[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 9 (Friday, January 12, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1048-1049]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-71]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
Endangered and Threatened Species Permit Application
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notices of Availability and Intent to Issue Permit.
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Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS) on Proposed Issuance of an Incidental Take Permit for Desert
Tortoise in Washington County, Utah and Notice of Intent to Issue an
Incidental Take Permit for Desert Tortoise to Washington County, Utah.
SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that the Final Environmental
Impact Statement (EIS) on the proposed issuance of an incidental take
permit for desert tortoises in Washington County, Utah is available.
Publication of the Record of Decision and issuance of the permit will
occur no sooner than 30 days from this notice. This notice is provided
pursuant to section 10(c) of the Act and National Environmental Policy
Regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).
ADDRESSES: Requests for this final EIS should be sent to the Assistant
Field Supervisor, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, 145 East
1300 South Street, Suite 404, Salt Lake City, Utah 84115. The document
will also be available for public inspection by appointment during
business hours at the above address. A letter announcing availability
of the Final EIS has been sent to all agencies and parties who
previously received notice of availability of the Draft EIS, and/or who
requested a copy of the Draft EIS.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Robert D. Williams, Assistant Field Supervisor (see ADDRESSES above)
(telephone (801) 524-5001, facsimile (801) 524-5021).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On April 2, 1990, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service)
issued a final rule (55 FR 12178) determining the desert tortoise
(Gopherus agassizii) a threatened species under the Endangered Species
Act of 1973, as amended (Act). Because of its listing as a threatened
species, the desert tortoise is protected by the Act's prohibition
against ``taking.'' The Act defines ``take'' to mean: to harass, harm,
pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture or collect, or to
attempt to engage in such conduct. ``Harm'' is further defined by
regulation as any act that kills or injures wildlife, including
significant habitat modification or degradation where it actually kills
or injures wildlife by significantly impairing essential behavioral
patterns, including breeding, feeding, or sheltering (50 CFR 17.3).
The Service, however, may issue permits to carry out otherwise
lawful activities involving take of endangered and threatened wildlife
under certain circumstances. Regulations governing permits are in 50
CFR 17.22, 17.23, and 17.32. For threatened species, such permits are
available for scientific purposes, enhancing the propagation or
survival of the species, economic hardship, zoological exhibition or
educational purposes, incidental taking, or special purposes consistent
with the purposes of the Act.
Washington County, Utah (Applicant) submitted an application to the
Service for a permit to incidentally take desert tortoise, pursuant to
section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Act, in association with various private
projects upcoming in Washington County, Utah. The proposed permit would
allow incidental take of desert tortoise for a period of 20 years,
resulting from development on up to 12,264 acres of private lands
within desert tortoise habitat within Washington County, Utah. The
permit application was received June 15, 1995, and is accompanied by
the Washington County Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP), which serves as
the Applicant's habitat conservation plan and details their proposed
measures to minimize, monitor, and mitigate impacts of the proposed
take on desert tortoise.
Under the Proposed Action, a section 10(a) permit would be issued
subject to terms and conditions of the HCP developed and proposed by
the Applicant. The incidental take estimated for this alternative is
within 12,264 acres of desert tortoise habitat and for desert tortoise
within 11,832 acres of potential habitat. Primary mitigation for take
of desert tortoise habitat would be acquisition and management of lands
that would be consolidated into a reserve primarily for desert tortoise
conservation. The reserve would encompass 61,022 acres, over half of
which would be desert tortoise habitat. The remaining acreage within
the reserve would provide habitat for other wildlife and plant species.
The reserve lands would be acquired through land purchases and
exchanges. Management of the reserve would include fencing reserve
boundaries; prohibiting specific activities in areas of high
sensitivity; acquiring all grazing permits in zones; managing all free-
roaming dogs and feral animals within the reserve; and enforcing all
Federal, State and local regulations within the reserve.
Also under the Proposed Action, the Applicant would be responsible
for conducting desert tortoise surveys in take areas prior to
development. If desert tortoises were found in these areas, a number of
them would be translocated by the Service during the first five years
of permit and HCP implementation. In addition, an environmental
education center would be created to help inform people about the
function and value of ecosystems found within Washington County.
Sources of permanent funding for the HCP would include a county-
wide fee assessed when building permits are issued. The fee would be
equal to 0.2 percent of total construction costs. A second county-wide
fee of $250.00 per acre would be assessed to developers of
subdivisions, condominiums, town homes, or planned unit developments.
