81 FR 39947 - Draft Environmental Assessment, Draft Habitat Conservation Plan, and Draft Implementing Agreement; Receipt of an Application for an Incidental Take Permit, Wildcat Wind Farm, Madison and Tipton Counties, Indiana

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 118 (June 20, 2016)

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), have received an application from Wildcat Wind Farm I, LLC (applicant), for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA), for its Wildcat Wind Farm (Wildcat) (project). If approved, the ITP would be for a 28-year period and would authorize the incidental take of an endangered species, the Indiana bat, and a threatened species, the northern long-eared bat. The applicant has prepared a draft habitat conservation plan (HCP) that describes the actions and measures that the applicant would implement to avoid, minimize, and mitigate incidental take of the Indiana bat and northern long-eared bat. The ITP application also includes a draft implementing agreement (IA). We also announce the availability of a draft Environmental Assessment (DEA), which has been prepared in response to the permit application in accordance with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). We request public comment on the application and associated documents.

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 118 (Monday, June 20, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39947-39949]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-14566]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R3-ES-2016-N089; FF03E00000-FXES11120300000-167]


Draft Environmental Assessment, Draft Habitat Conservation Plan, 
and Draft Implementing Agreement; Receipt of an Application for an 
Incidental Take Permit, Wildcat Wind Farm, Madison and Tipton Counties, 
Indiana

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), have 
received an application from Wildcat Wind Farm I, LLC (applicant), for 
an incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act of 
1973, as amended (ESA), for its Wildcat Wind Farm (Wildcat) (project). 
If approved, the ITP would be for a 28-year period and would authorize 
the incidental take of an endangered species, the Indiana bat, and a 
threatened species, the northern long-eared bat. The applicant has 
prepared a draft habitat conservation plan (HCP) that describes the 
actions and measures that the applicant would implement to avoid, 
minimize, and mitigate incidental take of the Indiana bat and northern 
long-eared bat. The ITP application also includes a draft implementing 
agreement (IA). We also announce the availability of a draft 
Environmental Assessment (DEA), which has been prepared in response to 
the permit application in accordance with the requirements of the 
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). We request public comment on 
the application and associated documents.

DATES: We will accept comments received or postmarked on or before 
August 4, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Document availability:
     Internet: You may obtain copies of the documents on the 
Internet at http://www.fws.gov/midwest/endangered/permits/hcp/wildcat/.
     U.S. Mail: You can obtain the documents by mail from the 
Indiana Ecological Services Field Office (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT).
     In-Person: To view hard copies of the documents in person, 
go to one of the Ecological Services Offices (8 a.m. to 4 p.m.) listed 
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
    Comment submission: In your comment, please specify whether your 
comment addresses the draft HCP, draft EA, or draft IA, or any 
combination of the aforementioned documents, or other supporting 
documents. You may submit written comments by one of the following 
methods:
     Electronically: Submit by email to [email protected].
     By hard copy: Submit by U.S. mail or hand-delivery to U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service; Bloomington Ecological Services Field 
Office; 620 S. Walker Street; Bloomington, IN 47403.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Scott Pruitt, Field Supervisor, 
Bloomington, Indiana, Ecological Services Field Office, U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service, 620 South Walker Street, Bloomington, IN 47403; 
telephone: 812-334-4261, extension 214.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We have received an application from Wildcat 
Wind Farm I LLC (WWF) for an incidental take permit under the ESA (16 
U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). If approved, the ITP would be for a 28-year 
period and would authorize incidental take of the endangered Indiana 
bat (Myotis sodalis) and the threatened northern long-eared bat (Myotis 
septentrionalis).
    The applicant has prepared a draft HCP that covers the operation of 
the Wildcat Wind Farm (Wildcat). The project consists of a wind-powered 
electric generation facility located in an approximately 24,434-acre 
area in Madison and Tipton Counties, Indiana. The draft HCP describes 
the following: (1) Biological goals and objectives of the HCP; (2) 
covered activities; (3) permit

