Proposed Low Effect Habitat Conservation for West Colton Terminal Temporary Ethanol Transloading Facility, City of Rialto, County of San Bernardino, CA, 62307-62308 [E8-24883]
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Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 203 / Monday, October 20, 2008 / Notices
mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with NOTICES
for species federally listed as
endangered or 50 CFR 17.32 (a) for
species federally listed as threatened.
A single section 10(a)(1)(A) permit
would be issued with separate
authorizations, as cited above, for the
incidental take of the covered species
and for the intentional take of the blacktailed prairie dog. The permit also
would contain separate sets of special
terms and conditions for each of the two
types of take. The permit would become
effective upon Federal listing of any of
the covered species.
Annual monitoring, required by the
Agreement, will be conducted to
determine active burrow densities,
which can be used as an index of
population levels. Recreational shooting
will not occur unless monitoring
indicates the population threshold has
been exceeded. For example, when
plague epizootics have reduced the
population below established
thresholds, all recreational shooting will
be suspended, pending the recovery of
the population back to threshold levels.
Additionally, ongoing monitoring and
adaptive management will allow
adjustment of management goals and
thresholds should new information
indicate populations are decreasing or
increasing outside the threshold
parameters.
Baseline population and habitat
conditions for the covered species are
described in the Agreement. Annual
monitoring is a key component of the
Agreement and is one of the
requirements for receiving assurances
that no further measures would be
required of the property owner and that
take of any of the covered species, if
federally listed, under the permit would
continue to be authorized. Adaptive
management provides the plan
flexibility, if monitoring indicates
changes in management are necessary
(e.g., threshold levels need to be raised
to meet the conservation goals, as fully
described in the Agreement).
Public Review and Comments
The Service has made a preliminary
determination that the proposed
Agreement and permit issuance are
eligible for categorical exclusion under
NEPA. We explain the basis for this
determination in an Environmental
Action Statement, which also is
available for public review at the office
listed in the ADDRESSES section above.
If you wish to comment on the permit
application or the Agreement, you may
submit your comments to the address
listed in the ADDRESSES section of this
document. Before including your
address, phone number, e-mail address,
or other personal identifying
VerDate Aug<31>2005
16:42 Oct 17, 2008
Jkt 217001
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.
We 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 at 40 CFR 1506.6. If we
determine that the requirements are
met, we will sign the proposed
Agreement and issue a permit under
section 10(a)(1)(A) of the Act to the
Applicants for take of the covered
species in accordance with the terms of
the Agreement. We 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
under section 10(c) of the Act and
implementing regulations for NEPA (40
CFR 1506.6).
Dated: May 20, 2008.
Scott Hicks,
Deputy Field Supervisor, Cheyenne,
Wyoming.
[FR Doc. E8–24884 Filed 10–17–08; 8:45 am]
62307
Rialto, San Bernardino County,
California. A conservation program to
mitigate for impacts of the project on the
DSF would be implemented as
described in the proposed West Colton
Terminal Temporary Ethanol
Transloading Facility Low-Effect Habitat
Conservation Plan (HCP).
We are requesting comments on the
permit application and on the
preliminary determination that the
proposed HCP qualifies as a ‘‘LowEffect’’ Habitat Conservation Plan,
eligible for a categorical exclusion under
the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA) of 1969, as amended. The basis
for this determination is discussed in
the Environmental Action Statement
(EAS) and the associated Low Effect
Screening Form, which are also
available for public review.
DATES: Written comments should be
received on or before November 19,
2008.
ADDRESSES: Comments should be
addressed to the Field Supervisor, Fish
and Wildlife Service, Carlsbad Fish and
Wildlife Office, 6010 Hidden Valley
Road, Suite 101, Carlsbad, California
92011. Written comments may be sent
by facsimile to (760) 918–0638.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms.
Karen Goebel, Assistant Field
Supervisor, Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife
Office (see ADDRESSES); telephone: (760)
431–9440.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
BILLING CODE 4310–55–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS–R8–ES–2008–N0262; 81430–1112–
0000–F2]
Proposed Low Effect Habitat
Conservation for West Colton Terminal
Temporary Ethanol Transloading
Facility, City of Rialto, County of San
Bernardino, CA
Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: West Colton Rail Terminal,
LLC (applicant) has applied to the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) for
a 3-year incidental take permit for one
covered species pursuant to section
10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered Species
Act of 1973, as amended (Act). The
application addresses the potential for
‘‘take’’ of the endangered Delhi Sands
flower-loving fly (Rhaphiomidas
terminatus abdominalis, ‘‘DSF’’)
associated with construction of an
ethanol unloading facility in the City of
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Availability of Documents
Individuals wishing copies of the
proposed HCP and EAS should
immediately contact the Service by
telephone at (760) 431–9440 or by letter
to the Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office.
