Notice of Intent to Conduct Public Scoping Meeting and Prepare an Environmental Document for the Stanford University Habitat Conservation Plan, Palo Alto, CA, 53466-53467 [06-7572]
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53466
Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 175 / Monday, September 11, 2006 / Notices
Dated: August 25, 2006.
Monica Farris,
Senior Permit Biologist, Branch of Permits,
Division of Management Authority.
[FR Doc. E6–15007 Filed 9–8–06; 8:45 am]
Serra Mall, Building 420, Room 040,
Stanford, CA. Written comments or
questions relating to the preparation of
an environmental document and the
NEPA process should be addressed to:
Ms. Lori Rinek, Chief, Conservation
Planning and Recovery Division, Fish
and Wildlife Service, Sacramento Fish
and Wildlife Office, 2800 Cottage Way,
Room W–2605, Sacramento, CA 95825,
facsimile 916–414–6713; Gary Stern,
San Francisco Bay Region Team Leader,
National Marine Fisheries Service,
Santa Rosa Area Office, 777 Sonoma
Avenue, Room 325, Santa Rosa, CA
95404, facsimile 707–578–3435; or
Stanford.HCP@NOAA.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Sheila Larsen, Fish and Wildlife Service
or Lori Rinek, Chief, Conservation
Planning and Recovery Division, Fish
and Wildlife Service, at the address
shown above or at 916–414–6600, or
Gary Stern, National Marine Fisheries
Service, at the address shown or at 707–
575–6060.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
BILLING CODE 4310–55–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
[I.D.082906B]
Notice of Intent to Conduct Public
Scoping Meeting and Prepare an
Environmental Document for the
Stanford University Habitat
Conservation Plan, Palo Alto, CA
Fish and Wildlife Service,
(FWS), Interior; National Marine
Fisheries Service, (NMFS), National
Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of intent.
rwilkins on PROD1PC61 with NOTICES
AGENCIES:
SUMMARY: The Fish and Wildlife Service
and National Marine Fisheries Service
(Services) advise interested parties of
their intent to conduct public scoping
meeting under the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
necessary to gather information to
prepare an environmental assessment
(EA) or environmental impact statement
(EIS), (collectively referred to as
‘‘environmental document’’). The
Services anticipate permit applications
from Stanford University (Stanford)
submitted under the Endangered
Species Act (ESA) for the incidental
take of federally listed species. The
permit applications would be associated
with the Stanford University Habitat
Conservation Plan (Plan) at Stanford in
Palo Alto, CA. We provide this notice
to: describe the proposed Plan and
possible alternatives; advise other
Federal and state agencies, affected
Tribes, and the public of our intent to
prepare an environmental document;
announce the initiation of a public
scoping period; obtain information to
assist the Services in determining
whether to write an EA or EIS; and
obtain suggestions and information on
the scope of issues to be included in the
environmental document.
DATES: A public meeting will be held on
September 21, 2006, from 4 to 6 pm.
Written comments should be received
on or before October 11, 2006.
ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held on
the Stanford Campus at Jordan Hall, 450
VerDate Aug<31>2005
18:03 Sep 08, 2006
Jkt 208001
Background
Section 9 of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1532
et seq.) and implementing regulations
prohibit the ‘‘taking’’ of fish and
wildlife species listed as endangered or
threatened . The term ‘‘take’’ is defined
under the ESA to mean harass, harm,
pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap,
capture, or collect, or to attempt to
engage in any such conduct (16 U.S.C.
1532(19)). Harm is defined by the FWS
to include significant habitat
modification or degradation where it
actually kills or injures wildlife by
significantly impairing essential
behavioral patterns, including breeding,
feeding, and sheltering (50 CFR 17.3).
NMFS’ definition of harm includes
significant habitat modification or
degradation where it actually kills or
injures fish or wildlife by significantly
impairing essential behavioral patterns,
including breeding, feeding, spawning,
migrating, rearing, and sheltering (64 FR
60727, November 8, 1999).
Section 10 of the ESA specifies
requirements for the issuance of
incidental take permits (permits) to nonFederal landowners for the take of
endangered and threatened species. Any
proposed take must be incidental to
otherwise lawful activities, not
appreciably reduce the likelihood of the
survival and recovery of the species in
the wild and minimize and mitigate the
impacts of such take to the maximum
extent practicable. In addition, an
applicant must prepare a habitat
conservation plan describing the impact
that will likely result from such taking,
PO 00000
Frm 00105
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
the strategy for minimizing and
mitigating the incidental take, the
funding available to implement such
steps, alternatives to such taking, and
the reason such alternatives are not
being implemented. To obtain a permit,
the applicant must prepare a habitat
conservation plan that meets the
issuance criteria established by the
Services (50 CFR 17.22(b)(2) and
222.307). Should permits be issued, the
permits would include assurances
under the Services’ ‘‘No Surprises’’
regulations [50 CFR 17.22(b)(5) and
17.32(b)(5)].
