Draft Environmental Assessment and Safe Harbor Agreement for the Houston Toad Within Nine Texas Counties, 70479-70480 [2011-29044]
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Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 219 / Monday, November 14, 2011 / Notices
responsible way. BOEM’s functions
include: leasing, plan administration,
environmental studies, NEPA analysis,
resource evaluation, economic analysis,
and renewable energy. BSEE is
responsible for enforcing safety and
environmental regulations. BSEE
functions include: All field operations
including permitting and inspections,
research, offshore regulatory programs,
oil spill response, and training and
environmental compliance.
BOEMRE developed the Final EIS for
WPA Lease Sale 218 in order to
consider new circumstances and
information available since publication
of the prior EIS’s or arising from, among
other things, the Deepwater Horizon
event and spill. In this Final EIS,
BOEMRE evaluated three alternatives:
Alternative A—The Proposed Action:
This is the Agency’s preferred
alternative. This alternative would offer
for lease all unleased blocks within the
WPA for oil and gas operations, except
whole and partial blocks within the
boundary of the Flower Garden Banks
National Marine Sanctuary and whole
and partial blocks in the Western Gap
buffer area. The WPA sale area
encompasses about 28.7 million acres.
Approximately 18.3 million ac (64
percent) of the WPA sale area is
currently unleased. The estimated
amount of resources projected to be
developed as a result of the proposed
WPA lease sale is 0.222–0.423 billion
barrels of oil (BBO) and 1.495–2.647
trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of gas.
Alternative B—The Proposed Action
Excluding the Unleased Blocks Near
Biologically Sensitive Topographic
Features: This alternative would offer
for lease all unleased blocks in the
WPA, as described for the proposed
action (Alternative A), with the
exception of any unleased blocks
subject to the Topographic Features
Stipulation.
Alternative C—No Action: This is the
cancellation of the proposed WPA lease
sale. The opportunity for development
of the estimated 0.222–0.423 BBO and
1.495–2.647 Tcf of gas that could have
resulted from the proposed WPA lease
sale would be precluded or postponed.
Any potential environmental impacts
resulting from the proposed lease sale
would not occur or would be
postponed.
After careful consideration, BOEM
has selected the proposed action,
identified as the Agency’s preferred
alternative (Alternative A) in the Final
SEIS. BOEM’s selection of the preferred
alternative reflects an orderly resource
development with protection of the
human, marine, and coastal
environments while simultaneously
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19:40 Nov 10, 2011
Jkt 226001
ensuring that the public receives an
equitable return for these resources and
that free-market competition is
maintained.
Record of Decision Availability: To
obtain a single printed or CD–ROM copy
of the ROD for WPA Lease Sale 218, you
may contact the BOEM, GOM OCS
Region, Public Information Office (MS
5034), 1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard,
Room 250, New Orleans, Louisiana
70123–2394 (1–800–200–GULF). An
electronic copy of the ROD is available
at the BOEM’s Internet Web site at
https://www.gomr.boemre.gov/homepg/
regulate/environ/nepa/
nepaprocess.html.
For
more information on the ROD, you may
contact Mr. Gary D. Goeke, BOEM, GOM
OCS Region, 1201 Elmwood Park
Boulevard (MS 5410), New Orleans,
Louisiana 70123–2394. You may also
contact Mr. Goeke by telephone at
(504) 736–3233.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Authority: This NOA is published
pursuant to the regulations (40 CFR part
1506) implementing the provisions of the
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of
1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.
(1988)).
Dated: November 8, 2011.
Tommy P. Beaudreau,
Director, Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management.
[FR Doc. 2011–29343 Filed 11–10–11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–MR–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS–R2–ES–2010–N174; 20124–1112–
0000–F2]
Draft Environmental Assessment and
Safe Harbor Agreement for the
Houston Toad Within Nine Texas
Counties
Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; receipt of
application.
AGENCY:
The Environmental Defense
Fund (Applicant) has applied to the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service)
for an enhancement of survival permit
pursuant to a section of the Endangered
Species Act of 1973, as amended. The
requested permit, which is for a period
of 30 years, would authorize incidental
take of the endangered Houston toad
(Bufo houstonensis) as a result of
conservation actions, land management,
and other land-use activities. We invite
the public to review and comment on
SUMMARY:
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70479
the permit application and the
associated draft Safe Harbor Agreement
(Agreement).
