[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 141 (Friday, July 22, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44036-44038]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-18509]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R8-ES-2011-N143; 1112-0000-81420-F2]
Proposed Low-Effect Habitat Conservation Plan for the California
Tiger Salamander, AT&T Portable Generator Storage Facility, Yolo
County, CA
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comment.
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SUMMARY: We, the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have received an
application from the AT&T Services, Inc. (applicant) for a 10-year
incidental take permit under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as
amended (Act). The application addresses the potential for ``take'' of
one Federally listed animal, the California tiger salamander. The
applicant would implement a conservation program to minimize and
mitigate the project activities, as described in applicant's low-effect
habitat conservation plan (Plan). We request comments on the
applicant's application and plan, and the preliminary determination
that the plan qualifies as a ``low-effect'' habitat conservation plan,
eligible for a Categorical Exclusion under the National Environmental
Policy Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA). We discuss our basis for this
determination in our environmental action statement (EAS), also
available for public review.
DATES: We must receive written comments on or before August 22, 2011.
ADDRESSES: Please address written comments to Jason Hanni, Fish and
Wildlife Biologist, Fish and Wildlife Service, Sacramento Fish and
Wildlife Office, 2800 Cottage Way, W-2605, Sacramento, CA 95825.
Alternatively, you may send comments by facsimile to (916) 414-6713.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mike Thomas, Chief, Conservation
Planning Division, or Eric Tattersall, Deputy Assistant Field
Supervisor/Division Chief, Conservation Planning and Recovery, at the
address shown above or at (916) 414-6600 (telephone).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Availability of Documents
You may obtain copies of the permit application, plan, and EAS from
the individuals in FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. Copies of these
documents are available for public inspection, by appointment, during
regular business hours, at the Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office (see
ADDRESSES).
Public Availability of Comments
Before including your address, phone number, e-mail 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
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.
Background Information
Section 9 of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and its implementing
Federal regulations prohibit the ``take'' of fish or wildlife species
listed as endangered or threatened. ``Take'' is defined under the Act
to include the following activities: To harass, harm, pursue, hunt,
shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture or collect listed animal species, or
to attempt to engage in such conduct. However, under section
10(a)(1)(B) of the Act, we may issue permits to authorize incidental
take of listed species. ``Incidental take'' is defined by the Act as
take that is incidental to, and not the purpose of, carrying out an
otherwise
[[Page 44037]]
lawful activity. Regulations governing incidental take permits for
endangered and threatened species, respectively, are in the Code of
Federal Regulations (CFR) at 50 CFR 17.22 and 50 CFR 17.32. All species
included in the incidental take permit would receive assurances under
our ``No Surprises'' regulations (50 CFR 17.22(b)(5) and 17.32(b)(5)).
The applicant seeks an incident take permit for indirect effects
within 1.57 acres (1.24 acres permanent, plus 0.33 acres temporary) of
grasslands associated with the construction of a portable generator
storage facility located at 26120 County Road 6, Dunnigan, CA 95937, in
Yolo County, California. AT&T would permanently convert 1.24 acres of
upland grassland habitat for the California tiger salamander into a new
storage facility for portable generators within the undeveloped portion
of a 45-acre parcel. The Applicant currently owns and manages the 45-
acre parcel, including an existing cellular communications facility.
The applicant is requesting a permit for take of one animal species
Federally listed as threatened: The Central Distinct Population Segment
(DPS) of the California tiger salamander (Ambystoma californiense)
(salamander, or ``Covered Species'').
The following action is proposed as the ``Covered Activities''
under the plan: Construction of the portable generator storage facility
in order to store portable generators. The storage facility consists of
a metal building, with approximate dimensions of 100 feet 6 inches by
251 feet, immediately north and adjacent to the existing paved surface,
to allow on-site storage of 50 portable 40-kw diesel generators and 175
portable 5-kw diesel generators. These 225 generators would be stored
on trailers, but would not be connected to a power source. The
building, which would have an east-west orientation, would include
vertical support columns spaced 25 feet apart on center along the 251-
foot dimension and at each corner, to support the roof. There would be
open sidewalls to allow trailers to be easily moved in and out by
forklifts or similar equipment. A 45-foot-wide asphalt driveway would
surround the building on all four sides to provide access to the
building by forklifts. The storage facility would be located within a
45-acre parcel along side an existing telecommunications facility. The
existing telecommunications facility occupies approximately 9 acres and
includes several concrete buildings surrounded by a paved asphalt
parking lot, storm water detention ponds, and an existing
telecommunications array. The undeveloped portion of the 45-acre parcel
(approximately 36 acres) consists mainly of disturbed annual grassland
that is currently used for grazing. Three adult salamanders were
observed on the developed portion of the AT&T facility on October 25
and 29, 2010. In addition, several salamander larvae were observed in
the seasonal wetland, west of the developed portion of the project
site, on April 15 and 30, 2011.
