Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Permit, Santa Cruz County, CA, 20619-20621 [2010-9047]

Agencies

• Fish and Wildlife Service
• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 75 (Tuesday, April 20, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20619-20621]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-9047]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R8-ES-2010-N074; 1112-0000-81440-F2]


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Permit, Santa Cruz 
County, CA

AGENCY: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), have 
received an application from Todd and Lisa Mansfield (applicants) for 
an incidental take permit under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as 
amended (Act). We are considering issuing a permit that would authorize 
the applicants' take of the federally endangered Mount Hermon June 
beetle (Polyphylla barbata) incidental to otherwise lawful activities 
that would result in the permanent loss of 483 square feet of habitat 
for the species in Scotts Valley, Santa Cruz County, California. We 
invite comments from the public on the application, which includes a 
Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) that fully describes the proposed 
project and measures the applicants would undertake to minimize and 
mitigate anticipated take of the species. We also invite comments on 
our preliminary determination that the HCP qualifies as a ``low-
effect'' plan, eligible for a categorical exclusion under the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended. We explain the 
basis for this determination in our draft Environmental Action 
Statement and associated Low-Effect Screening Form, both of which are 
also available for review.

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DATES: To ensure consideration, please send your written comments by 
May 20, 2010.

ADDRESSES: You may download a copy of the permit application, plan, and 
related documents on the Internet at https://www.fws.gov/ventura/, or 
you may request documents by U.S. mail or phone (see below). Please 
address written comments to Diane K. Noda, Field Supervisor, Ventura 
Fish and Wildlife Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2493 Portola 
Road, Suite B, Ventura, CA 93003. You may alternatively send comments 
by facsimile to (805) 644-3958.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jen Lechuga, HCP Coordinator, at the 
Ventura address above, or by telephone at (805) 644-1766, extension 
224.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Mount Hermon June beetle was listed as endangered on January 
24, 1997 (62 FR 3616). Section 9 of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) 
and our implementing Federal regulations in the Code of Federal 
Regulations (CFR) at 50 part CFR 17 prohibit the ``take'' of fish or 
wildlife species listed as endangered or threatened. Take of listed 
fish or wildlife is defined under the Act as ``to 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). However, under limited 
circumstances, we 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 at 50 CFR 17.32 and 
17.22, respectively. The Act's take prohibitions do not apply to 
federally listed plants on private lands unless such take would violate 
State law. In addition to meeting other criteria, an incidental take 
permit's proposed actions must not jeopardize the existence of 
federally listed fish, wildlife, or plants.
    The applicants propose the construction of an addition to an 
existing single-family residence within a 0.30 acre parcel (APN 021-
052-21) located at 9 Locke Way in Scotts Valley, Santa Cruz County, 
California. The parcel contains Zayante sand soils and vegetation 
consisting of landscaping and ruderal species. Habitat on this parcel 
is presumed to be occupied by the Mount Hermon June beetle as the 
species is known to occur approximately 550 feet to the west of the 
property.
    The proposed project would result in permanent impacts to a total 
of 483 square feet of habitat for the Mount Hermon June beetle. The 
applicants propose to implement the following measures to minimize and 
mitigate for the loss of Mount Hermon June beetle habitat within the 
permit area: (1) Applicants will purchase 483 square feet of 
conservation credits at the Ben Lomond Sandhills Preserve of the 
Zayante Sandhills Conservation Bank operated by PCO, LLC; (2) a 
qualified biologist will oversee construction and provide worker 
training on the Mount Hermon June beetle and requirements of the HCP; 
(3) temporary fencing will be installed to demarcate the impact area 
from the protected habitat area at the property; (4) any life stages of 
the Mount Hermon June beetle will be captured and relocated if one is 
observed in an area that would be impacted; (5) dust control measures 
will be implemented to reduce impacts to the Mount Hermon June beetle 
and its habitat; (6) approximately 408 square feet of degraded habitat 
adjacent to the project area will be revegetated with native Sandhills 
plant species; and (7) all exposed soils will be covered with 
impermeable material if construction occurs during the species flight 
season.
    In the proposed HCP, the applicants consider three alternatives to 
the taking of Mount Hermon June beetle. The No Action alternative would 
maintain current conditions, the project would not be implemented, and 
an incidental take permit application would not be submitted to the 
Service. The second alternative would involve a redesign of the 
project. The project would be reduced in scale under this alternative; 
however, this alternative was rejected as the project would not meet 
the applicants' need for additional living space. The third alternative 
is the proposed action which includes issuing an incidental take permit 
to the applicants, who would then implement the HCP.
    We are requesting comments on our preliminary determination that 
the applicants' proposal will have a minor or neglible effect on the 
species covered in the plan, and that the plan qualifies as a ``low-
effect'' HCP as defined by our Habitat Conservation Planning Handbook 
(November 1996). We base our determination that the HCP qualifies as a 
low-effect plan on the following three criteria: (1) Implementation of 
the HCP would result in minor or negligible effects on federally 
listed, proposed, and candidate species and their habitats; (2) 
implementation of the HCP would result in minor or negligible effects 
on other environmental values or resources; and (3) impacts of the 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 the environmental values or 
resources that would be considered significant. As more fully explained 
in our Environmental Action Statement and associated Low-Effect 
Screening Form, the applicants' proposed HCP qualifies as a ``low-
effect'' HCP for the following reasons:
    (1) Approval of the HCP would result in minor or negligible effects 
on the Mount Hermon June beetle and its habitat. We do not anticipate 
significant direct or cumulative effects to the Mount Hermon June 
beetle resulting from the proposed project;
    (2) Approval of the HCP would not have adverse effects on unique 
geographic, historic, or cultural sites, or involve unique or unknown 
environmental risks;
    (3) Approval of the HCP would not result in any cumulative or 
growth-inducing impacts and would not result in significant adverse 
effects on public health or safety;
    (4) The project does not require compliance with Executive Order 
11988 (Floodplain Management), Executive Order 11990 (Protection of 
Wetlands), or the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act, nor does it 
threaten to violate a Federal, State, local, or tribal law or 
requirement imposed for the protection of the environment; and
    (5) Approval of the HCP would not establish a precedent for future 
actions or represent a decision in principle about future actions with 
potentially significant environmental effects.
    We, therefore, have made the preliminary determination that the 
approval of the HCP and incidental take permit application qualifies 
for a categorical exclusion under the National Environmental Policy Act 
(NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), as provided by the Department of the 
Interior Manual (516 DM 2 Appendix 1 and 516 DM 8). Based on our review 
of public comments that we receive in response to this notice, we may 
revise this preliminary determination.