DATES: Written comments should be
received on or before January 13, 2012.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
or requests for copies or more
information by any of the following
methods. You may request hard copies
or a CD–ROM of the documents.
• Email: Edith_Erfling@fws.gov.
Include ‘‘Clear Lake Ecological Services
Field Office draft Houston Toad
Programatic SHA/draft EA’’ in the
subject line of the message.
• Fax: [Attn: Field Supervisor],
(281) 488–5882.
• U.S. Mail: 17629 El Camino Real,
Suite 211, Houston, Texas 77058.
• In-Person Drop-off, Viewing, or
Pickup: Call (281) 286–8282 to make an
appointment (necessary for view/pickup
only) during regular business hours at
17629 El Camino Real, Suite 211,
Houston, Texas 77058. For more
information on locations for viewing or
obtaining documents, see ‘‘Public
Availability of Documents’’ under
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Marty Tuegel, at the Service’s
Southwest Regional Office, P.O. Box
1306, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87103
(505) 248–6651).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under a
Safe Harbor Agreement, participating
property owners voluntarily undertake
management activities to enhance,
restore, or maintain habitat benefiting
species listed under the Endangered
Species Act. Safe Harbor Agreements
encourage private and other non-Federal
property owners to implement
conservation efforts for listed species by
assuring property owners they will not
be subjected to increased property use
restrictions as a result of increased
target species abundance due to their
efforts to improve conditions for listed
species on their property. Application
requirements and issuance criteria for
enhancement of survival permits
through Safe Harbor Agreements are
found in 50 CFR 17.22 and 17.32.
Non-Federal landowners within
Austin, Bastrop, Burleson, Colorado,
Lavaca, Lee, Leon, Milam, and
Robertson Counties, Texas, may be
enrolled under the proposed Agreement
if it is approved by entering into a
Cooperative Agreement with the
Applicant. The Cooperative Agreement
will include: (1) A map of the property
and its legal location; (2) the portion of
the property to be enrolled and its
acreage; (3) a description of the habitat
types that occur on the portion of the
property to be enrolled, including
E:\FR\FM\14NON1.SGM
14NON1
mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
70480
Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 219 / Monday, November 14, 2011 / Notices
accurate descriptions of vegetation,
water features, and soil types; (4)
current land use practices and existing
development; and (5) a detailed account
of conservation activities to be
undertaken on the portion of the
property to be enrolled. After signing a
Cooperative Agreement, landowners
will receive a certificate of inclusion to
document landowners’ participation in
the Safe Harbor Agreement and convey
incidental take authorization from the
Applicant to certificate recipients. The
Applicant will be responsible for annual
monitoring and reporting related to
implementation of the Safe Harbor
Agreement and Cooperative Agreements
and fulfillment of their provisions.
We have worked with the Applicant
to design conservation activities
expected to have a net conservation
benefit to the Houston toad within the
nine Texas counties to be covered under
this proposed Agreement. These
conservation activities include: (1)
Brush management to create desired
understory conditions and facilitate
restoration of native ground cover; (2)
forest enhancement/restoration to create
favorable canopy conditions; (3)
prescribed burning to restore, create,
and maintain desired understory and
ground cover conditions; (4)
enhancement of existing breeding ponds
to provide habitat for breeding adults
and emerging toadlets; (5) control of red
imported fire ants to maximize
successful toadlet survival; (6) creation
of new breeding ponds; and (7)
headstarting and/or reintroduction of
captively bred Houston toads (see
section 5 ‘‘Conservation Activities’’ in
the draft Agreement).
These conservation activities are
expected to: (1) Enhance Houston toad
foraging and hibernating habitat; (2)
create and enhance Houston toad
breeding and toadlet emergence habitat;
(3) facilitate Houston toad dispersal
through the creation and enhancement
of habitat linkages throughout the
species’ range; (4) increase Houston toad
population numbers through
headstarting and reintroduction; and (5)
facilitate viable, self-sustaining Houston
toad subpopulations.
The incidental take of toads may
occur from: (1) Habitat management
actions conducted in accordance with
the conservation activities in the
Agreement, (2) ongoing land use
activities that may have an increased
chance of taking a toad if toad numbers
increase, as expected, and (3) cessation
of the conservation activities, return to
baseline activities; if enrolled
landowners exercise their authorization
to do so under the permit.
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19:40 Nov 10, 2011
Jkt 226001
The impacts of permit issuance and
implementation on the human
environment are analyzed within the
draft Environmental Assessment, in
compliance with the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969.
