[Federal Register: June 17, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 116)]
[Notices]
[Page 34480-34481]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr17jn10-99]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R4-ES-2010-N113; 40120-1112-0000-F2]
Receipt of Application for Renewal of an Incidental Take Permit
Associated With a Low-Effect Habitat Conservation Plan; Residential
Development, Brevard County, FL
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice; request for comment.
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SUMMARY: We, the Fish and Wildlife Service, have received from David
Sime (applicant) a request for renewal of an incidental take permit
(ITP) associated with an existing habitat conservation plan (HCP),
related to the construction of a single-family home that would take
0.33 acre of suitable habitat for the threatened Florida Scrub-jay
(Aphelocoma coerulescens) in Brevard County, Florida (project).
DATES: We must receive any written comments on the ITP renewal
application at our Regional Office (see ADDRESSES) on or before July
19, 2010.
ADDRESSES: Documents will be available for public inspection by
appointment during normal business hours at the Fish and Wildlife
Service's Regional Office, 1875 Century Boulevard, Suite 200, Atlanta,
GA 30345 (Attn: Holly Herod); or at the Fish and Wildlife Service Field
Office, 7915 Baymeadows Way, Suite 200, Jacksonville, FL 32256 (Attn:
Field Supervisor).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Holly Herod, Regional Project
Manager (see ADDRESSES), telephone: 404/679-7089; or Ms. Erin Gawera,
Field Office Project Manager, at the Jacksonville Field Office (see
ADDRESSES), telephone: (904) 731-3121.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We announce our receipt of a request for
renewal of an ITP application that authorizes the loss of 0.33 acre of
suitable habitat for the Florida Scrub-jay. David Sime, the applicant,
requests a 5-year ITP under section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered
Species Act of 1973 (Act; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), as amended. The
applicant remains in compliance with all the conditions and
authorizations in the original permit (TE086774).
After our receipt of the applicant's original application, we
published a Federal Register notice making available the application
and proposed HCP for a 30-day public review and comment period (July
20, 2004; 69 FR 43429). We determined at the time that the applicant's
original proposal, including the proposed mitigation and minimization
measures, would individually and cumulatively have a minor or
negligible effect on the species covered in the HCP. Therefore, we
determined that the ITP was a ``low-effect'' project qualifying as a
categorical exclusion under the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA), as provided by the Department of Interior Manual (516 DM2
Appendix 1 and 516 DM 6 Appendix 1). We issued the applicant an ITP on
March 11, 2005, which expired on March 31, 2010. The ITP described the
mitigation and minimization measures proposed to address the effects of
the project to the Florida Scrub-jay. Since the issuance of the
original ITP, the parcel has remained undisturbed. The applicant
remains in compliance with the original ITP and HCP, and requests a 5-
year renewal of the ITP. Our proposed action is renewed issuance of the
ITP and implementation of the existing HCP as submitted by the
applicant. The HCP covers activities associated with the construction
and maintenance of a single-family home. Avoidance, minimization, and
mitigation measures include seasonal restrictions on vegetation removal
and donating funds to the Florida Scrub-jay Conservation Fund.
We specifically request information, views, and opinions from the
public via this notice on our proposed Federal action.
Public Comments
If you wish to comment, you may submit comments by any one of
several methods. Please reference TE086774-1 in such comments. You may
mail comments to the Fish and Wildlife Service's Regional Office (see
ADDRESSES). You may also comment via the Internet to holly_
herod@fws.gov. Please include your name and return address in your
Internet message. If you do not receive a confirmation from us that we
have received your Internet message, contact us directly at either
telephone number listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
Finally, you may hand-deliver comments to either of our offices
listed under ADDRESSES. Before including your address, phone number, e-
mail address,
[[Page 34481]]
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
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.
Covered Area
The area encompassed under the HCP and ITP application is a 0.33-
acre parcel of property that contains 0.33 acres of suitable, currently
undeveloped Florida Scrub-jay habitat. The Project area is located in
Brevard County, Florida. The Florida Scrub-jay is geographically
isolated from other species of scrub-jays found in Mexico and the
western United States. The Florida Scrub-jay is found exclusively in
peninsular Florida and is restricted to xeric uplands (predominately in
oak-dominated scrub).
Next Steps
We will evaluate the ITP renewal application, including the
existing HCP and any comments we receive, to determine whether the
application meets the requirements of section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Act
and our implementing regulations at 50 CFR 17.32(b). We will also
evaluate whether reissuance of the section 10(a)(1)(B) ITP complies
with section 7 of the Endangered Species Act by conducting an intra-
Service section 7 consultation. We will use the results of this
consultation, in combination with the above findings, in our final
analysis to determine whether or not to issue the ITP. If we determine
that the requirements are met, we will issue the ITP for the incidental
take of the Florida Scrub-jay.
Authority
We provide this notice under section 10 of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531
et seq.) and NEPA regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).
Dated: May 27, 2010.
Mark J. Musaus,
Acting Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 2010-14629 Filed 6-16-10; 8:45 am]
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