Availability of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement and Habitat Conservation Plan; Receipt of an Application for an Incidental Take Permit, Buckeye Wind Power Project, Champaign County, OH, 38819-38821 [2012-15664]
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38819
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 126 / Friday, June 29, 2012 / Notices
the Agreement of mortgagees whose
default and claim rate exceeds both the
national rate and 200 percent of the
field office rate.
Effect: Termination of the Agreement
precludes branch(es) of the mortgagee
from originating FHA-insured singlefamily mortgages within the area of the
HUD field office(s) listed in this notice.
Mortgagees authorized to purchase,
hold, or service FHA-insured mortgages
may continue to do so.
Loans that closed or were approved
before the termination became effective
may be submitted for insurance
endorsement. Approved loans are those
already underwritten and approved by a
DE underwriter, and cases covered by a
firm commitment issued by HUD. Cases
at earlier stages of processing cannot be
submitted for insurance by the
terminated branch; however, they may
be transferred for completion of
processing and underwriting to another
FHA-insured mortgagee with direct
endorsement approval for the area
covered by the termination. Mortgagees
are obligated to continue to pay existing
insurance premiums and meet all other
obligations associated with insured
mortgages.
A terminated mortgagee may apply for
reinstatement of the Origination
Approval Agreement if the approval for
the affected branch or branches has been
terminated for at least six months and
the mortgagee continues to be an
approved mortgagee meeting the
requirements of 24 CFR 202.5, 202.6,
202.7, 202.8 and 202.12. However,
Mortgagee Letter 2010–20 and Final
Rule 5356–F–02 at 24 CFR part 202
eliminates FHA approval for loan
correspondents after December 31, 2010.
Therefore, HUD will not accept requests
for reinstatement from loan
correspondents after that date. The
mortgagee’s application for
reinstatement must be in a format
prescribed by the Secretary and signed
by the mortgagee. In addition, the
application must be accompanied by an
independent analysis of the terminated
office’s operations as well as its
mortgage production, specifically
including the FHA-insured mortgages
cited in its termination notice. This
independent analysis shall identify the
underlying cause for the mortgagee’s
high default and claim rate. The
analysis must be prepared by an
independent Certified Public
Accountant (CPA) qualified to perform
audits under Government Auditing
Standards as provided by the
Government Accountability Office. The
mortgagee must also submit a written
corrective action plan to address each of
the issues identified in the CPA’s report,
along with evidence that the plan has
been implemented. The application for
a new Agreement should be in the form
of a letter, accompanied by the CPA’s
report and corrective action plan. The
request should be sent to the Director,
Office of Lender Activities and Program
Compliance, 451 Seventh Street SW.,
Room B133–P3214, Washington, DC
20410–8000 or by courier to 490
L’Enfant Plaza, East SW., Suite 3214,
Washington, DC 20024–8000.
Action: The following mortgagees
have had their Origination Agreements
terminated by HUD:
Mortgagee name
Mortgagee branch office address
HUD office
jurisdiction
Strategic Mortgage Company .....................
40 W 3rd Ave., Columbus, OH 43201 ........
Columbus ..........
Dated: June 18, 2012.
Carol Galante,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Housing—
Federal Housing Commissioner.
[FR Doc. 2012–16041 Filed 6–28–12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210–67–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS–R3–ES–2012–0036;
FXES11120300000F2–123–FF03E15000]
Availability of a Draft Environmental
Impact Statement and Habitat
Conservation Plan; Receipt of an
Application for an Incidental Take
Permit, Buckeye Wind Power Project,
Champaign County, OH
AGENCY:
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Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request
for comments.
