Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 125 / Wednesday, June 28, 2000 / Notices 39919

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

Receipt of an Incidental Take Permit

Application and Availability of an

Environmental Assessment

Associated With the Habitat

Management Plan for Natural

Communities in the City of Carlsbad,

California

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: The City of Carlsbad,

California, has applied to the Fish and

Wildlife Service (Service) for an

incidental take permit pursuant to

section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered

Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act).

The proposed 50-year permit would

authorize incidental take of 9 federally

threatened and endangered wildlife

species, 8 threatened and endangered

plants should take authorization be

necessary, and 30 unlisted species of

concern in the event that these species

become listed during the term of the

permit. Take would occur incidental to

urban development of up to 3,051 acres

of non-federal land in the City of

Carlsbad, northwestern San Diego

County, California. The permit

application includes the Habitat

Management Plan for Natural

Communities in the City of Carlsbad

(Habitat Management Plan) and an

Implementation Agreement that serves

as a legal contract.

An Environmental Assessment for our

proposed action of issuing a permit to

the City of Carlsbad is available for

public review. We request comments on

this Assessment and the permit

application. All comments received,

including names and addresses, will

become part of the administrative record

and may be made available to the

public.

DATES: We must receive your written

comments on or before July 28, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Mr. Ken

Berg, Field Supervisor, U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service, Carlsbad Fish and

Wildlife Office, 2730 Loker Avenue

West, Carlsbad, California 92008. You

also may submit comments by facsimile

to (760) 431–9618.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms.

Julie Vanderwier, Fish and Wildlife

Biologist, at the above address;

telephone (760) 431–9440.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Availability of Documents

You may request copies of the

documents by contacting the office

listed above. You also may view the

documents, by appointment, during

normal business hours (8 a.m. to 5

p.m.), Monday through Friday at the

Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office (see

ADDRESSES). Alternatively, you may

view the documents at the City of

Carlsbad Planning Department, 1635

Faraday Avenue, Carlsbad; at the

Georgina Cole Library, 1250 Carlsbad

Village Drive, Carlsbad; and at the La

Costa Library, 1775 Dove Lane,

Carlsbad.

Background

Section 9 of the Act and Federal

regulation prohibit the ‘‘take’’ of animal

species listed as endangered or

threatened. That is, no one may harass,

harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill,

trap, capture or collect listed animal

species, or attempt to engage in such

conduct (16 U.S.C. 1538). ‘‘Harm’’ is

defined by regulation to include

significant habitat modification or

degradation that actually kills or injures

wildlife by significantly impairing

essential behavioral patterns, including

breeding, feeding, or sheltering (50 CFR

17.3). Under certain circumstances, the

Service may issue permits to authorize

‘‘incidental’’ take of listed animal

species (defined by the Act as take that

is incidental to, and not the purpose of,

the carrying out of an otherwise lawful

activity). Regulations governing permits

for threatened and endangered species,

respectively, are at 50 CFR 17.32 and 50

CFR 17.22.

The City of Carlsbad has submitted an

application for a 50-year incidental take

permit to the Service, proposing the take

of 47 species now or in the future, on

approximately 3,051 acres of habitat

within the 24,570-acre planning area

(15,812 acres of which are already

developed). The proposed permit would

authorize incidental take of the

following listed animals: Riverside fairy

shrimp (Streptocephalus woottoni), San

Diego fairy shrimp (Branchinecta

sandiegonensis), California brown

pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis

californicus), California least tern

(Sterna antillarum browni), coastal

California gnatcatcher (Polioptila

californica californica), least Bell’s vireo

(Vireo bellii pusillus), light-footed

clapper rail (Rallus longirostrus levipes),

southwestern willow flycatcher

(Empidonax traillii extimus), and

western snowy plover (Charadrius

alexandrinus nivosus). For 30 other

unlisted species (16 plants, 3

invertebrates, 1 reptile, and 10 birds),

should they become listed during the

term of the permit, the permit would

become effective at the time of listing.

