Proposed Safe Harbor Agreement for Serpentine Endemic Species Located on Tulare Hill in Santa Clara County, CA, 10049-10050 [E8-3420]
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10049
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 37 / Monday, February 25, 2008 / Notices
recovered and, therefore, does not
require the protections of the ESA:
(1) FWS Form 3–2307 (Peregrine
Falcon Monitoring Form) addresses the
reporting requirements to record
observations on the nesting pair, and the
numbers of eggs and young during each
nest visit. Each nest will be visited two
(or more) times.
(2) FWS Form 3–2308 (Peregrine
Falcon Egg Contaminants Data Sheet)
addresses the reporting requirements to
record data on eggs collected
opportunistically during a nest visit.
(3) FWS Form 3–2309 (Peregrine
Falcon Feather Contaminants Data
Sheet) addresses the reporting
requirements to record data on feathers
collected opportunistically during a nest
visit. Once collected, the eggs and
feathers will be archived in a deep
freeze for analysis at a later time.
II. Data
OMB Control Number: 1018–0101.
Title: Monitoring Recovered Species
After Delisting-American Peregrine
Falcon.
Service Form Number(s): FWS Forms
3–2307, 3–2308, and 3–2309.
Number of annual
respondents
Activity
Type of Request: Extension of
currently approved collection.
Affected Public: Professional
biologists employed by State agencies
and other organizations, and volunteers
that have been involved in past
peregrine falcon conservation efforts.
Respondent’s Obligation: Voluntary.
Frequency of Collection: On occasion.
Monitoring is conducted every 3 years.
For eggs and feathers, 15–20 of each are
collected over a period of no more than
5 years.
Number of annual
responses
Completion time
per response
Annual burden
hours
3–2307 .....................................................................................
3–2308 .....................................................................................
3–2309 .....................................................................................
1,482
12
12
1,482
12
12
1 hour ..............
2 hours ............
2 hours ............
1,482
24
24
Totals ................................................................................
1,506
1,506
.....................
1,530
rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with NOTICES
III. Request for Comments
We invite comments concerning this
IC on:
(1) whether or not the collection of
information is necessary, including
whether or not the information will
have practical utility;
(2) the accuracy of our estimate of the
burden for this collection of
information;
(3) ways to enhance the quality,
utility, and clarity of the information to
be collected; and
(4) ways to minimize the burden of
the collection of information on
respondents.
Comments that you submit in
response to this notice are a matter of
public record. We will include and/or
summarize each comment in our request
to OMB to approve this IC. Before
including your address, phone number,
e-mail 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 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.
Dated: January 30, 2008
Hope Grey,
Information Collection Clearance Officer,
Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. E8–3464 Filed 2–22–08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–55–S
VerDate Aug<31>2005
14:34 Feb 22, 2008
Jkt 214001
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
FWS–R8–ES–2008–N0001; ABC Code:
81420–1113–0000–F3]
Proposed Safe Harbor Agreement for
Serpentine Endemic Species Located
on Tulare Hill in Santa Clara County,
CA
Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; receipt of
application.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: This notice advises the public
that Pacific Gas and Electric Company
(Applicant) has applied to the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service (Service) for an
enhancement of survival permit
pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(A) of the
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as
amended (Act). The permit application
includes a proposed Safe Harbor
Agreement (Agreement) between the
Applicant and the Service for the
federally-threatened bay checkerspot
butterfly (Euphydryas editha bayensis),
the federally-endangered Metcalf
Canyon jewelflower (Streptanthus
albidus albidus), and the federallythreatened Santa Clara Valley dudleya
(Dudleya setchellii). The Agreement is
available for public comment.
DATES: Written comments should be
received on or before March 26, 2008.
ADDRESSES: Comments should be
addressed to Mr. Rick Kuyper, U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, Sacramento Fish
and Wildlife Office, 2800 Cottage Way,
W–2605, Sacramento, California 95825.
Written comments may be sent by
facsimile to (916) 414–6713.
PO 00000
Frm 00066
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
Mr.
Rick Kuyper, Sacramento Fish and
Wildlife Office (see ADDRESSES);
telephone: (916) 414–6600.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Availability of Documents
You may obtain copies of the
documents for review by contacting the
individual named above. You may also
make an appointment to view the
documents at the above address during
normal business hours.
Background
Under a Safe Harbor Agreement,
participating landowners voluntarily
undertake management activities on
their property to enhance, restore, or
maintain habitat benefiting species
listed under the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et
seq.). Safe Harbor Agreements, and the
subsequent enhancement of survival
permits that are issued pursuant to
section 10(a)(1)(A) of the Act, encourage
private and other non-Federal property
owners to implement conservation
efforts for listed species by assuring
property owners that they will not be
subjected to increased property use
restrictions as a result of their efforts to
attract listed species to their property, or
to increase the numbers or distribution
of listed species already on their
property. Application requirements and
issuance criteria for enhancement of
survival permits through Safe Harbor
Agreements are found in 50 CFR
17.22(c).
