Notice of Availability of the Records of Decision for Reconsideration of a Highway Right-of-Way Application and Associated Amendment of an Incidental Take Permit, Washington County, UT, 106559-106561 [2024-30978]

Agencies

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

[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 249 (Monday, December 30, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 106559-106561]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-30978]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

Fish and Wildlife Service

[PO #4820000251]


Notice of Availability of the Records of Decision for 
Reconsideration of a Highway Right-of-Way Application and Associated 
Amendment of an Incidental Take Permit, Washington County, UT

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

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the United States Fish 
and Wildlife Service (FWS), as co-lead agencies, announce the 
availability of the records of decision (RODs) for the Northern 
Corridor highway right-of-way (ROW) and associated amendment of an 
incidental take permit (ITP) located in Washington County, Utah. The 
RODs constitute the decisions of the BLM and FWS.

DATES: The Acting Deputy Secretary of the Interior signed a ROD for the 
Northern Corridor highway ROW on December 19, 2024. The FWS's Deputy 
Regional Director for the Mountain-Prairie Region (Region 6) signed a 
ROD to amend the ITP issued to Washington County (County) on December 
19, 2024.

ADDRESSES: The RODs are available on the BLM ePlanning project website 
at https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2026562/510.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dawna Ferris-Rowley, National 
Conservation Area (NCA) Manager, Red Cliffs and Beaver Dam Wash NCAs, 
telephone (435) 688-3200; address 345 East Riverside Drive, St. George, 
UT 84790; 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 for contacting Ms. Ferris-Rowley. 
Individuals outside the United States should use the relay services 
offered within their country to make international calls to the point-
of-

[[Page 106560]]