Section 9 of the Endangered Species
Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531
et seq.) prohibits ‘‘taking’’ of threatened
or endangered species. However, the
Service, under limited circumstances,
may issue permits to take threatened
and endangered wildlife species
incidental to, and not the purpose of,
otherwise lawful activities.
Public Availability of Comments
Before including your address, phone
number, email 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.
Authorities
We provide this notice pursuant to
section 10(c) of the Endangered Species
Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531
et seq.), its implementing regulations
(50 CFR 17.22), and the National
Environmental Policy Act (42 CFR 4371
et seq.).
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.
Dated: October 13, 2011.
Joy E. Nicholopoulos,
Acting Regional Director, Southwest Region,
Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2011–29044 Filed 11–10–11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–55–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS–R8–R–2011–N199; 1261–0000–81680–
W5]
Otay River Estuary Restoration
Project, South San Diego Bay Unit of
the San Diego Bay National Wildlife
Refuge, California; Environmental
Impact Statement
Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of intent; request for
public comment.
AGENCY:
We, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service (Service), intend to
prepare an environmental impact
statement (EIS) for the proposed Otay
River Estuary Restoration Project. The
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
proposed project involves the
restoration of 66.4 acres of estuarine
(subtidal and intertidal) wetland habitat
within the western terminus of the Otay
River, part of the San Diego Bay
National Wildlife Refuge. This notice
advises the public that we intend to
gather information necessary to prepare
an EIS, pursuant to the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). We
encourage the public and other agencies
to participate in the NEPA scoping
process by sending written suggestions
and information on the issues and
concerns that should be addressed in
the draft EIS, including the range of
alternatives, appropriate mitigation
measures, and the nature and extent of
potential environmental impacts.
DATES: To ensure that we have adequate
time to evaluate and incorporate
suggestions and other input, we must
receive your comments on or before
January 6, 2012.
ADDRESSES: Send your comments or
requests for more information by any
one of the following methods.
Email: Otay_NOI@fws.gov. Please
include ‘‘Otay Estuary NOI’’ in the
subject line of the message.
Fax: Attn: Brian Collins, (619) 476–
9149.
U.S. Mail: Brian Collins, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, San Diego National
Wildlife Refuge Complex, P.O. Box
2358, Chula Vista, CA 91912.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Brian Collins, Refuge Manager (619)
575–2704, extension 302), or Andy
Yuen, Project Leader (619) 476–9150,
extension 100).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
In 2006, we completed a
Comprehensive Conservation Plan
(CCP) and EIS/Record of Decision (ROD)
to guide the management of the San
Diego Bay National Wildlife Refuge over
a 15-year period (71 FR 64552,
November 2, 2006). The wildlife and
habitat management goal of the selected
management alternative in the CCP for
the South San Diego Bay Unit is to
‘‘protect, manage, enhance, and restore
* * * coastal wetlands * * * to benefit
the native fish, wildlife, and plant
species supported within the South San
Diego Bay Unit.’’ One of the strategies
identified to meet this goal is to restore
native habitats in the Otay River
floodplain. The proposed restoration
project represents step-down restoration
planning for the western portion of the
Otay River floodplain. The site-specific
EIS for this project will tier from the
programmatic EIS and ROD prepared for
the CCP.
E:\FR\FM\14NON1.SGM
14NON1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 219 (Monday, November 14, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70479-70480]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-29044]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R2-ES-2010-N174; 20124-1112-0000-F2]
Draft Environmental Assessment and Safe Harbor Agreement for the
Houston Toad Within Nine Texas Counties
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; receipt of application.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Environmental Defense Fund (Applicant) has applied to the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) for an enhancement of survival
permit pursuant to a section of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as
amended. The requested permit, which is for a period of 30 years, would
authorize incidental take of the endangered Houston toad (Bufo
houstonensis) as a result of conservation actions, land management, and
other land-use activities. We invite the public to review and comment
on the permit application and the associated draft Safe Harbor
Agreement (Agreement).
DATES: Written comments should be received on or before January 13,
2012.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments or requests for copies or more
information by any of the following methods. You may request hard
copies or a CD-ROM of the documents.
Email: Edith_Erfling@fws.gov. Include ``Clear Lake
Ecological Services Field Office draft Houston Toad Programatic SHA/
draft EA'' in the subject line of the message.
Fax: [Attn: Field Supervisor], (281) 488-5882.