[[Page 39948]]

duration; (4) project area; (5) alternatives to the taking that were 
considered; (5) public participation; (6) life history of the Indiana 
bat and northern long-eared bat; (6) quantification of the take for 
which authorization is requested; (7) assessment of direct and indirect 
effects of the taking on the Indiana bat within the Midwest Recovery 
Unit (as delineated in the 2007 Indiana Bat Draft Recovery Plan, 
Service) and rangewide; (8) assessment of direct and indirect effects 
of the taking on the northern long-eared bat within the Service's 
Midwest region and range wide; (9) conservation program consisting of 
avoidance and minimization measures, mitigation, monitoring, and 
adaptive management; (10) funding for the HCP; (11) procedures to deal 
with changed and unforeseen circumstances; and (12) methods for ITP 
amendments.
    In addition to the draft HCP, the applicant has prepared a draft IA 
to document the responsibilities of the parties. The Service invites 
comment on the IA as well as the applicant's HCP.
    Under the NEPA (43 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and the ESA, the Service 
announces that we have gathered the information necessary to:
    1. Determine the impacts and formulate alternatives for an EA 
related to:
    a. Issuance of an ITP to the applicant for the take of the Indiana 
bat and the northern long-eared bat, and
    b. Implementation of the associated HCP; and
    2. Evaluate the application for ITP issuance, including the HCP, 
which provides measures to minimize and mitigate the effects of the 
proposed incidental take of the Indiana bat and the northern long-eared 
bat.

Background

    The WWF application is unusual in that the wind facility has been 
operational since 2012. The project includes 125 GE 1.6-megawatt (MW) 
wind turbines and has a total energy capacity of 200 MW. The need for 
the proposed action (i.e., issuance of an ITP) is based on the 
potential that operation of the Wildcat Wind Farm could result in take 
of Indiana bats and northern long-eared bats.
    The HCP provides a detailed conservation plan to ensure that the 
incidental take caused by the operation of the project will not 
appreciably reduce the likelihood of the survival and recovery of the 
Indiana bat and northern long-eared bat, and provides mitigation to 
fully offset the impact of the taking. Further, the HCP provides a 
long-term monitoring and adaptive management strategy to ensure that 
the ITP terms are satisfied, and to account for changed and unforeseen 
circumstances.

Purpose and Need for Action

    In accordance with NEPA, the Service has prepared an EA to analyze 
the impacts to the human environment that would occur if the requested 
ITP were issued and the associated HCP were implemented.

Proposed Action

    Section 9 of the ESA prohibits the ``taking'' of threatened and 
endangered species. However, provided certain criteria are met, the 
Service is authorized to issue permits under section 10(a)(1)(B) of the 
ESA for take of federally listed species when, among other things, such 
a taking is incidental to, and not the purpose of, otherwise lawful 
activities. Under the ESA, the term ``take'' means to harass, harm, 
pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect endangered 
and threatened species, or to attempt to engage in any such conduct. 
Our implementing regulations define ``harm'' as an act which actually 
kills or injures wildlife, and such act may include significant habitat 
modification or degradation that results in death or injury to listed 
species by significantly impairing essential behavioral patterns, 
including breeding, feeding, or sheltering (50 CFR 17.3). Harass, as 
defined, means ``an intentional or negligent act or omission which 
creates the likelihood of injury to wildlife by annoying it to such an 
extent as to significantly disrupt normal behavioral patterns which 
include, but are not limited to, breeding, feeding, or sheltering'' (50 
CFR 17.3).
    The HCP analyzes, and the ITP would cover, take from harassment and 
harm, and killing of bats due to the operation of the Wildcat project. 
If issued, the ITP would authorize incidental take consistent with the 
applicant's HCP and the ITP. To issue the ITP, the Service must find 
that the application, including its HCP, satisfies the criteria of 
section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA and the Service's implementing 
regulations at 50 CFR parts 13 and 17.22. If the ITP is issued, the 
applicant would receive assurances under the Service's No Surprises 
policy, as codified at 50 CFR 17.22(b)(5).
    The applicant proposes to operate a maximum of 125 wind turbines 
and associated facilities (described below) for a period of 28 years in 
Madison and Tipton Counties, Indiana. The project will consist of wind 
turbines, associated access roads, an underground and aboveground 
electrical collector system, one substation containing transformers 
that feed electricity into an existing 138-kilovolt (kV) electrical 
tie-in line (an approximately 1.5-mile-long line that connects the 
substation to the switching station), three permanent meteorological 
towers, and an operations and maintenance building. Project facilities 
and infrastructure is placed on private land via long-term easement 
agreements between the applicant and respective landowners.
    The draft HCP describes the impacts of take associated with the 
operation of the Wildcat Wind Farm and includes measures to avoid, 
minimize, mitigate, and monitor the impacts of incidental take on the 
Indiana bat and the northern long-eared bat. The applicant will 
mitigate for take and associated impacts through protection and 
restoration of maternity colony habitat at one or more documented 
maternity colonies. Maternity colony habitat mitigation, including any 
restored habitat, will occur on private land and be permanently 
protected by restrictive covenants approved by the Service. Chapter 5 
of the HCP describes the Conservation Program, including details of 
avoidance and minimization measures, compensatory mitigation, and 
adaptive management that will limit and mitigate for the take of 
Indiana bats and northern long-eared bats.
    The Service is soliciting information regarding the adequacy of the 
HCP to avoid, minimize, mitigate, and monitor the proposed incidental 
take of the covered species and to provide for adaptive management. In 
compliance with section 10(c) of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1539(c)), the 
Service is making the ITP application materials available for public 
review and comment as described above.
    We invite comments and suggestions from all interested parties on 
the draft documents associated with the ITP application (HCP, HCP 
Appendices, and IA), and request that comments be as specific as 
possible. In particular, we request information and comments on the 
following topics:
    1. Whether adaptive management and monitoring provisions in the 
Proposed Action alternative are sufficient;
    2. Any threats to the Indiana bat and the northern long-eared bat 
that may influence its population over the life of the ITP that are not 
addressed in the draft HCP or draft EIS;
    3. Any new information on white-nose syndrome effects on the 
Indiana bat and the northern long-eared bat; and
    4. Any other information pertinent to evaluating the effects of the 
proposed

