Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 216 / Tuesday, November 9, 2010 / Notices 68819 

requires each agency ‘‘* * * to provide 

notice * * * and otherwise consult 

with members of the public and affected 

agencies concerning each proposed 

collection of information * * *’’ 

Agencies must specifically solicit 

comments to: (a) Evaluate whether the 

proposed collection of information is 

necessary for the agency to perform its 

duties, including whether the 

information is useful; (b) evaluate the 

accuracy of the agency’s estimate of the 

burden of the proposed collection of 

information; (c) enhance the quality, 

usefulness, and clarity of the 

information to be collected; and (d) 

minimize the burden on the 

respondents, including the use of 

automated collection techniques or 

other forms of information technology. 

To comply with the public 

consultation process, on April 12, 2010, 

we published a Federal Register notice 

(75 FR 18545) announcing that we 

would submit this ICR to OMB for 

approval. The notice provided the 

required 60-day comment period. In 

addition, § 250.199 provides the OMB 

control number for the information 

collection requirements imposed by the 

30 CFR 250 regulations. The regulation 

also informs the public that they may 

comment at any time on the collections 

of information and provides the address 

to which they should send comments. 

We have received no comments in 

response to these efforts. 

If you wish to comment in response 

to this notice, you may send your 

comments to the offices listed under the 

ADDRESSES section of this notice. The 

OMB has up to 60 days to approve or 

disapprove the information collection 

but may respond after 30 days. 

Therefore, to ensure maximum 

consideration, OMB should receive 

public comments by December 9, 2010. 

Public Availability of Comments: 

Before including your address, phone 

number, e-mail 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 ask us in your comment 

to withhold your personal identifying 

information from public review, we 

cannot guarantee that we will be able to 

do so. 

BOEMRE Information Collection 

Clearance Officer: Arlene Bajusz (703) 

787–1025. 

Dated: October 21, 2010. 

Sharon Buffington, 

Acting Chief, Office of Offshore Regulatory 

Programs. 

[FR Doc. 2010–28277 Filed 11–8–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–MR–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

[FWS–R1–ES–2010–N210; 10120–1112– 

0000–F2] 

Preparation of an Environmental 

Impact Statement for Issuance of an 

Incidental Take Permit for the 

Proposed Kauai Seabird Habitat 

Conservation Plan on Kauai, HI 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of intent and notice of 

meeting. 

SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service (Service), advise the 

public that we intend to prepare a joint 

Federal/State Environmental Impact 

Statement (EIS) under the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), in 

coordination with the Hawaii 

Department of Land and Natural 

Resources (DLNR), for the proposed 

Kauai Seabird Habitat Conservation 

Plan (KSHCP) and the expected 

applications from public and private 

entities on Kaua’i for incidental take 

permits (ITPs, or permits). The proposed 

KSHCP is being prepared under the 

Endangered Species Act of 1973, as 

amended (ESA). The ITPs would 

authorize incidental take of the 

Federally endangered Hawaiian petrel 

(Pterodroma sandwichensis), the 

Federally threatened Newell’s 

(Townsends) shearwater (Puffinus 

auricularis newelli), and the bandrumped storm-petrel (Oceanodroma 

castro), a Federal candidate species that 

could become listed during the term of 

the permit (collectively, these three 

species are hereafter referred to as the 

‘‘Covered Species’’). The DLNR is 

preparing the KSHCP under which 

numerous applicants are anticipated to 

apply for incidental take of the Covered 

Species due to adverse effects of light 

attraction and these birds colliding with 

utility lines and associated structures. 

We provide this notice to announce 

the initiation of a public scoping period 

during which we invite other agencies 

and the public to attend a public 

meeting and submit oral and written 

comments that provide suggestions and 

information on the scope of issues and 

alternatives to be addressed in the joint 

EIS. 

DATES: Comments: To ensure 

consideration, please submit your 

comments by December 9, 2010. 

Public Meeting Dates and Locations: 

One Monday, November 10, 2010, 6– 

8 p.m at the Chiefess Kamakahelei 

Middle School Cafeteria, 4431 Nuhou 

Street, Lihue, HI 96766. 

ADDRESSES: Oral and written comments 

will be accepted during the meeting. 

You may also submit comments by one 

of the following methods: 

U.S. mail or hand-delivery to: Bill 

Standley, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service, Pacific Islands Fish and 

Wildlife Office, 300 Ala Moana Blvd., 

Room 3–122, Honolulu, HI 96850. 

Facsimile: (808) 792–9580 (Attention: 

Bill Standley). 

Electronic mail (e-mail): 

bill_standley@fws.gov. 

