Notice of Availability of an Environmental Assessment and Receipt of an Application for an Incidental Take Permit for the East Valley Centre, City of Highland, San Bernardino County, CA, 12215-12216 [E6-3351]
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Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 46 / Thursday, March 9, 2006 / Notices
PRT–119904
Applicant: The Alaska Zoo, Anchorage,
AK.
The applicant requests a permit to
import one male captive-born polar bear
(Ursus maritimus) from Sea World of
Australia, Gold Coast, Australia for the
purpose of public display.
Concurrent with the publication of
this notice in the Federal Register, the
Division of Management Authority is
forwarding copies of the above
applications to the Marine Mammal
Commission and the Committee of
Scientific Advisors for their review.
Dated: February 24, 2006.
Michael S. Moore,
Senior Permit Biologist, Branch of Permits,
Division of Management Authority.
[FR Doc. E6–3322 Filed 3–8–06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–55–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability and
receipt of application.
hsrobinson on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: National Equity Engineering
(Applicant) has applied to the Fish and
Wildlife Service (Service) for an
incidental take permit pursuant to
section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered
Species Act (Act) of 1973, as amended.
The Service is considering issuing a 3year permit to the Applicant that would
authorize take of the federally
endangered San Bernardino kangaroo
rat (Dipodomys merriami parvus;
‘‘SBKR’’). The proposed permit would
authorize the take of individual
members of SBKR. The permit is needed
by the Applicant because take of SBKR
could occur during the proposed
construction of a commercial
development on a 15.6-acre site in the
City of Highland, San Bernardino
County, California.
The permit application includes the
proposed Habitat Conservation Plan
(Plan), which describes the proposed
action and the measures that the
Applicant will undertake to minimize
and mitigate take of the SBKR.
DATES: Written comments on or before
May 8, 2006.
13:58 Mar 08, 2006
Jkt 208001
Availability of Documents
You may obtain copies of these
documents for review by contacting the
above office. Documents also will be
available for public inspection, by
appointment, during normal business
hours at the above address and at the
San Bernardino County Libraries.
Addresses for the San Bernardino
County Libraries are: (1) 27167 Base
Line, Highland, CA 92346; (2) 25581
Barton Road, Loma Linda, CA 92354; (3)
251 West 1st Street, Rialto, CA 92376;
and, (4) 104 West Fourth Street, San
Bernardino, CA 92415.
Background
Notice of Availability of an
Environmental Assessment and
Receipt of an Application for an
Incidental Take Permit for the East
Valley Centre, City of Highland, San
Bernardino County, CA
VerDate Aug<31>2005
Send written comments to
Mr. Jim Bartel, Field Supervisor, Fish
and Wildlife Service, 6010 Hidden
Valley Road, Carlsbad, California 92011.
You also may send comments by
facsimile to (760) 918–0638.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms.
Karen Goebel, Assistant Field
Supervisor [See ADDRESSES] or call (760)
431–9440.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
ADDRESSES:
Section 9 of the Act and Federal
regulations prohibit the ‘‘take’’ of fish
and wildlife species listed as
endangered or threatened. Take of
federally listed fish and wildlife is
defined under the Act to include
‘‘harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot,
wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or
to attempt to engage in any such
conduct.’’ The Service may, under
limited circumstances, issue permits to
authorize incidental take (i.e., take that
is incidental to, and not the purpose of,
the carrying out of an otherwise lawful
activity). Regulations governing
incidental take permits for threatened
and endangered species are found in 50
CFR 17.32 and 17.22.
The Applicant is proposing
development of commercial facilities on
15.6 acres of land in the City of
Highland, San Bernardino County,
California. The project site is bordered
on the west by the northbound off-ramp
of the I–210 Freeway for Fifth Street and
on the north by Fifth Street. A vacant lot
and public storage facility border the
project site to the east, and a berm
separates the project site from the
Plunge Creek flood control basins,
aggregate operations and the Santa Ana
Wash to the south. The site is currently
disked on an annual basis for weed
control.
Approximately one acre of SBKR
habitat on site is considered occupied as
live-in habitat along the southern and
eastern periphery and a dirt road in the
middle of the project site. The Service
PO 00000
Frm 00055
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
12215
has determined that the proposed
development would result in incidental
take of the SBKR. No other federally
listed species are known to utilize the
site.