It is estimated that over the 20-year period of the section 10(a)
permit, revenues from these fees would exceed $9 million. Of this
total, approximately $7 million would be expended on implementing
measures for desert tortoise preservation. The balance would be
expended on other threatened, endangered, and sensitive species within
Washington County. The Applicant is pursuing possible cost-sharing
agreements with the Utah Department of Transportation, Utah Division of
Wildlife Resources, and Service for additional funding for HCP
implementation. It is estimated that total cost of implementation of
the HCP would be $11,555,000.
To minimize impacts of take, the largest, contiguous reserve
practicable for desert tortoise conservation within
[[Page 1049]]
the Upper Virgin River Recovery Unit has been proposed. The reserve has
been designed to minimize take and to allow for implementation of
measures outlined in the Desert Tortoise Recovery Plan. Other methods
proposed by the Applicant to minimize incidental take include fencing,
law enforcement, environmental education, and desert tortoise
translocation.
Development of the Final EIS
The Final EIS has been developed by the Service. In the development
of the Final EIS, the Service initiated action to assure compliance
with the purpose and intent of the National Environmental Policy Act of
a 1969, as amended. Scoping activities were undertaken preparatory to
developing a Draft EIS with a variety of local, State, and Federal
entities. A Notice of Intent to prepare a Draft EIS was published
December 2, 1991 (56 FR 61259); a public Scoping meeting was held in
December 1991 with a public update meeting held on February 22, 1995;
and a Notice of Availability of a Draft EIS and Receipt of an
Application for an Incidental Take Permit for Desert Tortoise in
Washington County, Utah was published July 14, 1995 (60 FR 36305).
Potential consequences, in terms of adverse impacts and benefits
associated with the implementation of each alternative selected for
detailed analysis, were described in the Draft EIS. The Service
received 18 letters of comment on the Draft EIS which focused on
impacts on: (1) Desert tortoise due to proposed mitigation and
minimization measures, (2) threatened, endangered, and sensitive
species, (3) Virgin River flows, (4) multiple-use activities in areas
proposed as reserve, (5) private landowners, and (6) livestock grazing.
Appendix A of the Final EIS contains copies of all comments received
and responses to all comments received. The Final EIS was revised where
appropriate based on public comment and review. Issues and potential
consequences have remained identical from the Draft to the Final EIS.
Alternatives Analyzed in the Final EIS
Three alternatives have been developed for analysis in this EIS.
These alternatives include the NEPA-required No Action Alternative and
two action alternatives based on issuance of a section 10(a) permit.
Five other alternatives were eliminated from further analysis due to
their lack of feasibility.
Under the No Action Alternative (Alternative A), no HCP would be
prepared, and the Applicant would not pursue a section 10(a) permit.
Current project-by-project enforcement of the Act would continue,
resulting in individual section 7 and 10(a) permits and section 9
enforcement. No privately funded, large-scale implementation of the
Desert Tortoise Recovery Plan would be undertaken, and State and
Federal agencies would be responsible for implementing the proposed
Upper Virgin River Desert Wildlife Management Area.
Under the Proposed Action Alternative (Alternative B), a section
10(a) permit would be issued subject to terms and conditions of the HCP
that has been developed by the Applicant. See BACKGROUND for a
discussion of the Proposed Action.
Alternative C is similar to the Proposed Action; however, the
expected incidental take of desert tortoise habitat would be greater
and size of the reserve would be reduced. The area of incidental take
of desert tortoise habitat would be 15,094 acres, and size of the
reserve would be 44,504 acres. This smaller reserve does not meet
requirements outline in the Desert Tortoise Recovery Plan for the Upper
Virgin River Desert Wildlife Management Area. As stated in the Desert
Tortoise Recovery Plan, the proposed Desert Wildlife Management Area is
considered to be ``* * * too small to ensure adequate probability of
population persistence without careful management.'' The reserve would
be managed following guidelines of the Desert Tortoise Recovery Plan;
however, more intensive management would be required to allow
probability of desert tortoise population persistence within the
reserve.
The underlying goal of the proposed action is to develop and
implement a program designed to ensure the continued existence of
desert tortoise in the Upper Virgin River Recovery Unit/Desert Wildlife
Management Area/habitat reserve, while resolving potential conflicts
that may arise from otherwise lawful private projects. The Washington
County HCP creates an ongoing administration for the purposes of
minimizing, mitigating, and monitoring impacts on the desert tortoise,
as well as a framework for providing protection for candidate and
sensitive species. The Service intends to issue a section 10 incidental
take permit for desert tortoise to Washington County, Utah, as outlined
in their permit applicant and HCP.
Authority
The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act of
1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. et seq.) and the National Environmental
Policy Act of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).
Dated: December 15, 1995.
Ralph O. Margenweck,
Regional Director, Denver, Colorado.
[FR Doc. 96-71 Filed 1-11-96; 8:45 am]
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