Currently, three federally listed
species are proposed for coverage under
the Plan, and one additional species that
may be listed in the future is also
proposed to be covered. The federally
listed species are the threatened
California red-legged frog (Rana aurora
draytonii), California tiger salamander
(Ambystoma californiense), and
steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss). The
one unlisted species proposed for
coverage is the western pond turtle
(Clemmys marmorata). Species may be
added or deleted during the course of
Plan development based on further
analysis.
Proposed Plan
Stanford is a major research
university that owns 8,180 acres of
contiguous land in northern Santa Clara
County and southern San Mateo County.
These lands consist of both developed
and undeveloped areas. Most of the
urban facilities, including academic
buildings, housing, roads, pedestrian/
bicycle pathways, and recreational
facilities are located in the central part
of the campus. A generally undeveloped
‘‘Academic Reserve’’ outside this core
academic area is used for low intensity
academic uses. Stanford maintains three
open water reservoirs: Lagunita, Felt
Lake, and Searsville. Some of Stanford’s
lands are leased for interim nonacademic purposes.
Activities proposed to be covered by
the Plan (Covered Activities) are
generally activities related to water
management, academic uses,
maintenance and construction of new
urban infrastructure, recreational and
athletic uses, campus management and
maintenance, activities carried out by
Stanford’s tenants and future
development.
The draft Plan to be prepared by
Stanford in support of the permit
applications will describe the impacts of
take on proposed covered species, and
will propose a conservation strategy to
minimize and mitigate those impacts on
each covered species to the maximum
extent practicable. Components of a
E:\FR\FM\11SEN1.SGM
11SEN1
Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 175 / Monday, September 11, 2006 / Notices
rwilkins on PROD1PC61 with NOTICES
conservation program are now under
consideration by the Services and
Stanford. These components will likely
include the following conservation
strategy. Stanford has divided its 8,180
acres into four zones according to their
relative habitat value for the Covered
Species. Zone 1 (approximately 1,150
acres) supports, or provides critical
resources for, one or more Covered
Species. Zone 2 (approximately 1,260
acres) is occasionally occupied by, or
occasionally provides some of the
resources used by, one or more Covered
Species. Zone 3 (approximately 2,500
acres) consists of generally undeveloped
open space lands that have some
biological value, but provide only
limited and indirect benefit to the
Covered Species. Zone 4 (approximately
3,270 acres) consists of urbanized areas
that do not provide any habitat value for
any Covered Species. The draft Plan
will identify alternatives considered by
Stanford and will explain why those
alternatives were not selected.
To mitigate unavoidable impacts to
proposed Covered Species from Covered
Activities, the mitigation program will
consist mainly of preserving large areas
of the highest quality habitats and
managing them for the benefit of the
Covered Species. To ensure that
mitigation precedes impacts, Stanford
will designate several large preserve
areas during the planning process and
apply preservation ‘‘credits’’ against
land development and related impacts
over the course of the Plan. Stanford
will also restore habitat values in certain
areas in which habitat quality has been
degraded over time through a variety of
land uses.
National Environmental Policy Act
NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) requires
that Federal agencies conduct an
environmental analysis of their
proposed actions to determine if the
actions may significantly affect the
human environment. To assist in
determining whether this project would
cause significant impacts that would
result in the preparation of an EIS refer
to 40 CFR 1508.27 or 40 CFR 1508.2.
These sections provide information on
how to determine whether effects are
significant under NEPA and would
therefore trigger the preparation of an
EIS. Under NEPA, a reasonable range of
alternatives to proposed projects is
developed and considered in the
Services environmental review.
Alternatives considered for analysis in
an environmental document may
include: variations in the scope of
covered activities; variations in the
location, amount, and type of
conservation; variations in permit
VerDate Aug<31>2005
18:03 Sep 08, 2006
Jkt 208001
duration; or, a combination of these
elements. In addition, the
environmental document will identify
potentially significant direct, indirect,
and cumulative impacts on biological
resources, land use, air quality, water
quality, water resources, and
socioeconomics, as well as other
environmental issues that could occur
with the implementation of the
proposed actions and alternatives. For
all potentially significant impacts, the
environmental document will identify
avoidance, minimization, and
mitigation measures to reduce these
impacts, where feasible, to a level below
significance.
