Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 104 / Tuesday, May 30, 2000 / Notices 34493

State, local or tribal law or requirement

imposed for the protection of the

environment.

5. Approval of the HCP would not

establish a precedent for future action or

represent a decision in principle about

future actions with potentially

significant environmental effects.

The Service has therefore determined

that approval of the 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). No further

NEPA determination will therefore be

prepared.

The Service will evaluate the HCP

and comments submitted thereon to

determine whether the application

meets the requirements of section 10(a)

of the Act. If it is determined that those

requirements are met, an ITP will be

issued for the incidental take of

hatchlings from two nests of the

leatherback sea turtle or hawksbill sea

turtle during a period of 12 years. The

Service will also evaluate whether the

issuance of a section 10(a)(1)(B) ITP

complies with section 7 of the Act by

conducting an intra-Service section 7

consultation. The results of the

consultation, in combination with the

above findings, will be used in the final

analysis to determine whether or not to

issue the ITP.

Dated: May 22, 2000.

H. Dale Hall,

Acting Regional Director.

[FR Doc. 00–13388 Filed 5–26–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

Notice of Intent To Conduct Public

Scoping and Prepare an Environmental

Impact Statement

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service,

Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the

National Environmental Policy Act of

1969 (NEPA), this notice advises other

agencies and the public that the Fish

and Wildlife Service (Service) intends to

prepare an Environmental Impact

Statement (EIS) related to the proposed

issuance of an Incidental Take Permit

(Permit) to the Foster Creek

Conservation District (District) in

Douglas County, Washington for take of

endangered and threatened species,

pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(B) of the

Endangered Species Act of 1973, as

amended (Act). As required by the Act,

the District is preparing a Habitat

Conservation Plan (Plan). The Plan is

being developed to address agricultural

practices throughout Douglas County,

and may include management activities

on dryland crop farms, livestock

ranches, and irrigated orchards. With

issuance of the Permit, participating

landowners would receive regulatory

certainty with regard to the

requirements of the Act by

implementing the measures prescribed

in the Plan.

The Service is furnishing this notice

in order to advise other agencies and the

public of our intentions and to

announce the initiation of a minimum

30-day public scoping period. During

the scoping period, other agencies and

the public are invited to provide written

comments on the scope of issues to be

included in the EIS, which is expected

to be available for public review and

comment during the second quarter of

2001. Interested parties are encouraged

to attend the scoping workshops or to

provide written comments on the scope

of the issues and range of alternatives

for the draft EIS.

DATES: Written comments regarding the

scope of the issues and range of

alternatives for the draft EIS should be

received on or before July 14, 2000.

Scoping workshops will be held on June

29, 2000 (see ADDRESSES for times and

location).

ADDRESSES: Comments and requests for

additional information should be

submitted to Chris Warren, Fish and

Wildlife Service, 11103 East

Montgomery Drive, Spokane,

Washington, 99206, or call (509) 891–

6839.

Scoping workshops will be held at the

North-central Washington, Fairground,

601 North Monroe Street, Waterville,

Washington, 98858. The workshops will

be held from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. and from

6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on June 29, 2000.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Conservation districts are legal

subdivisions of the Washington State

government, with powers and duties set

forth in accordance with the Revised

Code of Washington (RCW 89.08).

Among other things, conservation

districts are authorized to develop

comprehensive long-range programs for

the conservation of natural resources

within their boundaries, to enter into

agreements with other State and Federal

agencies and the districts’ landowners,

and to administer the programs of other

State and Federal agencies concerned

with the conservation of natural

resources. Based upon this authority,

the Service anticipates the development

of a programmatic Plan by the District.

Upon completion and approval of

detailed, site-specific farm plans that

implement the terms of the

programmatic Plan, individual

landowners will receive permit coverage

under section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Act

through Certificates of Inclusion.

