[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 132 (Wednesday, July 10, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56773-56775]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-15089]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[Docket No. FWS-R8-ES-2024-0076; FF08ESMF00-245-FXES11140800000]


Pelicans Jaw Hybrid Solar Project, 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 Pelicans Jaw Solar, LLC (applicant) for an 
incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act. The 
applicant requests the ITP to take the federally listed San Joaquin kit 
fox and blunt-nosed leopard lizard, as well as two other unlisted 
species should they become listed,

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incidental to development activities in Kern County, California. We 
request public comment on the application, which includes the 
applicant's proposed habitat conservation plan, 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 August 9, 
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-
0076 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.
     Internet: Submit comments at https://www.regulations.gov 
under Docket No. FWS-R8-ES-2024-0076.
     U.S. Mail: Public Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No. 
FWS-R8-ES-2024-0076; 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, San Joaquin Valley 
Division Supervisor, 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 Pelicans Jaw Solar, 
LLC (applicant) for a 39-year 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 endangered 
San Joaquin kit fox (Vulpes macrotis mutica) and blunt-nosed leopard 
lizard (Gambelia sila) incidental to development activities in Kern 
County, California. The ITP would also cover the proposed threatened 
western spadefoot (Spea hammondii) and unlisted burrowing owl (Athene 
cunicularia), should either species become federally listed during the 
term of the habitat conservation plan (HCP). We request public comment 
on the application, which includes the applicant's 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.

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.

Proposed Action

    Under the Proposed Action, the Service would issue an ITP to the 
applicant for a period of 39 years for certain covered activities 
(described below). The applicant has requested an ITP for the federally 
endangered San Joaquin kit fox (Vulpes macrotis mutica) and blunt-nosed 
leopard lizard (Gambelia sila). The ITP would also cover the proposed 
threatened western spadefoot (Spea hammondii) and unlisted burrowing 
owl (Athene cunicularia), should either become federally listed during 
the term of the HCP.

Habitat Conservation Plan Area

    The geographic scope of the draft HCP encompasses 3,260 acres (ac) 
in northwestern Kern County where the development will occur, and 3,993 
ac 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 the 
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, operations and maintenance, and decommissioning. 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. We 
particularly seek comments on the following:
     Biological information concerning the species.
     Relevant data concerning the species.
     Additional information concerning the range, distribution, 
population size, and population trends of the species.
     Current or planned activities in the area and their 
possible impacts on the species.
     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 
project planning by the National Historic Preservation Act.
     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 covered species and the human

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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 reasonably 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. 2024-15089 Filed 7-9-24; 8:45 am]
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