SUMMARY:
We, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service (Service), have received
an application from Buckeye Wind, LLC
(applicant), for an incidental take permit
(ITP) under the Endangered Species Act
of 1973, as amended (ESA), for its
Buckeye Wind Power Project (project). If
approved, the ITP would be for a 30-
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16:52 Jun 28, 2012
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year period and would authorize the
incidental take of an endangered
species, the Indiana bat. The applicant
has prepared a habitat conservation plan
(HCP) that describes the actions and
measures the applicant would
implement to avoid, minimize, and
mitigate incidental take of the Indiana
bat. The ITP application also includes a
draft implementing agreement (IA). We
also announce the availability of a draft
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
that has been prepared in response to
the permit application in accordance
with the requirements of the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). We
request public comment on the
application and associated documents.
DATES: Public Meeting: July 12, 2012, 4–
8 p.m., Champaign County Community
Center Auditorium, 1512 S. U.S.
Highway 68, Urbana, OH 43078.
Comments: We will accept comments
received or postmarked on or before
September 27, 2012. Comments
submitted electronically using the
Federal eRulemaking Portal (see
ADDRESSES section, below) must be
received by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on
the closing date.
ADDRESSES: Document availability:
• Internet: You may obtain copies of
the documents on the Internet at
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Termination
effective date
4/17/12
Homeownership
center
Philadelphia.
https://www.regulations.gov (Docket
Number FWS–R3–ES–2012–0036) or
https://www.fws.gov/midwest/
endangered/permits/hcp/r3hcps.html.
• U.S. Mail: You can obtain the
documents by mail from the Ecological
Services Office in the Midwest Regional
Office (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT).
• In-Person: To view hard copies of
the documents in person, go to one of
the Ecological Services Offices (8 a.m. to
4 p.m.) listed under FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT, or to one of the
following libraries during normal
business hours: Champaign County
Library, 1060 Scioto Street, Urbana, OH
43078–2228; or North Lewisburg
Branch, 161 Winder Street, North
Lewisburg, OH 43060.
Public Meeting: See DATES.
Comment submission: In your
comment, please specify whether your
comment addresses the HCP, the draft
EIS, both the HCP and draft EIS, or other
supporting documents. You may submit
written comments by one of the
following methods:
• Electronically: Go to the Federal
eRulemaking Portal: https://
www.regulations.gov. In the Search box,
enter FWS–R3–ES–2012–0036, which is
the docket number for this notice. Then,
on the left side of the screen, under the
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38820
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 126 / Friday, June 29, 2012 / Notices
Document Type heading, click on the
Notices link to locate this document and
submit a comment.
• By hard copy: Submit by U.S. mail
or hand-delivery to: Public Comments
Processing, Attn: FWS–R3–ES–2012–
0036; Division of Policy and Directives
Management; U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service; 4401 N. Fairfax Drive, MS
2042–PDM; Arlington, VA 22203.
We request that you send comments
only by the methods described above.
We will post all information received on
https://www.regulations.gov. This
generally means that we will post any
personal information you provide us
(see the Public Comments section below
for more information).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Megan Seymour, Fish and Wildlife
Biologist, Ohio Ecological Services Field
Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
4625 Morse Road, Suite 104, Columbus,
OH 43230; 614–416–8993, extension 16;
or Rick Amidon, Fish and Wildlife
Biologist, Ecological Services, Midwest
Regional Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, 5600 American Blvd., West,
Suite 990, Bloomington, MN 55437–
1458; 612–713–5164.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We have
received an application from Buckeye
Wind, LLC, for an incidental take permit
(TE66315A) under the ESA (16 U.S.C.
1531 et seq.). If approved, the ITP would
be for a 30-year period and would
authorize incidental take of the Indiana
bat (Myotis sodalis).
