27840 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 95 / Thursday, May 17, 2007 / Notices 

Dated:April 17, 2007. 

David L. Hankla, 

Field Supervisor, Jacksonville Field Office. 

[FR Doc. E7–9481 Filed 5–16–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

Construction of an Elementary School 

in Lake County, FL 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice: receipt of application for 

an incidental take permit; request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: We, the Fish and Wildlife 

Service (Service), announce the 

availability of an Incidental Take Permit 

(ITP) Application and Habitat 

Conservation Plan (HCP). The Lake 

County School Board (applicant) 

requests an ITP for a duration of 20 

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

Endangered Species Act of 1973, as 

amended (Act). The applicant 

anticipates taking approximately 0.48 

acre (ac) of sand skink (Neoseps 

reynoldsi)—occupied habitat incidental 

to constructing a two-story elementary 

school and accessory structures, play 

areas, and infrastructure in Lake 

County, Florida (Project). The 

applicant’s HCP describes the mitigation 

and minimization measures the 

applicant proposes to address the effects 

of the Project to the sand skink. 

DATES: We must receive any written 

comments on the ITP application and 

HCP on or before June 18, 2007. 

ADDRESSES: If you wish to review the 

application and HCP, you may write the 

Field Supervisor at our Jacksonville 

Field Office, 6620 Southpoint Drive 

South, Suite 310, Jacksonville, FL 

32216, or make an appointment to visit 

during normal business hours. If you 

wish to comment, you may mail or hand 

deliver comments to the Jacksonville 

Field Office, or you may e-mail 

comments to paula_sisson@fws.gov. For 

more information on reviewing 

documents and public comments and 

submitting comments, see 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Paula Sisson, Fish and Wildlife 

Biologist, Jacksonville Field Office (see 

ADDRESSES); telephone: 904/232–2580, 

ext. 126. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

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. 

Please reference permit number 

TE132192–0 for the Lake County School 

Board Project in all requests or 

comments. Please include your name 

and return address in your e-mail 

message. If you do not receive a 

confirmation from us that we have 

received your e-mail message, contact 

us directly at the telephone number 

listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT. 

Background 

The sand skink is known to occur in 

Lake County, primarily within the Lake 

Wales Ridge, and much less frequently 

within the Mt. Dora Ridge. Although 

originally thought to inhabit xeric, scrub 

habitat exclusively, the sand skink is 

currently being identified in nontraditional areas with sub-marginal 

habitat, including pine plantation, 

abandoned citrus groves, and disturbed 

areas. Sand skinks require soil moisture 

for thermoregulation, egg incubation, 

and prey habitat. High activity periods, 

which have been associated with the 

breeding season for this species, range 

from mid-February to early May, with 

egg-hatching typically occurring from 

June through July. Due to the reduction 

in quality and acreage and the rapid 

development of xeric upland 

communities, the sand skink is 

reportedly declining throughout most of 

its range. However, biological 

information regarding the sand skink is 

limited, due to the cryptic nature of the 

species. 

Applicant’s Proposal 

The applicant is requesting take of 

approximately 0.48 acres of occupied 

sand skink habitat incidental to the 

Project. The ±19.1 acre Project currently 

includes an elementary school site and 

accessory structures, play areas, and 

infrastructure encompassing ±16.0 

acres. In order to mitigate for the loss of 

0.48 acres of sand skink habitat, the 

Applicant proposes to restore and 

manage ±2.14 acres of occupied sand 

skink habitat to remain on-site, as well 

as a ±0.96 acre mitigation area (currently 

unoccupied by the species). Restoration 

will be achieved through a combination 

of tree removal (planted pine and citrus) 

and a planting effort of scrub oak 

species. Additional mitigation measures 

will include incorporation of a natural 

path with educational signage, to serve 

as an educational tool for the 

elementary school students. The 

conservation areas are expected to 

increase the overall functional value of 

the habitat given the existing conditions 

versus the proposed conditions of these 

conservation areas. 

We have determined that the 

applicant’s proposal, including the 

proposed mitigation and minimization 

measures, would have minor or 

negligible effects on the species covered 

in the HCP. Therefore, the ITP is a ‘‘loweffect’’ project and qualifies for 

categorical exclusions under the 

National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA), as provided by the Department 

of the Interior Manual (516 DM 2 

Appendix 1 and 516 DM 6 Appendix 1). 

This preliminary information may be 

revised based on our review of public 

comments that we receive in response to 

this notice. A low-effect HCP is one 

involving (1) Minor or negligible effects 

on federally listed or candidate species 

and their habitats, and (2) minor or 

negligible effects on other 

environmental values or resources. 

We will evaluate the HCP and 

comments submitted thereon to 

determine whether the application 

meets the requirements of section 10(a) 

of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). If we 

determine that the application meets 

those requirements, we will issue the 

ITP for incidental take of the sand skink. 

We will also evaluate whether issuance 

of the section 10(a)(1)(B) ITP complies 

with section 7 of the Act by conducting 

an intra-Service section 7 consultation. 

We will use the results of this 

consultation, in combination with the 

above findings, in the final analysis to 

determine whether or not to issue the 

ITP. 

Authority: We provide this notice under 

Section 10 of the Endangered Species Act 

and NEPA regulations (40 CFR 1506.6). 

Dated: May 10, 2007. 

David L. Hankla, 

Field Supervisor, Jacksonville Field Office. 

[FR Doc. E7–9482 Filed 5–16–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

Receipt of Applications for Incidental 

Take Permit for Four Condominium 

Complexes in Escambia County, 

Florida 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 


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