Comments received will be available 

for public inspection by appointment 

during normal business hours (Monday 

through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) at 

the above address. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bill 

Standley, Fish and Wildlife Biologist, 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (see 

ADDRESSES above), telephone (808) 792– 

9400. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Reasonable Accommodation 

Persons needing reasonable 

accommodation in order to attend and 

participate in the public meeting should 

contact Bill Standley, Fish and Wildlife 

Biologist, as soon as possible (see 

ADDRESSES), or at (808) 792–9400. In 

order to allow sufficient time to process 

requests, please call no later than one 

(1) week before the public meeting. 

Information regarding this proposed 

action is available in alternative formats 

upon request. 

Background 

Section 9 of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1538) 

and Federal regulations prohibit the 

take of fish and wildlife species listed 

as endangered or threatened. The term 

‘‘take’’ means to harass, harm, pursue, 

hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, 

or collect, or to attempt to engage in any 

such conduct. However, under section 

10(a) of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1539 (a)), we 

may issue permits to authorize 

incidental take of listed fish and 

wildlife species. Incidental take is 

defined as take that is incidental to, and 

not the purpose of, carrying out an 

otherwise lawful activity. Regulations 

governing ITPs for threatened and 

endangered species are found at 50 CFR 

17.32 and 17.22. If the permits are 

issued, each permittee approved under 

the KSHCP would receive assurances 


wwoods2 on DSK1DXX6B1PROD with NOTICES_PART 1
68820 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 216 / Tuesday, November 9, 2010 / Notices 

under the Service’s ‘‘No Surprises’’ 

regulations at 50 CFR 17.32(b)(5) and 50 

CFR 17.22(b)(5). 

Section 10 of the ESA specifies the 

requirements for the issuance of ITPs to 

non-Federal entities. Any proposed take 

must be incidental to otherwise lawful 

activities and cannot appreciably reduce 

the likelihood of the survival and 

recovery of the species in the wild. 

Among other requirements the impacts 

of such take must also be minimized 

and mitigated to the maximum extent 

practicable. To obtain an ITP, an 

applicant must submit a plan describing 

the impact that will likely result from 

the proposed taking, the measures for 

minimizing and mitigating the take, the 

funding available to implement such 

measures, alternatives to the taking, and 

the reason why such alternatives are not 

being implemented. 

Covered Species 

The Newell’s shearwater (ua u), 

Hawaiian petrel (a o) and band-rumped 

storm petrel (ake ake) breed on the 

island of Kauai and feed on the open 

ocean. Over 80 percent of the world’s 

population of Newell’s shearwater nests 

on Kauai and its population have 

declined severely since the early 1990s. 

The affected seabirds spend a large part 

of the year at sea. Adults return to 

nesting grounds in the interior 

mountains of Kauai beginning in March 

and April, and depart beginning in 

September. The Hawaiian petrel and 

Newell’s shearwater are philopatric 

(return to the nest area near where they 

were hatched). Fledglings (i.e., young 

birds learning how to fly) of these 

species make their first journey from the 

nesting colony to the sea from late 

September through early December, 

with a peak occurring in mid-October 

and again in mid-November. 

The adverse effects to seabirds from 

light attraction and collisions with 

utility lines have been documented on 

Kauai for over three decades. Since 

1979, the Save our Shearwaters Program 

(SOS) has recovered over 32,000 

downed seabirds that are voluntarily 

brought to the program by the 

community. These ongoing impacts in 

combination with other land-based 

threats such as predation and habitat 

alteration (including that caused by 

hurricanes) are thought to have 

contributed to severe population 

declines in the Covered Species. Both 

adults and fledglings can collide with 

tall buildings, towers, power lines, and 

other structures while flying at night 

between their nesting colonies and atsea foraging areas. Nocturnally active 

seabirds, particularly fledglings, are 

attracted to bright lights. The ‘‘fallout’’ of 

Covered Species and other seabirds due 

to light attraction occurs primarily from 

September through December. 

Disoriented seabirds are commonly 

observed circling repeatedly around 

exterior light sources until they fall 

exhausted to the ground or collide with 

structures. Species such as shearwaters 

and petrels typically need open spaces 

with strong updrafts and vertical drop 

offs to take off from land. Without 

human intervention, downed seabirds 

are assumed to die in most instances 

due to starvation, predation, or 

mortality resulting from vehicular 

traffic. The annual release rate for 

rescued seabirds through the SOS 

Program is over 90 percent. 

There is a need to address the longstanding and previously unmitigated, 

unauthorized incidental take of the 

Covered Species caused by light 

attraction. Since 2005, dozens of 

businesses and agencies on Kauai 

voluntarily began efforts to avoid and 

minimize light attraction of seabirds and 

train staff in the active search, rescue, 

and reporting of downed birds. 

However, to the extent incidental take 

cannot be eliminated, Federal and State 

incidental permits are needed. 