The applicant has prepared a draft
HCP to cover the construction,
operation, maintenance, and
decommissioning of the project. The
project consists of a wind-powered
electric generation facility located in an
approximately 80,051-acre area (the
action area) located in portions of
Union, Wayne, Urbana, Salem, Rush,
and Goshen Townships, in Champaign
County, Ohio. The draft HCP describes
the following: (1) Biological goals and
objectives of the HCP; (2) the covered
activities; (3) permit duration; (4) permit
area; (5) alternatives to the taking that
were considered; (5) public
participation; (6) life history of the
Indiana bat; (6) a quantification of the
take for which authorization is
requested; (7) an assessment of direct
and indirect effects of the taking on the
Indiana bat within the action area and
within the Midwest Recovery Unit (as
delineated in the 2007 Indiana Bat Draft
Recovery Plan, USFWS); (8) a
conservation program consisting of
avoidance and minimization measures,
mitigation, monitoring, and adaptive
management; (9) funding for the HCP;
(10) procedures to deal with changed
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and unforeseen circumstances; and (11)
methods for ITP amendments.
In addition to the draft HCP, the
applicant has prepared an Implementing
Agreement (IA) to document the
responsibilities of the parties. The
USFWS invites comment on the IA as
well as the applicant’s HCP.
Under the NEPA (43 U.S.C. 4321 et
seq.) and the ESA, the Service
announces that we have gathered the
information necessary to:
1. Determine the impacts and
formulate alternatives for an EIS related
to:
a. Issuance of an ITP to the applicant
for the take of the Indiana bat, and
b. Implementation of the associated
HCP; and
2. Evaluate the application for ITP
issuance, including the HCP, which
provides measures to minimize and
mitigate the effects of the proposed
incidental take of Indiana bat.
Background
Buckeye Wind, LLC, is a wholly
owned subsidiary of EverPower Wind
Holdings, Inc. (EverPower).
The project has been in the planning
and development phase since 2006.
Indiana bats were discovered in and
around the Buckeye Wind action area
during pre-construction wildlife surveys
in 2008 and 2009. Because wind power
projects across the eastern United States
have been documented to cause
mortality of bats in general, and Indiana
bats specifically, Buckeye Wind
determined it was appropriate to
develop an HCP and apply for an ITP to
authorize the potential incidental take
of Indiana bats from construction,
operation, maintenance, and
decommissioning of the project. The
HCP was developed by Buckeye Wind
and their consultants, in coordination
with the Service.
The HCP provides a detailed
conservation plan to ensure that the
incidental take caused by the project
will not appreciably reduce the
likelihood of the survival and recovery
of the covered species in the action area
or in the recovery unit, and provides
mitigation to fully offset the impact of
the taking. Further, the HCP provides a
long-term monitoring and adaptive
management strategy to ensure that the
ITP terms are satisfied, and to account
for changed and unforeseen
circumstances.
Purpose and Need for Action
In accordance with NEPA, the Service
has prepared an EIS to analyze the
impacts to the human environment that
would occur if the requested ITP were
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issued and the associated HCP were
implemented.
Proposed Action
Section 9 of the ESA prohibits the
‘‘taking’’ of threatened and endangered
species. However, provided certain
criteria are met, the Service is
authorized to issue permits under
section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA for take of
federally listed species when, among
other things, such a taking is incidental
to, and not the purpose of, otherwise
lawful activities. Under the ESA, the
term ‘‘take’’ means to harass, harm,
pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap,
capture, or collect endangered and
threatened species, or to attempt to
engage in any such conduct. Our
implementing regulations define
‘‘harm’’ as an act which actually kills or
injures wildlife, and such act may
include significant habitat modification
or degradation that results in death or
injury to listed species by significantly
impairing essential behavioral patterns,
including breeding, feeding, or
sheltering (50 CFR 17.3). Harass, as
defined, means ‘‘an intentional or
negligent act or omission which creates
the likelihood of injury to wildlife by
annoying it to such an extent as to
significantly disrupt normal behavioral
patterns which include, but are not
limited to, breeding, feeding, or
sheltering’’ (50 CFR 17.3).
