43722 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 165 / Thursday, August 27, 2009 / Notices 

ramona_delorme@blm.gov. Please 

include the identifier ‘‘WH&B’’ in the 

subject of your message and your name 

and address in the body of your 

message. 

Dated August 20, 2009. 

Edwin L. Roberson, 

Assistant Director, Renewable Resources and 

Planning. 

[FR Doc. E9–20675 Filed 8–26–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–84–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management 

[LLORW00000 L12200000.AL0000; GP9– 

0335] 

Notice of Public Meeting, Eastern 

Washington Resource Advisory 

Council Meeting 

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of public meeting. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Federal Land Policy and Management 

Act of 1976 and the Federal Advisory 

Committee Act of 1972, the U.S. 

Department of the Interior, Bureau of 

Land Management (BLM) Eastern 

Washington Resource Advisory Council 

will meet as indicated below. 

DATES: September 24–25, 2009. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

meeting will be open to the public. It 

will begin at 1 p.m. and end at 4 p.m. 

on September 24, and begin at 8 p.m. 

and end at 12 p.m. on September 25. 

The meeting will be held at The Nature 

Conservancy Whisper Lake facility, 

which is approximately 25 miles 

southwest of Coulee City, WA. Topics of 

discussion will include special status 

species, grazing management, and 

resource management planning. If 

members of the public are interested in 

participating, please call the Spokane 

District Office at (509) 536–1200 for 

details. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

BLM Spokane District, 1103 N. Fancher 

Rd., Spokane Valley, WA 99212, or call 

(509) 536–1200. 

Dated: August 21, 2009. 

Sally Sovey, 

Acting District Manager. 

[FR Doc. E9–20661 Filed 8–26–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–33–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

[FWS–R8–ES–2009–N177; 81430–1112– 

0000–F2] 

Proposed Habitat Conservation Plan 

for the Federally Threatened Coastal 

California Gnatcatcher in Connection 

With the Jamacha Road 36-Inch 

Pipeline Construction Project (CIP 

P2009) in San Diego County, CA 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of availability. 

SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service (Service), have received 

an application from the Otay Water 

District (OWD) for a 5-year incidental 

take permit for one covered species 

under the Endangered Species Act of 

1973 (Act), as amended. The application 

addresses the potential for ‘‘take’’ of the 

federally threatened coastal California 

gnatcatcher (Polioptila californica 

californica) associated with the 

construction of a 36-inch pipeline 

(OWD CIP P2009) along Jamacha Road 

in the City of El Cajon and 

unincorporated community of Rancho 

San Diego in the County of San Diego, 

California. A habitat conservation 

program (HCP) to mitigate for the 

project activities would be implemented 

by OWD. We are requesting comments 

on the HCP and our preliminary 

determination that the proposed plan 

qualifies as a ‘‘low-effect’’ Habitat 

Conservation Plan, eligible for a 

categorical exclusion under the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 

1969, as amended. The basis for this 

determination is discussed in the 

Environmental Action Statement and 

Low Effect Screening Form (Screening 

Form), which is also available for public 

review. 

DATES: To ensure consideration, we 

must receive your written comments by 

September 28, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: Send comments by U.S. 

mail to Jim Bartel, Field Supervisor, 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Carlsbad 

Fish and Wildlife Office, 6010 Hidden 

Valley Road, Suite 101, Carlsbad, CA 

92011, or by fax to (760) 431–5901. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Karen Goebel, Assistant Field 

Supervisor, Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife 

Office (see ADDRESSES); telephone (760) 

431–9440, extension 296. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We have 

received an application from OWD for 

an incidental take permit for the 

federally threatened coastal California 

gnatcatcher (Polioptila californica 

californica) (gnatcatcher). A 

conservation program to mitigate for the 

project activities would be implemented 

by OWD as described in the Habitat 

Conservation Plan for the Federally 

Threatened Coastal California 

Gnatcatcher in Connection with the 

Jamacha Road 36-inch Pipeline 

Construction Project (CIP P2009) in San 

Diego County, California (HCP), July, 

2009. This species is referred to as the 

‘‘gnatcatcher’’ in the proposed HCP. 

