83 FR 61160 - Habitat Conservation Plan and Draft Environmental Assessment, North Allegheny Wind Facility, Incidental Take Permit Application for Indiana Bat, Blair and Cambria Counties, Pennsylvania

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 229 (November 28, 2018)

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the availability of several documents related to an incidental take permit (ITP) application under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). We have received an application from North Allegheny Wind, LLC (NAW) for a 25- year ITP for take of the federally endangered Indiana bat incidental to otherwise lawful activities associated with operation of its North Allegheny Wind Facility, an existing 35-turbine wind farm in Blair and Cambria Counties, Pennsylvania. NAW has proposed a conservation program to minimize and mitigate for the impacts of the incidental take as described in its Draft North Allegheny Wind Indiana Bat Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP). Pursuant to the ESA and the National Environmental Policy Act, we announce the availability of NAW's ITP application, including its HCP, and the Service's draft environmental assessment, for public review and comment. We provide this notice to seek comments from the public and Federal, Tribal, State, and local governments.

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 229 (Wednesday, November 28, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61160-61161]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-25916]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R5-ES-2014-0047; FXES11160500000-189-FF05E00000]


Habitat Conservation Plan and Draft Environmental Assessment, 
North Allegheny Wind Facility, Incidental Take Permit Application for 
Indiana Bat, Blair and Cambria Counties, Pennsylvania

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability; notice of receipt of permit 
application; request for public comments.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the 
availability of several documents related to an incidental take permit 
(ITP) application under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). We have 
received an application from North Allegheny Wind, LLC (NAW) for a 25-
year ITP for take of the federally endangered Indiana bat incidental to 
otherwise lawful activities associated with operation of its North 
Allegheny Wind Facility, an existing 35-turbine wind farm in Blair and 
Cambria Counties, Pennsylvania. NAW has proposed a conservation program 
to minimize and mitigate for the impacts of the incidental take as 
described in its Draft North Allegheny Wind Indiana Bat Habitat 
Conservation Plan (HCP). Pursuant to the ESA and the National 
Environmental Policy Act, we announce the availability of NAW's ITP 
application, including its HCP, and the Service's draft environmental 
assessment, for public review and comment. We provide this notice to 
seek comments from the public and Federal, Tribal, State, and local 
governments.

DATES: We will accept comments received or postmarked on or before 
December 28, 2018. Comments submitted electronically using 
regulations.gov (see ADDRESSES) must be received by 11:59 p.m. Eastern 
Standard Time on the closing date.

ADDRESSES: Obtaining documents:
     Internet: You may obtain copies of the draft HCP and draft 
environmental assessment (EA) online in Docket No. FWS-R5-ES-2014-0047 
at http://www.regulations.gov.
     U.S. Mail: Copies of the draft documents are available 
from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Pennsylvania Field Office, 110 
Radnor Road, Suite 101, State College, PA 16801. Please note that your 
request is in reference to the NAW HCP.
     In-person: Copies of the draft documents are available for 
public review during regular business hours at the Pennsylvania Field 
Office, 110 Radnor Road, Suite 101, State College, PA 16801. Call 814-
234-4090 to make an appointment.
    Submitting Comments: You may submit comments by one of the 
following methods:
     Online: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments on Docket No. FWS-R5-ES-2018-0047.
     U.S. mail or hand-delivery: Public Comments Processing, 
Attn: Docket No. FWS-R5-ES-2018-0047; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; 
MS: BPHC; 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.
    We will post all comments on http://www.regulations.gov. This 
generally means that we will post any personal information you provide 
online (see Public Availability of Comments under SUPPLEMENTARY 
INFORMATION).
    We request that you send comments by only the methods described 
above.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert Anderson, by phone at 814-234-
4090, x7447, or by mail at Pennsylvania Field Office, U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service, 110 Radnor Road, Suite 101, State College, PA 16801.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    Section 9 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA; 
16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), and its implementing regulations prohibit the 
``take'' of animal species listed as endangered or threatened. Take is 
defined under the ESA as to ``harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, 
kill, trap, capture, or collect listed animal species, or to attempt to 
engage in such conduct'' (16 U.S.C. 1538). However, under section 10(a) 
of the ESA, we may issue permits to authorize incidental take of listed 
species. ``Incidental take'' is defined by the ESA as take that is 
incidental to, and not the purpose of, carrying out an otherwise lawful 
activity. Regulations governing incidental take permits for endangered 
and threatened species, respectively, are found in the Code of Federal 
Regulations at 50 CFR 17.22 and 50 CFR 17.32.