Copies of the proposed HCP and EAS
also are available for public inspection
during regular business hours at the
Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office [see
ADDRESSES].
Background
Section 9 of the Act and its
implementing Federal regulations
prohibit the take of animal species listed
as endangered or threatened. Take is
defined under the Act as to harass,
harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill,
trap, capture or collect listed animal
species, or attempt to engage in such
conduct (16 U.S.C. 1538). However,
under section 10(a) of the Act, the
Service may issue permits to authorize
incidental take of listed species.
‘‘Incidental take’’ is defined by the Act
as take that is incidental to, and not the
purpose of, carrying out an otherwise
lawful activity. Regulations governing
incidental take permits for threatened
E:\FR\FM\20OCN1.SGM
20OCN1
mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with NOTICES
62308
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 203 / Monday, October 20, 2008 / Notices
and endangered species, respectively,
are found in the Code of Federal
Regulations at 50 CFR 17.22 and 50 CFR
17.32.
The applicant (West Colton Rail
Terminal, LLC or WCRT) is seeking a
permit for take of the Delhi Sands
flower-loving fly during the life of the
permit. This species is referred to as the
‘‘DSF’’ in the proposed HCP. The DSF
is restricted to the Delhi Soils
formations within western Riverside
and San Bernardino counties in
California.
The applicant proposes to construct
an ethanol unloading facility on 2.1
acres of land located between the north
end of Sycamore Street and South Date
Avenue in the City of Rialto, San
Bernardino County, California.
Approximately 0.21 acre of the project
site is considered occupied by the DSF,
and we anticipate that all DSF within
the 0.21 acre area would be lost during
project construction. The purpose of the
project is to eliminate truck traffic from
local highways currently resulting from
trucking the ethanol from the City of
Carson to the Colton area gasoline
blending terminals. The project will
eliminate the over 60-mile truck trip for
approximately 40 trucks per day and
reduce truck travel to a few thousand
yards per load.
The applicant proposes to mitigate
impacts to the DSF associated with the
covered activities by fully implementing
the HCP. The purpose of the proposed
HCP’s conservation program is to
promote biological conservation of the
DSF. WCRT proposes to mitigate
impacts to DSF by contributing to a
habitat management endowment for a
conservation parcel known as the ‘‘Owl
Property’’, which is located northwest of
the intersection of Riverside Avenue
and Resource Drive in the City of Rialto.
WCRT’s contribution will fully fund an
endowment for DSF habitat
management in perpetuity.
The Proposed Action consists of the
issuance of an incidental take permit
and implementation of the proposed
HCP, which includes measures to
minimize and mitigate impacts of the
project on DSF. Three alternatives to the
taking of the listed species under the
Proposed Action are considered in the
proposed HCP. Under the Original
Design Alternative, additional DSF
habitat would be impacted at the project
site to more efficiently meet the
operational goals of the project. Under
the Alternate Location Alternative, no
DSF habitat would be impacted, but
other environmental impacts would be
unavoidable. Under the No Action
Alternative, no DSF habitat would be
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16:42 Oct 17, 2008
Jkt 217001
impacted or conserved, and truck traffic
would not be reduced.
The Service has made a preliminary
determination that approval of the
proposed HCP qualifies as a categorical
exclusion under NEPA, as provided by
the Department of the Interior Manual
(516 DM8) and as a ‘‘low-effect’’ plan as
defined by the Habitat Conservation
Planning Handbook (November 1996).
Determination of Low-effect Habitat
Conservation Plans is based on the
following three criteria: (1)
Implementation of the proposed HCP
would result in minor or negligible
effects on federally listed, proposed, and
candidate species and their habitats; (2)
Implementation of the proposed HCP
would result in minor or negligible
effects on other environmental values or
resources; and (3) Impacts of the
proposed HCP, considered together with
the impacts of other past, present and
reasonably foreseeable similarly situated
projects, would not result, over time, in
cumulative effects to environmental
values or resources which would be
considered significant.
Based upon this preliminary
determination, we do not intend to
prepare further NEPA documentation.
