Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Wind Energy Condor Action Team Projects, Kern County, CA; Incidental Take Permit Application and Draft Conservation Plan; Draft Environmental Assessment, 10929-10930 [2023-03646]
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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 35 / Wednesday, February 22, 2023 / Notices
Applicant
Species
Location
Activity
TE64986C .........
Jeffrey, Gordon, Columbus, OH.
OH .................................
Conduct presence/absence surveys, document habitat use, conduct population monitoring, and evaluate
impacts.
Capture, handle, release, and relocate
due to stranding.
Renew.
ES38856A .........
Skelly and Loy, Inc.,
Harrisburg, PA.
Clubshell (Pleurobema
clava), Fanshell
(Cyprogenia stegaria),
Northern riffleshell
(Epioblasma torulosa
rangiana), Purple
cat’s paw
pearlymussel (E.
obliquata obliquata),
Snuffbox mussel (E.
triquetra), White
catspaw
(pearlymussel) (E.
obliquata perobliqua),
Pink mucket
(pearlymussel)
(Lampsilis abrupta),
Rabbitsfoot (Quadrula
cylindrica cylindrica),
Rayed bean (Villosa
fabalis), Sheepnose
mussel (Plethobasus
cyphyus).
Indiana bat (Myotis
sodalis), northern
long-eared bat (M.
septentrionalis).
IA, MI, CT, MD, NJ, NY,
PA, VT.
Conduct presence/absence surveys, document habitat use, conduct population monitoring, and evaluate
impacts.
Capture with mist nets
or harp traps, handle,
identify, radio tag,
band, collect nonintrusive measurements,
and release.
Renew.
Written comments we receive 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. Moreover, 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.
Next Steps
If we decide to issue permits to any
of the applicants listed in this notice,
we will publish a notice in the Federal
Register.
Authority
lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1
Permit
action
Application No.
Public Availability of Comments
We publish this notice under section
10(c) of the Endangered Species Act of
VerDate Sep<11>2014
19:42 Feb 21, 2023
Jkt 259001
1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et
seq.).
Lori Nordstrom,
Assistant Regional Director, Ecological
Services, USFWS Region 3.
[FR Doc. 2023–03637 Filed 2–21–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333–15–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS–R8–ES–2022–0170;
FXES11140800000–234–FF08ECAR00]
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife
and Plants; Wind Energy Condor
Action Team Projects, Kern County,
CA; Incidental Take Permit Application
and Draft Conservation Plan; Draft
Environmental Assessment
Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request
for comments.
AGENCY:
We, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, have received an
application from the Wind Energy
Condor Action Team (WECAT) for an
incidental take permit under the
Endangered Species Act. The permit, if
granted, would authorize take of the
federally endangered California condor
(Gymnogyps californianus), incidental
to otherwise lawful activities associated
with the operation of WECAT members’
separate wind energy projects. Available
for comment are the draft conservation
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
Frm 00061
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
Type of take
10929
plan that WECAT prepared in support
of their application, and a draft
environmental assessment, which we
have prepared pursuant to the National
Environmental Policy Act. We invite
comments from the public and Federal,
Tribal, State, and local governments. We
will take comments into consideration
before deciding whether to issue an
incidental take permit.
DATES: Written comments should be
received on or before March 24, 2023.
ADDRESSES:
Obtaining Documents: You may
obtain copies of the documents online
in Docket No. FWS–R8–ES–2022–0170
at https://www.regulations.gov, or you
may request copies of the documents by
phone or email (see FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT).
Submitting Written Comments: Please
submit your written comments using
one of the following methods:
• Online: https://
www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments
on Docket No. FWS–R8–ES–2022–0170.
• U.S. mail: Public Comments
Processing, Attn: Docket No. FWS–R8–
ES–2022–0170; U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, MS: PRB/3W, 5275 Leesburg
Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041–3803.
For more information, see Public
Availability of Comments under
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Peter Sanzenbacher, Fish and Wildlife
Biologist, by email at peter_
sanzenbacher@fws.gov or via phone at
(442) 222–0165. Individuals in the
E:\FR\FM\22FEN1.SGM
22FEN1
10930
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 35 / Wednesday, February 22, 2023 / Notices
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-ofcontact in the United States.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We, the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service),
have received an application from the
Wind Energy Condor Action Team
(WECAT) for an incidental take permit
under the Endangered Species Act of
1973, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531
et seq.). The application addresses the
potential take of the federally
endangered California condor (condor;
Gymnogyps californianus), incidental to
the otherwise lawful operation of wind
energy projects owned by WECAT
members, as described in the WECAT
conservation plan.
lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1
Background
The Service listed the California
condor as endangered on February 24,
1967 (67 FR 2758). Section 9 of the ESA
(16 U.S.C. 1538) and Federal regulations
prohibit the ‘‘take’’ of animal species
listed as endangered or threatened
without special exemption. Under the
ESA, ‘‘take’’ is defined to include the
following activities: ‘‘to harass, harm,
pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap,
capture, or collect, or to attempt to
engage in any such conduct’’ (16 U.S.C.