Five endangered plants and three

threatened plants would be named on

the permit, should take authorization be

necessary: California orcutt grass

(Orcuttia californica), Del Mar

manzanita (Arctostaphylos glandulosa

ssp. crassifolia), Encinitas baccharis

(Baccharis vanessae), Orcutt’s

spineflower (Chorizanthe orcuttiana),

spreading navaretia (Navarretia

fossalis), San Diego button-celery

(Eryngium aristulatum var. parishii),

San Diego thornmint (Acanthomintha

ilicifolia), and thread-leaved brodiaea

(Brodiaea filifolia). The take

prohibitions of the Act do not apply to

listed plants on private land unless their

destruction on private land is in

violation of State law. Nevertheless, the

City of Carlsbad has considered plants

in its Habitat Management Plan and

requests a permit for them to the extent

that State law applies.

The permit application from the City

of Carlsbad includes a Habitat

Management Plan that qualifies both as

a Habitat Conservation Plan pursuant to

Federal law and as a Natural

Community Conservation Plan pursuant

to State law. On December 10, 1993, the

Service issued a final special rule for the

coastal California gnatcatcher pursuant

to section 4(d) of the Act (58 FR 65088).

The rule allows incidental take of the

gnatcatcher if such take results from

activities conducted under a plan

prepared pursuant to the state of

California’s Natural Community

Conservation Planning Act of 1991, its

associated Process Guidelines, and the

Southern California Coastal Sage Scrub

Conservation Guidelines. Consistent

with the Conservation Guidelines, while

planning for natural communities is

underway, the special rule allows

interim loss of no more than 5 percent

of the coastal sage scrub habitat in

specified areas (subregions).

To mitigate the impact of urban

development over a 50-year period, the

City of Carlsbad would require projectlevel impact avoidance and

minimization measures, and would

assemble a preserve of approximately

6,757 acres. This preserve would be

comprised of existing open space (3,946

acres), proposed hardline open space

(1,206 acres), planned open space

derived from specific criteria applied to

standards areas (553 acres), passive

restoration of disturbed habitat (744

acres), and acquisition of core coastal

California gnatcatcher habitat outside of

the City (308 acres). The preserve would

contain the following habitats, at a

minimum: coastal sage scrub (3,315

acres), southern mixed/chamise

chaparral (968 acres), southern maritime

chaparral (392 acres), oak woodland (29

acres), riparian (574 acres), coastal salt/

39920 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 125 / Wednesday, June 28, 2000 / Notices

freshwater marsh (1,366 acres), and

grassland (1,856 acres).

Should the Service approve the

Habitat Management Plan and issue an

incidental take permit to the City of

Carlsbad, the 5 percent limit on interim

loss of coastal sage scrub, imposed as

part of the Natural Community

Conservation Planning Program and the

special rule for the gnatcatcher, would

be replaced by the conditions of the

permit and the Implementation

Agreement. Carlsbad would then

exercise its land-use review and

approval powers in accordance with the

Implementation Agreement to

implement the Habitat Management

Plan and assemble its preserve. The City

would amend its zoning regulations to

reflect the preserve boundaries and to

achieve consistency with the Plan. In

addition, the Habitat Management Plan

includes guidelines for compatible land

uses in and adjacent to the preserve.

The City would incorporate these

guidelines into its General Plan, zoning

regulations, and approval process for

projects, including adoption of

appropriate mitigation guidelines.

Our Environmental Assessment

considers the proposed action and three

alternatives: the Habitat Management

Plan as proposed; an Expanded Preserve

System Alternative; an Offsite Regional

Conservation Alternative; and a No

Action Alternative. Under the Expanded

Preserve System Alternative, the Service

would issue a permit that would

authorize incidental take of 47 species

in the plan area. The City of Carlsbad

would require project-level impact

avoidance and minimization measures.

The expanded preserve of 7,310 acres

would conserve all extant natural

habitats in biological core and linkage

areas identified during the preserve

planning process. The acquisition of

lands within the core gnatcatcher areas

would be limited to the 240 acres

required as part of the approval of the

Fieldstone-La Costa Habitat

Conservation Plan. The conserved

habitat would include, at a minimum,

the following habitat types: coastal sage

scrub (2,991 acres), southern mixed/

chamise chaparral (887 acres), southern

maritime chaparral (431 acres), oak

woodland (29 acres), riparian (518

acres), coastal salt/freshwater marsh

(1,183 acres), and grassland (1,271

acres).