The Service has worked with the
Applicant to develop the proposed
Agreement for the conservation of the
bay checkerspot butterfly, the Metcalf
E:\FR\FM\25FEN1.SGM
25FEN1
rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with NOTICES
10050
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 37 / Monday, February 25, 2008 / Notices
Canyon jewelflower, and the Santa Clara
Valley dudleya on Tulare Hill (Enrolled
Property) in Santa Clara County,
California. The 45-acre Enrolled
Property subject to this Agreement is
located on serpentine soil. In order to
benefit the bay checkerspot butterfly for
the duration of this Agreement, the
Applicant proposes to allow cattle
grazing on the Enrolled Property. The
Service expects that the proposed
grazing activities will result in an
increase in host plants for the bay
checkerspot butterfly throughout the
Enrolled Property thus resulting in a net
conservation benefit for the bay
checkerspot butterfly. Grazing may
impact the Metcalf Canyon jewelflower
and the Santa Clara Valley dudleya. The
Agreement includes a monitoring
component that will aid managers in
selecting grazing management strategies
that maintain bay checkerspot butterfly
habitat while not adversely affecting
these two listed plant species.
This Agreement provides for the
restoration, enhancement, and
management of serpentine habitat
suitable for the bay checkerspot
butterfly, the Metcalf Canyon
jewelflower, and the Santa Clara Valley
dudleya on the Enrolled Property. The
proposed duration of the Agreement is
5 years, and the proposed term of the
enhancement of survival permit is 30
years. When fully implemented, the
Agreement and requested enhancement
of survival permit will allow the
Applicant to return to baseline after the
end of the 5-year term of the Agreement
and prior to the expiration of the 30year permit, if so desired by the
Applicant. The Agreement fully
describes the management activities to
be undertaken by the Applicant, and the
net conservation benefits expected to
the bay checkerspot butterfly, the
Metcalf Canyon jewelflower, and the
Santa Clara Valley dudleya.
Upon approval of this Agreement, and
consistent with the Service’s Safe
Harbor Policy published in the Federal
Register on June 17, 1999 (64 FR 32717),
the Service would issue a permit to the
Applicant authorizing take of the bay
checkerspot butterfly incidental to the
implementation of the management
activities specified in the Agreement,
incidental to other lawful uses of the
Enrolled Property including normal,
routine land management activities, and
to return to pre-Agreement conditions
(baseline). The Service does not
authorize incidental take for federallylisted plant species in accordance with
the Act, and only renders a jeopardy/
non-jeopardy determination in the
biological opinion.
VerDate Aug<31>2005
14:34 Feb 22, 2008
Jkt 214001
The Applicant proposes to set the
baseline level for the covered wildlife
species (the bay checkerspot butterfly)
with two measures. The first will be
simply whether the property is grazed
or not grazed, as grazing is recognized
as an effective management tool for
serpentine grasslands (USFWS 1998).
The second will be based on a 2006
vegetation cover assessment of the
Enrolled Property. Because of inherent
variation in the annual occupancy rates
and structure of the bay checkerspot
butterfly metapopulation, baseline
conditions may be best described in
terms of available habitat. Baseline
conditions for the Santa Clara Valley
dudleya are defined as the number of
individual occurrences based on the
2006 data. Baseline levels for the
Metcalf Canyon jewelflower will be set
at zero because there are no recent
records of this species on Tulare Hill.
Public Review and Comments
The Service has made a preliminary
determination that the proposed
Agreement and permit application are
eligible for categorical exclusion under
the National Environmental Policy Act
of 1969 (NEPA). We explain the basis
for this determination in an
Environmental Action Statement that is
also available for public review.
Individuals wishing copies of the
Environmental Action Statement, and/
or copies of the full text of the
Agreement, including a map of the
proposed permit area, should contact
the office and personnel listed in the
ADDRESSES section above.
If you wish to comment on the
Agreement, you may submit your
comments to the address listed in the
ADDRESSES section of this document.
Comments and materials received,
including names and addresses of
respondents, will be available for public
review, by appointment, during normal
business hours at the address in the
ADDRESSES section above and will
become part of the public record,
pursuant to section 10(c) of the Act.