The HCP analyzes, and the ITP would
cover, take from harassment, harm, and
killing of bats due to the construction,
operation, maintenance, and
decommissioning associated with the
project. If issued, the ITP would
authorize incidental take consistent
with the applicant’s HCP and the
permit. To issue the ITP, the Service
must find that Buckeye Wind’s
application, including its HCP, satisfies
the criteria of section 10(a)(1)(B) of the
ESA and the Service’s implementing
regulations at 50 CFR parts 13 and
17.22. If the ITP is issued, the applicant
would receive assurances under the
Service’s No Surprises policy, as
codified at 50 CFR 17.22(b)(5).
Buckeye Wind proposes to construct
and operate a maximum of 100 wind
turbines and associated facilities
(described below) for a period of 30
years in eastern Champaign County,
Ohio. The project will consist of wind
turbines, associated access roads, an
underground and aboveground
electrical collector system, a substation
for connection of the wind turbines to
the local transmission system, four
permanent meteorological towers, and
an operations and maintenance
building. In addition, up to four
temporary construction staging areas
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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 126 / Friday, June 29, 2012 / Notices
will be created during development.
Project facilities and infrastructure will
be placed on private land via long-term
easement agreements between Buckeye
Wind and respective landowners.
While approximately 80,051 acres are
located within the Buckeye Wind action
area, a relatively small portion of that
land, approximately 0.16 percent (129.8
acres), will be permanently occupied by
the project facilities. Beyond the
approximately 129 acres of occupied
area, as described in Section 2.2 of the
HCP, the project will not impact or
change the existing land use.
The draft HCP describes the impacts
of take associated with Buckeye Wind’s
activities and includes measures to
avoid, minimize, mitigate, and monitor
the impacts of incidental take on the
Indiana bat. Buckeye Wind will be
mitigating for take and associated
impacts through permanent
preservation, enhancement, and
restoration of suitable Indiana bat
habitat within 7 miles of a Priority 2
Indiana bat hibernaculum (USFWS,
2007, Draft Indiana Bat Recovery Plan)
in Ohio. Mitigation will occur on
private lands and will be permanently
protected by a conservation easement
held by a third-party conservation
organization. Section 6.3 of the HCP
describes the details of compensatory
mitigation and its implementation. The
HCP also includes numerous avoidance
and minimization measures, as
described in sections 6.1 through 6.2, as
well as adaptive management, as
described in section 6.5, which will
limit the take of the Indiana bat.
The Service is soliciting information
regarding the adequacy of the HCP to
avoid, minimize, mitigate, and monitor
the proposed incidental take of the
covered species and to provide for
adaptive management. In compliance
with section 10(c) of the ESA (16 U.S.C.
1539(c)), the Service is making the ITP
application materials available for
public review and comment as
described above.
We invite comments and suggestions
from all interested parties on the draft
documents associated with the ITP
application (HCP, HCP Appendices, and
IA), and request that comments be as
specific as possible. In particular, we
request information and comments on
the following topics:
1. Whether adaptive management and
monitoring provisions in the Proposed
Action alternative are sufficient;
2. Any threats to the covered species
that may influence its population over
the life of the ITP that are not addressed
in the HCP or EIS;
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3. Any new information on whitenose syndrome effects on the covered
species;
4. Whether the models and model
inputs used to estimate risk to the
covered species are appropriate; and
5. Any other information pertinent to
evaluating the effects of the proposed
action on the Indiana bat.
Alternatives in the Draft EIS
The draft EIS contains an analysis of
four alternatives: (1) No Action (no
permit issuance); (2) Proposed Action—
Modified Operations Alternative,
including implementation of the HCP
and Issuance of a 30-year ITP; (3)
Maximally Restricted Operations
Alternative, without an HCP or ITP; and
(4) Minimally Restricted Operations
Alternative and Issuance of a 30-year
ITP. The draft EIS considers the direct,
indirect, and cumulative effects of the
alternatives, including any measures
under the Proposed Action alternative
intended to minimize and mitigate such
impacts. The draft EIS also identifies
additional alternatives that were
considered but were eliminated from
consideration as detailed in Section 2.3
of the EIS.
