Notice2025-16687
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
September 2, 2025
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentFish and Wildlife Service
Abstract
We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce receipt of an application from Nola Land Company, Inc. (E.R. Jahna Haines City Sand Mine) (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 (skinks) incidental to the construction and operation of a sand mine expansion 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 167 (Tuesday, September 2, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 167 (Tuesday, September 2, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42426-42427]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-16687]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2025-0112; 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 Nola Land Company, Inc. (E.R. Jahna Haines City
Sand Mine) (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 (skinks)
incidental to the construction and operation of a sand mine expansion
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 October 2,
2025.
ADDRESSES:
Obtaining Documents: The document 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-2025-0112; 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-2025-0112;
<bullet> U.S. mail: Public Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No.
FWS-R4-ES-2025-0112; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: PRB/3W, 5275
Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Erin Gawera, by U.S. mail (see
ADDRESSES), by telephone at 904-404-2464 or via email at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#c1a4b3a8af9ea6a0b6a4b3a081a7b6b2efa6aeb7"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="513423383f0e363026342330113726227f363e27">[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 Nola Land Company, Inc. (E.R. Jahna
Haines City Sand Mine) (applicant) for an 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 federally listed sand skinks
(Neopseps (=Plestiodon) reynoldsi) and blue-tailed mole skinks (Eumeces
egregius lividus) (skinks) incidental to the construction and operation
of a sand mine expansion in Polk County, Florida.
We request public comment on the application, which includes the
applicant's HCP, and on the Service's preliminary determination that
this proposed ITP may qualify for a categorical exclusion pursuant to
NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), DOI's 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 10-year ITP to take skinks via the
conversion of approximately 0.92 acres (ac) of occupied nesting,
foraging, and sheltering skink habitat incidental to the construction
and operation of a sand mine expansion on 359.14-acs on parcel #s 27-
28-01-000000-013010, 27-28-01-000000-013020, 27-27-36-000000-042010,
27-27-36-000000-041030, 27-27-36-000000-043040, 27-27-36-000000-043010,
27-27-36-000000-043030, 27-27-36-000000-043060, 27-27-36-000000-041020,
27-27-36-000000-041010, 27-27-36-000000-041060, 27-27-36-000000-041050,
27-27-36-000000-032010, 27-27-36-000000-034210, 27-27-36-000000-033040
& 27-27-25-000000-044010 in Sections 1, 25, 36 of Township 27 South,
Range 27 East, Polk County, Florida. The applicant proposes to mitigate
for take of the skinks by purchasing credits equivalent to 1.84 ac
[[Page 42427]]
of skink-occupied habitat within a Service-approved conservation bank.
The Service would require the applicant to purchase the credits 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 the mine and associated clearing, would have a minor
effect on the skinks and the human environment. Therefore, 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 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 ITP number PER14867408 to Nola Land
Company, Inc. (E.R. Jahna Haines City Sand Mine).
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), NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), and DOI's
implementing regulations (43 CFR part 46).
Jos[eacute] J. Rivera,
Acting Manager, Division of Environmental Review, Florida Ecological
Services Field Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2025-16687 Filed 8-29-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P
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