Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Impact Statement To Consider a Highway Right-of-Way, Amended Habitat Conservation Plan and Issuance of an Incidental Take Permit for the Mojave Desert Tortoise, and Proposed Resource Management Plan Amendments, Washington County, UT

Citation85 FR 72683
Record Number2020-24999
Published date13 November 2020
SectionNotices
CourtFish And Wildlife Service,Interior Department,Land Management Bureau
Federal Register, Volume 85 Issue 220 (Friday, November 13, 2020)
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 220 (Friday, November 13, 2020)]
                [Notices]
                [Pages 72683-72685]
                From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
                [FR Doc No: 2020-24999]
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                DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
                Bureau of Land Management
                Fish and Wildlife Service
                [21XL1109AF LLUTC03000 L16100000.DS0000 LXSSJ0740000; UTU-93620; 13-
                08807]
                Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Impact
                Statement To Consider a Highway Right-of-Way, Amended Habitat
                Conservation Plan and Issuance of an Incidental Take Permit for the
                Mojave Desert Tortoise, and Proposed Resource Management Plan
                Amendments, Washington County, UT
                AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior; Fish and Wildlife Service,
                Interior.
                ACTION: Notice of availability.
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                SUMMARY: In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of
                1969 (NEPA), as amended, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of
                1976 (FLPMA), as amended, the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of
                2009 (OPLMA), and the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA), as amended,
                the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the United States Fish and
                Wildlife Service (FWS), as co-lead agencies, announce the availability
                of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to consider a right-
                of-way (ROW) application (referred to henceforth as the Northern
                Corridor) submitted by the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) and
                Proposed Amendments to the St. George Field Office and Red Cliffs
                National Conservation Area (NCA) Resource Management Plans (RMPs).
                DATES: The BLM planning regulations state that any person who meets the
                conditions as described in the regulations may protest the planning-
                level management actions in the BLM's Proposed Amendments to the RMPs.
                A person who meets the conditions and files a protest must file the
                protest within 30 days of the date that the Environmental Protection
                Agency publishes its Notice of Availability of the Final EIS and
                Proposed
                [[Page 72684]]
                Amendments to the RMPs in the Federal Register.
                ADDRESSES: The Final EIS, Proposed Amendments to the RMPs, and amended
                Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) are available for review on the BLM
                ePlanning project website at https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/1502103/510. Click the ``Documents'' link on the left side of
                the screen to find the electronic versions of these materials.
                Instructions for filing a protest regarding the Proposed Amendments to
                the RMPs may be found online at https://www.blm.gov/filing-a-plan-protest and at 43 CFR 1610.5-2.
                 All protests must be in writing and submitted, as set forth in the
                DATES and ADDRESSES sections above.
                FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gloria Tibbetts, BLM Color Country
                District Planning and Environmental Coordinator, telephone: (435) 865-
                3063; address: 176 DL Sargent Dr., Cedar City, UT 84721; email:
                [email protected]. If you would like to request to view a
                hard copy, please call the St. George Field Office for more information
                at (435) 688-3200, Monday through Friday, except holidays. For
                information on the Amended HCP or Incidental Take Permit (ITP)
                application, please contact Yvette Converse, Field Supervisor, U.S.
                Fish and Wildlife Service, telephone: (801) 975-3330 ext. 61912; email:
                [email protected]. Persons who use a telecommunications
                device for the deaf may call the Federal Relay Service (FRS) at 1-800-
                877-8339 to leave a message or question for the above individual. The
                FRS is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Replies are provided
                during normal business hours.
                SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In compliance with section 10(a)(1)(B) of
                the ESA, the FWS is considering the issuance of an ITP to Washington
                County, Utah (County). The ITP would authorize the take of the
                federally listed as threatened Mojave desert tortoise incidental to
                covered activities such as residential and commercial development for a
                25-year permit term. The application for the permit requires the County
                to amend its 1995 HCP to current standards and ensure impacts from
                covered activities and changed circumstances are avoided, minimized,
                and mitigated to the maximum extent practicable. The 62,000-acre Red
                Cliffs Desert Reserve (Reserve)--of which approximately 70 percent is
                now within the congressionally-designated Red Cliffs NCA--was
                established pursuant to commitments in the 1995 HCP.