We are requesting comments on the 

HCP and our preliminary determination 

that the proposed plan qualifies as a 

‘‘low-effect’’ Habitat Conservation Plan, 

eligible for a categorical exclusion under 

the National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA) of 1969, as amended. The basis 

for this determination is discussed in 

the Screening Form. 

Availability of Documents 

Individuals wishing copies of the 

proposed HCP and Screening Form, 

which includes the Environmental 

Action Statement, should immediately 

contact us by telephone at (760) 431– 

9440 or by letter to the Carlsbad Fish 

and Wildlife Office (see ADDRESSES). 

Copies of the proposed HCP and 

Screening Form also are available for 

public inspection during regular 

business hours at the same office. 

Background 

Section 9 of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 

et seq.) and its implementing Federal 

regulations prohibit the take of animal 

species listed as endangered or 

threatened. Take is defined under the 

Act as follows: To harass, harm, pursue, 

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

or collect listed animal species, or to 

attempt to engage in such conduct (16 

U.S.C. 1538). However, under section 

10(a) of the Act, we may issue permits 

to authorize incidental take of listed 

species. ‘‘Incidental take’’ is defined by 

the Act as take that is incidental to, and 

not the purpose of, carrying out an 

otherwise lawful activity. Regulations 

governing incidental take permits for 

threatened and endangered species, 

respectively, are found in the Code of 

Federal Regulations (October 1, 2006, 50 

CFR 17.22) and (October 1, 2001, 50 

CFR 17.32). 

OWD is seeking a permit for take of 

the gnatcatcher. The current known 

range of the gnatcatcher extends from 

the coastal slopes in southern 

California, from southern Ventura 

southward through Los Angeles, 

Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and 

San Diego Counties into Baja California, 

Mexico, to approximately 30 degrees 

North latitude near El Rosario. 

mstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with NOTICES

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 165 / Thursday, August 27, 2009 / Notices 43723 

OWD proposes to construct 

approximately 5 miles of 36-inch 

cement mortar lined and coated steel 

pipeline to transfer potable water from 

a flow control facility in the City of El 

Cajon to two OWD reservoirs in the 

unincorporated community of Rancho 

San Diego. The pipeline will provide 12 

million gallons (mgd) of potable water 

per day of on-peak capacity and 16 mgd 

of off-peak capacity. The proposed 

pipeline will be constructed in existing 

roadways for approximately 22,600 feet 

(4.2 miles) from the northwest corner of 

Lexington Avenue and Third Street in 

the City of El Cajon, to Fury Lane in 

Rancho San Diego. The proposed 

pipeline would then continue for 

approximately 4,300 feet (0.8 miles) as 

it passes through both disturbed and 

vegetated areas along the southern 

boundary of Cuyamaca Community 

College before terminating at OWD’s 

Regulatory Site, where it would connect 

to the reservoirs. Maintenance activities 

in subsequent years will be limited to 

annual visual inspections of the valves 

and blow-offs located along the 

pipeline, all of which occur within or 

immediately adjacent to (and would be 

accessible via) existing developed or 

disturbed areas. Up to 0.95 acre (ac) of 

coastal California gnatcatcher habitat 

may be temporarily lost through 

implementation of the HCP over 5 years. 

OWD proposes to mitigate the effects 

to the gnatcatcher by fully 

implementing the HCP. The HCP 

emphasizes protection of habitat 

through impact avoidance and use of 

operational protocols designed to avoid 

or minimize impacts to the gnatcatcher. 

OWD will supplement these operational 

protocols, or avoidance and 

minimization measures, with onsite 

habitat restoration, by re-seeding the 

0.95-ac impact site with a Diegan coastal 

sage scrub (DCSS) mixture approved by 

the Service. Additionally, OWD will 

permanently conserve and manage highquality gnatcatcher habitat by deducting 

credits from the San Miguel Habitat 

Management Area (HMA). 

