Notice2023-25984
Endangered Species; File No. 21516
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
November 24, 2023
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
Notice is hereby given that NMFS has issued a modification to Incidental Take Permit (ITP; No. 21516) to Virginia Electric and Power Company, d.b.a. Dominion Virginia Power (Dominion) pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA), as amended, for the incidental take of Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus) associated with the otherwise lawful operation of the Dominion Chesterfield Power Station (CPS) in Chesterfield, VA.
Full Text
<html>
<head>
<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 225 (Friday, November 24, 2023)</title>
</head>
<body><pre>
[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 225 (Friday, November 24, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 82324-82325]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-25984]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XD548]
Endangered Species; File No. 21516
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Issuance of permit modification.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that NMFS has issued a modification to
Incidental Take Permit (ITP; No. 21516) to Virginia Electric and Power
Company, d.b.a. Dominion Virginia Power (Dominion) pursuant to the
Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA), as amended, for the incidental
take of Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus) associated
with the otherwise lawful operation of the Dominion Chesterfield Power
Station (CPS) in Chesterfield, VA.
ADDRESSES: The modified incidental take permit and other related
documents are available on the NMFS Office of Protected Resources
website at <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/endangered-species-conservation/incidental-take-permits">https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/endangered-species-conservation/incidental-take-permits</a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lynn Lankshear, (978) 282-8473,
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#cd81b4a3a3e381aca3a6bea5a8acbf8da3a2acace3aaa2bb"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="44083d2a2a6a08252a2f372c212536042a2b25256a232b32">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 9 of the ESA and Federal regulations
prohibits the ``taking'' of a species listed as endangered or
threatened. The ESA defines ``take'' to mean harass, harm, pursue,
hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or to attempt to
engage in any such conduct. NMFS may issue permits, under limited
circumstances to take listed species when the take is incidental to,
and not the purpose of, otherwise lawful activities. Section
10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA provides for authorizing incidental take of
listed species. The regulations for modifying permits and issuing
incidental take permits for threatened and endangered species are
[[Page 82325]]
promulgated at 50 CFR 222.306 and at 50 CFR 222.307.
Background
NMFS issued Permit No. 21516 to Dominion on December 10, 2020 (86
FR 1945). NMFS published notice in the Federal Register on August 2,
2022 (87 FR 47190), that Dominion had requested modification of their
ITP to allow for the incidental take of Atlantic sturgeon eggs from the
Chesapeake Bay Distinct Population Segment through December 30, 2025,
and to modify permit conditions based on anticipated operational
changes at the CPS. However, new information regarding take of Atlantic
sturgeon eggs at CPS was received after the close of the public comment
period. Therefore, Dominion's request for modification of the ITP to
allow for the incidental take of Atlantic sturgeon eggs remains in
progress.
In the interim, based on the information provided by Dominion and
the public comment received, NMFS has modified Permit No. 21516 to:
allow entrainment sampling for monitoring to occur at the furthest
upriver cooling water intake structure that is operational at CPS at
the time monitoring occurs; allow entrainment sampling for monitoring
to be paused on the rare occasion that all CPS river circulating pumps
are not operating provided that NMFS is notified within 24 hours of
Dominion shutting down all water intake at the circulating water pumps,
and provided the notification includes information describing the
reason(s) for the shutdown and the expected duration of the shutdown;
require visual inspections of the cooling water intake structure trash
racks (and the immediate area upstream) from September 1 through
October 31; require Dominion to annually inspect (i.e., by divers) the
intake guards at CPS cooling water intake structures no earlier than
March 1 and no later than August 15 to confirm that the guards are
intact and capable of excluding any adult Atlantic sturgeon as
designed, and make repairs to the guards, as needed, prior to September
1; and require Dominion to clean the trash racks via a mechanical trash
rake only as operationally necessary or, in the event a specific intake
guard is found to be in jeopardy of not functioning as designed, the
trash racks associated with that intact guard must be cleaned via a
mechanical trash rake twice per day (once per 12-hour shift during
daylight hours) during the fall sturgeon spawning window of September 1
through October 31. Prior to September 1, trash raking must occur at a
specific intake guard if it is found to be at risk of not functioning
as designed and adult Atlantic sturgeon are present in the vicinity of
CPS as indicated by the real-time telemetry system. Permit condition
IV.C.4.g. has also been corrected to reflect the 8-week period from
September through October for each year of the permit.
National Environmental Policy Act
Issuing an ESA section 10(a)(1)(B) permit constitutes a Federal
action requiring NMFS to comply with the National Environmental Policy
Act (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) as implemented by 40 CFR parts 1500-1508
and NOAA Administrative Order 216-6A, Compliance with the National
Environmental Policy Act (2016). NMFS prepared a Supplemental
Information Report explaining why the potential impacts to sturgeon and
other resources fall within the scope of the 2020 Environmental
Assessment (EA) and Finding of No Significant Impact developed in
support of the original permit. We concluded that there would be little
change in the impacts from this action, relative to those described in
the original EA. Further, we concluded that there are no significant
new circumstances or information that would result in changes to the
impacts of the permit requirements as considered in the previous
analyses.
Authority: This notice is provided pursuant to section 10(c) of the
ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and NEPA regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).
Dated: November 20, 2023.
Angela Somma,
Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected Resources,
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-25984 Filed 11-22-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
</pre><script data-cfasync="false" src="/cdn-cgi/scripts/5c5dd728/cloudflare-static/email-decode.min.js"></script></body>
</html>Indexed from Federal Register on November 24, 2023.
This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.