[[Page 39949]]

action on the Indiana bat and the northern long-eared bat.

Alternatives in the Draft EA

    The DEA contains an analysis of four alternatives: (1) No Action 
alternative, in which all 125 turbines would be feathered up to 5.0 
meters per second (m/s) from \1/2\ hour before sunset to \1/2\ hour 
after sunrise from March 15 through May 15, and all turbines would be 
feathered up to 6.9 m/s from \1/2\ hour before sunset to \1/2\ hour 
after sunrise from August 1 through October 15, the primary spring and 
fall migratory periods of the Indiana bat and the northern long-eared 
bat, each year during the operational life (27 years) of Wildcat; (2) 
the 5.0 m/s Cut-In Speed (feathered) Alternative including 
implementation of the HCP and Issuance of a 28-year ITP; (3) the 6.5 m/
s Cut-In Speed (feathered) Alternative, including implementation of the 
HCP and issuance of a 28-year ITP; and (4) the 4.0 m/s Cut-In Speed 
(Feathered) Alternative, including implementation of the HCP and 
Issuance of a 28-year ITP. The DEA considers the direct, indirect, and 
cumulative effects of the alternatives, including any measures under 
the Proposed Action alternative intended to minimize and mitigate such 
impacts. The DEA also identifies three additional alternatives that 
were considered but were eliminated from consideration as detailed in 
Section 3.4 of the DEA.
    The Service invites comments and suggestions from all interested 
parties on the content of the DEA. In particular, information and 
comments regarding the following topics are requested:
    1. The direct, indirect, or cumulative effects that implementation 
of any alternative could have on the human environment;
    2. Whether or not the significance of the impact on various aspects 
of the human environment has been adequately analyzed; and
    3. Any other information pertinent to evaluating the effects of the 
proposed action on the human environment.

Public Comments

    You may submit your comments and materials concerning the notice by 
one of the methods listed in ADDRESSES. We request that you send 
comments only by one of the methods described in ADDRESSES.
    Comments and materials we receive, as well as documents associated 
with the notice, will be available for public inspection by 
appointment, during normal business hours, at the Indiana Ecological 
Services Field Office in Bloomington, Indiana (see FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT).

Authority

    We provide this notice under section 10(c) of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 
1531 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (50 CFR 17.22), the NEPA 
(42 U.S.C. 4371 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (40 CFR 
1506.6; 43 CFR part 46), and the NHPA (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.) and its 
implementing regulations (36 CFR 800).

    Dated: May 25, 2016.
Lynn Lewis,
Assistant Regional Director, Ecological Services, Midwest Region.
[FR Doc. 2016-14566 Filed 6-17-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4310-55-P