The Proposed Plan 

In accordance with section 10(a)(2)(A) 

of the ESA, the DLNR is preparing the 

island-wide, multi-party KSHCP. As 

presently conceived the KSHCP 

proposes a 30-year permit period to 

address incidental take of the Covered 

Species. The purpose of the KSHCP is 

to address the incidental take of the 

Covered Species due to existing and 

planned outdoor lights and overhead 

utilities. The KSHCP is designed as a 

multi-party plan with each participant 

holding a State and Federal permit and 

being legally responsible for meeting the 

conditions of both permits. In 

accordance with the ESA the 

availability of the KSHCP for public 

review and comment will be noticed in 

the Federal Register when a complete 

application package is submitted to the 

Service. 

The maximum terrestrial covered area 

for the KSHCP includes 549 square 

miles and over 350,000 acres on Kauai. 

The size of the covered area for 

participating entity will be a specified 

subset of this total using Tax Map Key 

(TMK) or other legally acceptable 

definitions, and will be included for 

with each voluntary ITP application. 

Each participating entity would hold a 

State and Federal permit and sign an 

Implementing Agreement (IA) all of 

which would define their legal 

responsibilities for the implementation 

of avoidance, minimization, and 

monitoring measures, and for 

submitting HCP fees to fund 

compensatory mitigation, HCP 

administration, compliance monitoring, 

effects monitoring and mitigation 

efficacy monitoring. Adaptive 

management and annual monitoring 

would also be essential components of 

the HCP. 

Entities seeking take authorization 

under the KSHCP would be required to 

fill out an application template that 

requires specific and detailed 

information about the covered facility in 

terms of its location, size, ownership, 

lights and utility lines, regulations 

pertaining to the use of lights and utility 

lines, avoidance and minimization 

plans and evaluation of alternatives. 

The ITP application would also contain 

a section used to calculate 

recommended incidental take coverage 

levels for all species. Incidental take 

calculations would be based on the best 

available data sets including SOS 

recovery data and nocturnal 

ornithological radar data. 

KSHCP participants would be 

required to: (1) Avoid impacts to the 

Covered Species to the maximum extent 

practicable by, for example, removing or 

turning off problematic lights and 

undergrounding high risk utility lines; 

and (2) minimize impacts to the 

Covered Species to the maximum extent 

practicable, for example, through a 

variety of KSHCP-recommended 

methods such as shielding, redirecting 

lights, installing motion sensors, 

altering light/utility structures, and 

training staff to respond to downed 

seabirds appropriately. Selected 

avoidance and minimization measures 

must be described in thorough detail by 

each applicant, including a schedule 

and funding and the reasons for 

selecting among avoidance and 

minimization alternatives would need 

to be clearly defined and supported in 

each ITP application submitted to the 

Service under the KSHCP. Support for 

the SOS program would likely be part 

of the KSHCP impact minimization 

policy because SOS recoveries support 

the rescue, rehabilitation, and release of 

affected (downed) seabirds. All 

participants in the KSHCP would be 

legally bound to implement avoidance 

and minimization requirements tailored 

to their unique facility(ies) as detailed 

in their ITP and IA. 

Habitat protection and management 

programs implemented to compensate 

for unavoidable take of the Covered 

Species would be detailed in the 

KSHCP. For example, the mitigation 

program would include colony 

protection (including surveys, fencing, 

and predator control), monitoring, and 


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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 216 / Tuesday, November 9, 2010 / Notices 68821 

management actions necessary to 

compensate for the impacts of 

incidental take of the Covered Species 

and to provide a net environmental 

benefit. The goals and objectives of the 

compensatory mitigation program 

would be based on specific recovery 

goals for each listed species. The 

KSHCP compensatory program would 

likely include weed, ungulate, and 

predator removal designed to benefit the 

Covered Species and other listed flora 

and fauna. Part of the analysis in the 

KSHCP will be to evaluate the potential 

effects of covered activities to rare 

plants, including but not limited to 

Acaena exigua, Adenophorus periens, 

Alsinidendron lychnoides, Cyanea 

recta, Cyrtandra cyaneoides, Delissea 

rivularis, Exocarpus luteolus, Myrsine 

linearifolia, Nothocestrum peltatum, 

Plantago princeps var. anomala, 

Plantago princeps var. longibracteata, 

Platanthera holochila, Poa 

sandvicensis, Poa siphonoglossa, Remya 

montgomeryi, Schiedea membranacea, 

Solanum sandwicense, and Xylosma 

crenatum. A ‘‘Plant Protection Plan’’ 

should be included in the KSHCP to 

ensure protection of all listed plants 

during seabird mitigation actions. The 

KSHCP compensatory mitigation 

program is also expected to support 

long-term conservation partnerships 

with land owners and existing efforts by 

non-profit organizations that provide 

long-term benefits to listed seabirds, 

plants, watersheds, and other non-listed 

plants and animals of Kauai. 

