Receipt of Incidental Take Permit Application and Proposed Habitat Conservation Plan for the Rosewater Wind Farm, White County, Indiana; Categorical Exclusion
| Citation | 85 FR 79503 |
| Record Number | 2020-27102 |
| Published date | 10 December 2020 |
| Section | Notices |
| Court | Fish And Wildlife Service |
79503
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 238 / Thursday, December 10, 2020 / Notices
(Presidentially Declared Disasters); 97.039,
Hazard Mitigation Grant.
Pete Gaynor,
Administrator, Federal Emergency
Management Agency.
[FR Doc. 2020–27174 Filed 12–9–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9111–23–P
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND
SECURITY
Federal Emergency Management
Agency
[Internal Agency Docket No. FEMA–4567–
DR; Docket ID FEMA–2020–0001]
New York; Amendment No. 2 to Notice
of a Major Disaster Declaration
AGENCY
: Federal Emergency
Management Agency, DHS.
ACTION
: Notice.
SUMMARY
: This notice amends the notice
of a major disaster declaration for the
State of New York (FEMA–4567–DR),
dated October 2, 2020, and related
determinations.
DATES
: This amendment was issued
November 3, 2020.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
:
Dean Webster, Office of Response and
Recovery, Federal Emergency
Management Agency, 500 C Street SW,
Washington, DC 20472, (202) 646–2833.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
: The notice
of a major disaster declaration for the
State of New York is hereby amended to
include the following areas among those
areas determined to have been adversely
affected by the event declared a major
disaster by the President in his
declaration of October 2, 2020.
Putnam, Queens, Richmond, Rockland,
and Westchester Counties for Public
Assistance.
The following Catalog of Federal Domestic
Assistance Numbers (CFDA) are to be used
for reporting and drawing funds: 97.030,
Community Disaster Loans; 97.031, Cora
Brown Fund; 97.032, Crisis Counseling;
97.033, Disaster Legal Services; 97.034,
Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA);
97.046, Fire Management Assistance Grant;
97.048, Disaster Housing Assistance to
Individuals and Households In Presidentially
Declared Disaster Areas; 97.049,
Presidentially Declared Disaster Assistance—
Disaster Housing Operations for Individuals
and Households; 97.050 Presidentially
Declared Disaster Assistance to Individuals
and Households—Other Needs; 97.036,
Disaster Grants—Public Assistance
(Presidentially Declared Disasters); 97.039,
Hazard Mitigation Grant.
Pete Gaynor,
Administrator, Federal Emergency
Management Agency.
[FR Doc. 2020–27175 Filed 12–9–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9111–23–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS–R3–ES–2020–0128;
FXES11140300000–212]
Receipt of Incidental Take Permit
Application and Proposed Habitat
Conservation Plan for the Rosewater
Wind Farm, White County, Indiana;
Categorical Exclusion
AGENCY
: Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION
: Notice of availability of
documents; request for comment and
information.
SUMMARY
: We, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, have received an
application from Rosewater Wind Farm
LLC (applicant), for an incidental take
permit (ITP) under the Endangered
Species Act (ESA), for its Rosewater
Wind Farm (project). If approved, the
ITP would be for a 6-year period and
would authorize the incidental take of
an endangered species, the Indiana bat,
and a threatened species, the northern
long-eared bat. The applicant has
prepared a habitat conservation plan
that describes the actions and measures
that the applicant would implement to
avoid, minimize, and mitigate
incidental take of the Indiana bat and
northern long-eared bat. We request
public comment on the application,
which includes the applicant’s
proposed habitat conservation plan
(HCP), and on the Service’s preliminary
determination that this HCP qualifies as
‘‘low-effect,’’ categorically excluded
under the National Environmental
Policy Act. To make this determination,
we used our environmental action
statement and low-effect screening form,
both of which are also able for public
review.
DATES
: We will accept comments
received or postmarked on or before
January 11, 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–
2020–0128 at http://
www.regulations.gov.
Comment submission: In your
comment, please specify whether your
comment addresses the proposed HCP,
draft environmental action statement, 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–2020–0128.
•U.S. mail: Public Comments
Processing, Attn: Docket No. FWS–R3–
ES–2020–0128; U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service; 5275 Leesburg Pike, MS: PRB/
3W; Falls Church, VA 22041–3803.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
:
Scott Pruitt, Field Supervisor,
Bloomington Ecological Services Field
Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
620 South Walker Street, Bloomington,
IN 47403; telephone: 812–334–4261,
extension 214; 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
: We, the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have
received an application from Rosewater
Wind Farm LLC (applicant), for an
incidental take permit (ITP) under the
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as
amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).
