[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 53 (Friday, March 19, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13299-13301]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-5944]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R2-ES-2010-N017; 20124-1112-0000-F2]
Lower Colorado River Authority Transmission Services Corporation;
Construction, Operation, Maintenance, and Repair of Competitive
Renewable Energy Zone Transmission Lines and Related Facilities
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a draft environmental impact
statement and draft habitat conservation plan; announcement of
meetings; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), advise the
public that we intend to prepare a draft environmental impact statement
(EIS) to evaluate the impacts of, and alternatives to, the proposed
issuance of an Endangered Species Act permit to the Lower Colorado
River Authority Transmission Services Corporation (LCRA TSC; applicant)
for incidental take of six federally listed or candidate species from
activities associated with LCRA TSC's construction, maintenance,
operation, and repair of four Competitive Renewable Energy Zone (CREZ)
``priority'' transmission lines and related facilities (i.e.,
substations, substation upgrades, and access roads) required to be
constructed by the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC)
(collectively, the LCRA TSC CREZ transmission lines). We also announce
plans for a series of public scoping meetings and a public comment
period.
DATES: If you wish to submit written comments on alternatives and
issues for us to address in the draft EIS, we must receive them by
close of business on June 17, 2010. We will hold public scoping
meetings at locations throughout LCRA's proposed 14-county permit area.
The scoping meetings will be noticed in local news papers at least two
weeks before each scoping meeting and on the following website: http://www.LCRA.org.
ADDRESSES: For further information or to send written comments by mail:
Field Supervisor, Austin Ecological Services Field Office, U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, 10711 Burnett Road, Suite 200, Austin, TX 78758-
4460; 512/490-0057 (phone); 512/490-0974 (fax); or [email protected] (e-mail). Note that your information request or
comments concern the LCRA TSC draft EIS/HCP.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We publish this notice in compliance with
the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended (42
U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), and its implementing regulations (40 CFR 1506.6),
and section 10(c) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended
(Act; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). We intend to gather the information
necessary to determine impacts and alternatives to support a decision
regarding the potential issuance of an incidental take permit to the
applicant, and the implementation of the supporting draft HCP. We
intend to prepare an EIS to evaluate the impacts of, and alternatives
to, the proposed issuance of an incidental take permit under the Act.
The applicant proposes to apply for an incidental take permit through
development and implementation of an HCP. The proposed HCP will cover
take of certain species that is incidental to activities associated
with the construction, operation, maintenance, and repair of LCRA TSC's
CREZ transmission lines and related facilities and will include
measures necessary to minimize and mitigate impacts to covered species
and their habitats to the maximum extent practicable.
Background
Section 9 of the Act prohibits ``taking'' of fish and wildlife
species listed as endangered under section 4 of the Act. The Act's
implementing regulations extend, under certain circumstances, the
prohibition of take to threatened
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species. Under section 3 of the Act, the term ``take'' means ``to
harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or
collect, or to attempt to engage in any such conduct.'' The term
``harm'' is defined by regulation as ``an act which actually kills or
injures wildlife. Such act may include significant habitat modification
or degradation where it actually kills or injures wildlife by
significantly impairing essential behavioral patterns, including
breeding, feeding, or sheltering'' (50 CFR 17.3). The term ``harass''
is defined in the regulations as ``an intentional or negligent act or
omission which creates the likelihood of injury to wildlife by annoying
it to such an extent as to significantly disrupt normal behavioral
patterns which include, but are not limited to, breeding, feeding, or
sheltering'' (50 CFR 17.3). Section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Act requires an
applicant for an incidental take permit to prepare an HCP that
describes: (1) The impact that will result from such taking; (2) the
steps the applicant will take to minimize and mitigate that take to the
maximum extent practicable, and the funding that will be available to
implement such steps; (3) the alternative actions to such taking that
the applicant considered and the reasons why such alternatives are not
being utilized; and (4) the other measures that the Service may require
as being necessary or appropriate for the purposes of the plan. The Act
requires us to issue an incidental take permit to an applicant when we
determine that: (1) The taking will be incidental to otherwise lawful
activities; (2) the applicant will, to the maximum extent practicable,
minimize and mitigate the impacts of such taking; (3) the applicant has
ensured that adequate funding for the plan will be provided; (4) the
taking will not appreciably reduce the likelihood of the survival and
recovery of the species in the wild; and (5) the measures, if any, we
require as necessary or appropriate for the purposes of the plan will
be met. Regulations governing permits for endangered and threatened
species are at 50 CFR 17.22 and 17.32.
We expect that the Applicant will request permit coverage for a
period of 30 years.
Scoping Meetings
A primary purpose of the scoping process is to receive suggestions
and information on the scope of issues and alternatives to consider
when drafting the EIS, and to identify, rather than debate, significant
issues related to the proposed action. In order to ensure that we
identify a range of issues and alternatives related to the proposed
action, we invite comments and suggestions from all interested parties.
