Final Environmental Impact Statement for Amending the 1997 Washington State Trust Lands Habitat Conservation Plan To Include a Marbled Murrelet Long-Term Conservation Strategy, 51172-51173 [2019-20903]

Agencies

• Fish and Wildlife Service
• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 188 (Friday, September 27, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51172-51173]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-20903]



[[Page 51172]]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R1-ES-2019-N109; FXES11140100000-190-FF01E00000]


Final Environmental Impact Statement for Amending the 1997 
Washington State Trust Lands Habitat Conservation Plan To Include a 
Marbled Murrelet Long-Term Conservation Strategy

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), and the 
Washington State Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) have jointly 
developed a final environmental impact statement (FEIS), which analyzes 
the WDNR's proposal to amend the 1997 State Trust Lands Habitat 
Conservation Plan (HCP) to include a long-term conservation strategy 
(LTCS) for the federally listed marbled murrelet. This FEIS is intended 
to satisfy both the National Environmental Policy Act and the State 
Environmental Policy Act. The WDNR has requested an amendment to its 
existing incidental take permit (ITP) under section 10 of the 
Endangered Species Act. The proposed ITP amendment would allow the WDNR 
to implement a LTCS, and would replace the interim conservation 
strategy for the marbled murrelet, which is currently being implemented 
under the HCP. If approved, the LTCS is expected to be in place for the 
remainder of the ITP term, which is approximately 50 years.

DATES: The Service's ITP decision will occur no sooner than 30 days 
after publication of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) 
notice of availability of the FEIS in the Federal Register, and will be 
documented in a record of decision (ROD).

ADDRESSES: You may obtain copies of the documents by any of the 
following methods:
     Internet: https://www.fws.gov/wafwo/ or www.dnr.wa.gov/non-project-actions.
     Upon Request: You may call Tim Romanski, at 360-753-5823, 
or Heidi Tate, WDNR, 360-902-1662 to request alternative formats of the 
documents, or to make an appointment to inspect the documents during 
normal business hours at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington 
Fish and Wildlife Office, 510 Desmond Dr. SE, Suite 102, Lacey, WA 
98503 or Washington Department of Natural Resources, SEPA Center, 1111 
Washington Street, Olympia, WA 98504-7015.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tim Romanski, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service, Washington Fish and Wildlife Office (see ADDRESSES); 
telephone: 360-753-5823; email: [email protected]. Hearing or speech 
impaired individuals may call the Federal Relay Service at 800-877-8339 
for TTY assistance.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 
(Service), announce the availability of a final environmental impact 
statement (FEIS) addressing the Washington Department of Natural 
Resources' (the applicant's) proposed amendments to their Habitat 
Conservation Plan (HCP). The applicant is seeking an amendment to their 
incidental take permit (ITP) authorizing take of marbled murrelet 
(Brachyramphus marmoratus), listed as threatened under the Endangered 
Species Act (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). If issued, the ITP would 
authorize take of the marbled murrelet that may occur incidental to 
forest management activities on 1.38 million acres of Washington State 
trust lands managed by WDNR within the range of the marbled murrelet. 
The original ITP also authorized take of several other species, 
including the northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) and the 
bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus); no changes to the take 
authorization for these species have been requested.
    The proposed HCP amendment describes the anticipated amount of take 
of the marbled murrelet, and the steps the applicant will implement to 
minimize and mitigate the impacts of that taking. The HCP amendment 
also describes the life history and ecology of the marbled murrelet, 
the impact of the anticipated taking on affected murrelet populations, 
adaptive management procedures, and take monitoring procedures.
    The Service prepared the FEIS in response to an ITP application 
from WDNR. The Service considered comments received on the draft 
environmental impact statement (DEIS), and a revised draft 
environmental impact statement (RDEIS), in accordance with the 
requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA; 42 
U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).

Background

    The marbled murrelet, a seabird, was listed as threatened in 1992 
under the ESA. In 1996, the WDNR released its draft HCP addressing the 
conservation of multiple fish and wildlife species, including the 
marbled murrelet, and forest management activities on 1.6 million acres 
of forested State Trust lands within the range of the northern spotted 
owl in Washington.
    A DEIS, dated March 1996, was jointly developed by the Service, the 
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), and the WDNR to address the 
issuance of two proposed ITPs (one by the Service and one by NMFS) for 
the HCP, and was announced in the Federal Register on April 5, 1996 (61 
FR 15297). The 1996 DEIS analyzed a reasonable range of alternatives, 
including the HCP, for forest management activities on forested State 
Trust lands that would be covered by the ITPs. A notice of availability 
for the FEIS was published in the Federal Register on November 1, 1996 
(61 FR 56563). On January 30, 1997, the Service issued its ITP (Permit 
No. 812521) for the WDNR HCP. The Service's ITP decision and the 
availability of related decision documents were announced in the 
Federal Register on February 27, 1997 (62 FR 8980).
    The WDNR HCP commits the WDNR to developing a long-term 
conservation strategy (LTCS). At the time the HCP was being developed, 
the Service and WDNR determined that producing an LTCS was not yet 
possible because of the lack of scientific information about the 
marbled murrelet and its relationship to State Trust lands. For this 
reason, the WDNR developed an interim conservation strategy for the 
marbled murrelet, which is currently being implemented. Briefly, 
pursuant to the interim marbled murrelet conservation strategy: (1) 
Suitable murrelet habitat blocks were identified and deferred from 
harvest; (2) a habitat relationship study was conducted using marbled 
murrelet occupancy surveys to determine the relative importance and 
quality of occupied habitats; (3) the lowest quality habitat blocks 
were made available for timber harvest (these were expected to contain 
about 5 percent of the marbled murrelet occupied sites on covered 
lands); (4) the higher quality habitat blocks were surveyed for marbled 
murrelet occupancy, and occupied (along with some unoccupied) habitats 
were protected; and (5) the WDNR developed an LTCS for WDNR lands. The 
HCP and ITP amendment process is the final step in considering and 
potentially approving implementation of a LTCS.
    If approved, the LTCS is expected to be in place for the remainder 
of the permit term, until January 2067. Additionally, the term of the 
ITP may be extended up to three times. Each extension would be for an 
additional 10-year term.

