[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 35 (Monday, February 23, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9477-9479]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-03572]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R1-ES-2015-N001; FXES11120100000F2-156-FF01E00000]
Draft Environmental Assessment and Draft Habitat Conservation
Plan for the Fender's Blue Butterfly on Private Lands in Yamhill
County, Oregon
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), have
received an application from the Yamhill Soil and Water Conservation
District (SWCD) for an incidental take permit (permit) under the
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA). The permit
application includes a draft Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) addressing
private land management activities within upland prairie in Yamhill
County, Oregon, that may result in the incidental take of the federally
endangered Fender's blue butterfly. The Service also announces the
availability of a draft environmental assessment (EA) addressing the
proposed HCP and issuance of a permit that was prepared in accordance
with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA).
We invite comments from all interested parties on the permit
application, including the HCP and the EA.
DATES: Written comments on the HCP and the EA must be received from
interested parties no later than March 25, 2015.
ADDRESSES: To request further information or submit written comments,
please use one of the following methods, and note that your information
request or comments are in reference to the Yamhill SWCD HCP.
Internet: Documents may be viewed on the Internet at
http://www.fws.gov/oregonfwo/ToolsForLandowners/HabitatConservationPlans/.
Email: OFWOcomment@fws.gov. Include ``Yamhill SWCD HCP''
in the subject line of the message or comments.
U.S. Mail: State Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, 2600 SE 98th Ave., Suite 100, Portland, OR 97266.
Fax: 503-231-6195, Attn: Yamhill SWCD HCP.
In-Person Viewing or Pickup: Comments and materials
received will be available for public inspection, by appointment,
during normal business hours at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
2600 SE 98th Ave., Suite 100, Portland, OR 97266.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Richard Szlemp, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service (see ADDRESSES), telephone: 503-231-6179; facsimile: 503-231-
6195. If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf, please call
the Federal Information Relay Service at 800-877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Section 9 of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) prohibits the take of
fish and wildlife species listed as endangered or threatened under
section 4 of the ESA. Under the ESA, the term ``take'' means to harass,
harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or
to attempt to engage in any such conduct (16 U.S.C. 1532(19)). The term
``harm,'' as defined in our regulations, includes significant habitat
modification or degradation that results in death or injury to listed
species by significantly impairing essential behavioral patterns,
including breeding, feeding, or sheltering (50 CFR 17.3). The term
``harass'' is defined in our regulations as to carry out actions that
create the likelihood of injury to listed species to such an extent as
to significantly disrupt normal behavioral patterns, which include, but
are not limited to, breeding, feeding, or sheltering (50 CFR 17.3).
Under specified circumstances, the Service may issue permits that
authorize take of federally listed species, provided the take is
incidental to, but not the purpose of, an otherwise lawful activity.
Regulations governing permits for endangered and threatened species are
at 50 CFR 17.22 and 17.32, respectively. Section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA
contains provisions for issuing such incidental take permits to non-
Federal entities for the take of endangered and threatened species,
provided the following criteria are met:
(1) The taking will be incidental;
(2) The applicant will prepare a conservation plan that, to the
maximum extent practicable, identifies the steps the applicant will
take to minimize and mitigate the impact of such taking;
(3) The applicant will ensure that adequate funding for the plan
will be provided;
(4) The taking will not appreciably reduce the likelihood of the
survival and recovery of the species in the wild; and
(5) The applicant will carry out any other measures that the
Service may require as being necessary or appropriate for the purposes
of the plan.
Proposed Action
The Service proposes to approve the HCP and to issue a permit, both
with a term of 50 years, to the SWCD for incidental take of the
federally endangered Fender's blue butterfly (Icaricia icarioides
fenderi) caused by covered activities, if permit issuance criteria are
met. The permit would allow the SWCD to issue certificates of inclusion
to private landowners wanting coverage under the HCP for incidental
take of the Fender's blue butterfly. Private landowners who wish to be
covered under the permit may apply for a certificate of inclusion to
the permit after signing a cooperative agreement with the SWCD. This
will allow landowners within identified butterfly habitat in Yamhill
County to continue to perform otherwise lawful activities that have the
potential to impact the Fender's blue butterfly. To compensate for take
impacts, the SWCD will work
[[Page 9478]]
with participating landowners to minimize and mitigate their impacts.
The area to be addressed in the HCP (i.e., the covered lands)
consists of privately-owned lands in Yamhill County, Oregon, totaling
approximately 7,831 acres. The covered lands are primarily rural lands
supporting a variety of agricultural activities, some of which have the
potential to affect Fender's blue butterflies. Activities proposed for
coverage (covered activities) under the HCP include forage production,
livestock grazing, vineyard establishment, timber establishment,
voluntary habitat restoration, and mitigation and monitoring. Potential
impacts caused by covered activities are anticipated to occur within
upland prairie habitat in areas that are within the butterfly flight
distance (1.2 miles) of known Fender's blue butterfly populations.