To mitigate take of SBKR on the
project site, the Applicant proposes to
purchase credits towards conservation
in-perpetuity of three acres of
Riversidean alluvial fan sage scrub from
the Cajon Creek Conservation Bank in
eastern San Bernardino Valley. The
conservation bank collects fees that
fund a management endowment to
ensure the permanent management and
monitoring of sensitive species and
habitats, including the SBKR.
The Service’s Environmental
Assessment considers the
environmental consequences of four
alternatives, including: (1) The
Proposed Project Alternative, which
consists of issuance of the incidental
take permit and implementation of the
Plan; (2) the Alternative Site Layout,
which would avoid direct effects
resulting in take of SBKR during project
construction and provide no offsite
conservation; and (3) the No Action
Alternative, which would result in no
impacts to SBKR and no conservation.
National Environmental Policy Act
Proposed permit issuance triggers the
need for compliance with the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
Accordingly, a draft NEPA document
has been prepared. The Service is the
Lead Agency responsible for compliance
under NEPA. As NEPA lead agency, the
Service is providing notice of the
availability and is making available for
public review the Environmental
Assessment.
Public Review
The Service invites the public to
review the Plan and Environmental
Assessment during a 60-day public
comment period [see DATES]. Any
comments received, including names
and addresses, will become part of the
official administrative record and may
be made available to the public.
This notice is provided pursuant to
section 10(a) of the Act and the
regulations for implementing NEPA, as
amended (40 CFR 1506.6). We will
evaluate the application, associated
documents, and comments submitted
thereon to determine whether the
application meets the requirements of
NEPA regulations and section 10(a) of
the Act. If we determine that those
requirements are met, we will issue a
permit to the Applicant for the
incidental take of the SBKR. We will
make our final permit decision no
E:\FR\FM\09MRN1.SGM
09MRN1
12216
Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 46 / Thursday, March 9, 2006 / Notices
hours in room 4107, 4501 North Fairfax
Drive, Arlington, Virginia.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Brian Millsap, Chief, or Ron W. Kokel,
Division of Migratory Bird Management,
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, (703)
358–1714.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On
September 8, 2005, we published a
Notice of Intent to prepare a
supplemental EIS on the sport hunting
of migratory birds (70 FR 53376). For
more detailed background information,
we refer the reader to this document.
sooner than 60 days from the date of
this notice.
Dated: March 3, 2006.
Ken McDermond,
Deputy Manager, California/Nevada
Operations Office, Sacramento, California.
[FR Doc. E6–3351 Filed 3–8–06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–55–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
Migratory Bird Hunting; Notice of
Intent To Prepare a Supplemental
Environmental Impact Statement on
the Sport Hunting of Migratory Birds
Background and Overview
Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of meetings.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service (Service or we) is issuing this
notice to invite public participation in
the scoping process for preparing a
Supplemental Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS) for the Sport Hunting of
Migratory Birds under the authority of
the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The SEIS
will consider a range of management
alternatives for addressing sport hunting
of migratory birds under the authority of
the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The
Service seeks suggestions and comments
on the scope and substance of this
supplemental EIS, options or
alternatives to be considered, and
important management issues. Federal
and State agencies and the public are
invited to present their views on the
subject to the Service. This notice
invites further public participation in
the scoping process, identifies the
location, date, and time of public
scoping meetings, and identifies to
whom you may direct questions and
comments.
You must submit written
comments regarding EIS scoping by May
30, 2006, to the address below. All
comments received from the initiation
of this process on September 8, 2005,
until May 30, 2006, will be considered.
Dates for twelve public scoping
meetings are identified in the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section.
ADDRESSES: You should send written
comments to the Chief, Division of
Migratory Bird Management, U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, Department of the
Interior, MS MBSP–4107–ARLSQ, 1849
C Street, NW., Washington, DC 20240.
