[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 216 (Monday, November 9, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60368-60370]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-29902]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
Availability of an Environmental Assessment and Receipt of an
Application for an Incidental Take Permit for the Nuevo Energy Company/
Torch Operating Company Habitat Conservation Plan, Kern County, CA
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability and receipt of application.
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SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that Nuevo Energy Company
(Nuevo) and Torch Operating Company (Torch) have applied to the Fish
and Wildlife Service (Service) for an incidental take permit pursuant
to section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as
amended. The proposed permit would authorize the incidental take of 5
listed animal species and the future incidental take, should it become
necessary, of 4 listed plant species, 9 unlisted animal species, and 7
unlisted plant species, resulting from oil and gas production in Kern
County, California. The permit would be in effect for 30 years.
The Service also announces the availability of an Environmental
Assessment for the incidental take permit application. The application
includes the proposed Habitat Conservation Plan (Plan) fully describing
the proposed project and mitigation and the accompanying Implementing
Agreement. This notice is provided pursuant to section 10(a) of the
Endangered Species Act and National Environmental Policy Act
regulations (40 CFR 1506.6). All comments received, including names and
addresses, will become part of the official administrative record and
may be made available to the public.
DATES: Written comments on the permit application and Environmental
Assessment should be received on or before December 9, 1998.
ADDRESSES: Comments regarding the application or adequacy of the
Environmental Assessment, Habitat Conservation Plan, and Implementing
Agreement should be addressed to the Field Supervisor, Fish and
Wildlife Service, Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office, 3310 El Camino,
Suite 130, Sacramento, California 95821-6340. Individuals wishing
copies of the application or Environmental Assessment for review should
immediately contact the above office. Documents also will be available
for public inspection, by appointment, during normal business hours at
the above address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Susan Jones or Peter Cross, Sacramento
Fish and Wildlife Office, (916) 979-2728.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 9 of the Endangered Species Act and
Federal regulation prohibit the ``taking'' of fish and wildlife species
listed as endangered or threatened, respectively. That is, no one may
harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture or
collect listed animal species, or attempt to engage in such conduct (16
U.S.C. 1538). However, the Service may, under limited circumstances,
issue permits to take listed fish and wildlife species incidental to,
and not the purpose of, otherwise lawful activities. Regulations
governing permits for threatened species are promulgated in 50 CFR
17.32; regulations governing permits for endangered species are
promulgated in 50 CFR 17.22.
Section 9 of the Endangered Species Act generally does not prohibit
take of federally listed plants on private lands unless the take or
action resulting in take would violate State law. Nuevo/Torch have
requested a permit for plants to the extent that their take would be a
violation of the Endangered Species Act. Impacts to listed plants also
must be addressed in the intra-Service consultation required pursuant
to section 7(a) of the Endangered Species Act.
Background
The Plan addresses parcels totaling approximately 21,800 acres in
western Kern County to which Nuevo/Torch holds various rights. The Plan
does not address Nuevo/Torch mineral interests on Bureau of Land
Management land. While the Plan Area covered by the Nuevo/Torch Plan is
21,800 acres, Nuevo/Torch estimates that only about 1,700 acres will be
subject to permanent disturbance. The proposed activities addressed by
the Plan include oil and gas production operations; construction,
maintenance and/or abandonment of oil field equipment; maintenance and
inspection of oil field equipment as required by certain regulatory
agencies; and any activity required to mitigate an emergency situation,
or effects of an emergency situation.
The listed species addressed in the proposed permit are the giant
kangaroo rat (Dipodomys ingens), Tipton kangaroo rat (Dipodomys
nitratoides nitratoides), blunt-nosed leopard lizard (Gambelia silus),
San Joaquin kit fox (Vulpes macrotis mutica), and the California condor
(Gymnogyps californianus), federally listed as endangered. The proposed
permit also would authorize future incidental take of the San Joaquin
antelope squirrel (Ammospermophilus nelsoni), short-nosed kangaroo rat
(Dipodomys nitratoides brevinasus), western burrowing owl (Athene
cunicularia hypugea), San Joaquin LeConte's thrasher (Toxostoma
lecontei macmillanorum), mountain plover (Charadrius montanus),
California horned lizard (Phynosoma coronatum frontale), San Joaquin
coachwhip
[[Page 60369]]
(Masticophis flagellum ruddocki), Tulare grasshopper mouse (Onychomys
torridus tularensis), and San Joaquin pocket mouse (Perognathus
inornatus inornatus), currently unlisted species, should any of them
become listed under the Endangered Species Act in the future while the
permit is in effect. Nuevo/Torch has not requested authority under the
Endangered Species Act for direct take of California condor. Rather,
the applicants have requested that authority be given for minimal
harassment of California condors that may inadvertently result if
condors ever occur in the Plan Area.
Additionally, the Plan addresses avoidance, minimization, and
mitigation for impacts to listed and unlisted plant species. These
species are the Kern mallow (Eremalche kernensis), San Joaquin woolly-
threads (Lembertia congdonii), and Bakersfield cactus (Opuntia
basilaris treleasei), federally listed as endangered, and Hoover's
eriastrum (Eriastrum hooveri), federally listed as threatened. The
unlisted plant species are the recurved larkspur (Delphinium
recurvatum), slough thistle (Cirsium crassicaule), oil neststraw
(Stylocline citroleum), heartscale (Atriplex cordulata), Lost Hills
crownscale (Atriplex vallicola), lesser saltscale (Atriplex minuscula),
and brittlescale (Atriplex depressa). Collectively the listed and
unlisted animal and plant species addressed in the Plan are referred to
as the ``covered species'' for the Nuevo/Torch lands.