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Endangered Species Act

    Section 9 of the ESA and its implementing regulations prohibit 
``take'' of fish and wildlife species listed as endangered. The ESA 
implementing regulations extend, under certain circumstances, the 
prohibition of take to threatened species (50 CFR 17.31). Under section 
3 of the ESA, the term ``take'' means to ``harass, harm, pursue, hunt, 
shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or attempt to engage in 
any such conduct'' (16 U.S.C. 1538). Under section 10(a) of the ESA, 
the Service may issue permits to authorize incidental take of listed 
fish and wildlife species. ``Incidental take'' is defined by the ESA as 
take that is incidental to, and not the purpose of, carrying out an 
otherwise lawful activity. Section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA contains 
provisions for issuing ITPs to non-Federal entities for the take of 
endangered and threatened species, provided the following criteria are 
met:
    1. The taking will be incidental;
    2. The applicant will, to the maximum extent practicable, minimize 
and mitigate the impact of such taking;
    3. The applicant will ensure that adequate funding for the plan 
will be provided;
    4. The taking will not appreciably reduce the likelihood of the 
survival and recovery of the species in the wild; and
    5. The applicant will carry out any other measures that the Service 
may require as being necessary or appropriate for the purposes of the 
HCP.

National Environmental Policy Act

    The proposed amendment of the WDNR ITP and the 1997 WDNR HCP to 
cover a marbled murrelet LTCS is a Federal action that triggers the 
need for compliance with NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). The Service and 
WDNR have jointly developed the FEIS for the purpose of analyzing the 
impacts of the LTCS on the human environment for the different 
alternatives. The FEIS analyzes the Service's and WDNR's preferred 
alternative, six additional alternatives, and a no action alternative.
    WDNR manages approximately 1.38 million acres within 55 miles of 
marine waters, which is the known inland limit of the nesting range for 
the marbled murrelet. The alternatives in the FEIS would all occur 
within this area. The alternatives represent a reasonable range of 
approaches to long-term marbled murrelet habitat conservation on WDNR 
lands. The alternatives differ in the amount and location of WDNR-
managed forest land designated for long-term conservation of the 
murrelet, and also include a variety of conservation measures proposed 
to protect marbled murrelet habitat. The alternatives also differ in 
the amount and quality of marbled murrelet habitat that will be removed 
through timber harvest. The alternatives are discussed in detail in the 
FEIS.

Public Involvement

    A Federal Register notice of intent (77 FR 23743) to conduct public 
scoping meetings and to prepare an EIS for WDNR's LTCS was published on 
April 20, 2012. Four public information meetings were held in Olympia, 
Sedro-Wooly, Cathlamet, and Forks, Washington.
    A Federal Register notice of availability (81 FR 89135) for the 
DEIS was published with a 90-day comment period on December 9, 2016. 
The 2016 DEIS did not specify a preferred alternative. Four public 
information meetings were held on the DEIS in Sedro-Wolley, Seattle, 
Port Angeles, and Cathlamet, Washington.
    In 2017, the WDNR selected a preferred alternative based on 
direction from the Washington Board of Natural Resources and public 
comments received on the DEIS. This action necessitated the development 
of a revised DEIS (RDEIS). A Federal Register notice of availability 
(83 FR 45458) for the RDEIS for the LTCS was published for a 60-day 
comment period on September 7, 2018. Four public information meetings 
were held in Ballard, Burlington, Cathlamet, and Forks, Washington. A 
Federal Register notice (83 FR 55394) was published on November 5, 
2018, notifying the public the Service was extending the comment period 
on the RDEIS for 30 additional days.

EPA's Role in the EIS Process

    The EPA is charged with reviewing all Federal agencies' EISs and 
commenting on the adequacy and acceptability of the environmental 
impacts of proposed actions in EISs. Therefore, EPA is publishing a 
notice in the Federal Register announcing this EIS, as required under 
section 309 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401). EPA's notices are 
published on Fridays. EPA serves as the repository (EIS database) for 
EISs prepared by Federal agencies. All EISs must be filed with EPA. You 
may search for EPA comments on EISs, along with EISs themselves, at 
https://cdxnodengn.epa.gov/cdx-enepa-public/action/eis/search.

Next Steps

    The Service will evaluate the permit amendment application, 
associated documents, and public comments in reaching a final decision 
on whether the application meets the requirements of section 10(a) of 
the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). We will evaluate whether the proposed 
permit action would comply with section 7 of the ESA by conducting an 
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 an ITP amendment. If ESA 
section 10 ITP issuance criteria are met, we will issue the ITP 
amendment to the applicant. We will issue a ROD and issue or deny the 
ITP no sooner than 30 days after publication of the EPA's notice of 
availability of the FEIS in the Federal Register.

Public Review

    We are not requesting public comments on the FEIS and HCP 
amendment, but any written comments received will become part of the 
public record associated with this action. 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 request in your comment 
that we 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, will be made available for public disclosure in their 
entirety.

Authority

    We provide this notice in accordance with the requirements of 
section 10(c) of the ESA and its implementing regulations (50 CFR 17.22 
and 17.32) and NEPA and its implementing regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).

Robyn Thorson,
Regional Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2019-20903 Filed 9-26-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4333-15-P