Under the Offsite Regional

Conservation Alternative, the Service

also would issue a permit for incidental

take of 47 species. The City of Carlsbad

would preserve 7,901 to 9,928 acres of

habitat through the management of

already preserved lands within the City,

implementation of project-level impact

avoidance and minimization measures,

and habitat conservation outside of the

City (with the exception of wetland,

riparian, and vernal pool resources) in

accordance with established mitigation

ratios. The majority of the preserve

could be outside of the City of Carlsbad

in portions of northern San Diego

County that are less developed than

Carlsbad. The preserve would include,

at a minimum, the following upland

habitat types: coastal sage scrub (3,315

to 5,342 acres), southern mixed/chamise

chaparral (968 acres), southern maritime

chaparral (666 acres), oak woodland (79

acres), and grassland (1,127 acres).

Under the No Action Alternative, the

Service would not issue a permit and

the City of Carlsbad would not

implement its Habitat Management

Plan. Projects would either be designed

to avoid take of listed species or project

proponents would apply for individual

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

Act. Existing hardline open space would

remain protected and approved habitat

conservation plans would be

implemented. Under this alternative, we

estimate that 3,850 acres of habitat

would be conserved.

This notice is provided pursuant to

section 10(a) of the Endangered Species

Act and regulations for implementing

the National Environmental Policy Act

of 1969 (40 CFR 1506.6). We will

evaluate the permit application,

Environmental Assessment, associated

documents, and comments submitted

thereon to determine whether the

application meets the requirements of

section 10(a) of the Endangered Species

Act. If we determine that the

requirements are met, we will issue a

permit for the incidental take of the 47

species covered by the Habitat

Management Plan. We will make a

decision on permit issuance no sooner

than 30 days from the date of this

notice.

Dated: June 20, 2000.

Elizabeth H. Stevens,

Deputy Manager, Region 1, California/Nevada

Operations Office, Sacramento, California.

[FR Doc. 00–16281 Filed 6–27–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

Preparation of an Environmental

Impact Statement/ Environmental

Impact Report for Federal and State

Actions Associated With the Coachella

Valley Multiple Species Habitat

Conservation Plan/Natural

Communities Conservation Plan

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service,

Interior (Lead Agency).

COOPERATING AGENCIES: Bureau of Land

Management, Interior; National Park

Service, Interior; Forest Service,

Agriculture; California Resources

Agency; California Department of Fish

and Game; California Department of

Parks and Recreation; and Coachella

Valley Association of Governments.

ACTION: Notice of intent; notice of public

meeting.

SUMMARY: The Fish and Wildlife Service

and cooperating agencies are gathering

information necessary for the

preparation of an Environmental Impact

Statement/Environmental Impact Report

(Impact Statement/Report). This Impact

Statement/Report will consider the

actions of Federal, State, and local

agencies, as well as private interests,

associated with implementation of the

Coachella Valley Multiple Species

Habitat Conservation Plan/Natural

Communities Conservation

Plan(Multispecies Plan) and the

issuance of incidental take permits

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

Federal Endangered Species Act of

1973, as amended, and section 2081 of

the California Endangered Species Act.

The Impact Statement/Report also will

consider the Bureau of Land

Management’s proposed amendment of

the California Desert Conservation Plan

to conform with the Multispecies Plan.

In addition, the Impact Statement/

Report will consider any other actions

by other Federal or State agencies that

are necessary or appropriate to

implement the Multispecies Plan.

We encourage interested persons to

attend public meetings to identify and

discuss the scope of issues and

alternatives that should be addressed in

the Multispecies Plan and in the Impact

Statement/Report. We provide this

notice pursuant to the Council on

Environmental Quality regulations for

implementing the procedural provisions

of the National Environmental Policy

Act (40 CFR 1501.7 and 1508.22).

DATES: We must receive your written

comments by July 28, 2000. See

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for

meeting dates and locations.