Document

Receipt of Incidental Take Permit Application and Proposed Habitat Conservation Plan for Woodward 46 Specific Plan Project, City of San Marcos, CA; Categorical Exclusion

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce receipt of an application from Cornerstone Communities, LLC (applicant) for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the ...

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Department of the Interior

Fish and Wildlife Service

[Docket No. FWS-R8-ES-2026-2971; FXES11140800000-267-FF08ECAR00]

AGENCY:

Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice of availability; request for comments.

SUMMARY:

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce receipt of an application from Cornerstone Communities, LLC (applicant) for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act. The applicant requests the ITP to take the federally threatened coastal California gnatcatcher incidental to construction of the Woodward 46 Specific Plan Project, in the City of San Marcos, San Diego County, California. We request public comment on the application, which includes the applicant's proposed habitat conservation plan (HCP), and the Service's preliminary determination that the proposed permitting action may be eligible for a categorical exclusion pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Department of the Interior's (DOI) NEPA regulations, and the DOI NEPA Departmental Handbook. To make this preliminary determination, we prepared a joint draft environmental action statement and low-effect screening form, which is also available for public review. We invite comment from the public and local, State, Tribal, and Federal agencies.

DATES:

We must receive your written comments on or before October 13, 2026.

ADDRESSES:

Obtaining Documents: The documents this notice announces, as well as any comments and other materials that we receive, will be available for public inspection at www.regulations.gov in Docket No. FWS-R8-ES-2026-2971.

Submitting Comments: All submissions must include the Docket No. [FWS-R8-ES-2026-2971] for this document. You must submit comments using one of the following methods:

Online: Federal eRulemaking Portal at: www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments on Docket No. FWS-R8-ES-2026-2971.
U.S. Mail: Public Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No. FWS-R8-ES-2026-2971; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: PRB/3W, 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.

Comments submitted through any method not authorized in this document, or sent to an address not listed here, will not be considered. We will not accept comments via email, fax, or hand delivery. We are not required to consider comments that are submitted after the comment period ends or that are submitted via a method outside of these instructions. Comments containing profanity, vulgarity, threats, or other inappropriate content will not be considered.

We will post all comments at www.regulations.gov. You may request that we withhold personal identifying information from public review; however, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. See Public Availability of Comments for more information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mr. Jonathan Snyder, Acting Field Supervisor, Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office, jonathan_d_snyder@fws.gov ( printed page 57917) (email) or 760-431-9440 ext. 307 (telephone). Individuals in the United States who are deaf, blind, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay services. Individuals outside the United States should use the relay services offered within their country to make international calls to the point-of-contact in the United States.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Proposed Action

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), have received an application from Cornerstone Communities, LLC (applicant) for a 10-year incidental take permit (ITP) for one covered species pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). The application addresses the potential “take” of the threatened coastal California gnatcatcher (gnatcatcher; Polioptila californica californica) associated with the construction of the Woodward 46 Specific Plan Project, in the City of San Marcos, San Diego County, California. In support of the application, the applicant prepared a draft HCP pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA. The proposed action consists of the Service's issuance of an ITP and implementation of the proposed HCP.

Our Preliminary Determination

The Service has made a preliminary determination that the Service's issuance of the proposed ITP would individually and cumulatively have a minor effect on the gnatcatcher and the human environment. Therefore, we have preliminarily determined that the proposed action may qualify for application of a categorical exclusion pursuant to the National Environmental Policy (NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), the Department of the Interior's (DOI) NEPA regulations, and the DOI Departmental Handbook (516 DM 1).

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 at any time. If you submit a comment at www.regulations.gov, your entire comment, including any personal identifying information, will be posted on the website. If you submit a hardcopy comment that includes personal identifying information, such as your address, phone number, or email address, you may request at the top of your document that we withhold this information from public review. However, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. Moreover, 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

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 17.22 and 17.32) and the National Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (43 CFR part 46).

Jonathan Snyder,

Acting Field Supervisor, Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

[FR Doc. 2026-18564 Filed 9-10-26; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4333-15-P

Legal Citation

Federal Register Citation

Use this for formal legal and research references to the published document.

91 FR 57916

Web Citation

Suggested Web Citation

Use this when citing the archival web version of the document.

“Receipt of Incidental Take Permit Application and Proposed Habitat Conservation Plan for Woodward 46 Specific Plan Project, City of San Marcos, CA; Categorical Exclusion,” thefederalregister.org (September 11, 2026), https://thefederalregister.org/documents/2026-18564/receipt-of-incidental-take-permit-application-and-proposed-habitat-conservation-plan-for-woodward-46-specific-plan-proje.