Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Impact Statement To Consider a Highway Right-of-Way, Amended Habitat Conservation Plan and Issuance of an Incidental Take Permit for the Mojave Desert Tortoise, and Proposed Resource Management Plan Amendments, Washington County, UT, 72683-72685 [2020-24999]

Agencies

• Fish and Wildlife Service
• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• Bureau of Land Management

[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 220 (Friday, November 13, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72683-72685]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-24999]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

Fish and Wildlife Service

[21XL1109AF LLUTC03000 L16100000.DS0000 LXSSJ0740000; UTU-93620; 13-
08807]


Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Impact 
Statement To Consider a Highway Right-of-Way, Amended Habitat 
Conservation Plan and Issuance of an Incidental Take Permit for the 
Mojave Desert Tortoise, and Proposed Resource Management Plan 
Amendments, Washington County, UT

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior; Fish and Wildlife Service, 
Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969 (NEPA), as amended, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 
1976 (FLPMA), as amended, the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 
2009 (OPLMA), and the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA), as amended, 
the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the United States Fish and 
Wildlife Service (FWS), as co-lead agencies, announce the availability 
of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to consider a right-
of-way (ROW) application (referred to henceforth as the Northern 
Corridor) submitted by the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) and 
Proposed Amendments to the St. George Field Office and Red Cliffs 
National Conservation Area (NCA) Resource Management Plans (RMPs).

DATES: The BLM planning regulations state that any person who meets the 
conditions as described in the regulations may protest the planning-
level management actions in the BLM's Proposed Amendments to the RMPs. 
A person who meets the conditions and files a protest must file the 
protest within 30 days of the date that the Environmental Protection 
Agency publishes its Notice of Availability of the Final EIS and 
Proposed

[[Page 72684]]

