Draft Environmental Assessment and Proposed Habitat Conservation Plan; Receipt of an Application for an Incidental Take Permit, Headwaters II Wind Farm, Randolph County, Indiana, 7491-7492 [2022-02649]
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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 27 / Wednesday, February 9, 2022 / Notices
Number of Respondents: 1,796.
Estimated Annual Burden Hours: An
estimated 2,095 hours annually.
Dated: February 4, 2022.
Christina A. Walsh,
TSA Paperwork Reduction Act Officer,
Information Technology.
[FR Doc. 2022–02690 Filed 2–8–22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9110–05–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[Docket No. FWS–R3–ES–2021–0160;
FXES11140300000–223]
Draft Environmental Assessment and
Proposed Habitat Conservation Plan;
Receipt of an Application for an
Incidental Take Permit, Headwaters II
Wind Farm, Randolph County, Indiana
Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request
for comment and information.
AGENCY:
We, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, have received an
application from Headwaters II Wind
Farm LLC (applicant) a subsidiary of
EDP Renewables North America LLC,
for an incidental take permit (ITP) under
the Endangered Species Act, for its
Headwaters II Wind Farm (project). If
approved, the ITP would be for a 30year period and would authorize the
incidental take of an endangered
species, the Indiana bat, and a
threatened species, the northern longeared bat. The applicant has prepared a
habitat conservation plan that describes
the actions and measures that the
applicant would implement to avoid,
minimize, and mitigate incidental take
of the Indiana bat and northern longeared bat. We also 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
request public comment on the
application and associated documents.
DATES: We will accept comments
received or postmarked on or before
March 11, 2022.
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–2021–0160 at
https://www.regulations.gov.
Comment submission: Please specify
whether your comment addresses the
proposed HCP, draft EA, or any
lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1
SUMMARY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:29 Feb 08, 2022
Jkt 256001
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–2021–0160.
• By hard copy: Submit comments by
U.S. mail to Public Comments
Processing, Attn: Docket No. FWS–R3–
ES–2021–0160; U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service; 5275 Leesburg Pike, MS: PRB/
3W; Falls Church, VA 22041–3803.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Scott Pruitt, Field Supervisor, Indiana
Ecological Services Field Office by
email at scott_pruitt@fws.gov, or
telephone at 812–334–4261, extension
214; or Andrew Horton, Regional HCP
Coordinator, Interior Region 3 by email
at andrew_horton@fws.gov or telephone
at 612–713–5337.
Individuals who are hearing impaired
or speech impaired may call the Federal
Relay Service at 1–800–877–8339 for
TTY assistance.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Section 9 of the Endangered Species
Act of 1973, as amended (ESA; 16
U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), 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. 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.
Applicant’s Proposed Project
The applicant requests a 30-year ITP
to take the federally endangered Indiana
bat (Myotis sodalis) and threatened
northern long-eared bat (Myotis
septentrionalis). The applicant
determined that take is reasonably
certain to occur incidental to operation
of 49 wind turbines that have a total
generating capacity of 198 megawatts
and cover approximately 10,435 acres of
private land. The proposed conservation
strategy in the applicant’s proposed
HCP is designed to avoid, minimize,
PO 00000
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
7491
and mitigate the impacts of the covered
activity on the covered species. The
biological goals and objectives are to
minimize potential take of Indiana bats
and northern long-eared bats through
on-site minimization measures and to
provide habitat conservation measures
for Indiana bats and northern long-eared
bats to offset any impacts from
operations of the project. The HCP
provides on-site avoidance and
minimization measures, which include
turbine operational adjustments. The
authorized level of take from the project
is 359 Indiana bats and 93 northern
long-eared bats over the 30-year project
duration. To offset the impacts of the
taking of Indiana bats and northern
long-eared bats, the applicant proposes
to protect known maternity colony
habitat and staging/swarming habitat.
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, the
proposed action, and a more restrictive
alternative consisting of feathering at a
rate of wind speed that results in less
impacts to bats.
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
during a 30-day public comment period
(see DATES). In particular, information
and comments regarding the following
topics are requested:
1. The environmental 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;
3. Any threats to the Indiana bat and
the northern long-eared bat that may
influence their populations over the life
of the ITP that are not addressed in the
proposed HCP or EA; and
E:\FR\FM\09FEN1.SGM
09FEN1
7492
Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 27 / Wednesday, February 9, 2022 / Notices
4. Any other information pertinent to
evaluating the effects of the proposed
action on the human environment.