Alternately, you may fax comments to
(703) 358–2217 or e-mail comments to
huntingseis@fws.gov. You may inspect
comments during normal business
hsrobinson on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES
DATES:
VerDate Aug<31>2005
13:58 Mar 08, 2006
Jkt 208001
Migratory game birds are those bird
species so designated in bilateral
conventions between the United States
and Canada, Mexico, Japan, and Russia
for the protection and management of
these birds. Under the Migratory Bird
Treaty Act (16 U.S.C. 703–712) and the
Fish and Wildlife Improvement Act of
1978 (16 U.S.C. 7421), the Secretary of
the Interior is authorized to determine
when ‘‘hunting, taking, capture, killing,
possession, sale, purchase, shipment,
transportation, carriage, or export of any
* * * bird, or any part, nest or egg’’ of
migratory game birds can take place,
and to adopt regulations for this
purpose. These regulations are issued
with due regard to ‘‘the zones of
temperature and the distribution,
abundance, economic value, breeding
habits, and times and lines of migratory
flight of such birds’’ and compatibility
with the conventions between the
United States and Canada, Mexico,
Japan, and Russia for the protection and
management of migratory birds. This
responsibility has been delegated to the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service of the
Department of the Interior as the lead
Federal agency for managing and
conserving migratory birds in the
United States.
The Service currently promulgates
regulations allowing and governing the
hunting of migratory game birds in the
families Anatidae (waterfowl), Gruidae
(cranes), Rallidae (rails), Scolopacidae
(snipe and woodcock), and Columbidae
(doves and pigeons). Regulations
governing seasons and limits are
promulgated annually, in part due to
considerations such as the abundance of
birds, which can change from year to
year, and are developed by establishing
the frameworks, or outside limits, for
earliest opening and latest closing dates,
season lengths, limits (daily bag and
possession), and areas for migratory
game bird hunting. These ‘‘annual’’
regulations have been promulgated by
the Service each year since 1918. Other
regulations, termed ‘‘basic’’ regulations
PO 00000
Frm 00056
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
(for example, those governing hunting
methods), are promulgated once and
changed only when a need to do so
arises. All hunting regulations are
contained in 50 CFR Parts 20 and 92.
In the September 8, 2005, Federal
Register, we provided information on
the current process for establishing
sport hunting regulations, the tribal
regulations process, the Alaska
subsistence process, and past NEPA
considerations (a 1975 EIS and a 1988
supplemental EIS).
Issue Resolution and Environmental
Review
We intend to develop a supplemental
EIS on the ‘‘Issuance of Annual
Regulations Permitting the Sport
Hunting of Migratory Birds,’’ beginning
the process with our September 8, 2005,
announcement. Federal and State
agencies, private conservation
organizations, and all other interested
parties and individuals are invited to
participate in the process by presenting
their views on the subject. We seek
suggestions and comments regarding the
scope and substance of this
supplemental EIS, particular issues to
be addressed and why, and options or
alternatives to be considered. In
particular, in regard to the scope and
substance of this supplemental EIS, we
seek comments on the following:
(1) Harvest management alternatives
for migratory game birds to be
considered,
(2) Limiting the scope of the
assessment to sport hunting (i.e.,
exclusion of the Alaska migratory bird
subsistence process), and
(3) Inclusion of basic regulations
(methods and means).
We will conduct the development of
this supplemental EIS in accordance
with the requirements of the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 as
amended (42 U.S.C. 4371 et seq.), other
appropriate Federal regulations, and
Service procedures for compliance with
those regulations. We are furnishing this
Notice in accordance with 40 CFR
1501.7, to obtain suggestions and
information from other agencies, tribes,
and the public on the scope of issues to
be addressed in the supplemental EIS.
Public Scoping Meetings
Twelve public scoping meetings will
be held on the following dates at the
indicated locations and times:
1. March 24, 2006: Columbus, Ohio, at
the Hyatt Regency Columbus, 350 North
High Street; 1 p.m.
2. March 28, 2006: Memphis,
Tennessee, at the Holiday Inn Select
Downtown, 160 Union Avenue; 7 p.m.
E:\FR\FM\09MRN1.SGM
09MRN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 46 (Thursday, March 9, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12215-12216]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-3351]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
Notice of Availability of an Environmental Assessment and Receipt
of an Application for an Incidental Take Permit for the East Valley
Centre, City of Highland, San Bernardino County, CA
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability and receipt of application.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: National Equity Engineering (Applicant) has applied to the
Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) for an incidental take permit
pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered Species Act (Act) of
1973, as amended. The Service is considering issuing a 3-year permit to
the Applicant that would authorize take of the federally endangered San
Bernardino kangaroo rat (Dipodomys merriami parvus; ``SBKR''). The
proposed permit would authorize the take of individual members of SBKR.
The permit is needed by the Applicant because take of SBKR could occur
during the proposed construction of a commercial development on a 15.6-
acre site in the City of Highland, San Bernardino County, California.