The Nuevo/Torch Plan is a three-fold program which includes: (1)
Compensation, (2) avoidance and minimization of take, and (3)
management of conservation lands. The compensation strategy for take
resulting from the permanent disturbance of habitat is based on
dividing Nuevo/Torch lands into four zones by a combination of habitat
quality and land use. These zones are the Oil Zone, White Zone, Green
Zone, and Red Zone, and are based on conservation value. The Oil Zone
includes land within the administrative oil and gas field boundaries
used by the California Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources.
Within the Oil Zone, there is an inner area, known as the Oil Zone-
Productive Area, where the currently producing wells are located and,
because of the high intensity of production, where habitat value is
generally low. That part of the Oil Zone which is outside the Oil Zone-
Productive Area is known as the Oil Zone-Step-out Area. The Oil Zone-
Step-out Area, where future oil development may occur, has much more
limited current development and generally higher habitat value than the
Oil Zone-Productive Area. The White Zone includes agricultural land and
other areas with low habitat value; the Green Zone includes land with
moderate habitat value that provides valuable linkage and corridor
routes; and the Red Zone includes land with high habitat value.
While the habitat value of some Oil Zone land is such that it could
be classified as Green or Red Zone land, the Oil Zone designation
overrides the habitat value of the land, and the land is considered Oil
Zone land for purposes of the Nuevo/Torch Plan. Most of the proposed
activities covered by the Nuevo/Torch Plan are anticipated to take
place in the Oil Zone-Productive Area. No compensation will be provided
for permanent disturbance in the Oil Zone-Productive Area. Compensation
for permanent disturbance in the Oil Zone-Step-out Area will be
provided at the same rate as for White Zone land.
Nuevo/Torch will compensate for permanent habitat disturbance
within the White, Green, and Red Zones by preserving high habitat value
Red Zone land in the Lokern Natural Area in perpetuity. Funds will be
set aside for initial improvements and long term care of preserve lands
as the land is set aside to compensate for specific projects. For lands
outside the Oil Zone, the Nuevo/Torch Plan assigns ``conservation
credits'' for each acre of land disturbed and each acre acquired for
preservation, based on the zone in which it is located. Lands in the
Red Zone are valued at 3 credits/acre, lands in the Green Zone are
valued at 2 credits/acre, and lands in the White Zone and the Oil Zone-
Step-out Area are valued at 1 credit/acre. Compensation will be
provided in a ratio of 3 acres of preserved land to every 1 acre of
disturbed land. For example, if one acre of Red Zone land is
permanently disturbed, then 3 acres of Red Zone land will be preserved
in perpetuity as compensation. If 1 acre of White Zone land is
permanently disturbed, then one third of an acre of Red Zone land will
be preserved in perpetuity as compensation.
Nuevo/Torch estimates that 1,700 acres of habitat will be
permanently disturbed, and that 81 percent of that disturbance will be
in the Oil Zone-Productive Area. The remaining 29 percent of the
disturbance will affect 493 acres, and be compensated for with a total
of 833 Red Zone acres.
Nuevo/Torch will designate properties in the Lokern Natural Area as
a preserve for use as compensation for permanent habitat disturbance.
Three properties controlled by Nuevo/Torch in the Red Zone, the
Mallett, Kimble, and Ransower-Vitelle properties, total 839.9 acres and
would be set aside as preservation land as projects occur that require
compensation. Nuevo/Torch will manage all three properties as preserve
land upon initiation of the Nuevo/Torch Plan.
Nuevo/Torch will implement extensive avoidance and minimization
measures which address both animal and plant species in all zones
except the Oil Zone. Strict avoidance measures for covered species will
be enforced by the Nuevo/Torch Environmental Department. Specific take
avoidance measures are presented in Section 5 of the Nuevo/Torch Plan.
Nuevo/Torch also will follow the Best Management Practices outlined in
Section 5 in order to minimize effects on wildlife. In addition, Nuevo/
Torch will conduct annual monitoring of both disturbed land and
preservation land and provide reports to the Service and the California
Department of Fish and Game.
Environmental Assessment
The Environmental Assessment considers the environmental
consequences of five alternatives. Alternative 1, the proposed action,
consists of the issuance of an incidental take permit to Nuevo/Torch,
and implementation of the Plan and its Implementing Agreement.
Alternative 2 consists of development of oil and gas facilities on the
proposed preserve lands in the Lokern Natural Area. The level of
incidental take under Alternative 2 would likely be greater than under
the proposed action. Alternative 3 consists of development of oil
production facilities on an alternative site which would have listed
species concerns similar to the proposed action. Because of the
presence of listed species on the lands associated with alternatives 2
and 3, an incidental take permit would be required for selection and
implementation of either alternative. Alternative 4 consists of waiting
until the Kern County Valley Floor Habitat Conservation Plan is
approved. Under Alternative 5, the No Action Alternative, the Service
would not issue an incidental take permit.
This notice is provided pursuant to section 10(a) of the Endangered
Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969
regulations (40 CFR 1506.6). The Service will evaluate the application,
associated documents, and comments submitted thereon to determine
whether the application meets the requirements of the National
Environmental Policy Act regulations and section 10(a) of the
Endangered Species Act. If it is determined that the requirements are
met, a permit will be
[[Page 60370]]
issued for the incidental take of the listed species. The final permit
decision will be made no sooner than 30 days from the date of this
notice.
Dated: November 3, 1998.
Michael J. Spear,
Manager, California/Nevada Operations Office, Fish and Wildlife
Service, Region 1, Sacramento, California.
[FR Doc. 98-29902 Filed 11-6-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P