1532). Under section 10(a)(1)(B) of the
ESA (16 U.S.C. 1539(a)(1)(B)), we may
issue permits to authorize take of listed
fish and wildlife species that is
incidental to, and not the purpose of,
carrying out an otherwise lawful
activity. Regulations governing
incidental take permits for endangered
species are set forth in the Code of
Federal Regulations (CFR) at 50 CFR
17.22. Issuance of an incidental take
permit also must not jeopardize the
existence of federally listed fish,
wildlife, or plant species, pursuant to
section 7 of the ESA and 50 CFR 402.02.
The permittee would receive assurances
under our ‘‘No Surprises’’ regulations
(50 CFR 17.22(b)(5)).
Permit Application and Associated
Documents
WECAT has submitted a draft
conservation plan that describes the
activities that would be covered by the
incidental take permit, which include
the operation of wind turbines and other
wind energy facility infrastructure (i.e.,
above-ground power lines and poles,
meteorological towers, and substations
and switchyards) at WECAT member
VerDate Sep<11>2014
19:42 Feb 21, 2023
Jkt 259001
projects. To minimize the risk of
incidental take of California condors,
the WECAT members will maintain
programs to detect condors approaching
covered projects, and temporarily
curtail operation of wind turbines when
appropriate. The conservation plan also
includes use of adaptive management to
allow for maintaining the protection of
condors as technologies, condor
behavior, and other factors change over
time. To mitigate the impact of
incidental take, the applicants propose
to work with an existing captive
breeding facility to fund the production
of additional condors for release into the
wild. The Service and applicants used
the results of population modeling and
a population viability analysis
conducted by a team of independent
researchers to inform the mitigation
strategy and ensure that the level of
potential injury and mortality of
condors permitted at covered projects
would not impede the recovery of the
species. A report documenting the
methods and results of these analyses is
appended to the draft conservation plan.
A ‘‘Frequently Asked Questions’’
document for the analyses described
above is attached to the draft
environmental assessment (EA). The
draft conservation plan and the draft EA
also consider alternatives to the
proposed action, including a no action
alternative.
National Environmental Policy Act
Compliance
The National Environmental Policy
Act (NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.)
requires Federal agencies to analyze
their proposed actions to determine
whether the actions may significantly
affect the human environment. In the
NEPA analysis, the Federal agency will
identify the effects, as well as possible
mitigation for effects on environmental
resources, that could occur with the
implementation of the proposed action
and alternatives. The Federal action in
this case is the Service’s proposed
issuance of an incidental take permit for
the federally endangered California
condor. The Service prepared a draft EA
to analyze the impacts of issuing the
incidental take permit as described in
the conservation plan, and to inform the
public of the proposed action,
alternatives, and associated impacts.
Public Availability of Comments
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.
PO 00000
Frm 00062
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
While you can ask us in your comment
to withhold your personal identifying
information from public view, we
cannot guarantee that we will be able to
do so.
Authority
We provide this notice under section
10(c) of the Endangered Species Act of
1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and its
implementing regulations (50 CFR
17.22) and the National Environmental
Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and
its implementing regulations (40 CFR
1506.6).
Scott Sobiech,
Field Supervisor, Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife
Office, Carlsbad, California.
[FR Doc. 2023–03646 Filed 2–21–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333–15–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS–R3–ES–2022–N075;
FXES11130300000–223–FF03E00000]
Endangered and Threatened Species;
Receipt of Recovery Permit
Applications
Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of receipt of permit
applications; request for comments.
AGENCY:
We, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, have received
applications for permits to conduct
activities intended to enhance the
propagation or survival of endangered
or threatened species under the
Endangered Species Act of 1973. 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.
SUMMARY:
We must receive your written
comments on or before March 24, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Document availability and
comment submission: Submit requests
for copies of the applications and
related documents, as well as any
comments, by one of the following
methods. All requests and comments
should specify the applicant name(s)
and application number(s) (e.g.,
ESXXXXXX; see table in
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION):
• Email (preferred method):
permitsR3ES@fws.gov. Please refer to
the respective application number (e.g.,
Application No. ESXXXXXX) in the
subject line of your email message.
