Notice2026-04371
Receipt of Incidental Take Permit Application and Proposed Habitat Conservation Plan for Sand Skink and Bluetail Mole Skink; Lake County, FL; Categorical Exclusion
Primary source
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Published
March 5, 2026
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentFish and Wildlife Service
Abstract
We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce receipt of an application from Clayton Properties Group, Inc. dba Highland Homes (Radio Road) (applicant) for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act. The applicant requests the ITP to take the federally listed threatened sand skink (skinks) incidental to the construction of a mixed residential development and the associated clearing and infrastructure in Lake 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 91 Issue 43 (Thursday, March 5, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 43 (Thursday, March 5, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10816-10817]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-04371]
[[Page 10816]]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2025-1364; FXES11140400000-267-FF04EF4000]
Receipt of Incidental Take Permit Application and Proposed
Habitat Conservation Plan for Sand Skink and Bluetail Mole Skink; Lake
County, FL; Categorical Exclusion
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments and information.
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SUMMARY: We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce receipt
of an application from Clayton Properties Group, Inc. dba Highland
Homes (Radio Road) (applicant) for an incidental take permit (ITP)
under the Endangered Species Act. The applicant requests the ITP to
take the federally listed threatened sand skink (skinks) incidental to
the construction of a mixed residential development and the associated
clearing and infrastructure in Lake 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 April 6,
2026.
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-2025-1364 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-2025-1364.
<bullet> U.S. mail: Public Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No.
FWS-R4-ES-2025-1364; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: PRB/3W; 5275
Leesburg Pike; Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Erin Gawera, Jacksonville Ecological
Services Field Office, by phone at 904-404-2464 or via email at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#7510071c1b2a121402100714351302065b121a03"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="781d0a1116271f190f1d0a19381e0f0b561f170e">[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 Clayton Properties Group, Inc.
dba Highland Homes (Radio Road) (applicant) for an incidental take
permit (ITP), also known as a section 10(a)(1)(B) permit, 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 federally listed
threatened sand skink (Neopseps (=Plestiodon) reynoldsi) (skinks)
incidental to the construction of a mixed residential development and
the associated clearing and infrastructure in Lake 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
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, which is also available for public review.
Proposed Project
The applicant requests a 10-year ITP to take skinks via the
conversion of approximately 2.08 acres (ac) of occupied nesting,
foraging, and sheltering skink habitat incidental to the construction
and operation of a mixed residential development on 47.92 acs, on
Parcel Alternate Key #s 1734801, 3889883, 1274184 and a portion of
1274168 in Section 14, Township 19 South, Range 25 East, Lake County,
Florida. The applicant proposes to mitigate for take of the skinks by
purchasing credits equivalent to 4.16 ac of skink-occupied habitat
within the Lake Wales Ridge Conservation Bank or another Service
approved skink 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 a mixed residential development and the associated
clearing and infrastructure, would have a minor effect on 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 PER16366737 to Clayton Properties Group, Inc. dba
Highland Homes (Radio Road).
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
[[Page 10817]]
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 (43 CFR part
46).
Jose Rivera,
Acting Manager, Division of Environmental Review, Florida Ecological
Services Field Office.
[FR Doc. 2026-04371 Filed 3-4-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P
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