The primary purpose of the scoping
process is for the public to assist the
Services in developing the EA or EIS by
identifying important issues and
alternatives related to the proposed
action. The Services propose to serve as
co-lead Federal agencies under NEPA
for preparation of the environmental
documents. Written comments from
interested parties are welcome to ensure
that the full range of issues related to
the permit requests is identified. All
comments and materials received,
including names and addresses, will
become part of the administrative record
and may be released to the public.
Comments and materials received will
be available for public inspection, by
appointment, during normal business
hours at the offices listed in the
ADDRESSES section.
The Services request that comments
be specific. In particular, we request
information regarding: the direct,
indirect, and cumulative impacts that
implementation of the proposed Plan
could have on endangered and
threatened and other covered species,
and their communities and habitats;
other possible alternatives that meet the
purpose and need; potential adaptive
management and/or monitoring
provisions; funding issues; existing
environmental conditions in the plan
area; other plans or projects that might
be relevant to this proposed project; and
minimization and mitigation efforts.
The environmental review of this
project will be conducted in accordance
with the requirements of the NEPA of
1969 as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et
seq.), Council on the Environmental
Quality Regulations (40 CFR parts 1500–
1508), other applicable Federal laws and
regulations, and policies and procedures
of the Services for compliance with
those regulations. This notice is being
furnished in accordance with 40 CFR
1501.7 of NEPA to obtain suggestions
and information from other agencies
and the public on the scope of issues
PO 00000
Frm 00106
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
53467
and alternatives to be addressed in the
environmental document.
Reasonable Accommodation
Persons needing reasonable
accommodations in order to attend and
participate in the public meeting should
contact Gary Stern at 707–575–6060 as
soon as possible. In order to allow
sufficient time to process requests,
please call no later than one week before
the public meeting. Information
regarding this proposed action is
available in alternative formats upon
request.
Dated: August 31, 2006.
Paul Henson,
Acting Deputy Manager, Fish and Wildlife
Service, California/Nevada Operations Office.
Dated: August 31, 2006.
Angela Somma,
Chief, Endangered Species Division, National
Marine Fisheries Service, Office of Protected
Resources.
[FR Doc. 06–7572 Filed 9–8–06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODES 4310–55–S, 3510–22–S
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
Notice of Inventory Completion:
Kansas State University, Manhattan,
KS
National Park Service, Interior.
Notice.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
Notice is here given in accordance
with the Native American Graves
Protection and Repatriation Act
(NAGPRA), 25 U.S.C. 3003, of the
completion of an inventory of human
remains in the possession of Kansas
State University, Manhattan, KS. The
human remains were removed from
McPherson and Rice Counties, KS.
This notice is published as part of the
National Park Service’s administrative
responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25
U.S.C. 3003 (d)(3). The determinations
in this notice are the sole responsibility
of the museum, institution, or Federal
agency that has control of the Native
American human remains. The National
Park Service is not responsible for the
determinations in this notice.
A detailed assessment of the human
remains was made by Kansas State
University professional staff in
consultation with representatives of the
Wichita and Affiliated Tribes (Wichita,
Keechi, Waco & Tawakonie), Oklahoma.
Sometime between 1928 and 1988,
human remains representing a
minimum of one individual were
removed from site 14MP1, also known
as Paint Creek site, McPherson County,
E:\FR\FM\11SEN1.SGM
11SEN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 175 (Monday, September 11, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53466-53467]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-7572]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[I.D.082906B]
Notice of Intent to Conduct Public Scoping Meeting and Prepare an
Environmental Document for the Stanford University Habitat Conservation
Plan, Palo Alto, CA
AGENCIES: Fish and Wildlife Service, (FWS), Interior; National Marine
Fisheries Service, (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of intent.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries
Service (Services) advise interested parties of their intent to conduct
public scoping meeting under the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA) necessary to gather information to prepare an environmental
assessment (EA) or environmental impact statement (EIS), (collectively
referred to as ``environmental document''). The Services anticipate
permit applications from Stanford University (Stanford) submitted under
the Endangered Species Act (ESA) for the incidental take of federally
listed species. The permit applications would be associated with the
Stanford University Habitat Conservation Plan (Plan) at Stanford in
Palo Alto, CA. We provide this notice to: describe the proposed Plan
and possible alternatives; advise other Federal and state agencies,
affected Tribes, and the public of our intent to prepare an
environmental document; announce the initiation of a public scoping
period; obtain information to assist the Services in determining
whether to write an EA or EIS; and obtain suggestions and information
on the scope of issues to be included in the environmental document.