We will consider public comments in
making the final determination on
whether to prepare such additional
documentation.
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.
This notice is provided pursuant to
section 10(c) of the Act. We will
evaluate the permit application, the
proposed HCP, and comments
submitted thereon to determine whether
the application meets the requirements
of section 10(a) of the Act. If the
requirements are met, we will issue a
permit to West Colton Rail Terminal,
LLC for the incidental take of the Delhi
Sands flower-loving fly from
construction of an ethanol unloading
facility in the City of Rialto, San
Bernardino County, California.
Dated: October 14, 2008.
Jim A. Bartel,
Field Supervisor, Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife
Office, Carlsbad, California.
[FR Doc. E8–24883 Filed 10–17–08; 8:45 am]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS–R8–ES–2008–0272; 81430–1112–
0000–F2]
Proposed Otay Water District Low
Effect Habitat Conservation Plan for
the Quino Checkerspot Butterfly and
Coastal California Gnatcatcher
Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: We, the U. S. Fish and
Wildlife Service (Service), have received
an application from the Otay Water
District (Applicant) for a 15-year
incidental take permit for two covered
species pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(B)
of the Endangered Species Act of 1973,
as amended (Act). The application
addresses the potential for ‘‘take’’ of the
federally endangered Quino checkerspot
butterfly (Euphydryas editha quino) and
the federally threatened coastal
California gnatcatcher (Polioptila
californica californica) associated with
the operation and maintenance of the
existing recycled water pipeline (the
Otay Force Main) and its access road. A
conservation program to mitigate for the
project activities would be implemented
by the Applicant as described in the
Otay Water District Low Effect Habitat
Conservation Plan for the Quino
Checkerspot Butterfly and Coastal
California Gnatcatcher (HCP), which
would be implemented by the
Applicant.
We are requesting comments on the
HCP and our preliminary determination
that the proposed plan qualifies as a
‘‘low-effect’’ Habitat Conservation Plan,
eligible for a categorical exclusion under
the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA) of 1969, as amended. The basis
for this determination is discussed in
the Environmental Action Statement
(EAS) and Low Effect Screening Form
(Screening Form), which is also
available for public review.
DATES: Written comments should be
received on or before November 19,
2008.
Comments should be
addressed to the Field Supervisor, U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, Carlsbad Fish
and Wildlife Office, 6010 Hidden Valley
Road, Suite 101, Carlsbad, CA 92011.
Written comments may be sent by
facsimile to (760) 431–5901.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms.
Karen Goebel, Assistant Field
Supervisor, Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife
Office (see ADDRESSES); telephone (760)
431–9440.
ADDRESSES:
E:\FR\FM\20OCN1.SGM
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 203 (Monday, October 20, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62307-62308]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-24883]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R8-ES-2008-N0262; 81430-1112-0000-F2]
Proposed Low Effect Habitat Conservation for West Colton Terminal
Temporary Ethanol Transloading Facility, City of Rialto, County of San
Bernardino, CA
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: West Colton Rail Terminal, LLC (applicant) has applied to the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) for a 3-year incidental take
permit for one covered species pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(B) of the
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). The application
addresses the potential for ``take'' of the endangered Delhi Sands
flower-loving fly (Rhaphiomidas terminatus abdominalis, ``DSF'')
associated with construction of an ethanol unloading facility in the
City of Rialto, San Bernardino County, California. A conservation
program to mitigate for impacts of the project on the DSF would be
implemented as described in the proposed West Colton Terminal Temporary
Ethanol Transloading Facility Low-Effect Habitat Conservation Plan
(HCP).
We are requesting comments on the permit application and on the
preliminary determination that the proposed HCP qualifies as a ``Low-
Effect'' Habitat Conservation Plan, eligible for a categorical
exclusion under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969,
as amended. The basis for this determination is discussed in the
Environmental Action Statement (EAS) and the associated Low Effect
Screening Form, which are also available for public review.
DATES: Written comments should be received on or before November 19,
2008.
ADDRESSES: Comments should be addressed to the Field Supervisor, Fish
and Wildlife Service, Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office, 6010 Hidden
Valley Road, Suite 101, Carlsbad, California 92011. Written comments
may be sent by facsimile to (760) 918-0638.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Karen Goebel, Assistant Field
Supervisor, Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office (see ADDRESSES);
telephone: (760) 431-9440.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Availability of Documents
Individuals wishing copies of the proposed HCP and EAS should
immediately contact the Service by telephone at (760) 431-9440 or by
letter to the Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office. Copies of the proposed
HCP and EAS also are available for public inspection during regular
business hours at the Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office [see
ADDRESSES].