DATES:
E:\FR\FM\22FEN1.SGM
22FEN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 35 (Wednesday, February 22, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10929-10930]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-03646]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R8-ES-2022-0170; FXES11140800000-234-FF08ECAR00]
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Wind Energy Condor
Action Team Projects, Kern County, CA; Incidental Take Permit
Application and Draft Conservation Plan; Draft Environmental Assessment
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have received an
application from the Wind Energy Condor Action Team (WECAT) for an
incidental take permit under the Endangered Species Act. The permit, if
granted, would authorize take of the federally endangered California
condor (Gymnogyps californianus), incidental to otherwise lawful
activities associated with the operation of WECAT members' separate
wind energy projects. Available for comment are the draft conservation
plan that WECAT prepared in support of their application, and a draft
environmental assessment, which we have prepared pursuant to the
National Environmental Policy Act. We invite comments from the public
and Federal, Tribal, State, and local governments. We will take
comments into consideration before deciding whether to issue an
incidental take permit.
DATES: Written comments should be received on or before March 24, 2023.
ADDRESSES:
Obtaining Documents: You may obtain copies of the documents online
in Docket No. FWS-R8-ES-2022-0170 at https://www.regulations.gov, or
you may request copies of the documents by phone or email (see FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
Submitting Written Comments: Please submit your written comments
using one of the following methods:
Online: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments on Docket No. FWS-R8-ES-2022-0170.
U.S. mail: Public Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No.
FWS-R8-ES-2022-0170; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: PRB/3W, 5275
Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.
For more information, see Public Availability of Comments under
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Peter Sanzenbacher, Fish and Wildlife
Biologist, by email at [email protected] or via phone at (442)
222-0165. Individuals in the
[[Page 10930]]
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: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(Service), have received an application from the Wind Energy Condor
Action Team (WECAT) for an incidental take permit under the Endangered
Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). The
application addresses the potential take of the federally endangered
California condor (condor; Gymnogyps californianus), incidental to the
otherwise lawful operation of wind energy projects owned by WECAT
members, as described in the WECAT conservation plan.
Background
The Service listed the California condor as endangered on February
24, 1967 (67 FR 2758). Section 9 of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1538) and
Federal regulations prohibit the ``take'' of animal species listed as
endangered or threatened without special exemption. Under the ESA,
``take'' is defined to include the following activities: ``to harass,
harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or
to attempt to engage in any such conduct'' (16 U.S.C. 1532). Under
section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1539(a)(1)(B)), we may issue
permits to authorize take of listed fish and wildlife species that is
incidental to, and not the purpose of, carrying out an otherwise lawful
activity. Regulations governing incidental take permits for endangered
species are set forth in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) at 50
CFR 17.22. Issuance of an incidental take permit also must not
jeopardize the existence of federally listed fish, wildlife, or plant
species, pursuant to section 7 of the ESA and 50 CFR 402.02. The
permittee would receive assurances under our ``No Surprises''
regulations (50 CFR 17.22(b)(5)).
Permit Application and Associated Documents
WECAT has submitted a draft conservation plan that describes the
activities that would be covered by the incidental take permit, which
include the operation of wind turbines and other wind energy facility
infrastructure (i.e., above-ground power lines and poles,
meteorological towers, and substations and switchyards) at WECAT member
projects. To minimize the risk of incidental take of California
condors, the WECAT members will maintain programs to detect condors
approaching covered projects, and temporarily curtail operation of wind
turbines when appropriate. The conservation plan also includes use of
adaptive management to allow for maintaining the protection of condors
as technologies, condor behavior, and other factors change over time.
To mitigate the impact of incidental take, the applicants propose to
work with an existing captive breeding facility to fund the production
of additional condors for release into the wild. The Service and
applicants used the results of population modeling and a population
viability analysis conducted by a team of independent researchers to
inform the mitigation strategy and ensure that the level of potential
injury and mortality of condors permitted at covered projects would not
impede the recovery of the species. A report documenting the methods
and results of these analyses is appended to the draft conservation
plan. A ``Frequently Asked Questions'' document for the analyses
described above is attached to the draft environmental assessment (EA).
The draft conservation plan and the draft EA also consider alternatives
to the proposed action, including a no action alternative.
National Environmental Policy Act Compliance
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et
seq.) requires Federal agencies to analyze their proposed actions to
determine whether the actions may significantly affect the human
environment. In the NEPA analysis, the Federal agency will identify the
effects, as well as possible mitigation for effects on environmental
resources, that could occur with the implementation of the proposed
action and alternatives. The Federal action in this case is the
Service's proposed issuance of an incidental take permit for the
federally endangered California condor. The Service prepared a draft EA
to analyze the impacts of issuing the incidental take permit as
described in the conservation plan, and to inform the public of the
proposed action, alternatives, and associated impacts.
Public Availability of Comments
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
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying
information from public view, we cannot guarantee that we will be able
to do so.
Authority
We provide this notice under section 10(c) of the Endangered
Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and its implementing
regulations (50 CFR 17.22) and the National Environmental Policy Act
(42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (40 CFR
1506.6).
Scott Sobiech,
Field Supervisor, Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office, Carlsbad,
California.
[FR Doc. 2023-03646 Filed 2-21-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P