contact in the United States. Replies are provided during normal 
business hours.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The BLM and FWS are issuing this Notice of 
availability pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), 
42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.; the Council on Environmental Quality's 
regulations for implementing NEPA, 40 CFR parts 1500 through 1508 (as 
amended on May 20, 2022, 87 FR 23453); and the Department of the 
Interior's NEPA regulations, 43 CFR part 46.
    On September 4, 2018, the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) 
applied for a ROW grant for the Northern Corridor project north of the 
City of St. George, Utah, on BLM-managed and non-Federal lands within 
the Red Cliffs NCA and the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve. The Red Cliffs 
NCA was established through the passage of the Omnibus Public Land 
Management Act of 2009 (16 U.S.C. 460www). Prior to the NCA's 
designation, the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve was established for the 
protection of the Mojave desert tortoise as part of the 1995 Washington 
County Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP). In 2015, pursuant to section 
10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered Species Act (ESA), Washington County 
applied to renew and amend the HCP and associated ITP. The restated and 
amended HCP described the Northern Corridor highway as a potential 
changed circumstance, which would be partially offset with the addition 
of a sixth zone to the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve (Zone 6) as the 
primary conservation strategy. To consider the ROW application and the 
proposed Zone 6, the BLM needed to also consider amending the St. 
George Field Office and Red Cliffs NCA Resource Management Plans 
(RMPs).
    In 2019 and 2020, the BLM and FWS prepared an environmental impact 
statement (EIS) to analyze the environmental impacts associated with 
the proposed actions and reasonable alternatives. The BLM also 
consulted with the FWS to meet the requirements in section 7(a)(2) of 
the ESA. The FWS issued a biological opinion to the BLM that determined 
the ROW and the amendments to the RMPs were not likely to jeopardize 
the continued existence of the Mojave desert tortoise or destroy or 
adversely modify designated critical habitat for the Mojave desert 
tortoise. In addition, the FWS issued an intra-agency biological 
opinion that determined that the ITP was not likely to jeopardize the 
continued existence of the Mojave desert tortoise, Holmgren milkvetch, 
Shivwits milkvetch, dwarf bear-poppy, Siler pincushion cactus, Gierisch 
mallow, and Fickeisen plains cactus or result in the adverse 
modification of critical habitat for any of the above-listed species.
    On January 13, 2021, the Secretary of the Interior signed a ROD 
that approved the Northern Corridor ROW application and approved the 
amendments to the RMPs. The decision approving the ROW was effective 
immediately. The BLM then signed and issued the ROW grant to UDOT on 
the same day. Also on January 13, 2021, the FWS Regional Director for 
the Mountain-Prairie Region signed a ROD approving the issuance of an 
ITP to Washington County. The FWS issued the ITP to Washington County 
on January 13, 2021. Because the BLM approved the UDOT ROW application, 
the changed circumstance was triggered, and Zone 6 was formally added 
to the Reserve.
    On June 3, 2021, seven conservation organizations (collectively, 
Plaintiffs) filed an initial complaint in the United States District 
Court for the District of Columbia, Case No. 1:21-cv-01506. Among other 
claims, plaintiffs alleged the BLM's ROW decision violated both NEPA 
and the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). The Plaintiffs 
stated, in part, the Final EIS did not fully address the changed 
circumstances of wildfire in the region and the impacts it may have on 
the Mojave desert tortoise, desert tortoise habitat, and the spread of 
invasive annual grasses. The Plaintiffs also alleged that the BLM 
failed to comply with the consultation requirements under section 106 
of the NHPA. On July 27, 2021, Plaintiffs amended their complaint to 
include the FWS and additional claims related to NEPA and the ESA.
    During the litigation, the United States and plaintiffs reached a 
settlement agreement that was signed on August 30, 2023. Prior to 
executing that agreement, the United States moved for the remand and 
partial vacatur of the BLM's and FWS's 2021 decisions. In the motion, 
the United States acknowledged the BLM did not fully comply with the 
NHPA and the agencies had concerns that the Final EIS may lack 
sufficient analysis of certain resource effects, including the effects 
of the construction and use of the Northern Corridor project in the 
context of the following: (1) the trend in the increasing frequency and 
extent of wildfires in the Mojave Desert; (2) the rise of non-native/
exotic and invasive vegetation in post-burn areas; and (3) the impacts 
increased fire and new non-native/exotic and invasive vegetation have 
on desert tortoise. On November 16, 2023, the court issued an Order 
that granted the remand of all decisions associated with the January 
2021 RODs issued by the BLM and FWS and denied the BLM's request to 
vacate the ROW grant issued to UDOT in January 2021. On March 8, 2024, 
at the request of the BLM and consistent with the Settlement Agreement, 
the FWS withdrew the Biological Opinion for the Northern Corridor ROW 
grant.
    A 30-day public scoping period for a supplemental EIS was initiated 
with the publication of a Notice of Intent in the Federal Register on 
November 16, 2023 (88 FR 78781). The scoping period was extended at the 
request of Washington County and the State of Utah until December 28, 
2023. The scoping period included a public open house held in St. 
George, Utah on December 6, 2023, with over 200 attendees. A total of 
8,993 comment submissions were received, of which 8,145 were form 
letters, 793 were unique submissions, and 55 did not include a comment 
or were comments not relevant to scoping. The BLM and FWS considered 
all comments received during the scoping period in preparation of the 
Draft Supplemental EIS. A scoping report is available for public review 
on the BLM ePlanning project website (see ADDRESSES).
    A Notice of Availability for the Draft Supplemental EIS was 
published in the Federal Register on May 10, 2024 (89 FR 40504), 
initiating a 45-day public review and comment period. In addition, the 
BLM issued media releases and sent notifications via email to 
cooperating agencies, Tribal Nations, and the updated project mailing 
list. The BLM and FWS held an in-person public open house on June 4, 
2024, at the Dixie Convention Center in St. George, Utah, during the 
public comment period.
    Agencies, organizations, and individual stakeholders were able to 
submit comments through the U.S. Postal Service and the BLM ePlanning 
project website (see ADDRESSES). The comment period was extended until 
July 9, 2024, after an updated Traffic Analysis Memorandum, prepared by 
the Dixie Metropolitan Planning Organization, and an Assessment, 
Inventory, and Monitoring Vegetation Survey Technical Report were made 
available for public review on the BLM ePlanning project website. The 
BLM and FWS announced the availability of these documents, and the date 
of the extended public review and comment period, through social media 
releases, a posting on the BLM ePlanning project website, and email 
messages to the project mailing list.
    A total of 4,255 comment submissions were received during the 60-
day public comment period, of which 3,354 were part of organized 
letter-writing

[[Page 106561]]

campaigns and 901 were unique comment submissions. The BLM and FWS 
considered all comments received during the extended comment period in 
the preparation of the Final Supplemental EIS. The BLM and FWS 
responded to substantive comments and made appropriate revisions in the 
Final Supplemental EIS or explained why a comment did not warrant a 
change, as documented in Appendix F of the Final Supplemental EIS.
    The BLM's 2024 ROD decision is to terminate the UDOT ROW grant 
issued on January 13, 2021, and to endorse the Red Hills Parkway 
Expressway alternative. The termination of the BLM ROW grant is 
effective immediately. The FWS's ROD amends the 2021 ITP to authorize 
incidental take of the desert tortoise to Washington County caused by 
covered activities, without the Northern Corridor changed circumstance. 
The amended ITP reinstates take authorization of desert tortoise in the 
3,341 acres of State and private land in Zone 6, previously required as 
mitigation under the Northern Corridor changed circumstance.

(Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6; 40 CFR 1506.10 (2022))

Matthew A. Preston,
Acting State Director.
Anna Munoz,
Deputy Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 2024-30978 Filed 12-27-24; 8:45 am]
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