DATES: A public meeting will be held on September 21, 2006, from 4 to
6 pm. Written comments should be received on or before October 11,
2006.
ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held on the Stanford Campus at Jordan
Hall, 450 Serra Mall, Building 420, Room 040, Stanford, CA. Written
comments or questions relating to the preparation of an environmental
document and the NEPA process should be addressed to: Ms. Lori Rinek,
Chief, Conservation Planning and Recovery Division, Fish and Wildlife
Service, Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office, 2800 Cottage Way, Room W-
2605, Sacramento, CA 95825, facsimile 916-414-6713; Gary Stern, San
Francisco Bay Region Team Leader, National Marine Fisheries Service,
Santa Rosa Area Office, 777 Sonoma Avenue, Room 325, Santa Rosa, CA
95404, facsimile 707-578-3435; or Stanford.HCP@NOAA.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sheila Larsen, Fish and Wildlife
Service or Lori Rinek, Chief, Conservation Planning and Recovery
Division, Fish and Wildlife Service, at the address shown above or at
916-414-6600, or Gary Stern, National Marine Fisheries Service, at the
address shown or at 707-575-6060.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Section 9 of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1532 et seq.) and implementing
regulations prohibit the ``taking'' of fish and wildlife species listed
as endangered or threatened . The term ``take'' is defined under the
ESA to mean harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap,
capture, or collect, or to attempt to engage in any such conduct (16
U.S.C. 1532(19)). Harm is defined by the FWS to include significant
habitat modification or degradation where it actually kills or injures
wildlife by significantly impairing essential behavioral patterns,
including breeding, feeding, and sheltering (50 CFR 17.3). NMFS'
definition of harm includes significant habitat modification or
degradation where it actually kills or injures fish or wildlife by
significantly impairing essential behavioral patterns, including
breeding, feeding, spawning, migrating, rearing, and sheltering (64 FR
60727, November 8, 1999).
Section 10 of the ESA specifies requirements for the issuance of
incidental take permits (permits) to non-Federal landowners for the
take of endangered and threatened species. Any proposed take must be
incidental to otherwise lawful activities, not appreciably reduce the
likelihood of the survival and recovery of the species in the wild and
minimize and mitigate the impacts of such take to the maximum extent
practicable. In addition, an applicant must prepare a habitat
conservation plan describing the impact that will likely result from
such taking, the strategy for minimizing and mitigating the incidental
take, the funding available to implement such steps, alternatives to
such taking, and the reason such alternatives are not being
implemented. To obtain a permit, the applicant must prepare a habitat
conservation plan that meets the issuance criteria established by the
Services (50 CFR 17.22(b)(2) and 222.307). Should permits be issued,
the permits would include assurances under the Services' ``No
Surprises'' regulations [50 CFR 17.22(b)(5) and 17.32(b)(5)].
Currently, three federally listed species are proposed for coverage
under the Plan, and one additional species that may be listed in the
future is also proposed to be covered. The federally listed species are
the threatened California red-legged frog (Rana aurora draytonii),
California tiger salamander (Ambystoma californiense), and steelhead
(Oncorhynchus mykiss). The one unlisted species proposed for coverage
is the western pond turtle (Clemmys marmorata). Species may be added or
deleted during the course of Plan development based on further
analysis.
Proposed Plan
Stanford is a major research university that owns 8,180 acres of
contiguous land in northern Santa Clara County and southern San Mateo
County. These lands consist of both developed and undeveloped areas.
Most of the urban facilities, including academic buildings, housing,
roads, pedestrian/bicycle pathways, and recreational facilities are
located in the central part of the campus. A generally undeveloped
``Academic Reserve'' outside this core academic area is used for low
intensity academic uses. Stanford maintains three open water
reservoirs: Lagunita, Felt Lake, and Searsville. Some of Stanford's
lands are leased for interim non-academic purposes.
Activities proposed to be covered by the Plan (Covered Activities)
are generally activities related to water management, academic uses,
maintenance and construction of new urban infrastructure, recreational
and athletic uses, campus management and maintenance, activities
carried out by Stanford's tenants and future development.
