Notice2024-16563
Endangered Species; File No. 28282
Primary source
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Published
July 30, 2024
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
Notice is hereby given that NMFS received an application for a Federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) incidental take permit from United Water Conservation District (applicant) located in Oxnard, California and the permit application is hereby open for public comment. The permit application concerns the incidental take of endangered Southern California steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) associated with the applicant's otherwise lawful continued operation and maintenance of the existing Freeman Diversion on the lower Santa Clara River, Ventura County, and future proposed activities for expanding the diversion. We are considering issuing a 50-year permit to the applicant that would exempt the applicant's incidental take of endangered steelhead, and are making the permit application and related documents available to the public for review and comment. We will use the comments received, the permit application, and other information required by applicable statute and regulation, to determine whether the permit application meets the criteria for issuing the permit to the applicant. Additionally, we are issuing this notice to advise Federal, State, and local government agencies and the public that we are withdrawing our 2013 Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare a draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for a previous application from United Water Conservation District for an incidental take permit under the ESA.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 146 (Tuesday, July 30, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 146 (Tuesday, July 30, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61098-61099]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-16563]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID: 0648-XE117]
Endangered Species; File No. 28282
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Department of Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of receipt; withdrawal of a notice of intent.
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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that NMFS received an application for a
Federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) incidental take permit from United
Water Conservation District (applicant) located in Oxnard, California
and the permit application is hereby open for public comment. The
permit application concerns the incidental take of endangered Southern
California steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) associated with the
applicant's otherwise lawful continued operation and maintenance of the
existing Freeman Diversion on the lower Santa Clara River, Ventura
County, and future proposed activities for expanding the diversion. We
are considering issuing a 50-year permit to the applicant that would
exempt the applicant's incidental take of endangered steelhead, and are
making the permit application and related documents available to the
public for review and comment. We will use the comments received, the
permit application, and other information required by applicable
statute and regulation, to determine whether the permit application
meets the criteria for issuing the permit to the applicant.
Additionally, we are issuing this notice to advise Federal, State, and
local government agencies and the public that we are withdrawing our
2013 Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare a draft Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS) for a previous application from United Water
Conservation District for an incidental take permit under the ESA.
DATES: Written comments on the permit application (File no. 28282) must
be received at the appropriate email address (see ADDRESSES) on or
before August 29, 2024.
The notice to prepare an EIS for the previous permit application is
withdrawn as of July 30, 2024.
ADDRESSES: The permit application is available for download and review
online at <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/united-water-conservation-districts-application-section-10a1b-incidental-take-permit">https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/united-water-conservation-districts-application-section-10a1b-incidental-take-permit</a>. The application is also available upon request (see FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT).
You may submit comments electronically through email to the
following address: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#b0e5ded9c4d5d4e7d1c4d5c2f8d3c09ec7d3c2f0dedfd1d19ed7dfc6"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="e1b48f88958485b680958493a98291cf968293a18f8e8080cf868e97">[email protected]</span></a>.
Instructions: We may not consider comments submitted by any other
method, to another address, or to a specific individual. All comments
received are part of the public record and will be made available in a
future Federal Register notice. Commenters should avoid including any
personally identifiable information or otherwise sensitive information
with submissions, which are publicly accessible. We will accept
comments that are classified as anonymous or the commenter clearly
indicates the intent to remain anonymous. Attachments to electronic
comments will be accepted in Microsoft Word, Excel, or Adobe PDF file
formats only.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rick Bush at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#bfcdd6dcd491ddcaccd7ffd1d0dede91d8d0c9"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="43312a20286d2136302b032d2c22226d242c35">[email protected]</span></a> or
562-980-3562.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
ESA-Listed Species Covered in This Notification
The endangered Southern California Distinct Population Segment of
steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss).
Background
Approximately 16-kilometers (km) upstream of the confluence with
the Pacific Ocean, the applicant operates the Freeman Diversion on the
lower Santa Clara River to redirect a maximum of 10.62 m\3\ per second
of water from the river to spreading basins for
[[Page 61099]]
groundwater recharge or directly to the neighboring farming community
on the Oxnard Plain. Spanning the entire 366-m river channel, the 7.6-m
tall diversion dam presents an obstacle to endangered steelhead that
must migrate to and from their historical spawning and rearing habitats
in the upper watershed and the estuary and ocean to complete their life
cycle. To improve passage of endangered steelhead and renovate and
expand the existing headworks of the Freeman Diversion, the applicant's
April 9, 2024 application proposes: (1) renovating the existing Denil
fish ladder and diversion headworks; (2) resurfacing the diversion's
grade-control structure; (3) operating the fish-passage, water
diversion, and sediment-management systems; (4) capturing and
relocating steelhead; (5) expanding the off-channel water-conveyance
infrastructure and diversion capacity to 21.24 m\3\ per second; (6)
maintaining facilities and property; (7) developing conservation and
monitoring programs; (8) restoring and enhancing habitat; and (9)
implementing adaptive-management measures. The applicant seeks a 50-
year permit term to exempt incidental take of endangered steelhead
associated with the foregoing activities, which are described further
in the applicant's Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP). Additionally, the
HCP specifies the steps that the applicant will undertake to avoid,
minimize, mitigate, and monitor the impacts of the proposed activities
and related incidental take on endangered steelhead.
Authority
Section 9 of the ESA and Federal regulation prohibit the take of
the Endangered Southern California Distinct Population Segment of
Steelhead (endangered steelhead). 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. However, under
section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA, we may issue permits to authorize
incidental take. ``Incidental take'' is defined by the ESA as take that
is incidental to, and not the purpose of, carrying out an otherwise
lawful activity. Section 10(a)(2)(A) of the ESA requires an applicant
for an incidental take permit to submit an HCP that specifies the steps
the applicant will take to minimize and mitigate the impacts of the
taking on the species. Regulations governing incidental take permits
for threatened and endangered species are found at 50 CFR 222.307.
National Environmental Policy Act
We are withdrawing the NOI published in the Federal Register on
November 11, 2013 (78 FR 67336) to prepare an EIS in accordance with
the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to analyze the impacts on
the human environment resulting from the potential for issuing a HCP on
a previous permit application from the applicant. We are taking this
action because the proposed action for the previous permit application
used as the basis for preparing the NOI has changed, and the original
analysis is outdated. Additional details about the range of
alternatives considered in this action are included in the November 11,
2013 NOI and are not repeated here. We solicited public input on the
scope of the analysis through a public comment on the NOI from November
11, 2013 until January 13, 2014.
We will revisit and fulfill all necessary NEPA obligations once the
revised permit application has been determined to meet issuance
criteria.
Next Steps
We will evaluate the applicant's April 9, 2024 permit application,
including the HCP, related documents, and public comments received, to
determine whether the application meets the criteria for issuing a
permit under 16 U.S.C. 1539(a)(2)(B). In addition, we will evaluate
whether issuing a section 10(a)(1)(B) permit to the applicant would
comply with section 7 of the ESA through the conduct of an intra-agency
section 7 consultation. The final NEPA and permit determinations will
not be made until after the end of the comment period. NMFS will
publish a record of its final action in the Federal Register.
Dated: July 23, 2024.
Angela Somma,
Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected Resources,
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-16563 Filed 7-29-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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