Notice of Availability of Draft Environmental Assessment on the Effects of Issuing an Incidental Take Permit No. 23148, 65970-65972 [2019-26006]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 231 (Monday, December 2, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65970-65972]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-26006]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XR015]


Notice of Availability of Draft Environmental Assessment on the 
Effects of Issuing an Incidental Take Permit No. 23148

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice; availability of a Draft Environmental Assessment; 
request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces the availability of the Draft Environmental 
Assessment (EA) on the effects of issuing an Incidental Take Permit 
(ITP) (No. 23148) to Exelon Generating Company, LLC, pursuant to the 
Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973, as amended, for the incidental 
take of shortnose (Acipenser brevirostrum) and Atlantic (Acipenser 
oxyrinchus) sturgeon associated with the otherwise lawful operation of 
the Eddystone Generating Station in Eddystone, PA. The facility is 
requesting the permit be issued for a duration of 10 years. NMFS is 
requesting comment on the draft EA.

DATES: Written comments must be received at the appropriate address or

[[Page 65971]]

fax number (see ADDRESSES) on or before January 2, 2020.

ADDRESSES: The EA is available for download and review at https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/incidental-take-permit-eddystone-generating-station under the section heading Supporting Materials. The 
application and conservation plan are also available upon written 
request or by appointment in the following office: Endangered Species 
Conservation Division, Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, 1315 East-
West Highway, Room 13631, Silver Spring, MD 20910; phone (301) 427-
8402; fax (301) 713-4060.
    You may submit comments, identified by NOAA-NMFS-2019-0076, by any 
of the following methods:
     Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public 
comments via the Federal eRulemaking Portal. Go to www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2019-0076 click the ``Comment Now'' icon, 
complete the required fields, and enter or attach your comments.
     Fax: (301) 713-4060; Attn: Celeste Stout.
     Mail: Submit written comments to the Endangered Species 
Conservation Division, Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, 1315 East-
West Highway, Room 13631, Silver Spring, MD 20910; Attn: Celeste Stout.
    Instructions: You must submit comments by one of the above methods 
to ensure that we receive, document, and consider them. Comments sent 
by any other method, to any other address or individual, or received 
after the end of the comment period may not be considered. All comments 
received are a part of the public record and will generally be posted 
for public viewing on https://www.regulations.gov without change. All 
personal identifying information (e.g., name, address, etc.) 
confidential business information, or otherwise sensitive information 
submitted voluntarily by the sender will be publicly accessible. We 
will accept anonymous comments (enter ``N/A'' in the required fields if 
you wish to remain anonymous).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Celeste Stout, Phone: (301) 427-8436 
or Email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Publication of this notice begins the 
official public comment period for this draft EA. Per the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the purpose of the draft EA is to 
evaluate the potential direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts caused 
by the issuance of Permit No. 23148 to Exelon Generating Company, LLC, 
for the incidental take of shortnose (Acipenser brevirostrum) and 
Atlantic (Acipenser oxyrinchus) sturgeon. All comments received will 
become part of the public record and will be available for review.
    Section 9 of the ESA and Federal regulations prohibit the `taking' 
of a species listed as endangered or threatened. The ESA defines 
``take'' to mean harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, 
capture, or collect, or to attempt to engage in any such conduct. NMFS 
may issue permits, under limited circumstances to take listed species 
incidental to, and not the purpose of, otherwise lawful activities. 
Section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA provides a mechanism for authorizing 
incidental take of listed species. NMFS regulations governing permits 
for threatened and endangered species are promulgated at 50 CFR 
222.307.

Background

    Exelon Generating Company, LLC, owns Eddystone Generating Station 
(the facility), a natural gas/fuel oil-fired electric power generating 
facility that operates as a peaking plant, (i.e., typically running at 
higher levels of generation capacity during the summer and winter 
periods). The facility is located at 1 Industrial Highway, Eddystone, 
PA 19022. The facility presently consists of two natural gas/fuel oil-
fired electric generating units that are steam-electric generators. 
Cooling water for each unit is withdrawn from the Delaware River 
through a cooling water intake structure (CWIS), which is located along 
the west shore of the River, directly in front of the facility. The 
operation of the CWIS is the primary aspect of the facility operations 
under consideration for this ITP due to the potential impacts to ESA-
listed sturgeon. Exelon conducted entrainment sampling at the facility 
in 2005-2006, 2016, and 2017. One Atlantic sturgeon yolk-sac larva was 
collected in May 2017. Thus, Exelon determined it was necessary to 
apply for an ITP in accordance with the requirements under Section 
10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA.
    NMFS received a draft permit application from Exelon on June 28, 
2018. Based on our review of the draft application, we requested 
further information and clarification. On December 21, 2018, Exelon 
submitted an application. Based on review of the updated application, 
NMFS and Exelon held further discussions regarding what needed to be 
incorporated in the Conservation Plan. On June 21, 2019, Exelon 
submitted a revised application and Conservation plan. This application 
was considered complete and on July 16, 2019, NMFS published a notice 
of receipt of the Exelon application for the Eddystone facility in the 
Federal Register (84 FR 33924). The comment period ended on August 15, 
2019. No comments were received.