Amendments to the RMPs in the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: The Final EIS, Proposed Amendments to the RMPs, and amended 
Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) are available for review on the BLM 
ePlanning project website at https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/1502103/510. Click the ``Documents'' link on the left side of 
the screen to find the electronic versions of these materials. 
Instructions for filing a protest regarding the Proposed Amendments to 
the RMPs may be found online at https://www.blm.gov/filing-a-plan-protest and at 43 CFR 1610.5-2.
    All protests must be in writing and submitted, as set forth in the 
DATES and ADDRESSES sections above.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gloria Tibbetts, BLM Color Country 
District Planning and Environmental Coordinator, telephone: (435) 865-
3063; address: 176 DL Sargent Dr., Cedar City, UT 84721; email: 
[email protected]. If you would like to request to view a 
hard copy, please call the St. George Field Office for more information 
at (435) 688-3200, Monday through Friday, except holidays. For 
information on the Amended HCP or Incidental Take Permit (ITP) 
application, please contact Yvette Converse, Field Supervisor, U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service, telephone: (801) 975-3330 ext. 61912; email: 
[email protected]. Persons who use a telecommunications 
device for the deaf may call the Federal Relay Service (FRS) at 1-800-
877-8339 to leave a message or question for the above individual. The 
FRS is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Replies are provided 
during normal business hours.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In compliance with section 10(a)(1)(B) of 
the ESA, the FWS is considering the issuance of an ITP to Washington 
County, Utah (County). The ITP would authorize the take of the 
federally listed as threatened Mojave desert tortoise incidental to 
covered activities such as residential and commercial development for a 
25-year permit term. The application for the permit requires the County 
to amend its 1995 HCP to current standards and ensure impacts from 
covered activities and changed circumstances are avoided, minimized, 
and mitigated to the maximum extent practicable. The 62,000-acre Red 
Cliffs Desert Reserve (Reserve)--of which approximately 70 percent is 
now within the congressionally-designated Red Cliffs NCA--was 
established pursuant to commitments in the 1995 HCP.
    On September 4, 2018, UDOT submitted an application for a ROW grant 
for the Northern Corridor Project north of the City of St. George, 
Utah, on BLM-administered public and non-Federal lands across the NCA 
and Reserve. The Reserve was established for the protection of the 
Mojave desert tortoise under the 1995 Washington County HCP. The NCA 
was established in 2009 through the passage of OPLMA. The 1995 HCP 
expired in 2016 and the FWS extended it to allow the County to amend 
the HCP pursuant to Section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA. The FWS received an 
application for an ITP dated January 30, 2015. The amended HCP includes 
the proposed Northern Corridor as a changed circumstance, with Reserve 
Zone 6 as the primary proposed addition to the conservation strategy. 
The BLM is also proposing amendments to the Red Cliffs NCA and St. 
George Field Office RMPs that would allow consideration of and 
mitigation (Reserve Zone 6) for the proposed Northern Corridor Project.
    The Final EIS considers four proposed actions: (1) Whether the BLM 
will approve a 1.9-mile ROW section of the approximately four-mile long 
Northern Corridor Project that crosses the 62,000-acre Reserve, of 
which 45,000 acres were congressionally established as the Red Cliffs 
NCA; (2) Whether the BLM will amend the Red Cliffs NCA RMP to allow for 
a transportation ROW and/or utility corridor within the NCA; (3) 
Whether the FWS will issue an ITP for the Mojave desert tortoise for 
specific land use and land development activities in Washington County; 
and (4) Whether the BLM will amend the St. George Field Office RMP to 
modify management on approximately 3,471 acres within a 6,813-acre area 
(Reserve Zone 6) outside the Reserve and NCA to offset the ROW impacts. 
The other half of Reserve Zone 6 is primarily owned by the Utah School 
and Institutional Trust Lands Administration and proposed management of 
this area is included in the HCP Implementation Agreement and would be 
generally consistent with similar areas in the Reserve.
    Scoping was initiated with the publication of a Notice of Intent in 
the Federal Register on December 5, 2019 (84 F R 66692). The scoping 
period was open through January 6, 2020. A public scoping meeting was 
held in St. George, Utah, on December 17, 2019. The BLM and FWS 
considered all input received during the scoping period. A summary of 
the comments received during the scoping period can be found in the 
Scoping Report posted on the project website at https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/1502103/510. The Notice of 
Availability for the Draft EIS was published on June 12, 2020, (85 FR 
35950) initiating a 90-day public comment period. Online public 
meetings were held on July 16, 2020 and July 21, 2020. In accordance 
with the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation 
Act of 2019, Public Law 116-9, 16 U.S.C. 7913, and 43 CFR 8364.1, a 
Notice of Intent was published in the St. George Spectrum newspaper on 
June 18, 2020, notifying the public of the concurrent comment period 
for the proposed permanent recreational shooting closure within the 
proposed Reserve Zone 6 area southwest of St. George, Utah.
    Substantive public comments and ongoing agency coordination led to 
several changes from the Draft EIS, including the addition of: (1) Data 
and analysis associated with wildfires that occurred within Washington 
County in 2020, (2) additional conservation measures proposed by UDOT, 
the County, the BLM, and others to address potential project impacts, 
(3) preliminary cost estimates for each highway alternative, (4) 
updates related to lands acquired under the Land and Water Conservation 
Fund Act, and (5) a distinction between planning-level and 
implementation-level management actions in the Proposed Amendments to 
the St. George Field Office RMP. The BLM and FWS responded to 
substantive comments and made appropriate revisions in the Final EIS or 
explained why a comment did not warrant a change, as documented in 
Appendix O of the Final EIS.
    The Final EIS considers the impacts of the proposed action, four 
other alternative highway alignments, and a no action alternative. 
Under Alternative 1, the No Action Alternative, the BLM would deny 
UDOT's application for a ROW across the Red Cliffs NCA for the Northern 
Corridor and would not amend either the Red Cliffs NCA or St. George 
Field Office RMP. The FWS would deny the County's application for an 
ITP. The No Action alternative provides a baseline against which to 
compare the action alternatives in the EIS.
    Under Alternative 2, the T-Bone Mesa Alignment, the BLM would issue 
a ROW grant to UDOT for the Northern Corridor across the NCA skirting 
the southern edge of T-Bone Mesa. The Red Cliffs NCA RMP would be 
amended to allow for the ROW and consider designation of a utility 
corridor along the same route. The ITP would be issued subject to the 
conservation measures in the amended HCP. The St. George Field Office 
RMP would be amended to support the conservation