The applicant requests the 6-year ITP to
take the federally listed Indiana bat
(Myotis sodalis) and northern long-eared
bat (Myotis septentrionalis) incidental to
the operation of 25 wind turbines with
a total generating capacity of 102
megawatt (MW) at the Rosewater Wind
Farm in White County, Indiana. While
the ITP is for 6 years, the operational
life of most new wind energy facilities
is thirty years and intensive monitoring
conducted during this permit term will
inform the need for future avoidance or
a new long-term ITP for the remaining
life of the project that will comply with
a new NEPA analysis and habitat
conservation plan (HCP). The applicant
has prepared a HCP that describes the
actions and measures that the applicant
would implement to avoid, minimize,
and mitigate incidental take of the
covered species for the first 6 years. We
request public comment on the
application, which includes the
applicant’s proposed HCP, and on the
Service’s preliminary determination that
this HCP qualifies as ‘‘low-effect,’’
categorically excluded under the
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79504
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 238 / Thursday, December 10, 2020 / Notices
National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). To make
this determination, we used our
environmental action statement and
low-effect screening form, both of which
are also able for public review.
Background
Section 9 of the ESA 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 any
such conduct’’ (16 U.S.C. 1532).
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 (16 U.S.C. 1539).
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 6-year ITP to
take the federally endangered Indiana
bat (Myotis sodalis) and threatened
northern long-eared bat (Myotis
septentrionalis). The applicant
determined that take is reasonably
certain to occur incidental to operation
of 25 previously constructed wind
turbines in White County, Indiana,
consisting of approximately 6,381 acres
of private land. 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 onsite minimization
measures and to provide habitat
conservation measures for Indiana bats
and northern long-eared bats to offset
any impacts from operations of the
project. The HCP provides on-site
avoidance and minimization measures,
which include turbine operational
adjustments. The authorized level of
take from the project is 18 Indiana bats
and 18 northern long-eared bats over the
6-year permit duration. To offset the
impacts of the taking of Indiana bats and
northern long-eared bats, the applicant
will implement one or more of the
following mitigation options: Purchase
credits from an approved conservation
bank, contribute to an in-lieu fee
mitigation fund, implement permittee
responsible mitigation project, or
contribute to a white-nose syndrome
treatment fund if such a fund is
established during the permit term.
National Environmental Policy Act
The issuance of an ITP is a Federal
action that triggers the need for
compliance with NEPA. The Service has
made a preliminary determination that
the applicant’s project and the proposed
mitigation measures would individually
and cumulatively have a minor or
negligible effect on the covered species
and the environment. Therefore, we
have preliminarily concluded that the
ITP for this project would qualify for
categorical exclusion, and the HCP
would be low effect under our NEPA
regulations at 43 CFR 46.205 and
46.210. A low-effect HCP is one that
would result in (1) minor or negligible
effects on federally listed, proposed, and
candidate species and their habitats; (2)
minor or negligible effects on other
environmental values or resources; and
(3) incremental impacts from the federal
action that, when added to other past,
present, and reasonable foreseeable
future actions, would not result in
significant cumulative effects to
environmental values or resources over
time.
Next Steps
The Service will evaluate the
application and the comments received
to determine whether the permit
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 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
on the proposed HCP and screening
form during a 30-day public comment
period (see
DATES
).
In particular, information and
comments regarding the following
topics are requested:
1. Whether adaptive management,
monitoring and mitigation provisions in
the proposed HCP are sufficient;
2. The requested 6-year ITP term;
3. Any threats to the Indiana bat and
the northern long-eared bat that may
influence their populations over the life
of the ITP that are not addressed in the
proposed HCP or screening form;
4. Any new information on white-
nose syndrome effects on the Indiana
bat and the northern long-eared bat;
5. Whether or not the significance of
the impact on various aspects of the
human environment has been
adequately analyzed; and
6. Any other information pertinent to
evaluating the effects of the proposed
action on the human environment,
including those on the Indiana bat and
the northern long-eared bat.
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.
4371 et seq.) and its implementing
regulations (40 CFR 1506.6; 43 CFR part
46).
Lori Nordstrom,
Assistant Regional Director, Ecological
Services.
[FR Doc. 2020–27102 Filed 12–9–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333–15–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Office of the Secretary
[LLWO210000.L1610000]
National Environmental Policy Act
Implementing Procedures for the
Bureau of Land Management (516 DM
11)
AGENCY
: Office of the Secretary, Interior.
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