[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 129 (Friday, July 5, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55652-55653]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-14757]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[Docket No. FWS-R3-ES-2024-0088; FXES11140300000-245-FF03E00000]


Draft Environmental Assessment and Proposed Habitat Conservation 
Plan; Receipt of an Application for an Amended Incidental Take Permit, 
Cardinal Point Wind Project, McDonough and Warren Counties, Illinois

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comment and information.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), have 
received an application from Cardinal Point Wind Farm, LLC (applicant), 
to amend its existing incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered 
Species Act, for its Cardinal Point Wind Project (project). The 
applicant requests that the ITP be amended to include an increased take 
authorization for the tricolored bat. We request public comment on the 
application, which includes the applicant's revised HCP, and the 
Service's draft supplemental environmental assessment, prepared 
pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act. The Service provides 
this notice to seek comments from the public and Federal, Tribal, 
State, and local governments.

DATES: We will accept comments received or postmarked on or before 
August 5, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Obtaining Documents: Electronic copies of the documents this 
notice announces, along with public comments received, will be 
available online in Docket No. FWS-R3-ES-2024-0088 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-R3-ES-2024-0088.
     U.S. mail: Public Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No. 
FWS-R3-ES-2024-0088; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; 5275 Leesburg 
Pike, MS: PRB/3W; Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kraig McPeek, Field Supervisor, 
Illinois-Iowa Ecological Services Field Office, by email at 
[email protected] or by telephone at 309-757-5800, extension 202; or 
Andrew Horton, Regional HCP Coordinator, by email at 
[email protected] or by telephone at 612-713-5337. 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), have received an application from Cardinal Point Wind Farm, 
LLC (applicant), to amend its existing incidental take permit (ITP) for 
four bat species under the Endangered Species Act, for its Cardinal 
Point Wind Project (project). The applicant requests that the ITP be 
amended to include an increased take authorization for the tricolored 
bat. The taking will be incidental to the otherwise lawful activities 
associated with the project. The applicant will continue the original 
conservation program to minimize and mitigate for the unavoidable 
incidental take as described in their habitat conservation plan (HCP) 
and will now include additional mitigation for the tricolored bat as 
well as updated adaptive management measures. The Service requests 
public comment on the application, which includes the applicant's 
revised HCP, and the Service's draft supplemental environmental 
assessment, prepared pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act. 
The Service provides this notice to seek comments from the public and 
Federal, Tribal, State, and local governments.

Background

    Section 9 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA; 
16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), and its implementing regulations prohibit the 
``take'' of animal species listed as endangered or threatened. Take is 
defined under the ESA as to ``harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, 
kill, trap, capture, or collect ``listed animal species,'' or to 
attempt to engage in such conduct'' (16 U.S.C. 1538). However, under 
section 10(a) of the ESA, we may issue permits to authorize incidental 
take of listed species. ``Incidental take'' is defined by the ESA as 
take 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, respectively, are found 
in the Code of Federal Regulations at 50 CFR 17.22 and 50 CFR 17.32.
    On June 27, 2023, we published a Federal Register notice announcing 
receipt of an application for an ITP from the applicant, and opened a 
30-day comment period, which ended on July 27, 2023 (88 FR 41655). 
After determining that the application met the requirements of section 
10(a) of the ESA and evaluating the effects of the proposed take 
pursuant to section 7 of the ESA. we determined that the permit 
issuance criteria of section 10(a)(l)(B) of the ESA were met and issued 
the requested ITP.

Applicant's Proposed Project

    The applicant requests an amendment to the existing ITP for take of 
the federally endangered Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis), federally 
endangered northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis), the 
tricolored bat (Perimyotis subflavus; proposed for listing) and the 
unlisted little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus). The applicant determined 
through post-permit monitoring that take of tricolored bats at the 60-
turbine wind project is very likely to exceed their currently permitted 
level; therefore, they are requesting a revised take authorization for 
this species only. The currently authorized take rate for the 
tricolored bat is 3 per year for the 6-year permit duration, for a 
total authorized ITP take of 18. The new requested take rate for the 
tricolored bat is 25 per year for the permit duration, to reflect 
changes to the project, bringing the total authorized ITP take to 150.
    The Service requests public comments on the permit application, 
which includes an amended HCP, and a supplemental EA prepared in 
accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 
4321 et seq.).
    The applicant's HCP and amendments describe the activities that 
will be undertaken to implement the project, as well as the mitigation 
and minimization measures proposed to address the impacts to the 
covered species. Pursuant to NEPA, the supplemental EA analyzes the 
impacts the ITP amendment would

[[Page 55653]]

have on the tricolored bat and the environment.

National Environmental Policy Act

    The issuance of an ITP is a Federal action that triggers the need 
for compliance with NEPA. We prepared a draft supplemental EA that 
analyzes the environmental impacts on the human environment resulting 
from two alternatives: A no-action alternative, and the applicant's 
proposed action of amending the ITP.

Request for Public Comments

    The Service invites comments and suggestions from all interested 
parties during a 30-day public comment period (see DATES). In 
particular, information and comments regarding the following topics are 
requested:
    1. The direct, indirect, or cumulative effects that implementation 
of any alternative could have on the human environment;
    2. Whether or not the significance of the impact on various aspects 
of the human environment has been adequately analyzed; and
    3. Any other information pertinent to evaluating the effects of the 
proposed action on the human environment.

Availability of Public Comments

    You may submit comments by one of the methods shown under 
ADDRESSES. We will post on https://regulations.gov all public comments 
and information received electronically or via hardcopy. All comments 
received, including names and addresses, will become part of the 
administrative record associated with this action. 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 request in your 
comment that we withhold your personal identifying information from 
public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. 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.

Next Steps

    The Service will evaluate the permit amendment application and the 
comments received to determine whether the application meets the 
requirements of section 10(a) of the ESA. We will also reinitiate our 
intra-Service consultation pursuant to section 7 of the ESA to evaluate 
the effects of the proposed changes. After considering the above 
findings, we will determine whether the permit issuance criteria of 
section 10(a)(l)(B) of the ESA have been met. If met, the Service will 
issue the requested amended ITP to the applicant.

Authority

    We provide this notice under section 10(c) of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 
1531 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (50 CFR 17.22) and the 
NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (40 CFR 
1506.6; 43 CFR part 46).

Lori Nordstrom,
Assistant Regional Director, Ecological Services.
[FR Doc. 2024-14757 Filed 7-3-24; 8:45 am]
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