                 On September 4, 2018, UDOT submitted an application for a ROW grant
                for the Northern Corridor Project north of the City of St. George,
                Utah, on BLM-administered public and non-Federal lands across the NCA
                and Reserve. The Reserve was established for the protection of the
                Mojave desert tortoise under the 1995 Washington County HCP. The NCA
                was established in 2009 through the passage of OPLMA. The 1995 HCP
                expired in 2016 and the FWS extended it to allow the County to amend
                the HCP pursuant to Section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA. The FWS received an
                application for an ITP dated January 30, 2015. The amended HCP includes
                the proposed Northern Corridor as a changed circumstance, with Reserve
                Zone 6 as the primary proposed addition to the conservation strategy.
                The BLM is also proposing amendments to the Red Cliffs NCA and St.
                George Field Office RMPs that would allow consideration of and
                mitigation (Reserve Zone 6) for the proposed Northern Corridor Project.
                 The Final EIS considers four proposed actions: (1) Whether the BLM
                will approve a 1.9-mile ROW section of the approximately four-mile long
                Northern Corridor Project that crosses the 62,000-acre Reserve, of
                which 45,000 acres were congressionally established as the Red Cliffs
                NCA; (2) Whether the BLM will amend the Red Cliffs NCA RMP to allow for
                a transportation ROW and/or utility corridor within the NCA; (3)
                Whether the FWS will issue an ITP for the Mojave desert tortoise for
                specific land use and land development activities in Washington County;
                and (4) Whether the BLM will amend the St. George Field Office RMP to
                modify management on approximately 3,471 acres within a 6,813-acre area
                (Reserve Zone 6) outside the Reserve and NCA to offset the ROW impacts.
                The other half of Reserve Zone 6 is primarily owned by the Utah School
                and Institutional Trust Lands Administration and proposed management of
                this area is included in the HCP Implementation Agreement and would be
                generally consistent with similar areas in the Reserve.
                 Scoping was initiated with the publication of a Notice of Intent in
                the Federal Register on December 5, 2019 (84 F R 66692). The scoping
                period was open through January 6, 2020. A public scoping meeting was
                held in St. George, Utah, on December 17, 2019. The BLM and FWS
                considered all input received during the scoping period. A summary of
                the comments received during the scoping period can be found in the
                Scoping Report posted on the project website at https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/1502103/510. The Notice of
                Availability for the Draft EIS was published on June 12, 2020, (85 FR
                35950) initiating a 90-day public comment period. Online public
                meetings were held on July 16, 2020 and July 21, 2020. In accordance
                with the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation
                Act of 2019, Public Law 116-9, 16 U.S.C. 7913, and 43 CFR 8364.1, a
                Notice of Intent was published in the St. George Spectrum newspaper on
                June 18, 2020, notifying the public of the concurrent comment period
                for the proposed permanent recreational shooting closure within the
                proposed Reserve Zone 6 area southwest of St. George, Utah.
                 Substantive public comments and ongoing agency coordination led to
                several changes from the Draft EIS, including the addition of: (1) Data
                and analysis associated with wildfires that occurred within Washington
                County in 2020, (2) additional conservation measures proposed by UDOT,
                the County, the BLM, and others to address potential project impacts,
                (3) preliminary cost estimates for each highway alternative, (4)
                updates related to lands acquired under the Land and Water Conservation
                Fund Act, and (5) a distinction between planning-level and
                implementation-level management actions in the Proposed Amendments to
                the St. George Field Office RMP. The BLM and FWS responded to
                substantive comments and made appropriate revisions in the Final EIS or
                explained why a comment did not warrant a change, as documented in
                Appendix O of the Final EIS.
                 The Final EIS considers the impacts of the proposed action, four
                other alternative highway alignments, and a no action alternative.
                Under Alternative 1, the No Action Alternative, the BLM would deny
                UDOT's application for a ROW across the Red Cliffs NCA for the Northern
                Corridor and would not amend either the Red Cliffs NCA or St. George
                Field Office RMP. The FWS would deny the County's application for an
                ITP. The No Action alternative provides a baseline against which to
                compare the action alternatives in the EIS.
