[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 136 (Wednesday, July 16, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41592-41593]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-16721]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R4-ES-2014-N094; 40120-1112-0000-F2]
Incidental Take Permit and Environmental Assessment for Erosion
Armoring and Beachfront Activities Regulated by the Walton County Board
of County Commissioners in Walton County, Florida
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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[[Page 41593]]
SUMMARY: Under the Endangered Species Act (Act), we, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, announce the receipt and availability of a proposed
habitat conservation plan (HCP) and accompanying documents for
beachfront activities regulated by the Walton County Board of
Commissioners (applicant), which would take the loggerhead sea turtle,
green sea turtle, leatherback sea turtle, Kemp's ridley sea turtle,
piping plover, and Choctawhatchee beach mouse, incidental to activities
as conducted or permitted by the applicant in Walton County, Florida.
We invite public comments on these documents.
DATES: We must receive any written comments at our Regional Office (see
ADDRESSES) on or before September 15, 2014.
ADDRESSES: Documents are 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;
or Ecological Services Field Office, Fish and Wildlife Service, 1601
Balboa Avenue, Panama City, FL 32405.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. David Dell, Regional HCP
Coordinator, (see ADDRESSES), telephone: 404-679-7313; or Ms. Kristi
Yanchis, Field Office Project Manager, at the Panama City Field Office
(see ADDRESSES), telephone: 850-769-0552.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We announce the availability of the proposed
HCP, incidental take permit (ITP) application, and an environmental
assessment (EA), which analyze the take of loggerhead sea turtle
(Caretta caretta), green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas), leatherback sea
turtle (Dermochelys coriacea), Kemp's ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys
kempii), the nonbreeding piping plover (Charadrius melodus), and the
Choctawhatchee beach mouse (Peromyscus polionotus allophrys),
incidental to activities as conducted or permitted by the applicant.
The applicant requests a 25-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's HCP describes the mitigation and minimization
measures proposed to address the impacts to the species.
We specifically request scientific or technical information, views,
and opinions from the public via this notice on our proposed Federal
action, including identification of any other aspects of the human
environment not already identified in the EA pursuant to National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations in the Code of Federal
Regulations (CFR) at 40 CFR 1506.6. Further, we specifically solicit
information regarding the adequacy of the HCP per 50 CFR parts 13 and
17.
The EA assesses the likely environmental impacts associated with
the implementation of the activities, including the environmental
consequences of the no-action alternative and the proposed action. The
proposed action alternative is issuance of the ITP and implementation
of the HCP as submitted by the applicant. The HCP covers activities
conducted or permitted by the applicant, and includes installation of
beachfront armoring (temporary or permanent); beach crossovers at
public access points; County and public beach driving and vehicular
beach access-related activities; sale or rental of merchandise,
services, goods, or property by beach vendors, as permitted by Walton
County; and beach placement of temporary vending equipment storage
boxes. Avoidance, minimization, and mitigation measures include:
Providing a process for the permitting and implementation of emergency
armoring measures initiated under the County's permitting authority;
developing and implementing guidelines to minimize disturbances to sea
turtles and their nests, shorebirds, and beach mice caused by the
operation of official vehicles involved in public safety, beach
maintenance, law enforcement, HCP implementation, and other official
business on County beaches; implementing new requirements to minimize
impacts to sea turtles and their nests caused by the operation of
private vehicles on County beaches; developing and implementing
guidelines for beach vendors regarding the transport, placement, and
storage of merchandise, equipment, and supplies to reduce interference
with sea turtle nest protection activities; developing and implementing
a multi-faceted public awareness program to educate residents and
visitors of the importance of the County's beaches to the conservation
and recovery of protected species; adopting and enforcing a beachfront
lighting ordinance to reduce nighttime disturbances to sea turtles,
piping plovers, and beach mice; and implementing an effective
monitoring program for all species covered under the ITP to identify
and ameliorate factors impeding their recovery.
Public Comments
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
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.
If you wish to comment, you may submit comments by any one of
several methods. Please reference TE43711A-0 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 david_dell@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.
Covered Area
The area encompassed under the HCP and ITP application consists of
approximately 20 miles of beachfront along the Gulf of Mexico on non-
State lands, from the Bay/Walton to the Okaloosa/Walton County line.
Next Steps
We will evaluate the ITP application, including the HCP and any
comments we receive, to determine whether the application meets the
requirements of section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Act. We will also evaluate
whether issuance 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 loggerhead
sea turtle, green sea turtle, leatherback sea turtle, Kemp's ridley sea
turtle, piping plover, and Choctawhatchee beach mouse.
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 29, 2014.
Mike Oetker,
Acting Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 2014-16721 Filed 7-15-14; 8:45 am]
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