[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 173 (Friday, September 6, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72882-72883]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-20084]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2024-0134; FXES11140400000-245-FF04EF4000]


Receipt of Incidental Take Permit Application and Proposed 
Habitat Conservation Plan for the Audubon's Crested Caracara; Hardee 
County, FL; Categorical Exclusion

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce receipt 
of an application from Mosaic Fertilizer, LLC (applicant) for an 
incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act. The 
applicant requests the ITP to take a portion of the breeding territory 
of the federally listed crested caracara (Audubon's) [FL DPS] (Caracara 
plancus audubonii) incidental to the construction and operation of a 
phosphate mine in Hardee 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 October 7, 
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-2024-0134 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-2024-0134.
     U.S. mail: Public Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No. 
FWS-R4-

[[Page 72883]]

ES-2024-0134; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: PRB/3W, 5275 Leesburg 
Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Al Begazo, by U.S. mail (see 
ADDRESSES), by telephone at 772-226-8134, 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 Mosaic Fertilizer, LLC 
(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 crested caracara (Audubon's) [FL 
DPS] (Caracara plancus audubonii) (caracara), federally listed as 
threatened under the ESA, incidental to the construction and operation 
of a phosphate mine in Hardee County, Florida. We request public 
comments 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 part 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 approximately 42.7 
acres (ac) of the 70-ac primary zone of a caracara breeding territory 
incidental to the construction and operation of a phosphate mine on a 
4,386.1-ac parcel in Hardee County. The primary zone of a caracara 
breeding pair is considered of vital importance for breeding success. 
The project site is located east of the South Fort Meade Mine and north 
of State Road 64, in sections 1-4 and 12-14, Township 33 South, Range 
26 East, sections 5, 6, 8, 9, 14-16, 21-23, and 26-28, Township 33 
South, and Range 27 East, at Latitude 27[deg]36'10.1''/longitude 
81[deg]36'1.4'', Hardee County, Florida. The applicant proposes to 
minimize disturbance on nesting caracaras by conducting all mining 
activities within the 70-ac primary zone during the non-breeding 
season. To mitigate for the 47-ac portion of unavoidable impacts on the 
caracara's primary zone, the applicant proposes to donate $38,000 to 
restore 70 ac of caracara habitat per the Service's Audubon's crested 
caracara conservation guidelines.

Our Preliminary Determination

    The Service has made a preliminary determination that the 
applicant's proposed project, including the construction and operation 
of a phosphate mine and associated infrastructure, would individually 
and cumulatively have a minor effect on the caracara 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 caracara 
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

    The Service will evaluate the application and the comments to 
determine whether to issue the requested ITP. 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 PER11778402 to Mosaic Fertilizer, LLC.

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 1500-
1508 and 43 CFR 46).

Robert L. Carey,
Manager, Division of Environmental Review, Florida Ecological Services 
Field Office.
[FR Doc. 2024-20084 Filed 9-5-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P