Individual respondents may request that
the Service withhold their home address
from the record, which we will honor to
the extent allowable by law. There also
may be circumstances in which the
Service would withhold from the record
a respondent’s identity, as allowable by
law. If you wish the Service to withhold
your name and/or address, you must
state this prominently at the beginning
of your comment. Anonymous
comments will not be considered. All
submissions from organizations or
businesses, and from individuals
identifying themselves as
representatives or officials of
PO 00000
Frm 00067
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
organizations or businesses, are
available for public inspection in their
entirety.
The Service will evaluate this permit
application, associated documents, and
comments submitted thereon to
determine whether the permit
application meets the requirements of
section 10(a) of the Act and NEPA
regulations. If the Service determines
that the requirements are met, we will
sign the proposed Agreement and issue
an enhancement of survival permit
under section 10(a)(1)(A) of the Act to
the Applicant for take of the bay
checkerspot butterfly incidental to
otherwise lawful activities in
accordance with the terms of the
Agreement. The Service will not make
our final decision until after the end of
the 30-day comment period and will
fully consider all comments received
during the comment period.
The Service provides this notice
pursuant to section 10(c) of the Act and
pursuant to implementing regulations
for NEPA (40 CFR 1506.6).
Dated: January 24, 2008.
Susan K. Moore,
Field Supervisor, Sacramento Fish and
Wildlife Office, Sacramento, California.
[FR Doc. E8–3420 Filed 2–22–08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–55–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[OR–957–6333–PH: HAG08–0061]
Filing of Plats of Survey: Oregon/
Washington
U.S. Department of the Interior,
Bureau of Land Management.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: The plats of survey of the
following described lands were
officially filed in the Bureau of Land
Management Oregon/Washington State
Office, Portland, Oregon, on February 6,
2008.
Willamette Meridian
Washington
T. 32 N., R. 35 E., accepted December 21,
2007
T. 23 N., R. 12 W., accepted December 28,
2008
Oregon
T. 39 S., R. 2 W., accepted December 3, 2007
T. 40 S., R. 2 W., accepted December 3, 2007
T. 3 S., R. 45 E., accepted December 21, 2007
T. 37, S., R. 3 W., accepted December 21,
2007
T. 32 S., R. 6 W. accepted December 21, 2008
T. 32 S., R. 6 W. accepted December 28, 2008
T. 39 S., R. 7 W., accepted December 28, 2008
E:\FR\FM\25FEN1.SGM
25FEN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 37 (Monday, February 25, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10049-10050]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-3420]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
FWS-R8-ES-2008-N0001; ABC Code: 81420-1113-0000-F3]
Proposed Safe Harbor Agreement for Serpentine Endemic Species
Located on Tulare Hill in Santa Clara County, CA
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; receipt of application.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that Pacific Gas and Electric
Company (Applicant) has applied to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(Service) for an enhancement of survival permit pursuant to section
10(a)(1)(A) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act).
The permit application includes a proposed Safe Harbor Agreement
(Agreement) between the Applicant and the Service for the federally-
threatened bay checkerspot butterfly (Euphydryas editha bayensis), the
federally-endangered Metcalf Canyon jewelflower (Streptanthus albidus
albidus), and the federally-threatened Santa Clara Valley dudleya
(Dudleya setchellii). The Agreement is available for public comment.
DATES: Written comments should be received on or before March 26, 2008.
ADDRESSES: Comments should be addressed to Mr. Rick Kuyper, U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office, 2800 Cottage
Way, W-2605, Sacramento, California 95825. Written comments may be sent
by facsimile to (916) 414-6713.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Rick Kuyper, Sacramento Fish and
Wildlife Office (see ADDRESSES); telephone: (916) 414-6600.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Availability of Documents
You may obtain copies of the documents for review by contacting the
individual named above. You may also make an appointment to view the
documents at the above address during normal business hours.
Background
Under a Safe Harbor Agreement, participating landowners voluntarily
undertake management activities on their property to enhance, restore,
or maintain habitat benefiting species listed under the Act (16 U.S.C.
1531 et seq.). Safe Harbor Agreements, and the subsequent enhancement
of survival permits that are issued pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(A) of
the Act, encourage private and other non-Federal property owners to
implement conservation efforts for listed species by assuring property
owners that they will not be subjected to increased property use
restrictions as a result of their efforts to attract listed species to
their property, or to increase the numbers or distribution of listed
species already on their property. Application requirements and
issuance criteria for enhancement of survival permits through Safe
Harbor Agreements are found in 50 CFR 17.22(c).
