83 FR 40325 - Draft Environmental Assessment and Draft Habitat Conservation Plan; Receipt of an Application for an Incidental Take Permit, Headwaters Wind Farm, Randolph County, Indiana

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 157 (August 14, 2018)

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), have received an application from Headwaters Wind Farm LLC (applicant), for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA), for its Headwaters Wind Farm (Headwaters) (project). If approved, the ITP would be for a 27-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. 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 83, Number 157 (Tuesday, August 14, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40325-40327]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-17485]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R3-ES-2018-N044; FXES11130300000-189-FF03E00000]


Draft Environmental Assessment and Draft Habitat Conservation 
Plan; Receipt of an Application for an Incidental Take Permit, 
Headwaters Wind Farm, Randolph County, Indiana

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), have 
received an application from Headwaters Wind Farm LLC (applicant), for 
an incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act of 
1973, as amended (ESA), for its Headwaters Wind Farm (Headwaters) 
(project). If approved, the ITP would be for a 27-year period and

[[Page 40326]]

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. 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 
September 14, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Document availability:
     Internet: You may obtain copies of the documents on the 
internet at https://www.fws.gov/midwest/endangered/permits/hcp/r3hcps.html.
     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, DEA, 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, Indiana 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; or Erik Olson, Fish and 
Wildlife Biologist, Ecological Services, Midwest Regional Office, U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service, 5600 American Blvd., West, Suite 990, 
Bloomington, MN 55437-1458; telephone: 612-713-5488.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We have received an application from 
Headwaters Wind Farm LLC (HWF) for an incidental take permit under the 
ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). If approved, the ITP would be for a 27-
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 Headwaters Wind Farm (Headwaters). The project consists of a wind-
powered electric generation facility located in an approximately 
53,808-acre area in Randolph County, Indiana. The draft HCP describes 
the following: (1) Biological goals and objectives of the HCP; (2) 
covered activities; (3) permit 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 rangewide; (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.
    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 HWF application is unusual in that the wind facility has been 
operational since 2014. The project includes 100 Vestas V110 2.0 
megawatt 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 Headwaters 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 in title 50 of the Code of Federal 
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 in 
our regulations, 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 Headwaters 
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 part 13 and Sec.  17.22. If the ITP

[[Page 40327]]

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 100 wind turbines 
and associated facilities (described below) for a period of 27 years in 
Randolph County, Indiana. The project consists of wind turbines, 
associated access roads, an underground and aboveground electrical 
collector system, one substation containing transformers that feed 
electricity into an existing 345-kilovolt (kV) electrical tie-in line, 
a 10-mile generator lead line, three permanent meteorological towers, 
and an operations and maintenance building. Project facilities and 
infrastructure are 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 Headwaters 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 and/or swarming habitat, and 
gating of an Indiana bat hibernacula. 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 and HCP 
Appendices), 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 their populations over the life of the ITP that are 
not addressed in the draft HCP or draft EA;
    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 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 100 turbines would be feathered from \1/2\ 
hour before sunset to \1/2\ hour after sunrise up to 5.0 meters per 
second (m/s) from March 15 through May 15 and up to 6.9 m/s from August 
1 through October 15. In addition, 10 turbines within 1,000 feet of 
suitable habitat would be feathered up to 6.9 m/s with the rest of the 
turbines feathered up to manufacturer's cut-in speed (3.0 m/s) from May 
16 through July 31. This curtailment regime would occur each year 
during the operational life (27 years) of Headwaters; (2) the 5.0 m/s 
Cut-In Speed (feathered) Alternative including implementation of the 
HCP and issuance of a 27-year ITP; (3) the 6.5 m/s Cut-In Speed 
(feathered) Alternative, including implementation of the HCP and 
issuance of a 27-year ITP; and (4) the 4.0 m/s Cut-In Speed (feathered) 
Alternative, including implementation of the HCP and issuance of a 27-
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 two additional alternatives that were considered 
but were eliminated from analysis 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 related to the draft 
HCP, DEA, or other supporting documents by one of the methods listed in 
ADDRESSES. We request that you send comments by only 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). Before including your address, phone number, 
email address, or other personal identifying information in your 
comment, 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 you comment to withhold your personal 
identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we 
will be able to do so.

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) and the 
NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4371 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (40 CFR 
1506.6; 43 CFR part 46).

    Dated: April 18, 2018.
Lori H. Nordstrom,
Assistant Regional Director, Ecological Services, Midwest Region.
[FR Doc. 2018-17485 Filed 8-13-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4333-15-P