The Proposed Action consists of the 

issuance of an incidental take permit 

and implementation of the proposed 

HCP. Three alternatives to the proposed 

action are considered in the HCP. Under 

the no-project alternative, a permit 

would not be issued, and OWD would 

avoid take of the coastal California 

gnatcatcher. However, this alternative 

would not allow for the necessary 

transfer of water from the Otay 14 Flow 

Control Facility to OWD’s 640–1 and 

640–2 reservoirs. In addition, the noproject alternative would not be in 

compliance with the agreement between 

the San Diego County Water Authority 

and OWD for design, construction, 

operation, and maintenance of 

modifications to the Otay 14 Flow 

Control Facility, executed on January 

24, 2007, which requires the 

construction of the 36-inch pipeline to 

transfer the necessary amount of water; 

OWD’s existing 24-inch line is not 

sufficient to transfer the amount of 

water specified in the agreement. The 

second alternative would be to defer the 

project until a larger, multi-agency 

multiple species habitat conservation 

plan could be developed. This 

alternative was rejected because delays 

in the construction of the 36-inch 

pipeline would not allow OWD to meet 

the aforementioned contractual water 

transfer requirements. The third 

alternative entails a different route for 

the southern portion of the alignment 

that would continue on Campo Road to 

the entrance of OWD’s Regulatory Site 

and then head north along the 

Regulatory Site driveway, concluding at 

the reservoirs. This alternative would 

result in impacts to approximately 0.75 

ac of coastal sage scrub located along 

the existing driveway to the Regulatory 

Site. This alternative was rejected 

because of excessively higher costs, 

negative traffic impacts, and negative 

effects to OWD operations at the 

Regulatory Site. Additionally, this 

alternative would not significantly 

reduce impacts to gnatcatcher-occupied 

coastal sage scrub from those associated 

with the proposed project (i.e., 0.75 ac 

versus 0.95 ac). The proposed project 

would be more cost-effective, efficient, 

and timely. 

We have made a preliminary 

determination that approval of the 

proposed HCP qualifies as a categorical 

exclusion under NEPA, as provided by 

the Department of the Interior Manual 

(516 DM 2, Appendix 1 and 516 DM 6, 

Appendix 1) and as a ‘‘low-effect’’ plan 

as defined by the Habitat Conservation 

Planning Handbook (November 1996). 

Determination of low-effect habitat 

conservation plans is based on the 

following three criteria: 

(1) Implementation of the proposed 

HCP would result in minor or negligible 

effects on federally listed, proposed, and 

candidate species and their habitats; 

(2) Implementation of the proposed 

HCP would result in minor or negligible 

effects on other environmental values or 

resources; and 

(3) Impacts of the proposed HCP, 

considered together with the impacts of 

other past, present, and reasonably 

foreseeable similarly situated projects, 

would not result, over time, in 

cumulative effects to environmental 

values or resources that would be 

considered significant. 

Based upon this preliminary 

determination, we do not intend to 

prepare further NEPA documentation. 

We will consider public comments in 

making the final determination on 

whether to prepare such additional 

documentation. 

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. 

Authority 

We provide this notice pursuant to 

section 10(c) of the Act. 

Next Steps 

We will evaluate the permit 

application, the proposed HCP, and 

comments submitted thereon to 

determine whether the application 

meets the requirements of section 10(a) 

of the Act. If the requirements are met, 

we will issue a permit to OWD for the 

incidental take of the coastal California 

gnatcatcher associated with the 

construction, operation, and 

maintenance of the Jamacha Road 36- 

inch Pipeline (CIP P2009) in San Diego 

County, California. 

Dated: August 21, 2009. 

Jim A. Bartel, 

Field Supervisor, Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife 

Office, Carlsbad, California. 

[FR Doc. E9–20660 Filed 8–26–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P 

INTERNATIONAL TRADE 

COMMISSION 

[Inv. No. 337–TA–683] 

In the Matter of Certain MLC Flash 

Memory Devices and Products 

Containing Same; Notice of 

Investigation 

AGENCY: U.S. International Trade 

Commission. 

ACTION: Institution of investigation 

pursuant to 19 U.S.C. 1337. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that a 

complaint was filed with the U.S. 

International Trade Commission on July 

27, 2009, under section 337 of the Tariff 

Act of 1930, as amended, 19 U.S.C. 

1337, on behalf of BTG International 

mstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with NOTICES