Determination

    The Service has made a preliminary determination that the 
applicant's 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 PER6735377 to Vivek Investment 
Corporation (Watersong Phase III).

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. If you submit a comment at https://www.regulations.gov, your entire comment, including any personal 
identifying information, will be posted on the website. If you submit a 
hardcopy comment that includes personal identifying information, such 
as your address, phone number, or email address, you may request at the 
top of your document that we withhold this information from public 
review. However, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. 
Moreover, all submissions from organizations or businesses, and from 
individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials of 
organizations or businesses, will be made available for public 
disclosure in their entirety.

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 parts 
1500-1508 and 43 CFR part 46).

Robert L. Carey,
Manager, Division of Environmental Review, Florida Ecological Services 
Field Office.
[FR Doc. 2024-13753 Filed 6-21-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P