Federal Register: December 22, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 245)
DOCID: FR Doc 03-31437
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
NOTICE: NOTICES
ACTION: Environmental statements; availability, etc.:
DOCUMENT ACTION: Notice.
SUBJECT CATEGORY:
Availability of an Environmental Assessment and Receipt of an Application for an Incidental Take Permit for a Proposed Commercial Development in Palm Beach County, FL
DATES: Written comments on the permit application, supporting documentation, EA and HCP should be sent to the Service's Regional Office (see ADDRESSES) and should be received on or before February 20, 2004.
DOCUMENT SUMMARY:
Jupiter Island Development Company (Applicant) requests an incidental take permit (Permit) pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), as amended (Act). The Applicant anticipates taking one family of the threatened Florida scrubjay (Aphelocoma coerulescens) incidental to the clearing of 0.85 acre of occupied habitat associated with the development of a commercial facility. The proposed commercial development would occur in section 31, Township 40 South, Range 43 East, in the town of Jupiter, Palm Beach County, Florida. A more detailed description of the mitigation and minimization measures to address the effects of the Project to the protected species are outlined in the Applicant's Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP), the Service's Environmental Assessment (EA), and in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below.
The Service also announces the availability of an environmental assessment (EA) and HCP for the incidental take application. Copies of the EA and/or HCP may be obtained by making a request to the Regional Office (see ADDRESSES). Requests must be in writing to be processed. This notice also advises the public that the Service has made a preliminary determination that issuing the ITP is not a major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment within the meaning of section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), as amended. The Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) is based on information contained in the EA and HCP. The final determination will be made no sooner than 60 days from the date of this notice. This notice is provided pursuant to section 10 of the Act and NEPA regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).
If you wish to comment, you may submit comments by any one of
several methods. You may mail comments to the Service's Regional Office
(see ADDRESSES). You may also comment via the Internet to david dell@fws.gov.
[[Page 71130]]
Please submit comments over the Internet as an ASCII file avoiding the
use of special characters and any form of encryption. Please also
include your name and return address in your Internet message. If you
do not receive a confirmation from the Service that we have received
your Internet message, contact us directly at either telephone number
listed below (see FURTHER INFORMATION). Finally, you may hand deliver
comments to either Service office listed below (see ADDRESSES). Our
practice is to make comments, including names and home addresses of
respondents, available for public review during regular business hours.
Individual respondents may request that we withhold their home address
from the administrative record. We will honor such requests to the
extent allowable by law. There may also be other circumstances in which
we would withhold from the administrative record a respondent's
identity, as allowable by law. If you wish us to withhold your name and
address, you must state this prominently at the beginning of your
comments. We will not, however, consider anonymous comments. We will
make all submissions from organizations or businesses, and from
individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials of
organizations or businesses, available for public inspection in their
entirety.
SUMMARY:
Incidental take permits—; Palm Beach County, FL; Florida scrub-jay,
DOCUMENT BODY:
Jupiter Island Development Company (Applicant) requests an incidental take permit (Permit) pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), as amended (Act). The Applicant anticipates taking one family of the threatened Florida scrubjay (Aphelocoma coerulescens) incidental to the clearing of 0.85 acre of occupied habitat associated with the development of a commercial facility. The proposed commercial development would occur in section 31, Township 40 South, Range 43 East, in the town of Jupiter, Palm Beach County, Florida. A more detailed description of the mitigation and minimization measures to address the effects of the Project to the protected species are outlined in the Applicant's Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP), the Service's Environmental Assessment (EA), and in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below.
The Service also announces the availability of an environmental assessment (EA) and HCP for the incidental take application. Copies of the EA and/or HCP may be obtained by making a request to the Regional Office (see ADDRESSES). Requests must be in writing to be processed. This notice also advises the public that the Service has made a preliminary determination that issuing the ITP is not a major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment within the meaning of section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), as amended. The Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) is based on information contained in the EA and HCP. The final determination will be made no sooner than 60 days from the date of this notice. This notice is provided pursuant to section 10 of the Act and NEPA regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).
If you wish to comment, you may submit comments by any one of
several methods. You may mail comments to the Service's Regional Office
(see ADDRESSES). You may also comment via the Internet to david dell@fws.gov.
[[Page 71130]]
Please submit comments over the Internet as an ASCII file avoiding the
use of special characters and any form of encryption. Please also
include your name and return address in your Internet message. If you
do not receive a confirmation from the Service that we have received
your Internet message, contact us directly at either telephone number
listed below (see FURTHER INFORMATION). Finally, you may hand deliver
comments to either Service office listed below (see ADDRESSES). Our
practice is to make comments, including names and home addresses of
respondents, available for public review during regular business hours.
Individual respondents may request that we withhold their home address
from the administrative record. We will honor such requests to the
extent allowable by law. There may also be other circumstances in which
we would withhold from the administrative record a respondent's
identity, as allowable by law. If you wish us to withhold your name and
address, you must state this prominently at the beginning of your
comments. We will not, however, consider anonymous comments. We will
make all submissions from organizations or businesses, and from
individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials of
organizations or businesses, available for public inspection in their
entirety.
SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION
The Florida scrub-jay (scrub-jay) is geographically isolated from other species of scrubjays found in Mexico and the Western United States. The scrubjay is found exclusively in peninsular Florida and is restricted to xeric uplands (predominately in oak dominated scrub). Increasing urban and agricultural development have resulted in habitat loss and fragmentation which has adversely affected the distribution and numbers of scrubjays. The total estimated population is between 7,000 and 11,000 individuals.
The decline in the number and distribution of scrubjays in southeastern Florida has been greater than in most other regions of the State. Southeastern Florida has experienced tremendous urban growth in the past 50 years and much of commercial and residential development has occurred on the dry soils which historically supported scrubjay habitat. Based on existing soils data, much of the historic and current scrubjay habitat of coastal east Florida occurs along a narrow stretch of historic sand dunes that are situated on a northsouth axis from Dade to Flagler County. Much of this area of Florida was settled early because few wetlands restricted urban and agricultural development. Due to the effects of urban and agricultural development over the past 100 years, much of the remaining scrubjay habitat is now relatively small and isolated. What remains is largely degraded due to the exclusion of fire which is needed to maintain xeric uplands in conditions suitable for scrubjays.
Scrubjays using the Project site and adjacent lands are considered part of a larger complex of scrubjays that occupy xeric uplands of southeastern Florida. This complex of scrubjay families ranges from about eastcentral Martin County south to northeastern Palm Beach County. The majority of scrubjays within this complex are found within Jonathan Dickinson State Park which is located about eight miles north of the Project site. The continued survival of scrubjays in this area may depend on the maintenance of suitable habitat and the restoration of unsuitable habitat in northeastern Palm Beach and southeastern Martin counties.
Scrubjay use of the Project site and adjacent lands has been assessed on several occasions. In February 1998, field investigations by Fish and Wildlife Service staff determined that one scrubjay family comprising three individual birds used portions of the Project site as well as adjacent lands. Systematic surveys conducted by the Applicant subsequently found scrubjays using 0.85 acre of the 1.00acre Project site.
The Project site represents one of the few remaining undeveloped private parcels supporting scrubjays in northern Palm Beach County. Several tracts of public conservation lands are also located in the vicinity of the Project site, but much of the remaining landbase has been developed for commercial or residential uses. The Project site is bounded on two sides by major roadways and on another by commercial development. The Project site and surrounding lands have been negatively influenced by previous land clearing activities, offroad vehicle use, and invasion by exotic species. Due to the proximity of the Project site to existing commercial development and urban infrastructure, fire has been actively excluded because of safety concerns. As a result, the condition of the xeric habitat within the Project site is degraded; periodic fire or land management practices that mimic fire are required to maintain habitat conditions suitable for the scrubjay.
Land clearing in preparation for commercial construction will destroy habitat and result in death of, or injury to, scrubjays, incidental to the carrying out of these otherwise lawful activities. Habitat alteration associated with the proposed commercial development will reduce the availability of feeding, nesting, and sheltering habitat for scrubjays.
The Applicant's HCP and the Service's EA describes the following
minimization and mitigation strategy to be employed by the Applicant to offset the impacts of the Project to the scrubjay:
[sbull] The Applicant agrees to contribute $95,978 to the Florida
Scrubjay Conservation Fund for use in conservation of this species.
[sbull] The Applicant agrees to avoid land clearing activities during the scrubjay nesting season.
The EA considers the environmental consequences of one action
alternative which would result in issuance of the Permit. The no action
alternative (not issue the Permit) would ultimately result in loss of
scrubjay habitat within the Project site due to habitat degradation.
The no action alternative may also expose the Applicant under [[Page 71131]]
Section 9 of the Act. The preferred alternative would affect about 0.85
acre of occupied scrubjay habitat. The Applicant's financial
contribution to the Florida Scrubjay Conservation Fund would provide
funding to assist in the conservation of this species by assisting in land acquisition and/or habitat management.
The proposed action alternative is issuance of the Permit according to the HCP as submitted and described above. Under the proposed alternative, the effect of the proposed minimization and mitigation measures will be a contribution of funding for scrubjay conservation. The contribution of mitigation funding will provide the Service opportunities to protect and manage other suitable habitat in southeastern Florida. Mitigation funding will likely be used in combination with other matching sources of money to target the purchase of larger tracts of habitat. As a result, the immediate acquisition of habitat with the mitigation funding provided by the Applicant is not anticipated. However, any future acquisition made with all or portions of this funding is expected to benefit scrubjays since habitat protection and management has been identified as one of the most important conservation tasks for this species.
As stated above, the Service has made a preliminary determination that the issuance of the Permit is not a major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment within the meaning of section 102(2)(C) of NEPA. This preliminary information may be revised due to public comment received in response to this notice and is based on information contained in the EA and HCP.
The Service will also evaluate whether the issuance of a section 10(a)(1)(B) Permit complies with Section 7 of the Act by conducting an intraService Section 7 consultation. The results of the biological opinion, in combination with the above findings, will be used in the final analysis to determine whether or not to issue the Permit.
Dated: December 3, 2003.
Jackie Parrish,
Acting Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 0331437 Filed 121903; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 431055P
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
Mr. David Dell, Regional Coordinator, (see ADDRESSES above), telephone: (404) 6797313, facsimile: (404) 679 7081; or Ms. Sharon Tyson, South Florida Ecological Services Field Office (see ADDRESSES above), telephone: (772) 5623909 extension 324.