Categorical Exclusion and Draft City of Santa Cruz Operations and Maintenance Habitat Conservation Plan; Santa Cruz County, California
| Published date | 10 September 2020 |
| Citation | 85 FR 55856 |
| Record Number | 2020-19938 |
| Section | Notices |
| Court | Fish And Wildlife Service,Interior Department |
55856
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 176 / Thursday, September 10, 2020 / Notices
In your request for documents, please
reference the Oklahoma City draft EA/
HCP.
DEA and HCP: A limited number of
CD–ROM and printed copies of the dEA
and HCP are available, by request, from
Ms. Jonna Polk, Field Supervisor,
Oklahoma Ecological Services Field
Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
9014 E. 21st St., Tulsa, OK 74129;
telephone 918–581–7458; facsimile
918–581–7467.
ITP application: The ITP application
is available by mail from the Regional
Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
P. O. Box 1306, Room 6034,
Albuquerque, NM 87103.
Submitting Comments: Regarding any
of the documents available for review,
you may submit written comments by
one of the following methods. In your
comments, please reference the
Oklahoma City draft EA/HCP.
Email: OKES_NEPA@fws.gov.
Facsimile: 918–581–7467, Attn:
Oklahoma City HCP EA.
U.S. Mail: Field Supervisor,
Oklahoma Ecological Services Field
Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
9014 E. 21st St., Tulsa, OK 74129.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
:
Jonna Polk, Field Supervisor, by U.S.
mail at the Oklahoma Ecological
Services Field Office (address above), or
by phone at 918–581–7458. If you use
a telecommunications device for the
deaf (TDD), please call the Federal Relay
Service at 800–877–8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
: The City
of Oklahoma City and the Oklahoma
City Water Utilities Trust (applicants)
have applied to the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service (Service) for an
incidental take permit (ITP) under
section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered
Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA;
16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). The requested
ITP, which would be in effect for a
period of 8 years, if granted, would
authorize incidental take of the federally
endangered American burying beetle
(ABB; Nicrophorus americanus) during
otherwise lawful activities associated
with construction of a public water
supply pipeline, the Second Atoka
Pipeline Project. The project extends in
a largely straight course from Atoka
Lake to Lake Stanley Draper and passes
through Atoka, Cleveland, Coal,
Pontotoc, Pottawatomie, and Seminole
Counties, Oklahoma. The entire project
is approximately 100 miles in length, of
which 78.4 miles would occur within
the known range of the ABB. Activities
potentially causing take include site
preparation; construction of the
pipeline, pump stations, and other
ancillary facilities; use of temporary
work areas; construction of pipe
stockpile sites and contractor yards;
construction and maintenance of access
roads; removal of surge facilities; post-
construction restoration activities; and
hydrostatic testing of the installed
pipeline. The applicants have proposed
a habitat conservation plan (HCP) that
would be implemented to address
project impacts to the ABB.
We are notifying the public of the
applicant’s proposal of an HCP and
request to the Service for an ITP to cover
incidental take of the ABB associated
with construction of the Second Atoka
Pipeline Project. In addition, we are
notifying the public of the Service’s
preparation of a draft environmental
assessment (EA) regarding impacts of
the requested action or feasible
alternatives, of an opportunity for
public comment on our action, and of
our intention to finalize the EA after
consideration of public comment.
Public Availability of Comments
Written comments 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 comment, you
should be aware that the 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
used in preparing the EA, will be
available for public inspection, by
appointment, during normal business
hours at the Service’s Oklahoma
Ecological Services Field Office in
Tulsa, Oklahoma (see
ADDRESSES
section).
Authority
We publish this notice in compliance
with the National Environmental Policy
Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA; 42
U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), and its
implementing regulations (40 CFR parts
1500–1508), and section 10(c) of the
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as
amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.)
and its implementing regulations (50
CFR 17.22 and 17.32).
Amy Lueders,
Regional Director, Southwest Region,
Albuquerque, New Mexico.
[FR Doc. 2020–19934 Filed 9–9–20; 8:45 am]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS–R8–ES–2020–N021;
FXES11140800000–201–FF08EVEN00]
Categorical Exclusion and Draft City of
Santa Cruz Operations and
Maintenance Habitat Conservation
Plan; Santa Cruz County, California
AGENCY
: Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION
: Notice of availability; request
for comments.
