Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 238 / Thursday, December 10, 2020 / Notices 79503 

(Presidentially Declared Disasters); 97.039, 

Hazard Mitigation Grant. 

Pete Gaynor, 

Administrator, Federal Emergency 

Management Agency. 

[FR Doc. 2020–27174 Filed 12–9–20; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 9111–23–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND 

SECURITY 

Federal Emergency Management 

Agency 

[Internal Agency Docket No. FEMA–4567– 

DR; Docket ID FEMA–2020–0001] 

New York; Amendment No. 2 to Notice 

of a Major Disaster Declaration 

AGENCY: Federal Emergency 

Management Agency, DHS. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: This notice amends the notice 

of a major disaster declaration for the 

State of New York (FEMA–4567–DR), 

dated October 2, 2020, and related 

determinations. 

DATES: This amendment was issued 

November 3, 2020. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Dean Webster, Office of Response and 

Recovery, Federal Emergency 

Management Agency, 500 C Street SW, 

Washington, DC 20472, (202) 646–2833. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The notice 

of a major disaster declaration for the 

State of New York is hereby amended to 

include the following areas among those 

areas determined to have been adversely 

affected by the event declared a major 

disaster by the President in his 

declaration of October 2, 2020. 

Putnam, Queens, Richmond, Rockland, 

and Westchester Counties for Public 

Assistance. 

The following Catalog of Federal Domestic 

Assistance Numbers (CFDA) are to be used 

for reporting and drawing funds: 97.030, 

Community Disaster Loans; 97.031, Cora 

Brown Fund; 97.032, Crisis Counseling; 

97.033, Disaster Legal Services; 97.034, 

Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA); 

97.046, Fire Management Assistance Grant; 

97.048, Disaster Housing Assistance to 

Individuals and Households In Presidentially 

Declared Disaster Areas; 97.049, 

Presidentially Declared Disaster Assistance— 

Disaster Housing Operations for Individuals 

and Households; 97.050 Presidentially 

Declared Disaster Assistance to Individuals 

and Households—Other Needs; 97.036, 

Disaster Grants—Public Assistance 

(Presidentially Declared Disasters); 97.039, 

Hazard Mitigation Grant. 

Pete Gaynor, 

Administrator, Federal Emergency 

Management Agency. 

[FR Doc. 2020–27175 Filed 12–9–20; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 9111–23–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

[FWS–R3–ES–2020–0128; 

FXES11140300000–212] 

Receipt of Incidental Take Permit 

Application and Proposed Habitat 

Conservation Plan for the Rosewater 

Wind Farm, White County, Indiana; 

Categorical Exclusion 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of availability of 

documents; request for comment and 

information. 

SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service, have received an 

application from Rosewater Wind Farm 

LLC (applicant), for an incidental take 

permit (ITP) under the Endangered 

Species Act (ESA), for its Rosewater 

Wind Farm (project). If approved, the 

ITP would be for a 6-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 habitat conservation plan 

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 request 

public comment on the application, 

which includes the applicant’s 

proposed habitat conservation plan 

(HCP), and on the Service’s preliminary 

determination that this HCP qualifies as 

‘‘low-effect,’’ categorically excluded 

under the National Environmental 

Policy Act. To make this determination, 

we used our environmental action 

statement and low-effect screening form, 

both of which are also able for public 

review. 

DATES: We will accept comments 

received or postmarked on or before 

January 11, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: Document availability: 

Electronic copies of the documents this 

notice announces, along with public 

comments received, will be available 

online in Docket No. FWS–R3–ES– 

2020–0128 at http://

www.regulations.gov. 

Comment submission: In your 

comment, please specify whether your 

comment addresses the proposed HCP, 

draft environmental action statement, or 

any combination of the aforementioned 

documents, or other supporting 

documents. You may submit written 

comments by one of the following 

methods: 

• Online: http://www.regulations.gov. 

Search for and submit comments on 

Docket No. FWS–R3–ES–2020–0128. 

• U.S. mail: Public Comments 

Processing, Attn: Docket No. FWS–R3– 

ES–2020–0128; U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service; 5275 Leesburg Pike, MS: PRB/ 

3W; Falls Church, VA 22041–3803. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Scott Pruitt, Field Supervisor, 

Bloomington Ecological Services Field 

Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 

620 South Walker Street, Bloomington, 

IN 47403; telephone: 812–334–4261, 

extension 214; or Andrew Horton, 

Regional HCP Coordinator, U.S. Fish 

and Wildlife Service—Interior Region 3, 

5600 American Blvd., West, Suite 990, 

Bloomington, MN 55437–1458; 

telephone: 612–713–5337. 

