Notice2025-20846
Draft Habitat Conservation Plan and Draft Categorical Exclusion; California Department of Water Resources Sutter and Sacramento Maintenance Yards Habitat Conservation Plan for Eight Elderberry Management Zones
Primary source
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Published
November 25, 2025
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentFish and Wildlife Service
Abstract
We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce receipt of an application from the California Department of Water Resources (applicant) for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The applicant requests the ITP to take the federally threatened valley elderberry longhorn beetle (Desmocerus californicus dimorphus; beetle) incidental to vegetation maintenance activities along State-maintained levees in portions of seven California counties. 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 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Department of the Interior's (DOI) NEPA regulations, and the DOI Departmental Manual (DM). To make this preliminary determination, we prepared a joint draft environmental action statement and low-effect screening form, both of which are 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 225 (Tuesday, November 25, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 225 (Tuesday, November 25, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53382-53383]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-20846]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[Docket No. FWS-R8-ES-2024-0184; FXES11140800000-256-FF08ESMF00]
Draft Habitat Conservation Plan and Draft Categorical Exclusion;
California Department of Water Resources Sutter and Sacramento
Maintenance Yards Habitat Conservation Plan for Eight Elderberry
Management Zones
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for public comment.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce
receipt of an application from the California Department of Water
Resources (applicant) for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the
Endangered Species Act (ESA). The applicant requests the ITP to take
the federally threatened valley elderberry longhorn beetle (Desmocerus
californicus dimorphus; beetle) incidental to vegetation maintenance
activities along State-maintained levees in portions of seven
California counties. 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 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Department of the
Interior's (DOI) NEPA regulations, and the DOI Departmental Manual
(DM). To make this preliminary determination, we prepared a joint draft
environmental action statement and low-effect screening form, both of
which are 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 26,
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 at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> in Docket
No. FWS-R8-ES-2024-0184.
Submitting Comments: If you wish to submit comments on any of the
documents, you may do so in writing by any of the following methods:
<bullet> Online: Submit comments on Docket No. FWS-R8-ES-2024-0184
at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>.
<bullet> U.S. Mail: Public Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No.
FWS-R8-ES-2024-0184; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Headquarters, MS:
PRB/3W; 5275 Leesburg Pike; Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Wendy Pearson, Senior Wildlife
Biologist, Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office, by email at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#3c4b59525845634c595d4e4f53527c5a4b4f125b534a"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="5225373c362b0d22373320213d3c123425217c353d24">[email protected]</span></a> or by telephone at 916-414-6675. 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 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(Service), announce receipt of an application from the California
Department of Water Resources (applicant) for a 5-year ITP under the
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et
seq.). In support of the application, the applicant prepared a draft
HCP pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA. The HCP covers
elderberry shrub (Sambucus spp.) trimming and removal that will result
in the incidental take of the valley elderberry longhorn beetle
(Desmocerus californicus dimorphus; beetle) and its habitat along
portions of State-maintained levees.
The Service prepared a draft categorical exclusion screening form
consistent with NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), the DOI's NEPA
regulations (43 CFR part 46), and the DOI's Departmental Manual (516 DM
8.5(C)(2)). The purpose of the screening form is to confirm that,
pursuant to agency NEPA procedures, the agency action is within a
category of actions previously determined not to normally have
significant effects on the natural and human environment and thus not
requiring further NEPA evaluation. The screening form is also used to
verify that there are no extraordinary circumstances that indicate an
otherwise excluded action may warrant further NEPA evaluation.
Background Information
Section 9 of the ESA prohibits the taking of fish and wildlife
species listed as endangered or threatened under section 4 of the ESA.
Under section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1539(a)(1)(B)), the
Service may issue permits to authorize take of listed fish and wildlife
species that is incidental to, and not the purpose of, carrying out
[[Page 53383]]
an otherwise lawful activity. Regulations governing permits for
endangered and threatened species are at 50 CFR 17.22 and 17.32,
respectively. For more about the Federal habitat conservation plan
program, go to <a href="https://www.fws.gov/service/habitat-conservation-plans">https://www.fws.gov/service/habitat-conservation-plans</a>.
Proposed Action
The proposed action is the Service's issuance of an ITP for a
period of 5 years for the beetle, the only species covered by the plan.
The ITP is requested to cover ongoing routine vegetation management
along specific levees maintained by the applicant to support levee
structural integrity, visibility, and accessibility for inspections,
maintenance, and flood-fighting operations. Vegetation management along
these areas often requires the removal or trimming of elderberry
shrubs, which are the sole host plant for the beetle. The plan includes
three covered activities: trimming or removing select elderberry
shrubs, transplanting removed elderberry shrubs, and trimming adjacent
riparian vegetation needed to access the elderberry shrubs. The plan
also includes a conservation strategy to avoid, minimize, and mitigate
effects to the beetle from the proposed activities. Avoidance and
minimization measures for the beetle will reduce effects to the
species, and the applicant will mitigate for the remaining unavoidable
effects. Covered activities will occur in portions of the following
seven California counties: Butte, Colusa, Glenn, Sacramento, Solano,
Sutter, and Yolo. The total plan area is approximately 3,162 acres of
levees in eight areas along the Sacramento River, Butte Creek, Cache
Creek, Putah Creek, and the Yolo Bypass.
Public Comments
We request data, comments, new information, or suggestions from the
public, other concerned governmental agencies, the scientific
community, Tribes, industry, or any other interested party. We
particularly seek comments on the following:
1. Biological information concerning the species;
2. Relevant data concerning the species;
3. Additional information concerning the range, distribution,
population size, and population trends of the species;
4. Current or planned activities in the subject area and their
possible impacts on the species;
5. The presence of archeological sites, buildings and structures,
historic events, sacred and traditional areas, and other historic
preservation concerns, which are required to be considered in project
planning by the National Historic Preservation Act; and
6. Any other environmental issues that should be considered with
regard to the proposed development and permit action.
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.
Our Preliminary Determination
The Service has made a preliminary determination that the
applicant's proposed project would individually and cumulatively have a
minor effect on the covered species 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
and cumulatively would have a minor effect on the beetle and may
qualify for application of a categorical exclusion pursuant to NEPA,
the DOI's NEPA regulations, and the DOI DM. A low-effect ITP is one
that would result in (1) minor or nonsignificant effects on species
covered in the plan; (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
Issuance of an ITP is a Federal proposed action subject to
compliance with NEPA and section 7 of the ESA. We will evaluate the
application, associated documents, and any public comments we receive
as part of our NEPA compliance process to determine whether the
application meets the requirements of section 10(a) of the ESA. If we
determine that those requirements are met, we will conduct an intra-
Service consultation under section 7 of the ESA for the Federal action
for the potential issuance of an ITP. If the intra-Service consultation
confirms that issuance of the ITP is not likely to jeopardize the
continued existence of any endangered or threatened species, or destroy
or adversely modify critical habitat, we will issue a permit to the
applicant for the incidental take of the covered species.
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 17.22 and 50 CFR 17.32), NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et
seq.) and the DOI's implementing regulations (43 CFR part 46).
Kim Turner-Olah,
Acting Field Supervisor, Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office.
[FR Doc. 2025-20846 Filed 11-24-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P
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