SUMMARY
: We, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, have received an
application for a permit to conduct
activities with the potential for take of
endangered species that is incidental to,
and not the purpose of, carrying out an
otherwise lawful activities. With some
exceptions, the Endangered Species Act
prohibits certain activities that may
impact endangered species unless a
Federal permit allows such activity. We
invite comments on this application
which we will take into consideration
before issuing a permit.
DATES
: We will receive public
comments on the draft habitat
conservation plan and draft categorical
exclusion screening form until October
13, 2020.
ADDRESSES
: Obtaining Documents: You
may download a copy of the draft
habitat conservation plan and draft
categorical exclusion screening form at
http://www.fws.gov/ventura/ or you may
request copies of the documents by U.S.
mail (below) or by phone (see
FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
).
Submitting Written Comments: Please
send your written comments using one
of the following methods:
•U.S. mail: Stephen P. Henry, Field
Supervisor, Ventura Fish and Wildlife
Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
2493 Portola Road, Suite B, Ventura, CA
93003.
•Email: chad_mitcham@fws.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
:
Chad Mitcham, Biologist, by phone at
805–677–3328, via the Federal Relay
Service at 1–800–877–8339 for TTY
assistance, or at the Ventura address
(see
ADDRESSES
).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
: The City
of Santa Cruz (applicant) has applied to
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(Service) for an incidental take permit
(ITP) under section 10(a)(1)(B) of the
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as
amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).
The applicant is requesting an ITP with
a 30-year term, for incidental take of six
wildlife species likely to result from
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55857
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 176 / Thursday, September 10, 2020 / Notices
implementation of activities covered by
the applicant’s habitat conservation
plan (HCP). The species included in the
HCP are indicated in the table below.
Pursuant to the National Environmental
Policy Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA;
42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), we advise the
public of the availability of the
proposed HCP and our draft categorical
exclusion screening form.
Common
name Scientific
name Federal sta-
tus * State status **
Invertebrates
(2)
Ohlone
tiger
beetle.
Cicindela
ohlone.E.
Mount
Hermon
June
beetle.
Polyphylla
barbata.E.
Fish (2)
Tidewater
goby. Eucyclogobius
newberryi.E.
Pacific
lamprey. Lampetra
tridentata......................... SCC
Amphibians (4)
California
red-
legged
frog.
Rana draytonii T ..................... SSC
Reptiles (1)
Western
pond
turtle.
Actinemys
marmorata......................... SSC
Plants (4)
Ben Lo-
mond
spineflo-
wer.
Chorizanthe
pungens
var.
hartwegiana.
E.
Robust
spineflo-
wer.
Chorizanthe
robusta var.
robusta.
E .................... .....................................................................................................................................................
Santa
Cruz
tarplant.
Holocarpha
macradenia.T ..................... E
San Fran-
cisco
popcor-
nflower.
Plagiobothrys
diffusus......................... E
* Federal Status: Candidate (C); Endangered (E); Threatened (T).
** State Status: Species of Special Concern (SSC); Threatened (T); Endangered (E).
Background
Section 9 of the ESA prohibits take of
fish and wildlife species listed as
endangered (16 U.S.C. 1538). Under
section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA (16 U.S.C.
1539(a)(1)(B)), we may issue permits to
authorize take of listed fish and wildlife
species that is incidental to, and not the
purpose of, carrying out an otherwise
lawful activity. Regulations governing
permits for endangered species are set
forth in title 50 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (CFR) at part 17, section
17.22.
The NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.)
requires Federal agencies to analyze
their proposed actions to determine
whether the actions may significantly
affect the human environment. In these
NEPA analyses, the Federal agency will
identify direct, indirect, and cumulative
effects, as well as possible mitigation for
effects on environmental resources that
could occur with implementation of the
proposed action and alternatives.
Public Review
If you wish to comment on the draft
HCP and categorical exclusion screening
form, you may submit comments by one
of the methods in
ADDRESSES
.
Any comments we receive will
become part of the decision record
associated with this action. Before
including your address, phone number,
email address, or other personal
identifying information in your
comment, please 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.
Authority
We provide this notice under section
10 of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.)
and NEPA regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).
Stephen Henry,
Field Supervisor, Ventura Fish and Wildlife
Office, Ventura, California.
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