Draft Environmental Assessment; Receipt of an Application for an Incidental Take Permit and Habitat Conservation Plan for Five Bat Species, Missouri, 51367-51368 [2021-19929]

Agencies

• Fish and Wildlife Service
• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 176 (Wednesday, September 15, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51367-51368]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-19929]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R3-ES-2021-0062; FXES11140300000-212]


Draft Environmental Assessment; Receipt of an Application for an 
Incidental Take Permit and Habitat Conservation Plan for Five Bat 
Species, Missouri

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comment and information.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have received an 
application from the Missouri Department of Conservation (applicant) 
for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act. 
If approved, the permit would be for a 50-year period and would 
authorize the incidental take of two endangered species, the Indiana 
bat and the gray bat; one threatened species, the northern long-eared 
bat; and two species petitioned for Federal listing, the little brown 
bat and the tricolored bat. The applicant has prepared a habitat 
conservation plan (HCP) to cover a suite of activities associated with 
continued forest and habitat management within the State of Missouri.

DATES: We will accept comments received or postmarked on or before 
October 15, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Document availability: Electronic copies of the documents 
this notice announces, along with public comments received, will be 
available online in Docket No. FWS-R3-ES-2021-0062 at https://www.regulations.gov.
    Comment submission: In your comment, please specify whether your 
comment addresses the proposed HCP, draft EA, or any combination of the 
aforementioned documents, or other supporting documents. You may submit 
written comments by one of the following methods:
     Online: https://www.regulations.gov. Search for and submit 
comments on Docket No. FWS-R3-ES-2021-0062.
     U.S. mail: Send comments to Public Comments Processing, 
Attn: Docket No. FWS-R3-ES-2021-0062; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; 
5275 Leesburg Pike, MS: PRB/3W; Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Weber, Deputy Field Supervisor, 
Missouri Ecological Services Field Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service, 101 Park DeVille Drive, Suite A, Columbia, MO 65203; 
telephone: 573-234-2132.
    Individuals who are hearing impaired or speech impaired may call 
the Federal Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339 for TTY assistance.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We make available for public comment the 
applicant's habitat conservation plan (HCP) and announce the 
availability of a draft environmental assessment, which has been 
prepared in response to the permit application in accordance with the 
requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act. We invite the 
public and local, State, Tribal, and Federal agencies to comment on 
these applications. Before issuing any of the requested permits, we 
will take into consideration any information that we receive during the 
public comment period.
    We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), have received an 
application from the Missouri Department of Conservation (applicant) 
for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act of 
1973, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), for its habitat 
conservation plan (HCP) for the for the Indiana bat, gray bat, northern 
long-eared bat, little brown bat, and tricolored bat (covered species).
    The applicant conducts habitat and forest management activities 
statewide in Missouri; the application covers nearly the entire State, 
except for lands owned and managed by other Federal and State entities, 
and would consist of approximately 42 million acres of covered species 
habitat. The applicant has prepared a habitat conservation plan that 
describes the continued habitat and forest management operations and 
measures that the applicant would implement to avoid, minimize, and 
mitigate incidental take of the covered species. The HCP proposes to 
restore, enhance, and maintain more than 1 million acres of covered 
species habitat and has dedicated 28,000 acres of State-owned land 
specifically for the enhanced restoration, management, and permanent 
protection of priority bat management zones to further offset impacts 
to the covered species. If approved, the ITP would be for a 50-year 
period and would authorize the incidental take of two endangered 
species, the Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis) and the gray bat (Myotis 
grisescens); one threatened species, the northern long-eared bat 
(Myotis septentrionalis); and two species petitioned for Federal 
listing, the little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus) and the tricolored bat 
(Perimyostis subflavus). The applicant has prepared an HCP that 
describes the actions and measures that the applicant would implement 
to avoid, minimize, and mitigate incidental take of Indiana bat, gray 
bat, northern long-eared bat, little brown bat, and tricolored bat. We 
also announce the availability of a draft environmental assessment 
(EA), which has been prepared in response to the permit application in 
accordance with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy 
Act (NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). We request public comment on the 
application and associated documents.