Applicant's Proposed Project

    North Allegheny Wind, LLC (NAW) is seeking a permit for the 
incidental take of the federally endangered Indiana bat (Myotis 
sodalis) for a term of 25 years. Incidental take of this species may 
occur due to operation of 35 wind turbines. The proposed conservation 
strategy in the applicant's proposed HCP is designed to avoid, 
minimize, and mitigate the impacts of the covered activity on the 
covered species. The biological goals and objectives are to minimize 
potential take of Indiana bats through on-site minimization measures 
and to provide habitat conservation measures for Indiana bats to offset 
any unavoidable impacts during operation of the project.
    The HCP provides on-site avoidance and minimization measures, which 
include turbine operational adjustments. The estimated level of Indiana 
bat take from the project is four Indiana bats and an estimated 
reproductive potential of 3.2 bats over the 25-year project duration. 
To provide a conservation benefit to the Indiana bat, NAW will fund and 
implement one or more of the following types of mitigation projects to 
meet the mitigation needs of the Indiana bat: Protection of a 
hibernaculum, as well as surrounding buffer land necessary to ensure 
that the protection of the hibernaculum is successful; Protection of 
land that functions as summer habitat for one or more maternity 
colonies; and protection of summer and/or swarming habitat near a 
hibernaculum.

National Environmental Policy Act

    The issuance of an ITP is a Federal action that triggers the need 
for compliance with NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). We have prepared a 
draft EA that analyzes the environmental impacts on the human 
environment resulting from three alternatives: A no-action alternative, 
the proposed action, and an alternative consisting of feathering below 
the manufacturer's cut-in wind speed.

Next Steps

    We will evaluate the plan and comments we receive to determine 
whether the permit application meets the requirements of section 10(a) 
of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). We will also evaluate whether 
issuance of a section 10(a)(1)(B) permit would comply with section 7 of 
the ESA by conducting an intra-Service section 7 consultation. We will 
use the results of this consultation, in combination with the above 
findings, in our final analysis to determine whether to issue a permit. 
If the requirements are met, we will issue the permit to the applicant.

[[Page 61161]]

Public Comments

    The Service invites the public to comment on the proposed HCP and 
draft EA during a 30-day public comment period (see DATES). You may 
submit comments by one of the methods shown under ADDRESSES.

Public Availability of Comments

    We will post on http://regulations.gov all public comments and 
information received electronically or via hardcopy. All comments 
received, including names and addresses, will become part of the 
administrative record associated with this action. 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 request in your 
comment that we withhold your personal identifying information from 
public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. All 
submissions from organizations or businesses, and from individuals 
identifying themselves as representatives or officials of organizations 
or businesses, will be made available for public disclosure in their 
entirety.

Authority

    This notice is provided pursuant to section 10(c) of the ESA (16 
U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and NEPA regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).

    Dated: June 28, 2018.
Spencer Simon,
Acting Assistant Regional Director, Ecological Services, Northeast 
Region.

    Editorial note: THIS DOCUMENT WAS RECEIVED AT THE OFFICE OF THE 
FEDERAL REGISTER ON NOVEMBER 23, 2018.

[FR Doc. 2018-25916 Filed 11-27-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4333-15-P