Douglas County is located in central

Washington and encompasses over one

million acres of land. It is anticipated

that the activities covered under the

Permit will include operation and

management of dryland crop farms,

liverstock ranches (each comprising

roughly 48 percent of the country’s total

agricultural land base), and fruit

orchards (comprising roughly 4

percent). Grazing activities that may be

addressed include, among others,

stocking types and rates, timing, use

levels, and management of livestock

facilities (fencing, holding areas,

transportation, etc.). Farming activities

that may be include are, among others,

planting types and techniques, crop

rotation, timing, weed and pest control,

management of facilities, and irrigation

activities. It is also anticipated that the

measures of proposed Plan and Permit

coverage will be coordinated with

existing Federal and State programs for

private landowners in Douglas County

(Conservation Reserve Program, other

Farm Bill programs, private lands

initiatives, etc.). The District tentatively

proposes that the Plan and Permit be in

effect for 50 years.

Agricultural activities on private

lands and the management activities of

the District, along with those of other

State and Federal agencies in Douglas

County, have the potential to impact

species subject to protection under the

Act, as well as other unlisted species of

concern to the Service. Section 10 of the

Act contains provisions for the issuance

of Permits to non-Federal landowners

for the take of endangered and

threatened species, provided the take is

incidental to otherwise lawful activities

and will not appreciably reduce the

likelihood of the survival and recovery

of the species in the wild. To received

section 10 coverage under the act,

applicants must prepare and submit to

the Service for approval a Plan

containing a strategy for minimizing and

mitigating to the maximum extent

practicable all take associated with the

proposed activities. Applicants must

also demonstrate that adequate funding

will be provided to ensure the Plan will

be implemented and monitored

throughout its proposed life span. The

mandatory elements of Plan and the

criteria for issuance of Permits are

contained in the Code of Federal

Regulations (50 CFR 17.22, 17.32, and

222.22).

34494 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 104 / Tuesday, May 30, 2000 / Notices

Section 9 of the Act and Federal

regulations prohibit the ‘‘taking’’ of any

species listed as endangered or

threatened. The term ‘‘take’’ is defined

under the Act to mean harass, harm,

pursue, hunt, shoot, would, kill, trap,

capture, or collect, or to attempt to

engage in any such conduct. Harm is

defined to include significant habitat

modification or degradation where it

actually kills or injures wildlife by

significantly impairing essential

behavioral patterns, including breeding,

feeding, and sheltering.

The species currently listed under the

Act that are being proposed for coverage

under the Permit include the Columbia

River Basin population of the bull trout

(Salvelinus confluentus) and the

coterminous United States population of

the bald eagle (Haliaeetus

leucocephalus), both currently listed as

threatened. The District also plan to

address a number of unlisted fish and

wildlife species in the Plan, such as the

western sage grouse (Centrocercus

urophasianus phaios), Colombian

sharp-tailed grouse (Tympanuchus

phasianellus columbianus), and the

pygmy rabbit (Brachylagus idahoensis),

among other. Should any of the unlisted

species addressed in the Plan be listed

under the Act in the future,

participating landowners would receive

incidental take coverage for them under

the specific provisions of the Permit.

The District also plans to seek separate

Permit coverage for several species

listed under the Act that fall within the

purview of the Secretary of Commerce,

as administered by the National Marine

Fisheries Service, including the upper

Columbia River Basin populations of

spring chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus

tshawytscha) and steelhead ( O. mykiss),

both listed as endangered, and the

middle Columbia River population of

steelhead, listed as threatened.

Under NEPA, reasonable alternatives

to a proposed project must be developed

and considered in the Service’s

environmental review. At a minimum,

the alternatives developed must

include: (1) A No Action alternative,

which describes current management

and resource conditions and potential

future impacts incurred under this

scenario; and (2) the Proposed Action,

with thorough descriptions of its

management features and anticipated

resource conservation benefits and

potential impacts. For the present

environmental review, the No Action

alternative will reflect the baseline

conditions in Douglas County under

current agricultural management

practices. The Proposed action

alternative will be represented by the

District’s Plan and its associated

management measures. Additional

project alternatives may be developed

based upon input received from this and

future scoping notices during

development of the EIS.