Individuals who are hearing impaired 

or speech impaired may call the Federal 

Relay Service at 1–800–877–8339 for 

TTY assistance. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We, the 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have 

received an application from Rosewater 

Wind Farm LLC (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 6-year ITP to 

take the federally listed Indiana bat 

(Myotis sodalis) and northern long-eared 

bat (Myotis septentrionalis) incidental to 

the operation of 25 wind turbines with 

a total generating capacity of 102 

megawatt (MW) at the Rosewater Wind 

Farm in White County, Indiana. While 

the ITP is for 6 years, the operational 

life of most new wind energy facilities 

is thirty years and intensive monitoring 

conducted during this permit term will 

inform the need for future avoidance or 

a new long-term ITP for the remaining 

life of the project that will comply with 

a new NEPA analysis and habitat 

conservation plan (HCP). The applicant 

has prepared a HCP that describes the 

actions and measures that the applicant 

would implement to avoid, minimize, 

and mitigate incidental take of the 

covered species for the first 6 years. We 

request public comment on the 

application, which includes the 

applicant’s proposed HCP, and on the 

Service’s preliminary determination that 

this HCP qualifies as ‘‘low-effect,’’ 

categorically excluded under the 


jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES
79504 Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 238 / Thursday, December 10, 2020 / Notices 

National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). To make 

this determination, we used our 

environmental action statement and 

low-effect screening form, both of which 

are also able for public review. 

Background 

Section 9 of the ESA 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 any 

such conduct’’ (16 U.S.C. 1532). 

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 (16 U.S.C. 1539). 

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 

The applicant requests a 6-year ITP to 

take the federally endangered Indiana 

bat (Myotis sodalis) and threatened 

northern long-eared bat (Myotis 

septentrionalis). The applicant 

determined that take is reasonably 

certain to occur incidental to operation 

of 25 previously constructed wind 

turbines in White County, Indiana, 

consisting of approximately 6,381 acres 

of private land. 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 and northern long-eared 

bats through onsite minimization 

measures and to provide habitat 

conservation measures for Indiana bats 

and northern long-eared bats to offset 

any impacts from operations of the 

project. The HCP provides on-site 

avoidance and minimization measures, 

which include turbine operational 

adjustments. The authorized level of 

take from the project is 18 Indiana bats 

and 18 northern long-eared bats over the 

6-year permit duration. To offset the 

impacts of the taking of Indiana bats and 

northern long-eared bats, the applicant 

will implement one or more of the 

following mitigation options: Purchase 

credits from an approved conservation 

bank, contribute to an in-lieu fee 

mitigation fund, implement permittee 

responsible mitigation project, or 

contribute to a white-nose syndrome 

treatment fund if such a fund is 

established during the permit term. 

National Environmental Policy Act 

The issuance of an ITP is a Federal 

action that triggers the need for 

compliance with NEPA. The Service has 

made a preliminary determination that 

the applicant’s project and the proposed 

mitigation measures would individually 

and cumulatively have a minor or 

negligible effect on the covered species 

and the environment. Therefore, we 

have preliminarily concluded that the 

ITP for this project would qualify for 

categorical exclusion, and the HCP 

would be low effect under our NEPA 

regulations at 43 CFR 46.205 and 

46.210. A low-effect HCP is one that 

would result in (1) minor or negligible 

effects on federally listed, proposed, and 

candidate species and their habitats; (2) 

minor or negligible effects on other 

environmental values or resources; and 

(3) incremental impacts from the federal 

action that, when added to other past, 

present, and reasonable foreseeable 

future actions, would not result in 

significant cumulative effects to 

environmental values or resources over 

time. 

Next Steps 

The Service will evaluate the 

application and the comments received 

to determine whether the permit 

application meets the requirements of 

section 10(a) of the ESA. 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 above findings, we 

will determine whether the permit 

issuance criteria of section 10(a)(l)(B) of 

the ESA have been met. If met, the 

Service will issue the requested ITP to 

the applicant. 

Request for Public Comments 

The Service invites comments and 

suggestions from all interested parties 

on the proposed HCP and screening 

form during a 30-day public comment 

period (see DATES). 

In particular, information and 

comments regarding the following 

topics are requested: 

1. Whether adaptive management, 

monitoring and mitigation provisions in 

the proposed HCP are sufficient; 

2. The requested 6-year ITP term; 

3. 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 

proposed HCP or screening form; 

4. Any new information on whitenose syndrome effects on the Indiana 

bat and the northern long-eared bat; 

5. Whether or not the significance of 

the impact on various aspects of the 

human environment has been 

adequately analyzed; and 

6. Any other information pertinent to 

evaluating the effects of the proposed 

action on the human environment, 

including those on the Indiana bat and 

the northern long-eared bat. 

Availability of Public Comments 

You may submit comments by one of 

the methods shown under ADDRESSES. 

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 

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). 

Lori Nordstrom, 

Assistant Regional Director, Ecological 

Services. 

[FR Doc. 2020–27102 Filed 12–9–20; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4333–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Office of the Secretary 

[LLWO210000.L1610000] 

National Environmental Policy Act 

Implementing Procedures for the 

Bureau of Land Management (516 DM 

11) 

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Interior. 


jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES