[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 129 (Friday, July 5, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55652-55653]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-14757]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[Docket No. FWS-R3-ES-2024-0088; FXES11140300000-245-FF03E00000]
Draft Environmental Assessment and Proposed Habitat Conservation
Plan; Receipt of an Application for an Amended Incidental Take Permit,
Cardinal Point Wind Project, McDonough and Warren 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 Cardinal Point Wind Farm, LLC (applicant),
to amend its existing incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered
Species Act, for its Cardinal Point Wind Project (project). The
applicant requests that the ITP be amended to include an increased take
authorization for the tricolored bat. We request public comment on the
application, which includes the applicant's revised HCP, and the
Service's draft supplemental 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
August 5, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Obtaining Documents: Electronic copies of the documents this
notice announces, along with public comments received, will be
available online in Docket No. FWS-R3-ES-2024-0088 at https://www.regulations.gov.
Submitting Comments: If you wish to submit comments on any of the
documents, you may do so in writing by one of the following methods:
Online: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments on Docket No. FWS-R3-ES-2024-0088.
U.S. mail: Public Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No.
FWS-R3-ES-2024-0088; 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, by email at
[email protected] or by telephone at 309-757-5800, extension 202; or
Andrew Horton, Regional HCP Coordinator, by email at
[email protected] or by telephone at 612-713-5337. Individuals in
the United States who are deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a
speech disability may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access
telecommunications relay services. Individuals outside the United
States should use the relay services offered within their country to
make international calls to the point-of-contact in the United States.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(Service), have received an application from Cardinal Point Wind Farm,
LLC (applicant), to amend its existing incidental take permit (ITP) for
four bat species under the Endangered Species Act, for its Cardinal
Point Wind Project (project). The applicant requests that the ITP be
amended to include an increased take authorization for the tricolored
bat. The taking will be incidental to the otherwise lawful activities
associated with the project. The applicant will continue the original
conservation program to minimize and mitigate for the unavoidable
incidental take as described in their habitat conservation plan (HCP)
and will now include additional mitigation for the tricolored bat as
well as updated adaptive management measures. The Service requests
public comment on the application, which includes the applicant's
revised HCP, and the Service's draft supplemental 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.
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.
On June 27, 2023, we published a Federal Register notice announcing
receipt of an application for an ITP from the applicant, and opened a
30-day comment period, which ended on July 27, 2023 (88 FR 41655).
After determining that the application met the requirements of section
10(a) of the ESA and evaluating the effects of the proposed take
pursuant to section 7 of the ESA. we determined that the permit
issuance criteria of section 10(a)(l)(B) of the ESA were met and issued
the requested ITP.
Applicant's Proposed Project
The applicant requests an amendment to the existing ITP for take of
the federally endangered Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis), federally
endangered northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis), the
tricolored bat (Perimyotis subflavus; proposed for listing) and the
unlisted little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus). The applicant determined
through post-permit monitoring that take of tricolored bats at the 60-
turbine wind project is very likely to exceed their currently permitted
level; therefore, they are requesting a revised take authorization for
this species only. The currently authorized take rate for the
tricolored bat is 3 per year for the 6-year permit duration, for a
total authorized ITP take of 18. The new requested take rate for the
tricolored bat is 25 per year for the permit duration, to reflect
changes to the project, bringing the total authorized ITP take to 150.
The Service requests public comments on the permit application,
which includes an amended HCP, and a supplemental EA prepared in
accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA; 42 U.S.C.
4321 et seq.).
The applicant's HCP and amendments describe the activities that
will be undertaken to implement the project, as well as the mitigation
and minimization measures proposed to address the impacts to the
covered species. Pursuant to NEPA, the supplemental EA analyzes the
impacts the ITP amendment would
[[Page 55653]]
have on the tricolored bat 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 supplemental EA that
analyzes the environmental impacts on the human environment resulting
from two alternatives: A no-action alternative, and the applicant's
proposed action of amending the ITP.
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 https://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.
Next Steps
The Service will evaluate the permit amendment application and the
comments received to determine whether the application meets the
requirements of section 10(a) of the ESA. We will also reinitiate our
intra-Service consultation pursuant to section 7 of the ESA to evaluate
the effects of the proposed changes. After considering the above
findings, we will 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 amended ITP to the applicant.
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
1506.6; 43 CFR part 46).
Lori Nordstrom,
Assistant Regional Director, Ecological Services.
[FR Doc. 2024-14757 Filed 7-3-24; 8:45 am]
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