Background
Section 9 of the Act and its implementing Federal regulations
prohibit the take of animal species listed as endangered or threatened.
Take is defined under the Act as to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot,
wound, kill, trap, capture or collect listed animal species, or attempt
to engage in such conduct (16 U.S.C. 1538). However, under section
10(a) of the Act, the Service may issue permits to authorize incidental
take of listed species. ``Incidental take'' is defined by the Act as
take that is incidental to, and not the purpose of, carrying out an
otherwise lawful activity. Regulations governing incidental take
permits for threatened
[[Page 62308]]
and endangered species, respectively, are found in the Code of Federal
Regulations at 50 CFR 17.22 and 50 CFR 17.32.
The applicant (West Colton Rail Terminal, LLC or WCRT) is seeking a
permit for take of the Delhi Sands flower-loving fly during the life of
the permit. This species is referred to as the ``DSF'' in the proposed
HCP. The DSF is restricted to the Delhi Soils formations within western
Riverside and San Bernardino counties in California.
The applicant proposes to construct an ethanol unloading facility
on 2.1 acres of land located between the north end of Sycamore Street
and South Date Avenue in the City of Rialto, San Bernardino County,
California. Approximately 0.21 acre of the project site is considered
occupied by the DSF, and we anticipate that all DSF within the 0.21
acre area would be lost during project construction. The purpose of the
project is to eliminate truck traffic from local highways currently
resulting from trucking the ethanol from the City of Carson to the
Colton area gasoline blending terminals. The project will eliminate the
over 60-mile truck trip for approximately 40 trucks per day and reduce
truck travel to a few thousand yards per load.
The applicant proposes to mitigate impacts to the DSF associated
with the covered activities by fully implementing the HCP. The purpose
of the proposed HCP's conservation program is to promote biological
conservation of the DSF. WCRT proposes to mitigate impacts to DSF by
contributing to a habitat management endowment for a conservation
parcel known as the ``Owl Property'', which is located northwest of the
intersection of Riverside Avenue and Resource Drive in the City of
Rialto. WCRT's contribution will fully fund an endowment for DSF
habitat management in perpetuity.
The Proposed Action consists of the issuance of an incidental take
permit and implementation of the proposed HCP, which includes measures
to minimize and mitigate impacts of the project on DSF. Three
alternatives to the taking of the listed species under the Proposed
Action are considered in the proposed HCP. Under the Original Design
Alternative, additional DSF habitat would be impacted at the project
site to more efficiently meet the operational goals of the project.
Under the Alternate Location Alternative, no DSF habitat would be
impacted, but other environmental impacts would be unavoidable. Under
the No Action Alternative, no DSF habitat would be impacted or
conserved, and truck traffic would not be reduced.
The Service has made a preliminary determination that approval of
the proposed HCP qualifies as a categorical exclusion under NEPA, as
provided by the Department of the Interior Manual (516 DM8) and as a
``low-effect'' plan as defined by the Habitat Conservation Planning
Handbook (November 1996). Determination of Low-effect Habitat
Conservation Plans is based on the following three criteria: (1)
Implementation of the proposed HCP would result in minor or negligible
effects on federally listed, proposed, and candidate species and their
habitats; (2) Implementation of the proposed HCP would result in minor
or negligible effects on other environmental values or resources; and
(3) Impacts of the proposed HCP, considered together with the impacts
of other past, present and reasonably foreseeable similarly situated
projects, would not result, over time, in cumulative effects to
environmental values or resources which would be considered
significant.
Based upon this preliminary determination, we do not intend to
prepare further NEPA documentation. We will consider public comments in
making the final determination on whether to prepare such additional
documentation.
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.
This notice is provided pursuant to section 10(c) of the Act. We
will evaluate the permit application, the proposed HCP, and comments
submitted thereon to determine whether the application meets the
requirements of section 10(a) of the Act. If the requirements are met,
we will issue a permit to West Colton Rail Terminal, LLC for the
incidental take of the Delhi Sands flower-loving fly from construction
of an ethanol unloading facility in the City of Rialto, San Bernardino
County, California.
Dated: October 14, 2008.
Jim A. Bartel,
Field Supervisor, Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office, Carlsbad,
California.
[FR Doc. E8-24883 Filed 10-17-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P