The Service has worked with the Applicant to develop the proposed
Agreement for the conservation of the bay checkerspot butterfly, the
Metcalf
[[Page 10050]]
Canyon jewelflower, and the Santa Clara Valley dudleya on Tulare Hill
(Enrolled Property) in Santa Clara County, California. The 45-acre
Enrolled Property subject to this Agreement is located on serpentine
soil. In order to benefit the bay checkerspot butterfly for the
duration of this Agreement, the Applicant proposes to allow cattle
grazing on the Enrolled Property. The Service expects that the proposed
grazing activities will result in an increase in host plants for the
bay checkerspot butterfly throughout the Enrolled Property thus
resulting in a net conservation benefit for the bay checkerspot
butterfly. Grazing may impact the Metcalf Canyon jewelflower and the
Santa Clara Valley dudleya. The Agreement includes a monitoring
component that will aid managers in selecting grazing management
strategies that maintain bay checkerspot butterfly habitat while not
adversely affecting these two listed plant species.
This Agreement provides for the restoration, enhancement, and
management of serpentine habitat suitable for the bay checkerspot
butterfly, the Metcalf Canyon jewelflower, and the Santa Clara Valley
dudleya on the Enrolled Property. The proposed duration of the
Agreement is 5 years, and the proposed term of the enhancement of
survival permit is 30 years. When fully implemented, the Agreement and
requested enhancement of survival permit will allow the Applicant to
return to baseline after the end of the 5-year term of the Agreement
and prior to the expiration of the 30-year permit, if so desired by the
Applicant. The Agreement fully describes the management activities to
be undertaken by the Applicant, and the net conservation benefits
expected to the bay checkerspot butterfly, the Metcalf Canyon
jewelflower, and the Santa Clara Valley dudleya.
Upon approval of this Agreement, and consistent with the Service's
Safe Harbor Policy published in the Federal Register on June 17, 1999
(64 FR 32717), the Service would issue a permit to the Applicant
authorizing take of the bay checkerspot butterfly incidental to the
implementation of the management activities specified in the Agreement,
incidental to other lawful uses of the Enrolled Property including
normal, routine land management activities, and to return to pre-
Agreement conditions (baseline). The Service does not authorize
incidental take for federally-listed plant species in accordance with
the Act, and only renders a jeopardy/non-jeopardy determination in the
biological opinion.
The Applicant proposes to set the baseline level for the covered
wildlife species (the bay checkerspot butterfly) with two measures. The
first will be simply whether the property is grazed or not grazed, as
grazing is recognized as an effective management tool for serpentine
grasslands (USFWS 1998). The second will be based on a 2006 vegetation
cover assessment of the Enrolled Property. Because of inherent
variation in the annual occupancy rates and structure of the bay
checkerspot butterfly metapopulation, baseline conditions may be best
described in terms of available habitat. Baseline conditions for the
Santa Clara Valley dudleya are defined as the number of individual
occurrences based on the 2006 data. Baseline levels for the Metcalf
Canyon jewelflower will be set at zero because there are no recent
records of this species on Tulare Hill.
Public Review and Comments
The Service has made a preliminary determination that the proposed
Agreement and permit application are eligible for categorical exclusion
under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). We explain
the basis for this determination in an Environmental Action Statement
that is also available for public review.
Individuals wishing copies of the Environmental Action Statement,
and/or copies of the full text of the Agreement, including a map of the
proposed permit area, should contact the office and personnel listed in
the ADDRESSES section above.
If you wish to comment on the Agreement, you may submit your
comments to the address listed in the ADDRESSES section of this
document. Comments and materials received, including names and
addresses of respondents, will be available for public review, by
appointment, during normal business hours at the address in the
ADDRESSES section above and will become part of the public record,
pursuant to section 10(c) of the Act. Individual respondents may
request that the Service withhold their home address from the record,
which we will honor to the extent allowable by law. There also may be
circumstances in which the Service would withhold from the record a
respondent's identity, as allowable by law. If you wish the Service to
withhold your name and/or address, you must state this prominently at
the beginning of your comment. Anonymous comments will not be
considered. All submissions from organizations or businesses, and from
individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials of
organizations or businesses, are available for public inspection in
their entirety.
The Service will evaluate this permit application, associated
documents, and comments submitted thereon to determine whether the
permit application meets the requirements of section 10(a) of the Act
and NEPA regulations. If the Service determines that the requirements
are met, we will sign the proposed Agreement and issue an enhancement
of survival permit under section 10(a)(1)(A) of the Act to the
Applicant for take of the bay checkerspot butterfly incidental to
otherwise lawful activities in accordance with the terms of the
Agreement. The Service will not make our final decision until after the
end of the 30-day comment period and will fully consider all comments
received during the comment period.
The Service provides this notice pursuant to section 10(c) of the
Act and pursuant to implementing regulations for NEPA (40 CFR 1506.6).
Dated: January 24, 2008.
Susan K. Moore,
Field Supervisor, Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office, Sacramento,
California.
[FR Doc. E8-3420 Filed 2-22-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P
