SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce receipt of an application from Orange County Parks and Recreation Division (Horizon West Regional Park, applicant) for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). The applicant requests the ITP to take federally listed sand skinks ( Neoseps reynoldsi) (skink) incidental to the construction and operation of a recreational park in Orange County, Florida. We request public comment on the application, which includes the applicant's habitat conservation plan (HCP), and on the Service's preliminary determination that this proposed ITP qualifies as low effect, and may qualify for a categorical exclusion pursuant to the Council on Environmental Quality's National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations (40 CFR 1501.4), the Department of the Interior's (DOI) NEPA regulations (43 CFR 46), and the DOI's Departmental Manual (516 DM 8.5(C)(2)). To make this preliminary determination, we prepared a draft environmental action statement and low-effect screening form, both of which are also available for public review.

Proposed Project

The applicant requests a 5-year ITP to take skinks via the conversion of approximately 11.73 acres (ac) of occupied nesting, foraging, and sheltering skink habitat incidental to the construction and operation of a recreational park on 40.65 acres within a 211.90-ac site, Parcel #272309000000006 in Sections 16, 17, and 21, Township 23 South, Range 27 East, Orange County, Florida. The applicant proposes to mitigate for take of the skinks by purchasing credits equivalent to 23.46 ac of skink-occupied habitat within the Lake Livingston Conservation Bank or another Service-approved conservation bank. The Service would require the applicant to purchase the credits prior to engaging in any construction phase of the project.

Our Preliminary Determination

The Service has made a preliminary determination that the applicant's proposed project, including the construction of the buildings and associated infrastructure ( e.g., electric, water, and sewer lines), would individually and cumulatively have a minor effect on the skinks and the environment. Therefore, we have preliminarily determined that the proposed ESA section 10(a)(1)(B) permit would be a low-effect ITP that individually or cumulatively would have a minor effect on the sand skink and may qualify for application of a categorical exclusion pursuant to the Council on Environmental Quality's NEPA regulations, DOI's NEPA regulations, and the DOI Departmental Manual. A low-effect incidental take permit is one that would result in (1) minor or nonsignificant effects on species covered in the HCP; (2) nonsignificant effects on the human environment; and (3) impacts that, when added together with the impacts of other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable actions, would not result in significant cumulative effects to the human environment.

Next Steps

The Service will evaluate the application and the comments to determine whether to issue the requested permit. We will also conduct an intra-Service consultation pursuant to section 7 of the ESA to evaluate the effects of the proposed take. After considering the preceding and other matters, we will determine whether the permit issuance criteria of section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA have been met. If met, the Service will issue ITP number PER 3877804 to Orange County Parks and Recreation Division (Horizon West Regional Park).

Public Availability of Comments

Before including your address, phone number, email address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, be aware that your entire comment, including your personal identifying information, may be made available to the public. While you may request that we withhold your personal identifying information, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.

Authority

The Service provides this notice under section 10(c) of the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (50 CFR 17.32) and the National Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (40 CFR 1500-1508 and 43 CFR 46).

88 FR 72776