[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 212 (Friday, November 1, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58733-58734]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-23972]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R8-ES-2019-N064; FXES11140800000-189-FF08EVEN00]
Draft Habitat Conservation Plan for Eight Species; Draft
Environmental Impact Statement for the Habitat Conservation Plan for
Fort Ord, Monterey County, California
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), have
received an incidental take permit application under the Endangered
Species Act of 1973, as amended. The permit would authorize take of the
federally threatened California tiger salamander, California red-legged
frog, and western snowy plover, and the federally endangered Smith's
blue butterfly, incidental to otherwise lawful activities associated
with commercial, residential and recreational development, recreational
use, and habitat management within portions of the former Fort Ord Army
base in the draft habitat conservation plan (HCP). We invite public
comment on the applicant's draft HCP and the draft environmental impact
statement, which the Service prepared in response to the application
for an incidental take permit.
DATES: Written comments must be received on or before December 16,
2019.
ADDRESSES:
To obtain documents: You may download a copy of the draft habitat
conservation plan and environmental impact statement at http://www.fws.gov/ventura/, or you may request copies of the documents by
sending U.S. mail to our Ventura office (see below), or by phone (see
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT). For information on reviewing U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) comments on the draft EIS, see
EPA's Role in the EIS Process under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.
To submit written comments: Please send us your written comments
using one of the following methods:
U.S. mail: Send your comments to Stephen P. Henry, Field
Supervisor, Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, 2493 Portola Road, Suite B, Ventura, CA 93003.
Facsimile: Fax your comments to 805-644-3958.
Electronic Mail: Send your comments to
fw8fortordhcp@fws.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Leilani Takano, Assistant Field
Supervisor, by phone at 805-644-1766, at the Ventura address in
ADDRESSES, or via the Federal Relay Service at 800-877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(Service), have received an application for an incidental take permit
(ITP) pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered Species Act, as
amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). The applicant has developed a
draft habitat conservation plan (HCP) for the project that includes
measures to mitigate and avoid/minimize impacts to the federally
threatened California tiger salamander (Ambystoma californiense),
California red-legged frog (Rana draytonii), western snowy plover
(Charadrius nivosus nivosus), and Monterey spineflower (Chorizanthe
pungens var. pungens); the federally endangered Smith's blue butterfly
(Euphilotes enoptes smithi), Monterey (sand) gilia (Gilia tenuiflora
ssp. arenaria), and Yadon's piperia (Piperia yadonii); and the State
endangered seaside bird's beak (Cordylanthus rigidus ssp. littoralis).
The permit would authorize take of the California tiger salamander,
California red-legged frog, western snowy plover, and Smith's blue
butterfly incidental to otherwise lawful activities associated with the
Fort Ord HCP. We invite public comment on the application, the draft
HCP, and draft environmental impact statement (EIS).
Background
The California tiger salamander was listed as threatened on August
4, 2004 (69 FR 47212); the California red-legged frog was listed as
threatened on May 23, 1996 (61 FR 25813); the western snowy plover was
listed as threatened on March 5, 1993 (58 FR 12864); the Monterey
spineflower was listed as threatened on February 4, 1994 (59 FR 5499);
the Smith's blue butterfly was listed as endangered on June 1, 1976 (41
FR 22041); the Monterey (sand) gilia was listed as endangered on June
22, 1992 (57 FR 27848); and the Yadon's piperia was listed as
endangered on August 12, 1998 (63 FR 43100). The seaside bird's beak
has no Federal status, but was listed as endangered by the State of
California in 1982 (https://www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/nongame/list.html),
and the applicant has chosen to address this species in the HCP to
facilitate State permitting.
Section 9 of the ESA and its implementing regulations in effect at
the time the above-referenced species were listed prohibited the take
of fish or wildlife species listed as endangered or threatened.