The Service invites comments and
suggestions from all interested parties
on the content of the draft EIS. In
particular, information and comments
regarding the following topics are
requested:
1. The direct, indirect, or cumulative
effects that implementation of any
alternative could have on the human
environment;
2. Whether or not the significance of
the impact on various aspects of the
human environment has been
adequately analyzed; and
3. Any other information pertinent to
evaluating the effects of the proposed
action on the human environment.
Public Comments
You may submit your comments and
materials concerning the notice by one
of the methods listed in ADDRESSES. We
request that you send comments only by
one of the methods described in
ADDRESSES.
If you submit a comment via https://
www.regulations.gov, your entire
comment—including any personal
identifying information—will be posted
on the Web site. We will post all
hardcopy comments on https://
www.regulations.gov as well. If you
submit a hardcopy comment that
includes personal identifying
information, you may request at the top
of your document that we withhold this
information from public review.
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38821
However, we cannot guarantee that we
will be able to do so.
Comments and materials we receive,
as well as documents associated with
the notice, will be available for public
inspection on https://
www.regulations.gov at Docket No.
FWS–R3–ES–2012–0036, or by
appointment, during normal business
hours, at the Ohio Ecological Services
Field Office in Columbus, Ohio (see FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
Authority
We provide this notice under section
10(c) of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.)
and its implementing regulations (50
CFR 17.22), and NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4371
et seq.) and its implementing
regulations (40 CFR 1506.6; 43 CFR part
46).
Dated: June 21, 2012.
Lynn Lewis,
Assistant Regional Director, Ecological
Services, Midwest Region.
[FR Doc. 2012–15664 Filed 6–28–12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–55–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Indian Affairs
Final Environmental Impact Statement
for the Menominee Indian Tribe of
Wisconsin’s Proposed Fee-to-Trust
Transfer and Casino-Hotel Project in
the City of Kenosha, Kenosha County,
WI
AGENCY:
Bureau of Indian Affairs,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Availability.
SUMMARY:
This notice advises the public
that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
as the lead Federal agency, with the
Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin
(Tribe), the National Indian Gaming
Commission (NIGC), the City of
Kenosha, and Kenosha County, as
cooperating agencies, has prepared a
Final Environmental Impact Statement
(FEIS) for the proposed approval of a
223-acre fee-to-trust transfer and the
construction of a casino-hotel complex.
This notice also announces the FEIS is
now available for public review. Hard
copies are available upon request or
may be found at the addresses indicted
in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
section below.
DATES: The Record of Decision on the
proposed action will be issued no
sooner than 30 days after the release of
the FEIS. Thus, any comments on the
FEIS must arrive at the addresses
indicated below by July 30, 2012.
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 126 (Friday, June 29, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38819-38821]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-15664]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R3-ES-2012-0036; FXES11120300000F2-123-FF03E15000]
Availability of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement and
Habitat Conservation Plan; Receipt of an Application for an Incidental
Take Permit, Buckeye Wind Power Project, Champaign County, OH
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), have
received an application from Buckeye Wind, LLC (applicant), for an
incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973,
as amended (ESA), for its Buckeye Wind Power Project (project). If
approved, the ITP would be for a 30-year period and would authorize the
incidental take of an endangered species, the Indiana bat. The
applicant has prepared a habitat conservation plan (HCP) that describes
the actions and measures the applicant would implement to avoid,
minimize, and mitigate incidental take of the Indiana bat. The ITP
application also includes a draft implementing agreement (IA). We also
announce the availability of a draft Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS) that has been prepared in response to the permit application in
accordance with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy
Act (NEPA). We request public comment on the application and associated
documents.
DATES: Public Meeting: July 12, 2012, 4-8 p.m., Champaign County
Community Center Auditorium, 1512 S. U.S. Highway 68, Urbana, OH 43078.
Comments: We will accept comments received or postmarked on or
before September 27, 2012. Comments submitted electronically using the
Federal eRulemaking Portal (see ADDRESSES section, below) must be
received by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the closing date.