U.S. Mail: 17629 El Camino Real, Suite 211, Houston, Texas
77058.
In-Person Drop-off, Viewing, or Pickup: Call (281) 286-
8282 to make an appointment (necessary for view/pickup only) during
regular business hours at 17629 El Camino Real, Suite 211, Houston,
Texas 77058. For more information on locations for viewing or obtaining
documents, see ``Public Availability of Documents'' under SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marty Tuegel, at the Service's
Southwest Regional Office, P.O. Box 1306, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87103
(505) 248-6651).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under a Safe Harbor Agreement, participating
property owners voluntarily undertake management activities to enhance,
restore, or maintain habitat benefiting species listed under the
Endangered Species Act. Safe Harbor Agreements encourage private and
other non-Federal property owners to implement conservation efforts for
listed species by assuring property owners they will not be subjected
to increased property use restrictions as a result of increased target
species abundance due to their efforts to improve conditions for listed
species on their property. Application requirements and issuance
criteria for enhancement of survival permits through Safe Harbor
Agreements are found in 50 CFR 17.22 and 17.32.
Non-Federal landowners within Austin, Bastrop, Burleson, Colorado,
Lavaca, Lee, Leon, Milam, and Robertson Counties, Texas, may be
enrolled under the proposed Agreement if it is approved by entering
into a Cooperative Agreement with the Applicant. The Cooperative
Agreement will include: (1) A map of the property and its legal
location; (2) the portion of the property to be enrolled and its
acreage; (3) a description of the habitat types that occur on the
portion of the property to be enrolled, including
[[Page 70480]]
accurate descriptions of vegetation, water features, and soil types;
(4) current land use practices and existing development; and (5) a
detailed account of conservation activities to be undertaken on the
portion of the property to be enrolled. After signing a Cooperative
Agreement, landowners will receive a certificate of inclusion to
document landowners' participation in the Safe Harbor Agreement and
convey incidental take authorization from the Applicant to certificate
recipients. The Applicant will be responsible for annual monitoring and
reporting related to implementation of the Safe Harbor Agreement and
Cooperative Agreements and fulfillment of their provisions.
We have worked with the Applicant to design conservation activities
expected to have a net conservation benefit to the Houston toad within
the nine Texas counties to be covered under this proposed Agreement.
These conservation activities include: (1) Brush management to create
desired understory conditions and facilitate restoration of native
ground cover; (2) forest enhancement/restoration to create favorable
canopy conditions; (3) prescribed burning to restore, create, and
maintain desired understory and ground cover conditions; (4)
enhancement of existing breeding ponds to provide habitat for breeding
adults and emerging toadlets; (5) control of red imported fire ants to
maximize successful toadlet survival; (6) creation of new breeding
ponds; and (7) headstarting and/or reintroduction of captively bred
Houston toads (see section 5 ``Conservation Activities'' in the draft
Agreement).
These conservation activities are expected to: (1) Enhance Houston
toad foraging and hibernating habitat; (2) create and enhance Houston
toad breeding and toadlet emergence habitat; (3) facilitate Houston
toad dispersal through the creation and enhancement of habitat linkages
throughout the species' range; (4) increase Houston toad population
numbers through headstarting and reintroduction; and (5) facilitate
viable, self-sustaining Houston toad subpopulations.
The incidental take of toads may occur from: (1) Habitat management
actions conducted in accordance with the conservation activities in the
Agreement, (2) ongoing land use activities that may have an increased
chance of taking a toad if toad numbers increase, as expected, and (3)
cessation of the conservation activities, return to baseline
activities; if enrolled landowners exercise their authorization to do
so under the permit.
The impacts of permit issuance and implementation on the human
environment are analyzed within the draft Environmental Assessment, in
compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969.
Section 9 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (16
U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) prohibits ``taking'' of threatened or endangered
species. However, the Service, under limited circumstances, may issue
permits to take threatened and endangered wildlife species incidental
to, and not the purpose of, otherwise lawful activities.
Public Availability of Comments
Before including your address, phone number, email 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.
Authorities
We provide this notice pursuant to section 10(c) of the Endangered
Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), its
implementing regulations (50 CFR 17.22), and the National Environmental
Policy Act (42 CFR 4371 et seq.).
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.
Dated: October 13, 2011.
Joy E. Nicholopoulos,
Acting Regional Director, Southwest Region, Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-29044 Filed 11-10-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P