                 Under Alternative 2, the T-Bone Mesa Alignment, the BLM would issue
                a ROW grant to UDOT for the Northern Corridor across the NCA skirting
                the southern edge of T-Bone Mesa. The Red Cliffs NCA RMP would be
                amended to allow for the ROW and consider designation of a utility
                corridor along the same route. The ITP would be issued subject to the
                conservation measures in the amended HCP. The St. George Field Office
                RMP would be amended to support the conservation
                [[Page 72685]]
                measures outlined for Reserve Zone 6 in the amended HCP.
                 Under Alternative 3, the preferred alternative, the UDOT
                Application Alignment, the BLM would issue a ROW grant to UDOT across
                the Red Cliffs NCA for the Northern Corridor for the alignment included
                in UDOT's ROW application. The Red Cliffs NCA RMP would be amended to
                allow for the ROW and consider a utility corridor along the same route.
                The ITP would be issued subject to the conservation measures in the
                amended HCP. The St. George Field Office RMP would be amended to
                support the conservation measures outlined for Reserve Zone 6 in the
                revised HCP.
                 Under Alternative 4, the Southern Alignment, the BLM would issue a
                ROW grant to UDOT across the NCA for the Northern Corridor on the
                Southern Alignment. Under this alternative, the Northern Corridor would
                more closely follow the southern border of the NCA. The Red Cliffs NCA
                RMP would be amended to allow for the ROW and to consider a utility
                corridor along the same route. The ITP would be issued subject to the
                conservation measures in the amended HCP. The St. George Field Office
                RMP would be amended to support the conservation measures outlined for
                Reserve Zone 6 in the revised HCP.
                 Under Alternative 5, the Red Hills Parkway Expressway Alignment,
                the BLM would grant necessary ROW amendments to the existing ROW for
                the Red Hills Parkway to convert Red Hills Parkway into a grade-
                separate expressway between Highland Drive and Bluff Street. The ITP
                would be issued subject to the conservation measures in the amended
                HCP, but the changed circumstance for the Northern Corridor and
                associated conservation measures would not be implemented. The Red
                Cliffs NCA and the St. George Field Office RMPs would not be amended
                because Reserve Zone 6 would not be needed to mitigate for impacts to
                desert tortoises.
                 Under Alternative 6, the St. George Boulevard/100 South One-Way
                Couplet, the BLM would deny UDOT's application for a ROW across the Red
                Cliffs NCA for the Northern Corridor. Rather, this alternative analyzes
                a scenario where the City of St. George would convert St. George
                Boulevard and 100 South to one-way streets. If the City implemented
                Alternative 6, the two roadways would be converted between I-15 and
                Bluff Street and the existing interchange with I-15 at St. George
                Boulevard would be reconfigured and combined with a new interchange at
                100 South to provide a split interchange between these two roadways
                connected by one-way ramps. The ITP would be issued subject to the
                conservation measures in the amended HCP, but the changed circumstance
                for the Northern Corridor and associated conservation measures would
                not be implemented. The Red Cliffs NCA RMP and the St. George Field
                Office RMP would not be amended.
                 The BLM and FWS have identified Alternative 3 as the agencies'
                preferred ROW alignment and ITP issuance alternative, with Alternative
                B identified as the Proposed Amendments to the Red Cliffs NCA and St.
                George Field Office RMPs. Identification of these alternatives,
                however, does not represent a final agency decision.
                 Authority: Consistent with 40 CFR 1506.13 (2020), this Notice
                and the EIS are issued under previous NEPA regulations: 40 CFR
                1502.9; 40 CFR 1506.6; 40 CFR 1506.10; 43 CFR 46.435; and 43 CFR
                1610.2. The BLM also provides this Notice under 43 CFR 8364.1 and 16
                U.S.C. 7913. The FWS also provides this Notice under section 10(c)
                of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and its implementing regulations
                for ITPs (50 CFR 17.22).
                Gregory Sheehan,
                State Director.
                Noreen Walsh,
                Regional Director.
                [FR Doc. 2020-24999 Filed 11-12-20; 8:45 am]
                BILLING CODE 4310-DQ-P
                

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