Fees for each applicant/participant 

would be proportionate to the level of 

incidental take authorized as well as the 

type of impact: lights or utility lines. 

Fees submitted under the KSHCP would 

be used to fund HCP administration, 

monitoring, compensatory mitigation, 

and the SOS Program. 

As currently envisioned, 

administration and management related 

to implementation of the KSHCP would 

be the responsibility of the DLNR or 

their designee, with appropriate 

oversight by the Service. An annual 

review of actions implemented under 

the KSHCP would be conducted by the 

Endangered Species Recovery 

Committee (ESRC). Based on that review 

the ESRC may forward 

recommendations for modifying 

KSHCP-related actions to the Board of 

Land and Natural Resources. 

Environmental Impact Statement 

NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) requires 

that Federal agencies conduct an 

environmental analysis of their 

proposed actions to determine if the 

actions may significantly affect the 

human environment. Under NEPA, our 

action would be the proposed issuance 

of ITPs based on the KSHCP. The 

Service and the DLNR are proposing to 

prepare a joint Federal/State EIS to 

evaluate the effects of the proposed 

KSHCP and proposed issuance of 

Federal and State ITPs on the human 

environment. The DLNR’s preparation 

of the draft KSHCP and related EIS is 

based on conditions of an ESA Section 

6 HCP Planning and Coordination grant 

awarded to the DLNR in 2009. The joint 

Federal/State EIS will be prepared in 

compliance with NEPA and Hawaii 

Revised Statutes (HRS) Chapter 343. 

Although DLNR will have the lead for 

preparing the EIS the Service will be 

responsible for the scope and content of 

the document for NEPA purposes, and 

the DLNR will be responsible for the 

scope and content of the document for 

the purposes of satisfying requirements 

of HRS Chapter 343. 

The EIS will consider the proposed 

action, (the issuance of Section 

10(a)(1)(B) permits under the ESA), no 

action (i.e., no permit issuance), a 

reasonable range of other alternatives, 

and the associated impacts of each 

alternative. A detailed description of the 

proposed action and other alternatives 

(including no action) will be included 

in the EIS. The range of alternatives 

developed may vary by the level of 

impacts caused by the proposed 

activities, their specific locations, and 

the conservation measures involved. 

Potential alternatives may include 

various methods of minimizing take 

through modifications of existing power 

lines, structures, and lights; placing 

power line segments underground; 

implementing design standards for new 

facilities; variations in the scope of 

covered activities; variations in the 

location, amount and type of 

conservation including developing and 

implementing various approaches for 

improving seabird survival and breeding 

success; variations in permit duration; 

or a combination of these elements. We 

will consider other reasonable 

alternatives recommended during this 

scoping process in order to develop a 

full range of alternatives. 

The EIS will analyze direct, indirect, 

and cumulative impacts on the 

ecosystem and other aspects of the 

human environment including, but not 

limited to, biological resources, land 

use, air quality, water quality, mineral 

resources, water resources, recreation, 

cultural and archeological resources, 

visual resources, socioeconomics, and 

other issues that could occur with 

implementation of the proposed action 

and alternatives. For all potentially 

significant impacts, the EIS will identify 

avoidance, minimization, and 

mitigation measures to reduce those 

impacts, where feasible, to a level below 

significance. 

Review of the EIS will be conducted 

in accordance with the requirements of 

NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321), the Council on 

Environmental Quality regulations (40 

CFR 1500–1508), the Administrative 

Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 551 et seq.), 

other applicable regulations, and the 

Service’s procedures for compliance 

with those regulations. This notice is 

being furnished in accordance with 40 

CFR 1501.7 to obtain suggestions and 

information from other agencies and the 

public on the scope of issues and 

alternatives to be addressed in the EIS. 

The primary purpose of the scoping 

process is to identify important issues 

and alternatives related to the proposed 

action. 

We request comments, suggestions, 

and data from all interested parties to 

ensure that a reasonable range of 

alternatives is presented and that all 

potentially significant issues are 

identified in the EIS. We will fully 

consider all comments received during 

the comment period. Comments and 

materials we receive will become part of 

the public record and will be available 

for public inspection, by appointment, 

during regular business hours. Before 

including your address, phone number, 

e-mail 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 ask us in your comment 

to withhold your personal identifying 

information from public review, we 

cannot guarantee that we will be able to 

do so. 

Dated: October 15, 2010. 

Richard Hannan, 

Deputy Regional Director. 

[FR Doc. 2010–28272 Filed 11–8–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

[FWS–R1–ES–2010–N219; 10120–1112– 

0000–F2] 

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife 

and Plants; Permit; Construction and 

Operation of Kaheawa II Wind Energy 

Generation Facility, Maui, HI; Draft 

Habitat Conservation Plan and Draft 

Environmental Assessment 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 


wwoods2 on DSK1DXX6B1PROD with NOTICES_PART 1