[[Page 72685]]

measures outlined for Reserve Zone 6 in the amended HCP.
    Under Alternative 3, the preferred alternative, the UDOT 
Application Alignment, the BLM would issue a ROW grant to UDOT across 
the Red Cliffs NCA for the Northern Corridor for the alignment included 
in UDOT's ROW application. The Red Cliffs NCA RMP would be amended to 
allow for the ROW and consider a utility corridor along the same route. 
The ITP would be issued subject to the conservation measures in the 
amended HCP. The St. George Field Office RMP would be amended to 
support the conservation measures outlined for Reserve Zone 6 in the 
revised HCP.
    Under Alternative 4, the Southern Alignment, the BLM would issue a 
ROW grant to UDOT across the NCA for the Northern Corridor on the 
Southern Alignment. Under this alternative, the Northern Corridor would 
more closely follow the southern border of the NCA. The Red Cliffs NCA 
RMP would be amended to allow for the ROW and to consider a utility 
corridor along the same route. The ITP would be issued subject to the 
conservation measures in the amended HCP. The St. George Field Office 
RMP would be amended to support the conservation measures outlined for 
Reserve Zone 6 in the revised HCP.
    Under Alternative 5, the Red Hills Parkway Expressway Alignment, 
the BLM would grant necessary ROW amendments to the existing ROW for 
the Red Hills Parkway to convert Red Hills Parkway into a grade-
separate expressway between Highland Drive and Bluff Street. The ITP 
would be issued subject to the conservation measures in the amended 
HCP, but the changed circumstance for the Northern Corridor and 
associated conservation measures would not be implemented. The Red 
Cliffs NCA and the St. George Field Office RMPs would not be amended 
because Reserve Zone 6 would not be needed to mitigate for impacts to 
desert tortoises.
    Under Alternative 6, the St. George Boulevard/100 South One-Way 
Couplet, the BLM would deny UDOT's application for a ROW across the Red 
Cliffs NCA for the Northern Corridor. Rather, this alternative analyzes 
a scenario where the City of St. George would convert St. George 
Boulevard and 100 South to one-way streets. If the City implemented 
Alternative 6, the two roadways would be converted between I-15 and 
Bluff Street and the existing interchange with I-15 at St. George 
Boulevard would be reconfigured and combined with a new interchange at 
100 South to provide a split interchange between these two roadways 
connected by one-way ramps. The ITP would be issued subject to the 
conservation measures in the amended HCP, but the changed circumstance 
for the Northern Corridor and associated conservation measures would 
not be implemented. The Red Cliffs NCA RMP and the St. George Field 
Office RMP would not be amended.
    The BLM and FWS have identified Alternative 3 as the agencies' 
preferred ROW alignment and ITP issuance alternative, with Alternative 
B identified as the Proposed Amendments to the Red Cliffs NCA and St. 
George Field Office RMPs. Identification of these alternatives, 
however, does not represent a final agency decision.

    Authority: Consistent with 40 CFR 1506.13 (2020), this Notice 
and the EIS are issued under previous NEPA regulations: 40 CFR 
1502.9; 40 CFR 1506.6; 40 CFR 1506.10; 43 CFR 46.435; and 43 CFR 
1610.2. The BLM also provides this Notice under 43 CFR 8364.1 and 16 
U.S.C. 7913. The FWS also provides this Notice under section 10(c) 
of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and its implementing regulations 
for ITPs (50 CFR 17.22).

Gregory Sheehan,
State Director.
Noreen Walsh,
Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 2020-24999 Filed 11-12-20; 8:45 am]
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