Background

    Section 9 of the ESA and its implementing regulations prohibit the 
``take'' of animal species listed as endangered or threatened. Take is 
defined under the ESA as to ``harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, 
kill, trap, capture, or collect ``listed animal species,'' or to 
attempt to engage in such conduct'' (16 U.S.C. 1538). However, under 
section 10(a) of the ESA, we may issue permits to authorize incidental 
take of listed 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

[[Page 51368]]

(16 U.S.C. 1539). Regulations governing incidental take permits for 
endangered and threatened species, respectively, are found in the Code 
of Federal Regulations at 50 CFR 17.22 and 50 CFR 17.32. Impacts to 
plants do not fall under the definition of ``take''; therefore, the 
Service cannot authorize incidental take of plants. However, the 
Service cannot issue an ITP that would jeopardize the continued 
existence or adversely modify the designated critical habitat of any 
listed species.

Applicant's Proposed Project

    The applicant requests a 50-year ITP to take the five bat species. 
The applicant determined that take is reasonably certain to occur 
incidental to enactment of forest and habitat management activities 
statewide on 42 million acres of covered species habitat. The proposed 
conservation strategy in the applicant's proposed HCP is designed to 
avoid, minimize, and mitigate the impacts of habitat and forest 
management on the covered species. The biological goals and objectives 
are to minimize potential take of the five covered species through 
minimization measures and to provide habitat conservation measures for 
the covered species to offset any impacts from implementation of 
habitat and forest management activities. The estimated level of take 
from the project is 20.38 adult Indiana bats, 0.02 northern long-eared 
bats, 0.11 little brown bats, and 1.81 tricolored bats on an annual 
basis. As a result of proposed avoidance measures, the likelihood of 
take for gray bat has been greatly reduced such that a measurable level 
of take is not anticipated to occur. To offset the impacts of the 
taking of the five covered bat species, the applicant proposes to avoid 
habitat loss-related impacts from habitat and forest management, by 
instituting avoidance measures during the management process, such as 
avoiding certain activities during the active maternity season, and 
implement species habitat protection, enhancement, or restoration on 
28,000 acres. Beneficial and net effects of the conservation strategy 
include the successful management of forests, which protect potential 
habitat for bats; site-level maintenance and promotion of roost trees 
and foraging habitat; the protection and management of 28,000 acres of 
priority bat management zones targeted at tree-roosting covered 
species; the protection and enhancement of caves; and other specific 
measures that minimize or avoid effects to the covered species.

National Environmental Policy Act

    The issuance of an ITP is a Federal action that triggers the need 
for compliance with NEPA. We prepared a draft EA that analyzes the 
environmental impacts on the human environment resulting from three 
alternatives: A no-action alternative, a no take alternative, the 
applicant's proposed action, and an early planning mitigation 
alternative.

Next Steps

    The Service will evaluate the permit application and the comments 
received to determine whether the application meets the requirements of 
section 10(a) of the ESA. We will also conduct an intra-Service 
consultation pursuant to section 7 of the ESA to evaluate the effects 
of the proposed take. After considering the above findings, we will 
determine whether the permit issuance criteria of section 10(a)(l)(B) 
of the ESA have been met. If met, the Service will issue the requested 
ITP to the applicant.

Request for Public Comments

    The Service invites comments and suggestions from all interested 
parties on the proposed HCP, draft EA, and supporting documents during 
a 30-day public comment period (see DATES). In particular, information 
and comments regarding the following topics are requested:
    1. The 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 including Indiana, gray, 
northern long-eared, little brown, and tricolored bats.

Availability of Public Comments

    You may submit comments by one of the methods shown under 
ADDRESSES. We will post on https://regulations.gov all public comments 
and information received electronically or via hardcopy. All comments 
received, including names and addresses, will become part of the 
administrative 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 under section 10(c) of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 
1531 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (50 CFR 17.22) and the 
NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4371 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (40 CFR 
1506.6; 43 CFR 46).

Lori Nordstrom,
Assistant Regional Director, Ecological Services.
[FR Doc. 2021-19929 Filed 9-14-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P