ADDRESSES: Document availability:
Internet: You may obtain copies of the documents on the
Internet at https://www.regulations.gov (Docket Number FWS-R3-ES-2012-
0036) or https://www.fws.gov/midwest/endangered/permits/hcp/r3hcps.html.
U.S. Mail: You can obtain the documents by mail from the
Ecological Services Office in the Midwest Regional Office (see FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
In-Person: To view hard copies of the documents in person,
go to one of the Ecological Services Offices (8 a.m. to 4 p.m.) listed
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, or to one of the following
libraries during normal business hours: Champaign County Library, 1060
Scioto Street, Urbana, OH 43078-2228; or North Lewisburg Branch, 161
Winder Street, North Lewisburg, OH 43060.
Public Meeting: See DATES.
Comment submission: In your comment, please specify whether your
comment addresses the HCP, the draft EIS, both the HCP and draft EIS,
or other supporting documents. You may submit written comments by one
of the following methods:
Electronically: Go to the Federal eRulemaking Portal:
https://www.regulations.gov. In the Search box, enter FWS-R3-ES-2012-
0036, which is the docket number for this notice. Then, on the left
side of the screen, under the
[[Page 38820]]
Document Type heading, click on the Notices link to locate this
document and submit a comment.
By hard copy: Submit by U.S. mail or hand-delivery to:
Public Comments Processing, Attn: FWS-R3-ES-2012-0036; Division of
Policy and Directives Management; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; 4401
N. Fairfax Drive, MS 2042-PDM; Arlington, VA 22203.
We request that you send comments only by the methods described
above. We will post all information received on https://www.regulations.gov. This generally means that we will post any
personal information you provide us (see the Public Comments section
below for more information).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Megan Seymour, Fish and Wildlife
Biologist, Ohio Ecological Services Field Office, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, 4625 Morse Road, Suite 104, Columbus, OH 43230; 614-
416-8993, extension 16; or Rick Amidon, Fish and Wildlife Biologist,
Ecological Services, Midwest Regional Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, 5600 American Blvd., West, Suite 990, Bloomington, MN 55437-
1458; 612-713-5164.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We have received an application from Buckeye
Wind, LLC, for an incidental take permit (TE66315A) under the ESA (16
U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). If approved, the ITP would be for a 30-year
period and would authorize incidental take of the Indiana bat (Myotis
sodalis).
The applicant has prepared a draft HCP to cover the construction,
operation, maintenance, and decommissioning of the project. The project
consists of a wind-powered electric generation facility located in an
approximately 80,051-acre area (the action area) located in portions of
Union, Wayne, Urbana, Salem, Rush, and Goshen Townships, in Champaign
County, Ohio. The draft HCP describes the following: (1) Biological
goals and objectives of the HCP; (2) the covered activities; (3) permit
duration; (4) permit area; (5) alternatives to the taking that were
considered; (5) public participation; (6) life history of the Indiana
bat; (6) a quantification of the take for which authorization is
requested; (7) an assessment of direct and indirect effects of the
taking on the Indiana bat within the action area and within the Midwest
Recovery Unit (as delineated in the 2007 Indiana Bat Draft Recovery
Plan, USFWS); (8) a conservation program consisting of avoidance and
minimization measures, mitigation, monitoring, and adaptive management;
(9) funding for the HCP; (10) procedures to deal with changed and
unforeseen circumstances; and (11) methods for ITP amendments.
In addition to the draft HCP, the applicant has prepared an
Implementing Agreement (IA) to document the responsibilities of the
parties. The USFWS invites comment on the IA as well as the applicant's
HCP.
Under the NEPA (43 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and the ESA, the Service
announces that we have gathered the information necessary to:
1. Determine the impacts and formulate alternatives for an EIS
related to:
a. Issuance of an ITP to the applicant for the take of the Indiana
bat, and
b. Implementation of the associated HCP; and
2. Evaluate the application for ITP issuance, including the HCP,
which provides measures to minimize and mitigate the effects of the
proposed incidental take of Indiana bat.