Under the HCP, the impacts of ``take'' of the Fender's blue
butterfly are being measured by the quantity of the butterfly's host
plant, Kincaid's lupine (Lupinus sulphureus ssp. kincaidii), and nectar
resources that are adversely affected. Kincaid's lupine is federally-
listed as a threatened species, but there are no take prohibitions for
plants on non-Federal lands under the ESA. These impacts are projected
based on the acreage of butterfly habitat where the covered activities
occur, and the average abundance of Kincaid's lupine and nectar plants
in those affected areas. Under the HCP, the total take impact on
covered lands is estimated at 0.91 acres over the 50-year permit term.
The HCP includes measures to conserve butterfly habitat, and to
avoid and minimize incidental take of the Fender's blue butterfly.
Under the HCP, the conservation measures include:
(1) Working with individual landowners and providing technical
assistance on means to avoid adverse impacts to the butterfly and its
habitat and to implement best management practices for the identified
covered activities;
(2) Implementing mitigation measures when impacts to the Fender's
blue butterfly and its habitats are unavoidable. Mitigation may be
completed by protection of existing butterfly-occupied habitat, habitat
enhancement and management that increases the quantity of resources for
Fender's blue butterflies beyond pre-existing levels, or a combination
of protection and enhancement. Mitigation ratios will be calculated
using a product of a site quality multiplier and a base mitigation
ratio. The site quality modifier ranges from 0.8 to 1.2, and the base
mitigation ratios vary from 1 to 1, to 5 to 1. The HCP assumes an
overall average mitigation ratio of 2 to 1 to be applied.
National Environmental Policy Act Compliance
The development of the draft HCP and the proposed issuance of the
permit under this plan is a Federal action that triggers the need for
compliance with NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). We have prepared a draft
EA to analyze the environmental impacts of three alternatives related
to the issuance of a permit and implementation of the conservation
program under the proposed HCP. The three alternatives include the
proposed action, a no-action alternative, and an individual permit
alternative to the issuance of certificates of inclusion under the HCP.
The ``Proposed Action'' alternative is the issuance of a permit to
the SWCD and implementation of the HCP.
Under the ``No-action'' alternative, the proposed HCP would not be
implemented and no permit would be issued to the SWCD to provide
landowners coverage for incidental take of Fender's blue butterfly
resulting from covered activities. The no-action alternative would not
give landowners regulatory certainty, and actions that could result in
take of Fender's blue butterfly would be prohibited under section 9 of
the ESA.
Under the individual permit alternative, each landowner who may
impact the Fender's blue butterfly and its habitat would complete their
own HCP, obtain their own permit, and conduct and pay for their own
mitigation, which could delay implementation of a covered activity
anywhere from one to three years. The SWCD would also be required to
obtain take coverage for any habitat restoration, enhancement, and
management activities that are likely to impact and cause take of the
Fender's blue butterfly.
Public Comments
You may submit your comments and materials by one of the methods
listed in the ADDRESSES section. 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 on our proposed Federal action. We
particularly seek comments on the following: (1) Biological data or
other information regarding the Fender's blue butterfly and Kincaid's
lupine; (2) additional information concerning the range, distribution,
population size, and population trends of the butterfly and the lupine;
(3) current or planned activities in the subject area and their
possible impacts on these species; (4) 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 Federal project planning by the National
Historic Preservation Act; (5) identification of any other
environmental issues that should be considered with regard to the
permit action; and (6) information regarding the adequacy of the HCP
pursuant to the requirements for permits at 50 CFR parts 13 and 17.
Public Availability of Comments
All comments and materials we receive become part of the public
record associated with this action. Before including your address,
phone number, email address, or other personal identifying information
in your comments, 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. Comments and materials we
receive, as well as supporting documentation we use in preparing the
EA, will be available for public inspection by appointment, during
normal business hours, at our Oregon Fish and Wildlife Office (see
ADDRESSES).
Next Steps
After completion of the EA based on consideration of public
comments, we will determine whether our proposed approval of the HCP
warrants a finding of no significant impact or whether an environmental
impact statement should be prepared pursuant to NEPA. We will evaluate
the HCP, as well as any comments we receive, to determine whether
implementation of the HCP would meet the criteria for issuance of a
permit under section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA. We will also evaluate
whether the proposed permit action would comply with section 7 of the
ESA by conducting an intra-Service section 7 consultation. We will
consider the results of this consultation, in combination with the
above findings, in our final analysis to determine whether or not to
issue a permit to the SWCD. We will not make the final NEPA and permit
decisions until after the end of the 30-day public comment period on
this notice, and we will fully consider all comments we receive during
the public comment period.
[[Page 9479]]
If we determine that the permit issuance requirements are met, the
Service will issue a permit to the SWCD. The SWCD would then begin
processing requests from landowners interested in certificates on
inclusion under the HCP in order to receive coverage for the incidental
take of the Fender's blue butterfly under the permit issued to SWCD.
Authority
We provide this notice in accordance with the requirements of
section 10 of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), and NEPA (42 U.S.C.
4321 et seq.) and their implementing regulations (50 CFR 17.22 and 40
CFR 1506.6, respectively).
Dated: January 9, 2015.
Richard Hannan,
Deputy Regional Director, Pacific Region, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, Portland, Oregon.
[FR Doc. 2015-03572 Filed 2-20-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P