Conservation Plan

    Section 10 of the ESA specifies that no permit may be issued unless 
an applicant submits an adequate conservation plan. The conservation 
plan prepared by Exelon Generation Company, LLC, describes measures to 
monitor, minimize and mitigate the impacts of incidental takes of ESA-
listed shortnose and Atlantic sturgeon. To avoid and minimize take of 
sturgeon, Exelon will only operate Eddystone's circulating water pumps 
(CWPs): (1) When the station is generating electricity; and (2) for 
incidental maintenance or testing (generally once per month) (referred 
to collectively as ``Essential Station Operations''); or as required by 
a governmental agency or other entity with jurisdiction to require 
operations. Depending on station generation and ambient water 
temperatures, Exelon will also limit operations to one CWP per unit 
when possible. In addition, Exelon will rely on the river water pumps 
(RWPs) to provide cooling water for other critical station operations 
outside of Essential Station Operations. These measures will avoid and 
minimize the incidental take of sturgeon due to entrainment or 
impingement by eliminating or reducing water withdrawals at times when 
such withdrawals are not specifically required for Essential Station 
Operations or for governmental agency-mandated use. Additionally, 
Exelon will make all reasonable efforts to schedule fuel oil deliveries 
outside March 15-July 15. Continued monitoring related to the take of 
shortnose and Atlantic sturgeon will be ongoing and funding will be 
provided through the facility's annual operating budget.

National Environmental Policy Act

    This notice is provided pursuant to section 10(c) of the ESA and 
the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations (40 CFR 
1506.6). The draft EA was prepared in accordance with NEPA (42 U.S.C. 
4321, et seq.), 40 CFR 1500-1508 and NOAA policy and procedures (NAO 
216-6A and the Companion Manual for the NAO 216-6A).

Alternatives Considered

    In preparing the draft EA, NMFS considered the following 2 
alternatives for the action.

[[Page 65972]]

    Alternative 1: No Action. In accordance with the NOAA Companion 
Manual (CM) for NAO 216-6A, Section 6.B.i, NMFS is defining the no 
action alternative as not authorizing the requested incidental take of 
ESA-listed shortnose (Acipenser brevirostrum) and Atlantic sturgeon 
(Acipenser oxyrhychus). This is consistent with our statutory 
obligation under Section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA to either: (1) Deny the 
requested ITP or (2) grant the requested ITP and prescribe mitigation, 
monitoring, and reporting requirements. Under the no action 
alternative, NMFS would not issue the ITP, in which case we assume 
Exelon would continue to operate the Eddystone facility as described in 
the application without implementing the full suite of specific 
mitigation measures, monitoring, reporting explained in the 
Conservation Plan. The CEQ Regulations and the Companion Manual for NAO 
216-6A require consideration and analysis of a no action alternative 
for the purposes of presenting a comparative analysis to the action 
alternatives. The no action alternative, serves as a baseline against 
which the impacts of the action alternatives will be compared and 
contrasted.
    Alternative 2: Issue Permit as Requested in Application (Proposed 
Action): Under Alternative 2, an ITP would be issued to exempt Exelon 
Generating Company, LLC, from the ESA prohibition on taking of 
shortnose (Acipenser brevirostrum), Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser 
oxyrhychus) during the otherwise lawful operation of the Eddystone 
Generating Station. As required under Section 10(a)(1)(B), the ITP 
would require Eddystone to operate as described in the proposed 
Conservation Plan to avoid and minimize take of shortnose and Atlantic 
sturgeon.
    Final permit determinations will not be completed until after the 
end of the 30-day comment period and will fully consider all public 
comments received during the comment period. NMFS will publish a record 
of its final action in the Federal Register.

    Dated: November 26, 2019.
Angela Somma,
Chief, Endangered Species Conservation Division, Office of Protected 
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2019-26006 Filed 11-29-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P