Notice2025-16168
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
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
August 25, 2025
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentFish and Wildlife Service
Abstract
We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce receipt of an application from Polk County Board of County Commissioners (applicant) for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act. The applicant requests the ITP to take the federally listed sand skink and blue-tailed mole skink incidental to the construction of a fire station 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 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Department of the Interior's (DOI) NEPA regulations, and the DOI Departmental Manual. To make this preliminary determination, we prepared a draft screening form and NEPA statement for HCPs, which is 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 162 (Monday, August 25, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 162 (Monday, August 25, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41402-41403]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-16168]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2024-0209; 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 comments.
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SUMMARY: We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce receipt
of an application from Polk County Board of County Commissioners
(applicant) for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered
Species Act. The applicant requests the ITP to take the federally
listed sand skink and blue-tailed mole skink incidental to the
construction of a fire station 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 National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Department of the Interior's (DOI)
NEPA regulations, and the DOI Departmental Manual. To make this
preliminary determination, we prepared a draft screening form and NEPA
statement for HCPs, which is 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 September 24,
2025.
ADDRESSES:
Obtaining Documents: The documents this notice announces, as well
as any
[[Page 41403]]
comments and other materials that we receive, will be available for
public inspection online in Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2024-0209 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-2024-0209.
<bullet> U.S. mail: Public Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No.
FWS-R4-ES-2024-0209; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: PRB/3W, 5275
Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jos[eacute] J. Rivera, by U.S. mail
(see ADDRESSES), by telephone at (772) 226-8018, or via email at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#660c09150339140f100314072600111548010910"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="02686d71675d706b74677063426475712c656d74">[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, announce
receipt of an application from Polk County Board of County
Commissioners (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 (Neopseps
(=Plestiodon) reynoldsi) and blue-tailed mole skink (Eumeces egregius
lividus) (skinks), incidental to the construction of a fire station 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 may
qualify for a categorical exclusion pursuant to the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA.), 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 screening form and NEPA statement for HCPs, both of
which are available for public review.
Proposed Project
The applicant requests a 5-year ITP to take skinks via the
conversion of approximately 1.06 acres (ac) of occupied nesting,
foraging, and sheltering skink habitat incidental to the construction
of a fire station on 5.82 ac on Polk County Parcel 273026-000000-043400
within Section 26 of Township 30 South in Range 27 East, Polk County,
Florida. The applicant proposes to mitigate for take of skinks through
the purchase of 2.12 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 reasonably
foreseeable effects of the applicant's proposed project, including the
construction of a fire station and associated infrastructure (e.g.,
electric, water, and sewer lines), would have a minor effect on the
skinks and the human environment, and no extraordinary circumstances in
43 CFR 46.215 apply. Reasonably foreseeable effects encompass effects
of implementation of the action including effects of the action in
addition to other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable future
effects. Therefore, we have preliminarily determined that the proposed
ESA section 10(a)(1)(B) permit would be a low-effect ITP that may
qualify for application of a categorical exclusion (516 DM 8.5(C)(2)),
pursuant to NEPA, the DOI's NEPA regulations, and the DOI Departmental
Manual. A low-effect ITP is one that would result in (1) negligible or
minor individual or cumulative effects on species covered in the HCP;
(2) no significant effect on the human environment; and (3) reasonably
foreseeable effects that would not result in significant 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 PER13882569 to Polk County Board of County
Commissioners.
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
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 DOI's implementing regulations (43 CFR
part 46).
Jos[eacute] J. Rivera,
Manager, Division of Environmental Review, Florida Ecological Services
Field Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2025-16168 Filed 8-22-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on August 25, 2025.
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