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 part
46).
Lori Nordstrom,
Assistant Regional Director, Ecological
Services.
[FR Doc. 2022–02649 Filed 2–8–22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333–15–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1
[FWS–R2–ES–2021–N196;
FXES11160200000–223–FF02ENEH00]
Draft Environmental Assessment for
Amendments to the Candidate
Conservation Agreement/Candidate
Conservation Agreement With
Assurances for the Lesser PrairieChicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus)
and Dunes Sagebrush Lizard
(Sceloporus arenicolus) in New Mexico
Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability of
documents; request for public comment.
AGENCY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:29 Feb 08, 2022
Jkt 256001
We, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service (Service), announce the
availability of a draft environmental
assessment (EA), under the National
Environmental Policy Act, that
evaluates the impacts of proposed
amendments to the Candidate
Conservation Agreement/Candidate
Conservation Agreement with
Assurances for the Lesser Prairiechicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus)
and Dunes Sagebrush Lizard
(Sceloporus arenicolus) in New Mexico
(CCA/CCAA). We invite comments on
the draft EA and related documents
from the public and Federal, Tribal,
State, and local governments.
DATES: Comments: To ensure
consideration, written comments must
be received or postmarked on or before
March 11, 2022. Any comments we
receive after the closing date or not
postmarked by the closing date may not
be considered in the final decision on
this action.
ADDRESSES:
Obtaining documents: You may
obtain copies of the draft EA, proposed
amendments, or other related
documents on the internet at https://
www.fws.gov/southwest/es/NewMexico/.
Submitting comments: You may
submit written comments by email to
nmesfo@fws.gov. Please note that your
comment is in reference to the abovereferenced CCA/CCAA. For more
information, see Public Availability of
Comments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Shawn Sartorius, Field Supervisor, U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, Albuquerque,
New Mexico, Ecological Services Office;
telephone 505–761–4781. Hearing or
speech impaired individuals may call
the Federal Relay Service at 800–877–
8339 for TTY service.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We, the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service),
announce the availability of a draft
environmental assessment (EA), under
the National Environmental Policy Act
of 1969 (NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.),
that evaluates the impacts of proposed
amendments to the Candidate
Conservation Agreement (CCA) and
Candidate Conservation Agreement with
Assurances (CCAA) for the Lesser
Prairie-chicken (LPC) and Dunes
Sagebrush Lizard (DSL) in New Mexico.
This notice advises the public that we
have gathered the information necessary
to determine impacts of the proposed
amendments on the CCA/CCAA and the
associated enhancement of survival
permit (permit) under section
10(a)(1)(A) of the Endangered Species
Act of 1973, as amended (ESA; 16
U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). We are accepting
SUMMARY:
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comments on the proposed amendments
and the draft EA.
Background
The CCA/CCAA were signed by
Federal and State authorities in 2008 for
20 years (2008–2028). The CCA/CCAA
are voluntary candidate conservation
agreements, administered by the Center
of Excellence (CEHMM), that allow for
implementation of conservation
measures to benefit the LPC and DSL in
a landscape-level approach on both
Federal and non-Federal lands. The
CCA allows for enrollment by Federal
lessees and permittees, including
ranchers and industry lessees, giving
them a high degree of certainty that no
additional conservation measures will
be required of participants if either
species were to be listed. In the event
that either species is listed, incidental
take coverage will be provided by an
ESA section 7 biological opinion for
conservation actions undertaken on
Federal lands. Under the CCAA,
conservation of the LPC and DSL will be
implemented on non-Federal lands by
enrolled participants. Through the
CCAA, enrolled landowners or
cooperators receive assurance that they
will not incur additional land use
restrictions on enrolled lands in the
event either species is listed.
Proposed Action
The Service is proposing to amend the
CCA/CCAA to remove barriers to
increased participation in the CCA/
CCAA. The amendments will: Add an
enrollment option to cover all activities
for participants in the covered area,
reclassify habitat categories based on
LPC habitat and lek locations, add
certificates of participation and/or
inclusion (CP/CI) tailored to companies
that develop linear infrastructure (e.g.,
midstream, transmission, and utility),
reduce enrollment fees for new parcelby-parcel enrollments, and add an
annual inflation adjustment for all
habitat conservation fees. Conservation
measures and covered activities will not
change from the original CCA/CCAA.
