Draft Safe Harbor Agreement; Draft Environmental Assessment for the Marbled Murrelet in Washington, 61625-61627 [2022-22078]

Agencies

• Fish and Wildlife Service
• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 196 (Wednesday, October 12, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61625-61627]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-22078]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R1-ES-2022-N047; FXES11140100000-223-FF01E00000]


Draft Safe Harbor Agreement; Draft Environmental Assessment for 
the Marbled Murrelet in Washington

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have received an 
application from Weyerhaeuser Timber Holdings, Inc., for an enhancement 
of survival permit (permit) pursuant to the Endangered Species Act. If 
granted, the permit would authorize incidental take of the marbled 
murrelet, associated with forest management actions on private lands. 
The application includes a draft safe harbor agreement (SHA), which 
describes the actions the applicant will take to achieve a net 
conservation benefit for the marbled murrelet within its range on 
enrolled lands in Washington. We announce the availability of a draft 
environmental assessment addressing the SHA and permit application. We 
invite comments from all interested parties.

DATES: To ensure consideration, please submit written comments by 
November 14, 2022.

ADDRESSES: You may view or download copies of the draft SHA and draft 
EA and obtain additional information on the internet at https://www.fws.gov/office/washington-fish-and-wildlife. To request further 
information or submit written comments, please use one of the following 
methods, and note that your information request or comments are in 
reference to ``Weyerhaeuser SHA in Washington.''
     Email: [email protected].
     U.S. Mail: Public Comments Processing, Attn: FWS-R1-ES-
2022-N047; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Washington Fish and Wildlife 
Office, 510 Desmond Drive SE, Suite 102; Lacey, WA 98503.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Vince Harke, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service, Washington Fish and Wildlife Office (see ADDRESSES); 
telephone: 360-753-9440; email: [email protected]. Individuals in the 
United States who are deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a 
speech disability may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access 
telecommunications relay services. Individuals outside the United 
States should use the relay services offered within their country to 
make international calls to the point-of-contact in the United States.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) 
received an application from Weyerhaeuser Timber Holdings, Inc. 
(applicant), for an enhancement of survival permit (permit) pursuant to 
section 10(a)(1)(A) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended 
(ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). The application requests a 34-year 
permit that would authorize take of the threatened marbled murrelet 
(Brachyramphus marmoratus), incidental to otherwise lawful timber 
harvest related activities within the range of the species on the 
enrolled lands. The application includes a safe harbor agreement (SHA), 
which describes the actions the applicant will take to achieve a net 
conservation benefit for the covered species. FWS also announces the 
availability of a draft environmental assessment (EA) addressing the 
effects of the permit application and SHA on the human environment, in 
accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 
4321 et seq.). We invite comments from all interested parties on the 
permit application, including the SHA and draft EA.

Background

    Section 9 of the ESA prohibits ``take'' of fish and wildlife 
species listed as endangered or threatened. Under the ESA, the term 
``take'' means to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill,

[[Page 61626]]

trap, capture, or collect, or to attempt to engage in any such conduct 
(16 U.S.C. 1532(19)). The term ``harm,'' as defined in our regulations, 
includes significant habitat modification or degradation that results 
in death or injury to listed species by significantly impairing 
essential behavioral patterns, including breeding, feeding, or 
sheltering (50 CFR 17.3). Incidental take is defined as take that is 
incidental to, and not the purpose of, the carrying out of an otherwise 
lawful activity (50 CFR 17.3).
    Under an SHA, participating landowners undertake management 
activities on their property to enhance, restore, or maintain habitat 
conditions for species listed under the ESA to an extent that is likely 
to result in a net conservation benefit for the covered listed species. 
An SHA and its associated permit issued to participating landowners 
pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(A) of the ESA encourage private and other 
non-Federal property owners to implement conservation actions for 
federally listed species by assuring the participating landowners that 
they will not be subjected to increased property-use restrictions as a 
result of their efforts to either attract listed species to their 
property or to increase the numbers or distribution of listed species 
already on their property.
    The SHA and its associated permit allow the property owner to alter 
or modify the enrolled property back to agreed-upon pre-permit baseline 
conditions at the end of the term of the permit, even if such 
alteration or modification results in the incidental take of a covered 
species. The baseline conditions must reflect known biological and 
habitat characteristics that support existing levels of use of the 
enrolled property by species covered in the SHA. The authorization to 
take listed species is contingent on the property owner complying with 
obligations in the SHA and the terms and conditions of the permit. The 
SHA's net conservation benefits must be sufficient to contribute, 
either directly or indirectly, to the recovery of the covered species. 
Enrolled landowners may lawfully use their enrolled property during the 
term of the permit and may incidentally take the listed species covered 
by the permit in accordance with its terms and conditions.
    Permit application requirements and issuance criteria for 
enhancement of survival permits for SHAs are found at 50 CFR 17.22(c). 
More information about the Service's Safe Harbor Policy (64 FR 32717, 
June 17, 1999) and the Safe Harbor Regulations (68 FR 53320, September 
10, 2003; and 69 FR 24084, May 3, 2004) is available at https://www.fws.gov/service/safe-harbor-agreements.