The applicant proposes to avoid, minimize, and mitigate the effects
to the Covered Species associated with the Covered Activities by fully
implementing the Plan. The following mitigation measures will be
implemented:
Purchase of 3.72 upland salamander credits at a Service-
approved conservation bank;
Installation of exclusion fencing during the winter of
2011 with regular monitoring;
Relocation of any salamanders trapped within the work zone
to a safe area outside the development area;
Mowing of all grassland vegetation within the project
footprint prior to any grading, in order to uncover potential burrows
that may be in use by salamanders;
Survey of all potential burrows and crevices within the
construction footprint, and hand excavation of any salamanders observed
within these burrows;
Environmental awareness training to all workers;
Prohibition of night construction activities;
Restricted speed limits on the main access road to less
than 15 miles per hour during the salamander migration season;
Implementation of standard erosion-control measures around
seasonal wetlands down slope of the construction site; and
Presence of an available qualified individual on site
during the initial stages of construction and earthmoving activities to
handle and relocate salamanders if any are found.
Alternatives
Our proposed action is approving the applicant's plan and issuing
an incidental take permit for the applicant's Covered Activities. As
required by the Act, the applicant's plan considers alternatives to the
take under the proposed action. The plan considers the environmental
consequences of three alternatives to the proposed action: A No Action
alternative, an Alternative Configuration Alternative, and an Off-Site
Alternative.
Under the No Action Alternative, we would not issue a permit, and
the emergency generator storage facility would not be constructed. The
proposed building site would remain undeveloped, although it lies
immediately adjacent to the developed portion of the existing facility.
AT&T would not be able to store all needed portable generators at this
facility, which would result in delays in restoring telecommunications
systems following a disaster. For these reasons, the No-Action
Alternative has been rejected.
The Alternative Configuration Alternative would have involved
approximately 600 cubic yards (cy) of cut and 6,200 cy of fill,
requiring the import of 5,600 cy of soil. This alternative would have
resulted in greater impacts to the salamander over the Proposed Action,
and was therefore rejected.
Under the Off-Site Alternative, AT&T considered construction of the
storage facility at three other sites in northern California. These
include sites in Rocklin, Manteca, and Richmond, California. Both the
Rocklin and Manteca sites were rejected due to the presence of other
Federally listed species, including vernal pool fairy shrimp
(Branchinecta lynchi) and California red legged frog (Rana draytonii),
which have more restricted ranges than the salamander. AT&T had
previously proposed plans for a fleet yard on the Richmond property;
however, these were denied by local agencies due to noise and traffic
concerns, making it likely that the Proposed Action would also be
rejected. In addition, the Richmond site is not as centrally located as
the Dunnigan property. For these reasons the Off-Site Alternative was
rejected.
Under the proposed action alternative, we would issue an incidental
take permit for the applicant's proposed project, which includes the
activities described above and in more detail in the Plan. The proposed
project is expected to result in the permanent loss of 1.24 acres of
upland grassland habitat and temporary loss of 0.33 acres of grassland
habitat for the California tiger salamander. To mitigate these effects,
the applicant proposes to purchase 3.72 upland salamander credits at a
Service-approved conservation bank.
National Environmental Policy Act
As described in our EAS, we have made the preliminary determination
that approval of the proposed plan and issuance of the permit would
qualify as a categorical exclusion under NEPA (42
[[Page 44038]]
U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), as provided by Federal regulations (40 CFR Part
1500, 5(k), 1507.3(b)(2), 1508.4) and the Department of the Interior
Manual (516 DM 2 and 516 DM 8). Our EAS found that the proposed plan
qualifies as a ``low-effect'' habitat conservation plan, as defined by
our Habitat Conservation Planning Handbook (November 1996).
Determination of low-effect habitat conservation plans is based on the
following three criteria: (1) Implementation of the proposed plan would
result in minor or negligible effects on Federally listed, proposed,
and candidate species and their habitats; (2) implementation of the
proposed plan would result in minor or negligible effects on other
environmental values or resources; and (3) impacts of the plan,
considered together with the impacts of other past, present, and
reasonably foreseeable similarly situated projects, would not result,
over time, in cumulative effects to environmental values or resources
that would be considered significant. Based upon the preliminary
determinations in the EAS, we do not intend to prepare further NEPA
documentation. We will consider public comments when making the final
determination on whether to prepare an additional NEPA document on the
proposed action.
Public Review
We provide this notice pursuant to section 10(c) of the Act and the
NEPA public-involvement regulations (40 CFR 1500.1(b), 1500.2(d), and
1506.6). We will evaluate the permit application, including the plan
and comments we receive, to determine whether the application meets the
requirements of section 10(a) of the Act. If the requirements are met,
we will issue a permit to the applicant for the incidental take of the
Central Distinct Population Segment (DPS) of the California tiger
salamander from the implementation of the Covered Activities described
in the Low-effect Habitat Conservation Plan, for the California tiger
salamander, for the AT&T Portable Generator Storage Facility, Yolo
County, California. We will make the final permit decision no sooner
than 30 days after the date of this notice.
Dated: July 15, 2011.
Susan K. Moore,
Field Supervisor, Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office, Sacramento,
California.
[FR Doc. 2011-18509 Filed 7-21-11; 8:45 am]
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