We will conduct a review of this project according to the requirements
of the National Environmental Policy Act and its regulations, other
relevant Federal laws, regulations, policies, and guidance, and our
procedures for compliance with those regulations. Persons needing
reasonable accommodations in order to attend and participate in the
public meetings should contact us at the address listed in the
ADDRESSES section no later than 1 week before the relevant public
meeting. Information regarding this proposed action is available in
alternative formats upon request. We will accept oral and written
comments at the meetings. You may also submit comments to persons
listed in the ADDRESSES section. Once the draft EIS and draft HCP are
completed and available for review, there will be further opportunities
for public comment on the content of these documents through additional
public meetings and comment period.
Alternatives
The proposed action presented in the draft EIS will be compared to
the No-Action alternative. The No-Action alternative represents
estimated future conditions to which the proposed action's estimated
future conditions can be compared.
No-Action Alternative
Under the no-action alternative, LCRA TSC would comply with the Act
by avoiding impacts to listed species where practicable, by receiving
coverage under a Section 7 consultation where other Federal nexi exist,
and/or by applying for individual incidental take permits where federal
nexus does not exist. This approach is likely to be more time-consuming
and less efficient, and could result in an isolated independent
mitigation approach. In addition, under this piecemeal approach, it is
unlikely that LCRA TSC would be able to construct the LCRA TSC CREZ
transmission lines within the timeline mandated by the Texas
Legislature and the PUC.
Proposed Alternative
The proposed action is issuance of an incidental take permit for
the covered species during construction, operation, and/or maintenance
of LCRA TSC's CREZ transmission lines. The proposed HCP, which must
meet the requirements in section 10(a)(2)(A) of the Act, would be
developed and implemented by the applicant. This alternative could
allow for a comprehensive mitigation approach for authorized impacts
and reduce the permit processing effort for the Service. Actions
covered under the requested incidental take permit may include possible
take of covered species associated with activities including, but not
limited to, construction, operation, maintenance, and repair of LCRA
TSC's CREZ transmission lines and all related infrastructure and
facilities such as substations and access roads. The applicant expects
to apply for an incidental take permit for six species listed as
endangered or threatened or considered to be a candidate for listing
within the proposed permit area. It is anticipated that the impacts to
listed species associated with the Service's possible approval of the
HCP also will be considered pursuant to the interagency consultation
procedures of section 7 of the Act and that future consultation on such
impacts occurring in accordance with the approved HCP will not be
necessary and will not require additional measures of the Applicant.
Species proposed to be covered under the requested incidental take
permit include: The golden-cheeked warbler, black-capped vireo, least
tern, whooping crane, and black-tailed prairie dog. Counties included
in the proposed permit area include portions of Tom Green, Schleicher,
Sutton, Mason, Menard, Kimble, Kerr, Kendall, Irion, Gillespie, Llano,
Burnet, San Saba, and Lampasas Counties. Species not covered by the
proposed incidental take permit will also be addressed in the draft HCP
as evaluation or additional species. These species include the ocelot,
Concho water snake, Clear Creek gambusia, sharpnose shiner, smalleye
shiner, Bee Creek Cave harvestman, Texas hornshell, Tobusch fishhook
cactus, and Texas snowbells. The applicant does not anticipate that
covered activities will result in take of the evaluation species. The
purpose of addressing these species is to analyze and explain why the
applicant believes these species will not be taken by the covered
activities. Other alternatives considered will also be addressed in the
draft EIS, including impacts associated with each alternative
evaluated.
Public Availability of Comments
Written comments we receive become part of the public record
associated with this action. Before including your address, phone
number, e-mail address, or other personal identifying information in
your comment, you should be aware that the entire comment--including
your personal identifying information--may be made publicly available
at any time. While
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you can ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be
able to do so.
Environmental Review
The Service will conduct an environmental review to analyze the
proposed action, as well as other alternatives evaluated and the
associated impacts of each. The draft EIS will be the basis for the
impact evaluation for each species covered and the range of
alternatives to be addressed. The draft EIS is expected to provide
biological descriptions of the affected species and habitats, as well
as the effects of the alternatives on other resources such as
vegetation, wetlands, wildlife, geology and soils, air quality, water
resources, water quality, cultural resources, land use, recreation,
water use, local economy, climate change, and environmental justice.
Following completion of the environmental review, the Service will
publish a notice of availability and a request for comments on the
draft EIS and the Applicant's permit application, which will include
the draft HCP. The draft EIS and draft HCP are expected to be completed
and available to the public in early to mid-2010.
Thomas L. Bauer,
Acting Regional Director, Region 2, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
[FR Doc. 2010-5944 Filed 3-18-10; 8:45 am]
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