Next Steps

    We will evaluate the HCP and comments we receive to determine 
whether the permit application meets the requirements of section 10(a) 
of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). If we determine that the 
application meets these requirements, we will issue the permit for 
incidental take of the Mount Hermon June beetle. We will also evaluate 
whether issuance of a section 10(a)(1)(B) permit would comply with 
section 7 of the Act by conducting an

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intra-Service section 7 consultation. We will use the results of this 
consultation, in combination with the above findings, in our final 
analysis to determine whether or not to issue a permit. If the 
requirements are met, we will issue the permit to the applicants.

Public Comments

    If you wish to comment on the permit application, plan, and 
associated documents, you may submit comments by any one of the methods 
in ADDRESSES.

Public Availability of Comments

    Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or 
other personal identifying information in your comments, you should be 
aware that your entire comment--including your personal identifying 
information--may be made publicly available at any time. If you wish us 
to consider withholding this information you must state this 
prominently at the beginning of your comments. In addition, you must 
provide a rationale demonstrating and documenting that disclosure would 
constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of privacy. 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. 
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.

    Authority: We provide this notice under section 10 of the Act 
(U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and NEPA regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).

    Dated: April 14, 2010.
Diane K. Noda,
Field Supervisor, Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office, Ventura, 
California.
[FR Doc. 2010-9047 Filed 4-19-10; 8:45 am]
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