Comments and suggestions are invited

from all interested parties to ensure that

the full range of issues related to these

proposed actions are addressed and that

all significant issues are identified. The

Service requests that comments be as

specific as possible. Comments are

specifically requested to include

information regarding: the direct,

indirect, and cumulative impacts that

implementation of the proposal could

have on endangered and threatened

species and their habitats; other possible

alternatives; potential adaptive

management and/or monitoring

provisions; funding issues; baseline

environmental conditions in Douglas

County; other plans or projects that

might be relevant to this project; and

minimization and mitigation efforts. In

addition to considering impacts on

listed species and their habitats, the EIS

must include information on impacts

resulting from the alternatives on other

components of the human environment.

These other components include such

things as air quality, water quality and

quantity, geology and soils, cultural

resources, other fish and wildlife

species, social resources, and economic

resources.

The environmental review for this

project will be conducted in accordance

with the requirements of NEPA (42

U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), Federal regulations

implementing NEPA (40 CFR 1500-

1508), other appropriate Federal laws

and regulations, and the policies and

procedures of the Service for

compliance with those regulations.

Dated: May 22, 2000.

Carolyn A. Bohan,

Acting Regional Director, Region 1, Fish and

Wildlife Service, Portland, Oregon.

[FR Doc. 00–13385 Filed 5–26–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–M

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[CA–660–00–1990–00; CACA20139 and

CACA22901]

Transit Mixed Concrete Company

Proposed Sand and Gravel Mining

Operation, Soledad Canyon, Los

Angeles County, CA

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management,

Department of the Interior, Palm

Springs-South Coast Field Office,

California Desert District.

ACTION: Notice of availability of Final

Environmental Impact Statement.

SUMMARY: In compliance with the

National Environmental Policy Act

(NEPA) of 1969 and 40 CFR 1503.4,

notice is hereby given that the Bureau

of Land Management (BLM) has

prepared a Final Environmental Impact

Statement (EIS) for the Transit Mixed

Concrete (TMC) Company Sand and

Gravel Mining Project proposed for

construction and operation off of

Soledad Canyon Road and State

Highway 14, in an unincorporated area

of Los Angeles County, California.

Interested citizens are invited to

review the Final EIS. Hard copies of the

Final EIS may be obtained by

telephoning or writing the contact

persons listed below. The Technical

Appendices and Volumes 1 through 6

are also available on CD-ROM. The CDROM is in Adobe Acrobat Reader

format, and contains a free download of

Acrobat Reader so it can be opened

easily. Public reading copies are

available at the following County of Los

Angeles public libraries: Canyon

Country Library (18536 Soledad Canyon

Road, Santa Clarita); Newhall Library

(22704 W. Ninth Street, Santa Clarita);

and the Valencia Library (23743 W.

Valencia Boulevard, Santa Clarita).

DATES: BLM will be rendering a decision

on the proposed Project no sooner than

July 3, 2000.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONTACT:

Ms. Elena Misquez, BLM, Palm SpringsSouth Coast Field Office at (760) 251–

4810. To obtain copies of the Final EIS,

contact Ms. Linda Brody of Chambers

Group Inc. at (949) 261–5414. Fax

requests can be sent to the attention of

Ms. Linda Brody at (949) 261–8950.

Please specify either CD–ROM or the

specific volume(s) desired (see

Supplemental Information below).

Please include name, complete mailing

address (no P.O. Boxes), and phone

number on all requests.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has

prepared a Final EIS for the Transit

Mixed Concrete (TMC) Company Sand

and Gravel Mining Project. The Project

is proposed for construction and

operation in an unincorporated area

within Los Angeles County, north of

Soledad Canyon Road, south of the

Antelope Valley Freeway (State

Highway 14), and west of Agua Dulce

Canyon. TMC proposes to mine a total

of 83 million tons of sand and gravel

over a 20-year period. The Project site

is located on ‘‘split-estate’’ lands where

the surface is privately owned and the

minerals are federally owned and