Proposed Action

    The proposed SHA is for forest management activities associated 
with over 652,000 acres of privately owned lands located in 8 counties 
in western Washington State. The SHA would allow the applicant to 
maintain or increase potential nesting habitat for marbled murrelet on 
enrolled lands without incurring additional ESA restrictions. Under the 
proposed SHA, the applicant would continue to manage their forest lands 
for timber production in compliance with the Washington Forest 
Practices Rules (WAC Title 222), which include provisions for the 
protection of forested buffers along rivers, streams, wetlands, and 
unstable slopes. Because the forested buffers are largely deferred from 
timber harvesting, the buffers represent areas that could support 
potential marbled murrelet nesting habitat now or in the future. Under 
the SHA, the applicant will continue to protect all previously 
documented occupied marbled murrelet habitat on their lands. 
Additionally, the applicant will defer harvest in certain areas 
identified as potential marbled murrelet nesting habitat on enrolled 
lands for the term of the SHA. By volunteering to defer timber harvest 
in certain areas, the proposed SHA protects more forest habitat on 
their lands than would otherwise be protected under existing forest 
practices rules. The permit would provide incidental take authorization 
for marbled murrelets and long-term assurances for the limited timber 
harvest allowed within forest buffers protected under the Washington 
Forest Practices Rules, and for forest management activities located 
within 300 feet of forest buffers. The term of the SHA is 34 years 
(until 2056) and coincides with the term of the State of Washington's 
Forest Practices Habitat Conservation Plan (2006) for federally 
threatened or endangered salmon and other aquatic species.

National Environmental Policy Act Compliance

    The proposed issuance of a permit is a Federal action that triggers 
the need for compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969, as amended (NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). Pursuant to the 
requirements of NEPA, we have prepared a draft environmental assessment 
(EA) to analyze the environmental impacts of a reasonable range of 
alternatives to the proposed permitting action.
    Alternatives analyzed in the draft EA include a no-action 
alternative, the proposed action, and an additional action alternative. 
Under the no-action alternative, the proposed Federal action of issuing 
the permit would not proceed. The proposed action is implementation of 
the SHA and issuance of the requested permit, as described above and in 
more detail in the SHA. In the additional action alternative, an SHA 
similar to the proposed action would be developed and implemented with 
additional set-asides, including conservation activities other than or 
in addition to those outlined in the proposed action.

Public Comments

    You may submit your comments and materials by one of the methods 
listed in the ADDRESSES section. We specifically request information, 
views, and opinions from interested parties regarding our proposed 
Federal action, including on the adequacy of the SHA pursuant to the 
requirements for permits at 50 CFR parts 13 and 17 and the adequacy of 
the draft EA pursuant to the requirements of NEPA.

Public Availability of Comments

    All comments and materials we receive become part of the public 
record associated with this action. Before including your address, 
phone number, email address, or other personally identifiable 
information in your comments, you should be aware that your entire 
comment--including your personally identifiable information--may be 
made publicly available at any time. While you can ask us in your 
comment to withhold your personally identifiable information from 
public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.

Next Steps

    After public review and completion of the EA, we will determine 
whether the proposed action warrants a finding of no significant impact 
or whether an environmental impact statement should be prepared 
pursuant to NEPA. We will evaluate the permit application, associated 
documents, and any comments received to determine if the permit 
application meets the requirements of section 10(a)(1)(A) of the ESA. 
We will also evaluate whether issuance of the requested permit complies 
with section 7(a)(2) of the ESA by conducting an intra-Service 
consultation. The final NEPA and permit determinations will not be 
completed until after the end of the 30-day comment period; in making 
these determinations, we will fully consider

[[Page 61627]]

all substantive comments received during the comment period. If we 
determine that all requirements are met, we will issue a permit for 
take of the covered species, incidental to otherwise lawful covered 
activities.

Authority

    We provide this notice in accordance with the requirements of the 
ESA and NEPA and their implementing regulations (50 CFR 17.32 and 40 
CFR 1506.6, respectively).

Nanette Seto,
Acting Deputy Regional Director, Pacific Region, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-22078 Filed 10-11-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P