[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 216 (Friday, November 12, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62839-62840]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-24638]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R3-ES-2021-0100; FXES11140300000-212]
Draft Environmental Assessment and Proposed Habitat Conservation
Plan; Receipt of an Application for an Incidental Take Permit, Green
River Wind Farm, Lee and Whiteside Counties, Illinois
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comment and information.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), have
received an application from Green River Wind Farm Phase 1, LLC
(applicant), for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered
Species Act (ESA), for its Green River Wind Farm (project). The
applicant requests the ITP, which would be for a 30-year period, for
the take of the federally listed endangered Indiana bat and threatened
northern long-eared bat incidental to the otherwise lawful activities
associated with the project. The applicant proposes a conservation
program to minimize and mitigate for the unavoidable incidental take as
described in their habitat conservation plan (HCP). The Service
requests public comment on the application including the submission of
written data, views or arguments with respect to the application, which
includes the applicant's proposed HCP, and the Service's draft
environmental assessment, prepared pursuant to the National
Environmental Policy Act. The Service provides this notice to seek
comments from the public and Federal, Tribal, State, and local
governments.
DATES: We will accept comments received or postmarked on or before
December 13, 2021.
ADDRESSES: Document availability: Electronic copies of the documents
this notice announces, along with public comments received, will be
available online in Docket No. FWS-R3-ES-2021-0100 at http://www.regulations.gov.
Comment submission: In your comment, please specify whether your
comment addresses the proposed HCP, draft EA, or any combination of the
aforementioned documents, or other supporting documents. You may submit
written comments by one of the following methods:
Online: http://www.regulations.gov. Search for and submit
comments on Docket No. FWS-R3-ES-2021-0100.
By hard copy: Submit comments by U.S. mail to Public
Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No. FWS-R3-ES-2021-0100; U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service; 5275 Leesburg Pike, MS: PRB/3W; Falls Church, VA
22041-3803.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kraig McPeek, Field Supervisor,
Illinois-Iowa Ecological Services Field Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, 1511 47th Ave, Moline, IL 61265; telephone: 309-757-5800,
extension 202; or Andrew Horton, Regional HCP Coordinator, U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service--Interior Region 3, 5600 American Blvd., West,
Suite 990, Bloomington, MN 55437-1458; telephone: 612-713-5337.
Individuals who are hearing impaired or speech impaired may call
the Federal Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339 for TTY assistance.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Section 9 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA;
16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), and its implementing regulations prohibit the
``take'' of animal species listed as endangered or threatened. Take is
defined under the ESA as to ``harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound,
kill, trap, capture, or collect ``listed animal species,'' or to
attempt to engage in such conduct'' (16 U.S.C. 1538). However, under
section 10(a) of the ESA, we may issue permits to authorize incidental
take of listed 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 endangered and threatened species, respectively, are found
in the Code of Federal Regulations at 50 CFR 17.22 and 50 CFR 17.32.
Applicant's Proposed Project
The applicant requests a 30-year ITP for take of the federally
endangered Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis) and federally threatened
northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis). The applicant
determined that wind farm activities on this land are reasonably
certain to result in incidental take of these federally listed species.
Activity that could result in incidental take of Indiana bats and
northern long-eared bats is the operation of 74 wind turbines currently
being constructed in Lee and Whiteside Counties, Illinois, within a
permit area consisting of approximately 12,120 acres of private land.
The estimated level of take from the project is 60 Indiana bats and 120
northern long-eared bats over the 30-year project duration.
The proposed conservation strategy in the applicant's proposed HCP
is designed to avoid, minimize, and mitigate the impacts of the covered
activity on the covered species. The biological goals and objectives
are to minimize potential take of Indiana bats and northern long-eared
bats through on-site minimization measures and to provide habitat
conservation and mitigation measures for Indiana bats and northern
long-eared bats to offset any impacts from operations of the project.
On-site minimization measures include feathering turbine blades up to
3.0 meters per second (m/s) during winter and spring (October 16-May
15), up to 5.0 m/s during fall (August 1-October 15), and up to 5.0 m/s
at 24 turbines with risk and 3.0 m/s at the remaining turbines during
summer (May 16-July 31). Minimization measures will be implemented
nightly from a half hour before sunset to a half hour after sunrise
when the temperature is above 10 [deg]C. To offset the impacts of the
taking of Indiana bats and northern long-eared bats, the applicant
proposes to protect known maternity colony habitat for both covered
species. The Service requests public comments on the permit
application, which includes a proposed HCP, and a draft EA prepared in
accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA; 42 U.S.C.
4321 et seq.).
The applicants' HCP describes the activities that will be
undertaken to implement the project, as well as the mitigation and
minimization measures
[[Page 62840]]
proposed to address the impacts to the covered species. Pursuant to
NEPA, the EA analyzes the impacts the ITP issuance would have on the
covered species and the environment.
National Environmental Policy Act
The issuance of an ITP is a Federal action that triggers the need
for compliance with NEPA. We prepared a draft EA that analyzes the
environmental impacts on the human environment resulting from three
alternatives: A no-action alternative, the applicant's proposed action,
and a more restrictive alternative consisting of feathering at a rate
of wind speed that results in less impacts to bats.
Next Steps
The Service will evaluate the permit application and the comments
received to determine whether the application meets the requirements of
section 10(a) of the ESA. We will also conduct an intra-Service
consultation pursuant to section 7 of the ESA to evaluate the effects
of the proposed take. After considering the above findings, we will
review public comments on the draft EA, complete the NEPA process, and
determine whether the permit issuance criteria of section 10(a)(l)(B)
of the ESA have been met. If met, the Service will issue the requested
ITP to the applicant.
Request for Public Comments
The Service invites comments and suggestions from all interested
parties during a 30-day public comment period (see DATES). In
particular, information and comments regarding the following topics are
requested:
1. The direct, indirect, or cumulative effects that implementation
of any alternative could have on the human environment;
2. Whether or not the significance of the impact on various aspects
of the human environment has been adequately analyzed; and
3. Any other information pertinent to evaluating the effects of the
proposed action on the human environment.
Availability of Public Comments
You may submit comments by one of the methods shown under
ADDRESSES. We will post on http://regulations.gov all public comments
and information received electronically or via hardcopy. All comments
received, including names and addresses, will become part of the
administrative record associated with this action. 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 request in your
comment that we withhold your personal identifying information from
public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. All
submissions from organizations or businesses, and from individuals
identifying themselves as representatives or officials of organizations
or businesses, will be made available for public disclosure in their
entirety.
Authority
We provide this notice under section 10(c) of the ESA (16 U.S.C.
1531 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (50 CFR 17.22) and the
NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (40 CFR
1500-1508 (2020); 43 CFR part 46).
Lori Nordstrom,
Assistant Regional Director, Ecological Services.
[FR Doc. 2021-24638 Filed 11-10-21; 8:45 am]
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