Notice2025-00568
Receipt of Incidental Take Permit Application and Proposed Habitat Conservation Plan for the Sand Skink and Blue-tailed Mole-skink; Polk County, FL; Categorical Exclusion
Primary source
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Published
January 14, 2025
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentFish and Wildlife Service
Abstract
We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce receipt of an application from ADH Rollins Court, LLC (applicant) for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act. The applicant requests the ITP to take the federally listed sand skink (Plestiodon reynoldsi) and blue-tailed mole skink (Eumeces egregius lividus) incidental to the construction of a residential development in Polk County, Florida. We request public comment on the application, which includes the applicant's proposed habitat conservation plan (HCP), and on the Service's preliminary determination that the proposed permitting action may be 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 prepared a draft 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 90 Issue 8 (Tuesday, January 14, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 8 (Tuesday, January 14, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3243-3244]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-00568]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2024-0190; FXES11140400000-256-FF04EF4000]
Receipt of Incidental Take Permit Application and Proposed
Habitat Conservation Plan for the Sand Skink and Blue-tailed Mole-
skink; Polk County, FL; Categorical Exclusion
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comment.
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SUMMARY: We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce receipt
of an application from ADH Rollins Court, LLC (applicant) for an
incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act. The
applicant requests the ITP to take the federally listed sand skink
(Plestiodon reynoldsi) and blue-tailed mole skink (Eumeces egregius
lividus) incidental to the construction of a residential development in
Polk County, Florida. We request public comment on the application,
which includes the applicant's proposed habitat conservation plan
(HCP), and on the Service's preliminary determination that the proposed
permitting action may be 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 prepared a draft 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 February 13,
2025.
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-2024-0190 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-2024-0190.
<bullet> U.S. mail: Public Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No.
FWS-R4-ES-2024-0190; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: PRB/3W, 5275
Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Al Begazo, by U.S. mail (see
ADDRESSES), by telephone at 772-226-8134, or via email at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#5d3c313b2f383932023f383a3c27321d3b2a2e733a322b"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="cbaaa7adb9aeafa494a9aeacaab1a48badbcb8e5aca4bd">[email protected]</span></a>. 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 ADH Rollins Court, LLC
(applicant) for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered
Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). The
applicant requests the ITP to take the sand skink (Plestiodon
reynoldsi) and blue-tailed mole skink (Eumeces egregius lividus)
(skinks), federally listed as threatened under the ESA, incidental to
the construction of a residential development in Polk County, Florida.
We request public comment on the application, which includes the
applicant's habitat conservation plan (HCP), and on the Service's
preliminary determination that this proposed ITP qualifies as low
effect, and may qualify 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 part 46), and the DOI's Departmental
Manual (516 DM 8.5(C)(2)). To make this preliminary determination, we
prepared a draft environmental action statement and low-effect
screening form, both of which are also available for public review.
Proposed Project
The applicant requests a 5-year ITP to take skinks via the
conversion of approximately 5.46 acres (ac) of occupied nesting,
foraging, and sheltering skink habitat incidental to the construction
of a residential development on 46 ac on Polk County Parcels 27-27-11-
735500-000140 and 27-27-11-734500-030300 within Section 11, Township 27
South, Range 27 East, Polk County, Florida. The applicant proposes to
mitigate for take of skinks through the purchase 10.92 ac of
conservation credits (in accordance with the Service's 2:1 mitigation
ratio guidelines) from a Service-authorized conservation bank prior to
engaging in any phase of the project.
Our Preliminary Determination
The Service has made a preliminary determination that the
applicant's proposed project, including the construction of a
residential development and associated infrastructure (e.g., electric,
water, and sewer lines), would individually and cumulatively have a
minor or negligible effect on the skinks and the human environment.
Therefore, we have preliminarily determined that the proposed ESA
section 10(a)(1)(B) permit would be a low-effect ITP that individually
or cumulatively would have a minor effect on the skinks and may qualify
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
reasonably foreseeable actions, would not result in significant
cumulative effects to the human environment.
Next Steps
The Service will evaluate the application and the comments to
determine whether to issue the requested ITP. 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 ITP number PER11450292 to ADH Rollins Court, 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
[[Page 3244]]
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
Endangered Species Act (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
through 1508 and 43 CFR part 46).
Robert L. Carey,
Manager, Division of Environmental Review, Florida Ecological Services
Field Office.
[FR Doc. 2025-00568 Filed 1-13-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P
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