The draft Plan to be prepared by Stanford in support of the permit
applications will describe the impacts of take on proposed covered
species, and will propose a conservation strategy to minimize and
mitigate those impacts on each covered species to the maximum extent
practicable. Components of a
[[Page 53467]]
conservation program are now under consideration by the Services and
Stanford. These components will likely include the following
conservation strategy. Stanford has divided its 8,180 acres into four
zones according to their relative habitat value for the Covered
Species. Zone 1 (approximately 1,150 acres) supports, or provides
critical resources for, one or more Covered Species. Zone 2
(approximately 1,260 acres) is occasionally occupied by, or
occasionally provides some of the resources used by, one or more
Covered Species. Zone 3 (approximately 2,500 acres) consists of
generally undeveloped open space lands that have some biological value,
but provide only limited and indirect benefit to the Covered Species.
Zone 4 (approximately 3,270 acres) consists of urbanized areas that do
not provide any habitat value for any Covered Species. The draft Plan
will identify alternatives considered by Stanford and will explain why
those alternatives were not selected.
To mitigate unavoidable impacts to proposed Covered Species from
Covered Activities, the mitigation program will consist mainly of
preserving large areas of the highest quality habitats and managing
them for the benefit of the Covered Species. To ensure that mitigation
precedes impacts, Stanford will designate several large preserve areas
during the planning process and apply preservation ``credits'' against
land development and related impacts over the course of the Plan.
Stanford will also restore habitat values in certain areas in which
habitat quality has been degraded over time through a variety of land
uses.
National Environmental Policy Act
NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) requires that Federal agencies
conduct an environmental analysis of their proposed actions to
determine if the actions may significantly affect the human
environment. To assist in determining whether this project would cause
significant impacts that would result in the preparation of an EIS
refer to 40 CFR 1508.27 or 40 CFR 1508.2. These sections provide
information on how to determine whether effects are significant under
NEPA and would therefore trigger the preparation of an EIS. Under NEPA,
a reasonable range of alternatives to proposed projects is developed
and considered in the Services environmental review. Alternatives
considered for analysis in an environmental document may include:
variations in the scope of covered activities; variations in the
location, amount, and type of conservation; variations in permit
duration; or, a combination of these elements. In addition, the
environmental document will identify potentially significant direct,
indirect, and cumulative impacts on biological resources, land use, air
quality, water quality, water resources, and socioeconomics, as well as
other environmental issues that could occur with the implementation of
the proposed actions and alternatives. For all potentially significant
impacts, the environmental document will identify avoidance,
minimization, and mitigation measures to reduce these impacts, where
feasible, to a level below significance.
The primary purpose of the scoping process is for the public to
assist the Services in developing the EA or EIS by identifying
important issues and alternatives related to the proposed action. The
Services propose to serve as co-lead Federal agencies under NEPA for
preparation of the environmental documents. Written comments from
interested parties are welcome to ensure that the full range of issues
related to the permit requests is identified. All comments and
materials received, including names and addresses, will become part of
the administrative record and may be released to the public.
Comments and materials received will be available for public
inspection, by appointment, during normal business hours at the offices
listed in the ADDRESSES section.
The Services request that comments be specific. In particular, we
request information regarding: the direct, indirect, and cumulative
impacts that implementation of the proposed Plan could have on
endangered and threatened and other covered species, and their
communities and habitats; other possible alternatives that meet the
purpose and need; potential adaptive management and/or monitoring
provisions; funding issues; existing environmental conditions in the
plan area; other plans or projects that might be relevant to this
proposed project; and minimization and mitigation efforts.
The environmental review of this project will be conducted in
accordance with the requirements of the NEPA of 1969 as amended (42
U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), Council on the Environmental Quality Regulations
(40 CFR parts 1500-1508), other applicable Federal laws and
regulations, and policies and procedures of the Services for compliance
with those regulations. This notice is being furnished in accordance
with 40 CFR 1501.7 of NEPA to obtain suggestions and information from
other agencies and the public on the scope of issues and alternatives
to be addressed in the environmental document.
Reasonable Accommodation
Persons needing reasonable accommodations in order to attend and
participate in the public meeting should contact Gary Stern at 707-575-
6060 as soon as possible. In order to allow sufficient time to process
requests, please call no later than one week before the public meeting.
Information regarding this proposed action is available in alternative
formats upon request.
Dated: August 31, 2006.
Paul Henson,
Acting Deputy Manager, Fish and Wildlife Service, California/Nevada
Operations Office.
Dated: August 31, 2006.
Angela Somma,
Chief, Endangered Species Division, National Marine Fisheries Service,
Office of Protected Resources.
[FR Doc. 06-7572 Filed 9-8-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODES 4310-55-S, 3510-22-S
