Notice2024-25455
Receipt of Application for Renewal of an Incidental Take Permit for the Sand Skink; Lake County, FL; Categorical Exclusion
Primary source
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Published
November 1, 2024
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentFish and Wildlife Service
Abstract
We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce receipt of an application from Sunterra Communities, LLC (applicant) for renewal of an incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act. If granted, the renewed ITP would authorize take of the federally listed as threatened sand skink (Neoseps reynoldsi) incidental to the construction of a residential and commercial development in Lake County, Florida. The applicant requests the renewal of the ITP to extend the expiration date for 5 additional years. There is no request for additional take or increases in development levels. The proposed renewal maintains the existing levels of take and renews the permit through June 14, 2029. We request public comment on the application, which includes the applicant's original unchanged habitat conservation plan (HCP), and the Service's determination that the proposed renewal remains eligible for a categorical exclusion pursuant to the Council on Environmental Quality's National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations, the Department of the Interior's (DOI) NEPA regulations, and the DOI Departmental Manual. To make this preliminary determination, we used our existing environmental action statement and low-effect screening form, both of which are also available for public review. We invite comment from the public and local, State, Tribal, and Federal agencies.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 212 (Friday, November 1, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 212 (Friday, November 1, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 87395-87396]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-25455]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2024-0149; FXES11140400000-245-FF04EF4000]
Receipt of Application for Renewal of an Incidental Take Permit
for the Sand Skink; Lake County, FL; Categorical Exclusion
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce receipt
of an application from Sunterra Communities, LLC (applicant) for
renewal of an incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species
Act. If granted, the renewed ITP would authorize take of the federally
listed as threatened sand skink (Neoseps reynoldsi) incidental to the
construction of a residential and commercial development in Lake
County, Florida. The applicant requests the renewal of the ITP to
extend the expiration date for 5 additional years. There is no request
for additional take or increases in development levels. The proposed
renewal maintains the existing levels of take and renews the permit
through June 14, 2029. We request public comment on the application,
which includes the applicant's original unchanged habitat conservation
plan (HCP), and the Service's determination that the proposed renewal
remains eligible for a categorical exclusion pursuant to the Council on
Environmental Quality's National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
regulations, the Department of the Interior's (DOI) NEPA regulations,
and the DOI Departmental Manual. To make this preliminary
determination, we used our existing environmental action statement and
low-effect screening form, both of which are also available for public
review. We invite comment from the public and local, State, Tribal, and
Federal agencies.
DATES: We must receive your written comments on or before December 2,
2024.
ADDRESSES:
Obtaining Documents: The documents this notice announces, as well
as any comments and other materials that we receive, will be available
for public inspection online in Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2024-0149 at
<a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>.
Submitting Comments: If you wish to submit comments on any of the
documents, you may do so in writing by one of the following methods:
<bullet> Online: <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments on Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2024-0149;
<bullet> U.S. mail: Public Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No.
FWS-R4-ES-2024-0149; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: PRB/3W, 5275
Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Erin Gawera, via email at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#6a0f180304350d0b1d0f180b2a0c1d19440d051c"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="96f3e4fff8c9f1f7e1f3e4f7d6f0e1e5b8f1f9e0">[email protected]</span></a> or by telephone at 904-404-2464. 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. 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 Fish and Wildlife Service (Service),
announce receipt of an application from Sunterra Communities, LLC for
renewal of incidental take permit (ITP) number TE13200D-0 under the
Endangered Species Act (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). The applicant
requests the renewal of the ITP for 5 additional years. The proposed
ITP renewal would
[[Page 87396]]
grant the applicant additional time to complete the residential and
commercial development. The amendment to renew does not include any
changes in the covered area, activity, amount or type of take, or
species to be covered by the permit. The applicant's existing habitat
conservation plan (HCP) provides measures to mitigate for the
incidental take of the species.
We request public comment on the renewal application, which
includes the applicant's HCP, and on the Service's preliminary
determination that this proposed ITP renewal qualifies as low effect,
and qualifies for a categorical exclusion pursuant to the Council on
Environmental Quality's National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
regulations (40 CFR 1501.4), the Department of the Interior's (DOI)
NEPA regulations (43 CFR 46), and the DOI's Departmental Manual (516 DM
8.5(C)(2)). To make this preliminary determination, we used our
environmental action statement and low-effect screening form, both of
which are also available for public review.
Proposed Project Renewal
The applicant requests to extend the ITP expiration date for 5
additional years and does not propose any other changes that alter the
original review analyses by the Service. There is no request for
additional take or increases in development levels; the proposed time
extension maintains the existing levels of take, and would merely
extend the covered activities out to June 14, 2029, instead of June 14,
2024.
Our Preliminary Determination
The Service has made a preliminary determination that the
applicant's proposed permit renewal, extending the expiration date of
the original ITP for 5 additional years, would individually and
cumulatively have a minor effect on the covered species and the human
environment. Therefore, we have preliminarily determined that renewal
of the ITP for this project would be a low-effect ITP that individually
or cumulatively would have a minor effect on the species and qualifies
for application of a categorical exclusion pursuant to the Council on
Environmental Quality's NEPA regulations, DOI's NEPA regulations, and
the DOI Departmental Manual. A low-effect ITP is one that would result
in (1) minor or nonsignificant effects on species covered in the HCP;
(2) nonsignificant effects on the human environment; and (3) impacts
that, when added together with the impacts of other past, present, and
reasonable foreseeable actions, would not result in significant
cumulative effects to the human environment.
Next Steps
The Service will evaluate the application and any comments received
to determine whether to renew the current permit. We will also conduct
an intra-Service consultation pursuant to section 7 of the ESA to
evaluate the effects of the proposed take. After considering the
preceding and other matters, we will determine whether the permit
issuance criteria of section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA have been met. If
met, the Service will issue a renewal of this ITP (TE13200D-0) under
number PER11067884 to Sunterra Communities, LLC.
Public Availability of Comments
Before including your address, phone number, email address, or
other personal identifying information in your comment, be aware that
your entire comment, including your personal identifying information,
may be made available to the public. If you submit a comment at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>, your entire comment, including any personal
identifying information, will be posted on the website. If you submit a
hardcopy comment that includes personal identifying information, such
as your address, phone number, or email address, you may request at the
top of your document that we withhold this information from public
review. However, 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.
Authority
The Service provides this notice under section 10(c) of the ESA (16
U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (50 CFR 17.32),
and the National Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and
its implementing regulations (40 CFR 1500-1508 and 43 CFR 46).
Robert L. Carey,
Division Manager, Environmental Review, Florida Ecological Services
Office.
[FR Doc. 2024-25455 Filed 10-31-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P
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