The permit application includes the proposed Habitat Conservation
Plan (Plan), which describes the proposed action and the measures that
the Applicant will undertake to minimize and mitigate take of the SBKR.
DATES: Written comments on or before May 8, 2006.
ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Mr. Jim Bartel, Field Supervisor,
Fish and Wildlife Service, 6010 Hidden Valley Road, Carlsbad,
California 92011. You also may send comments by facsimile to (760) 918-
0638.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Karen Goebel, Assistant Field
Supervisor [See ADDRESSES] or call (760) 431-9440.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Availability of Documents
You may obtain copies of these documents for review by contacting
the above office. Documents also will be available for public
inspection, by appointment, during normal business hours at the above
address and at the San Bernardino County Libraries. Addresses for the
San Bernardino County Libraries are: (1) 27167 Base Line, Highland, CA
92346; (2) 25581 Barton Road, Loma Linda, CA 92354; (3) 251 West 1st
Street, Rialto, CA 92376; and, (4) 104 West Fourth Street, San
Bernardino, CA 92415.
Background
Section 9 of the Act and Federal regulations prohibit the ``take''
of fish and wildlife species listed as endangered or threatened. Take
of federally listed fish and wildlife is defined under the Act to
include ``harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap,
capture, or collect, or to attempt to engage in any such conduct.'' The
Service may, under limited circumstances, issue permits to authorize
incidental take (i.e., take that is incidental to, and not the purpose
of, the carrying out of an otherwise lawful activity). Regulations
governing incidental take permits for threatened and endangered species
are found in 50 CFR 17.32 and 17.22.
The Applicant is proposing development of commercial facilities on
15.6 acres of land in the City of Highland, San Bernardino County,
California. The project site is bordered on the west by the northbound
off-ramp of the I-210 Freeway for Fifth Street and on the north by
Fifth Street. A vacant lot and public storage facility border the
project site to the east, and a berm separates the project site from
the Plunge Creek flood control basins, aggregate operations and the
Santa Ana Wash to the south. The site is currently disked on an annual
basis for weed control.
Approximately one acre of SBKR habitat on site is considered
occupied as live-in habitat along the southern and eastern periphery
and a dirt road in the middle of the project site. The Service has
determined that the proposed development would result in incidental
take of the SBKR. No other federally listed species are known to
utilize the site.
To mitigate take of SBKR on the project site, the Applicant
proposes to purchase credits towards conservation in-perpetuity of
three acres of Riversidean alluvial fan sage scrub from the Cajon Creek
Conservation Bank in eastern San Bernardino Valley. The conservation
bank collects fees that fund a management endowment to ensure the
permanent management and monitoring of sensitive species and habitats,
including the SBKR.
The Service's Environmental Assessment considers the environmental
consequences of four alternatives, including: (1) The Proposed Project
Alternative, which consists of issuance of the incidental take permit
and implementation of the Plan; (2) the Alternative Site Layout, which
would avoid direct effects resulting in take of SBKR during project
construction and provide no offsite conservation; and (3) the No Action
Alternative, which would result in no impacts to SBKR and no
conservation.
National Environmental Policy Act
Proposed permit issuance triggers the need for compliance with the
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Accordingly, a draft NEPA
document has been prepared. The Service is the Lead Agency responsible
for compliance under NEPA. As NEPA lead agency, the Service is
providing notice of the availability and is making available for public
review the Environmental Assessment.
Public Review
The Service invites the public to review the Plan and Environmental
Assessment during a 60-day public comment period [see DATES]. Any
comments received, including names and addresses, will become part of
the official administrative record and may be made available to the
public.
This notice is provided pursuant to section 10(a) of the Act and
the regulations for implementing NEPA, as amended (40 CFR 1506.6). We
will evaluate the application, associated documents, and comments
submitted thereon to determine whether the application meets the
requirements of NEPA regulations and section 10(a) of the Act. If we
determine that those requirements are met, we will issue a permit to
the Applicant for the incidental take of the SBKR. We will make our
final permit decision no
[[Page 12216]]
sooner than 60 days from the date of this notice.
Dated: March 3, 2006.
Ken McDermond,
Deputy Manager, California/Nevada Operations Office, Sacramento,
California.
[FR Doc. E6-3351 Filed 3-8-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P