The CCA/CCAA covers all lands
currently occupied or potentially
occupied by the LPC or DSL in New
Mexico. This includes approximately
2,200 square miles in the southeastern
section of the State, within portions of
Lea, Eddy, DeBaca, Curry, Roosevelt,
Quay, and Chaves Counties. The Service
has assessed the potential impacts of the
proposed amendments on the CCA/
CCAA and the associated permit that
was issued with the original CCA/CCAA
in 2008, as well as the original EA from
2008. There are no proposed changes to
the federally listed species, or the area
E:\FR\FM\09FEN1.SGM
09FEN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 27 (Wednesday, February 9, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7491-7492]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-02649]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[Docket No. FWS-R3-ES-2021-0160; FXES11140300000-223]
Draft Environmental Assessment and Proposed Habitat Conservation
Plan; Receipt of an Application for an Incidental Take Permit,
Headwaters II Wind Farm, Randolph County, Indiana
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comment and information.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have received an
application from Headwaters II Wind Farm LLC (applicant) a subsidiary
of EDP Renewables North America LLC, for an incidental take permit
(ITP) under the Endangered Species Act, for its Headwaters II Wind Farm
(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, and a threatened species, the northern long-eared bat. The
applicant has prepared a habitat conservation plan that describes the
actions and measures that the applicant would implement to avoid,
minimize, and mitigate incidental take of the Indiana bat and northern
long-eared bat. We also 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 request public comment on the application
and associated documents.
DATES: We will accept comments received or postmarked on or before
March 11, 2022.
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-2021-0160 at https://www.regulations.gov.
Comment submission: 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-2021-0160.
By hard copy: Submit comments by U.S. mail to Public
Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No. FWS-R3-ES-2021-0160; U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service; 5275 Leesburg Pike, MS: PRB/3W; Falls Church, VA
22041-3803.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Scott Pruitt, Field Supervisor,
Indiana Ecological Services Field Office by email at
[email protected], or telephone at 812-334-4261, extension 214; or
Andrew Horton, Regional HCP Coordinator, Interior Region 3 by email at
[email protected] or telephone at 612-713-5337.
Individuals who are hearing impaired or speech impaired may call
the Federal Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339 for TTY assistance.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Section 9 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA;
16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), 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. 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.
Applicant's Proposed Project
The applicant requests a 30-year ITP to take the federally
endangered Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis) and threatened northern long-
eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis). The applicant determined that take
is reasonably certain to occur incidental to operation of 49 wind
turbines that have a total generating capacity of 198 megawatts and
cover approximately 10,435 acres of private land. The proposed
conservation strategy in the applicant's proposed HCP is designed to
avoid, minimize, and mitigate the impacts of the covered activity on
the covered species. The biological goals and objectives are to
minimize potential take of Indiana bats and northern long-eared bats
through on-site minimization measures and to provide habitat
conservation measures for Indiana bats and northern long-eared bats to
offset any impacts from operations of the project. The HCP provides on-
site avoidance and minimization measures, which include turbine
operational adjustments. The authorized level of take from the project
is 359 Indiana bats and 93 northern long-eared bats over the 30-year
project duration. To offset the impacts of the taking of Indiana bats
and northern long-eared bats, the applicant proposes to protect known
maternity colony habitat and staging/swarming habitat.
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, the proposed action, and a more
restrictive alternative consisting of feathering at a rate of wind
speed that results in less impacts to bats.
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 during a 30-day public comment period (see DATES). In
particular, information and comments regarding the following topics are
requested:
1. The environmental 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;
3. Any threats to the Indiana bat and the northern long-eared bat
that may influence their populations over the life of the ITP that are
not addressed in the proposed HCP or EA; and
[[Page 7492]]
4. Any other information pertinent to evaluating the effects of the
proposed action on the human environment.
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 part 46).
Lori Nordstrom,
Assistant Regional Director, Ecological Services.
[FR Doc. 2022-02649 Filed 2-8-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P
