Notice2026-08579
Incidental Take Permit Application for the Desert Tortoise; Draft Habitat Conservation Plan and Draft Environmental Assessment; CalPortland-Oro Grande Quarries and Cement Plant, San Bernardino County, CA
Primary source
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Published
May 4, 2026
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentFish and Wildlife Service
Abstract
We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), have received an application from CalPortland Company (CalPortland) for an incidental take permit under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended. The permit would authorize take of the federally threatened desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) incidental to otherwise lawful activities associated with continuing vested mining activities at CalPortland's Oro Grande Mine. We invite comments on the applicant's draft habitat conservation plan and the draft environmental assessment, which we have prepared pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act. We will take comments into consideration before deciding whether to issue an incidental take permit.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 85 (Monday, May 4, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 85 (Monday, May 4, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24005-24006]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-08579]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[Docket No. FWS-R8-ES-2025-0054; FXES11140800000-267-FF08ENVS00]
Incidental Take Permit Application for the Desert Tortoise; Draft
Habitat Conservation Plan and Draft Environmental Assessment;
CalPortland--Oro Grande Quarries and Cement Plant, San Bernardino
County, CA
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for public comments.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), have
received an application from CalPortland Company (CalPortland) for an
incidental take permit under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as
amended. The permit would authorize take of the federally threatened
desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) incidental to otherwise lawful
activities associated with continuing vested mining activities at
CalPortland's Oro Grande Mine. We invite comments on the applicant's
draft habitat conservation plan and the draft environmental assessment,
which we have prepared pursuant to the National Environmental Policy
Act. We will take comments into consideration before deciding whether
to issue an incidental take permit.
DATES: Submitting Comments: We must receive any written comments on or
before June 3, 2026.
To ensure your comment is received and considered, you must submit
it using one of the methods identified in the ADDRESSES section of this
document. Comments submitted through any method not authorized in this
document, or sent to an address not listed here, will not be
considered.
ADDRESSES:
Obtaining Documents: The application, application supporting
materials, and any comments and other materials that we receive will be
available for public inspection at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> in
Docket No. FWS-R8-ES-2025-0054.
Submitting Comments: All submissions must include the docket number
[FWS-R8-ES-2025-0054] this document. You must submit comments using one
of the following methods:
<bullet> Online: <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a>. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments on Docket No. FWS-R8-ES-2025-0054.
<bullet> U.S. mail: Public Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No.
FWS-R8-ES-2025-0054; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: PRB/3W, 5275
Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.
Comments submitted through any method not authorized in this
document, or sent to an address not listed here, will not be
considered. We will not accept comments via email, fax, or hand
delivery. We are not required to consider comments that are submitted
after the comment period ends or that are submitted via a method
outside of these instructions. Comments containing profanity,
vulgarity, threats, or other inappropriate content will not be
considered.
We will post all comments at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>. You may
request that we withhold personal identifying information from public
review; however, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. See
Request for Public Comments for more information.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brooke Su, Fish and Wildlife
Biologist, by email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#6d0f1f02020608321e182d0b1a1e430a021b"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="f89a8a9797939da78b8db89e8f8bd69f978e">[email protected]</span></a> or via phone at (760) 309-
7994. 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 have received an application from
CalPortland Company (applicant) for an incidental take permit under the
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et
seq.). The application addresses the potential take of the federally
threatened desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii), incidental to
otherwise lawful activities at the Oro Grande Quarries and Cement Plant
(project), as described in the applicant's draft habitat conservation
plan (HCP). The proposed project is located in the community of Oro
Grande in San Bernardino County, California.
Background
Section 9 of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1538) and Federal regulations
promulgated pursuant to section 4(d) of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1533)
prohibit the take of endangered and threatened animals without special
exemption. Under section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1539), we
may issue permits to authorize take of listed fish and wildlife species
that is incidental to, and not the purpose of, carrying out an
otherwise lawful activity. Regulations governing permits for endangered
and threatened species are set forth in title 50 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (CFR) at part 17, sections 17.22 and 17.32.
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et
seq.) requires Federal agencies to analyze their proposed actions to
determine whether the actions may significantly affect the human
environment. The Federal action in this case is the Service's proposed
issuance of an incidental take permit for the federally threatened
desert tortoise. In the NEPA analysis, we identify the reasonably
foreseeable effects, as well as proposed mitigation for effects, on
environmental resources within our regulatory authority that could be
caused by implementation of the proposed action and alternatives.
Permit Application
The applicant has submitted a draft HCP that describes the proposed
activities for which they are requesting incidental take authorization,
such as continued cement manufacturing and vested mining activities. To
minimize the risk of incidental take, the applicant would employ
authorized biologists to translocate desert tortoises to a safe
location offsite. To mitigate the impact of the incidental take, the
applicant proposes to purchase desert tortoise mitigation credits from
an approved conservation bank.
The draft HCP and the draft environmental assessment (EA) consider
alternatives to the proposed action, including a no action alternative.
The Service prepared a draft EA to evaluate the impacts of issuing
the proposed incidental take permit on the human environment,
consistent with the purpose and goals of NEPA and pursuant to the
Department of the Interior NEPA regulations (43 CFR part 46) and
Administration priorities and policies. Once completed, the Service
will make the final EA, mitigation measures, and Finding of No
Significant Impact (if determined appropriate) available to the public
using the NEPA Tracker tool that can be found at <a href="https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp/species-reports">https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp/species-reports</a>.
Public Comments
If you wish to comment on the draft habitat conservation plan and
draft environmental assessment, you may submit comments by one of the
methods listed in ADDRESSES.
Public Availability of Comments
All comments and materials we receive in response to this request
will become part of the decision record associated with this action.
[[Page 24006]]
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 comment via U.S. Mail that includes personal
identifying information, such as your address, phone number, or email
address, you should be aware that your entire comment, including your
personal identifying information, may be made publicly available at any
time. While you can ask us in your comments to withhold your personal
identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we
will be able to do so.
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 and the National Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 4321
et seq.) and its implementing regulations (43 CFR 46).
Brian Croft,
Field Supervisor, Palm Springs Fish and Wildlife Office, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2026-08579 Filed 5-1-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P
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