Background
Buckeye Wind, LLC, is a wholly owned subsidiary of EverPower Wind
Holdings, Inc. (EverPower).
The project has been in the planning and development phase since
2006. Indiana bats were discovered in and around the Buckeye Wind
action area during pre-construction wildlife surveys in 2008 and 2009.
Because wind power projects across the eastern United States have been
documented to cause mortality of bats in general, and Indiana bats
specifically, Buckeye Wind determined it was appropriate to develop an
HCP and apply for an ITP to authorize the potential incidental take of
Indiana bats from construction, operation, maintenance, and
decommissioning of the project. The HCP was developed by Buckeye Wind
and their consultants, in coordination with the Service.
The HCP provides a detailed conservation plan to ensure that the
incidental take caused by the project will not appreciably reduce the
likelihood of the survival and recovery of the covered species in the
action area or in the recovery unit, and provides mitigation to fully
offset the impact of the taking. Further, the HCP provides a long-term
monitoring and adaptive management strategy to ensure that the ITP
terms are satisfied, and to account for changed and unforeseen
circumstances.
Purpose and Need for Action
In accordance with NEPA, the Service has prepared an EIS to analyze
the impacts to the human environment that would occur if the requested
ITP were issued and the associated HCP were implemented.
Proposed Action
Section 9 of the ESA prohibits the ``taking'' of threatened and
endangered species. However, provided certain criteria are met, the
Service is authorized to issue permits under section 10(a)(1)(B) of the
ESA for take of federally listed species when, among other things, such
a taking is incidental to, and not the purpose of, otherwise lawful
activities. Under the ESA, the term ``take'' means to harass, harm,
pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect endangered
and threatened species, or to attempt to engage in any such conduct.
Our implementing regulations define ``harm'' as an act which actually
kills or injures wildlife, and such act may include significant habitat
modification or degradation that results in death or injury to listed
species by significantly impairing essential behavioral patterns,
including breeding, feeding, or sheltering (50 CFR 17.3). Harass, as
defined, means ``an intentional or negligent act or omission which
creates the likelihood of injury to wildlife by annoying it to such an
extent as to significantly disrupt normal behavioral patterns which
include, but are not limited to, breeding, feeding, or sheltering'' (50
CFR 17.3).
The HCP analyzes, and the ITP would cover, take from harassment,
harm, and killing of bats due to the construction, operation,
maintenance, and decommissioning associated with the project. If
issued, the ITP would authorize incidental take consistent with the
applicant's HCP and the permit. To issue the ITP, the Service must find
that Buckeye Wind's application, including its HCP, satisfies the
criteria of section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA and the Service's
implementing regulations at 50 CFR parts 13 and 17.22. If the ITP is
issued, the applicant would receive assurances under the Service's No
Surprises policy, as codified at 50 CFR 17.22(b)(5).
Buckeye Wind proposes to construct and operate a maximum of 100
wind turbines and associated facilities (described below) for a period
of 30 years in eastern Champaign County, Ohio. The project will consist
of wind turbines, associated access roads, an underground and
aboveground electrical collector system, a substation for connection of
the wind turbines to the local transmission system, four permanent
meteorological towers, and an operations and maintenance building. In
addition, up to four temporary construction staging areas
[[Page 38821]]
will be created during development. Project facilities and
infrastructure will be placed on private land via long-term easement
agreements between Buckeye Wind and respective landowners.
While approximately 80,051 acres are located within the Buckeye
Wind action area, a relatively small portion of that land,
approximately 0.16 percent (129.8 acres), will be permanently occupied
by the project facilities. Beyond the approximately 129 acres of
occupied area, as described in Section 2.2 of the HCP, the project will
not impact or change the existing land use.