``Take'' is defined under the ESA to include the following activities:
``[T]o 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); however, under section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA, we may issue
permits to authorize incidental take of listed fish or wildlife
species. ``Incidental take'' is defined by the ESA as take that is
incidental to, and not the purpose of, carrying out an otherwise lawful
activity. Regulations governing incidental take permits for threatened
and endangered species are in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) at
50 CFR 17.32 and 17.22, respectively. Under the ESA, protections for
federally listed plants differ from the protections afforded to
federally listed animals. Issuance of an incidental take permit also
must not jeopardize the existence of federally listed fish, wildlife,
or plant species. The permittees would receive assurances under our
``No Surprises'' regulations ((50 CFR 17.22(b)(5) and 17.32(b)(5))
regarding conservation activities for the California tiger salamander,
California red-legged frog, western snowy plover, Monterey spineflower,
Smith's blue butterfly, Monterey (sand) gilia, Yadon's piperia, and
seaside bird's beak.
Applicant's Proposed Activities
The applicant has applied for a permit for incidental take of the
California tiger salamander, California red-legged frog,
[[Page 58734]]
western snowy plover, and Smith's blue butterfly. Take is likely to
occur in association with activities necessary to develop and use
commercial, residential, and recreational facilities on non-Federal
portions of the former Fort Ord Army base and to manage habitats within
conserved areas of the former base. The site contains 4 acres of
aquatic breeding habitat and 5,718 acres of upland habitat for the
California tiger salamander. The site contains 4 acres of aquatic
breeding habitat and 3,494 acres of upland habitat for the California
red-legged frog. The site contains 71 acres of breeding, foraging, and
overwintering habitat for the western snowy plover, all of which is in
critical habitat designated for the species. The site contains 110
acres of habitat (for all of the species' activities) for the Smith's
blue butterfly. The HCP includes measures to minimize take of the
California tiger salamander, California red-legged frog, western snowy
plover, and Smith's blue butterfly in the forms of injury, mortality,
and harm. Mitigation for unavoidable take of the species consists of
preservation and management of existing habitat and restoration of
areas of degraded habitat (primarily through restoration of aquatic
breeding habitat for the two amphibian species and of upland habitat
for all species).
National Environmental Policy Act Compliance
The Service has developed a draft EIS in response to the ITP
application in accordance with the requirements of the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). The draft EIS
analyzes three alternatives. The proposed action is issuance of a base-
wide ITP, which would address development and use of the former Fort
Ord in accordance with the HCP. This would include unrestricted
development of some undisturbed habitat areas, redevelopment of areas
developed by the Army during its use of the base, and limited
development within areas otherwise conserved and managed as habitat.
Under the ``no action'' alternative, a base-wide ITP would not be
issued and the HCP would not be implemented. Development and use of the
former base would likely continue under existing local and Army-
prepared planning documents and the applicant would likely apply for
future project-specific ITPs. Under the ``reduced take'' alternative, a
base-wide ITP would be issued, but limited development within areas
otherwise conserved and managed as habitat would be eliminated.
EPA's Role in the EIS Process
The EPA is charged with reviewing all Federal agencies' EISs and
commenting on the adequacy and acceptability of the environmental
impacts of proposed actions in EISs. Therefore, EPA is publishing a
notice in the Federal Register announcing this draft EIS, as required
under section 309 of the Clean Air Act. The publication date of EPA's
notice of availability is the official beginning of the public comment
period. EPA's notices are published on Fridays. EPA serves as the
repository (EIS database) for EISs prepared by Federal agencies. All
EISs must be filed with EPA. You may search for EPA comments on EISs,
along with EISs themselves, at https://cdxnodengn.epa.gov/cdx-enepa-public/action/eis/search.
Public Comments
If you wish to comment on the permit application, draft HCP, draft
EIS, and associated documents, you may submit comments by one of the
methods in ADDRESSES. 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 view, we cannot guarantee that we
will be able to do so.
Authority
We provide this notice under section 10 of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531
et seq.) and NEPA and its implementing regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).
Michael Long,
Acting Assistant Regional Director, Pacific Southwest Region,
Sacramento, California.
[FR Doc. 2019-23972 Filed 10-31-19; 8:45 am]
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