The draft HCP describes the impacts of take associated with Buckeye
Wind's activities and includes measures to avoid, minimize, mitigate,
and monitor the impacts of incidental take on the Indiana bat. Buckeye
Wind will be mitigating for take and associated impacts through
permanent preservation, enhancement, and restoration of suitable
Indiana bat habitat within 7 miles of a Priority 2 Indiana bat
hibernaculum (USFWS, 2007, Draft Indiana Bat Recovery Plan) in Ohio.
Mitigation will occur on private lands and will be permanently
protected by a conservation easement held by a third-party conservation
organization. Section 6.3 of the HCP describes the details of
compensatory mitigation and its implementation. The HCP also includes
numerous avoidance and minimization measures, as described in sections
6.1 through 6.2, as well as adaptive management, as described in
section 6.5, which will limit the take of the Indiana bat.
The Service is soliciting information regarding the adequacy of the
HCP to avoid, minimize, mitigate, and monitor the proposed incidental
take of the covered species and to provide for adaptive management. In
compliance with section 10(c) of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1539(c)), the
Service is making the ITP application materials available for public
review and comment as described above.
We invite comments and suggestions from all interested parties on
the draft documents associated with the ITP application (HCP, HCP
Appendices, and IA), and request that comments be as specific as
possible. In particular, we request information and comments on the
following topics:
1. Whether adaptive management and monitoring provisions in the
Proposed Action alternative are sufficient;
2. Any threats to the covered species that may influence its
population over the life of the ITP that are not addressed in the HCP
or EIS;
3. Any new information on white-nose syndrome effects on the
covered species;
4. Whether the models and model inputs used to estimate risk to the
covered species are appropriate; and
5. Any other information pertinent to evaluating the effects of the
proposed action on the Indiana bat.
Alternatives in the Draft EIS
The draft EIS contains an analysis of four alternatives: (1) No
Action (no permit issuance); (2) Proposed Action--Modified Operations
Alternative, including implementation of the HCP and Issuance of a 30-
year ITP; (3) Maximally Restricted Operations Alternative, without an
HCP or ITP; and (4) Minimally Restricted Operations Alternative and
Issuance of a 30-year ITP. The draft EIS considers the direct,
indirect, and cumulative effects of the alternatives, including any
measures under the Proposed Action alternative intended to minimize and
mitigate such impacts. The draft EIS also identifies additional
alternatives that were considered but were eliminated from
consideration as detailed in Section 2.3 of the EIS.
The Service invites comments and suggestions from all interested
parties on the content of the draft EIS. In particular, information and
comments regarding the following topics are requested:
1. The direct, indirect, or cumulative effects that implementation
of any alternative could have on the human environment;
2. Whether or not the significance of the impact on various aspects
of the human environment has been adequately analyzed; and
3. Any other information pertinent to evaluating the effects of the
proposed action on the human environment.
Public Comments
You may submit your comments and materials concerning the notice by
one of the methods listed in ADDRESSES. We request that you send
comments only by one of the methods described in ADDRESSES.
If you submit a comment via https://www.regulations.gov, your entire
comment--including any personal identifying information--will be posted
on the Web site. We will post all hardcopy comments on https://www.regulations.gov as well. If you submit a hardcopy comment that
includes personal identifying information, you may request at the top
of your document that we withhold this information from public review.
However, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.
Comments and materials we receive, as well as documents associated
with the notice, will be available for public inspection on https://www.regulations.gov at Docket No. FWS-R3-ES-2012-0036, or by
appointment, during normal business hours, at the Ohio Ecological
Services Field Office in Columbus, Ohio (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT).
Authority
We provide this notice under section 10(c) of the ESA (16 U.S.C.
1531 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (50 CFR 17.22), and NEPA
(42 U.S.C. 4371 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (40 CFR
1506.6; 43 CFR part 46).
Dated: June 21, 2012.
Lynn Lewis,
Assistant Regional Director, Ecological Services, Midwest Region.
[FR Doc. 2012-15664 Filed 6-28-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P
