65816 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 241 / Tuesday, December 16, 1997 / Notices

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

Availability of an Environmental

Assessment and Finding of No

Significant Impact, and Receipt of an

Application for an Incidental Take

Permit for a Proposed Residential

Development Called Heron’s Cove,

Charlotte County, Florida

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service,

Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

Heron’s Cove, L.C. (Applicant), seeks

an incidental take permit (ITP) from the

Fish and Wildlife Service (Service),

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

Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16

U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), as amended (Act).

The ITP would authorize for a period of

15 years the incidental take of a

threatened species, the Florida scrubjay, Aphelocoma coerulescens. The

proposed residential development is

called Heron’s Cove and will consist of

16 homes located on about 173 acres in

section 7, Township 40 south, Range 23

East, Charlotte County, Florida (Project).

Approximately 40 acres of the Project

site are considered habitat for the

Florida scrub-jay. A more detailed

description of the mitigation and

minimization measures to address the

effects of the Project to the protected

species are outlined in the Applicant’s

Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP), the

Service’s Environmental Assessment

(EA), and in the SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION section below.

The Service also announces the

availability of an EA and HCP for the

incidental take application. Copies of

the EA and/or HCP may be obtained by

making a request to the Regional Office

(see ADDRESSES). Requests must be in

writing to be processed. This notice also

advises the public that the Service has

made a preliminary determination that

issuing the ITP is not a major Federal

action significantly affecting the quality

of the human environment within the

meaning of Section 102(2)(C) of the

National Environmental Policy Act of

1969, as amended (NEPA). The Finding

of No Significant Impact (FONSI) is

based on information contained in the

EA and HCP. The final determination

will be made no sooner than 30 days

from the date of this notice. This notice

is provided pursuant to Section 10 of

the Act and NEPA regulations (40 CFR

1506.6). The Service specifically

requests comment on the

appropriateness of the ‘‘No Surprises’’

assurances should the Service

determine that an ITP will be granted

and based upon the submitted HCP.

Although not explicitly stated in the

HCP, the Service has, since August

1994, announced its intention to honor

a ‘‘No Surprises’’ Policy for applicants

seeking ITPs. Copies of the Service’s

‘‘No Surprises’’ Policy may be obtained

by making a written request to the

Regional Office (see ADDRESSES). The

Service is soliciting public comments

and review of the applicability of the

‘‘No Surprises’’ Policy to this

application and HCP.

DATES: Written comments on the ITP

application, EA, and HCP should be

sent to the Service’s Regional Office (see

ADDRESSES) and should be received on

or before January 15, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Persons wishing to review

the application, HCP, and EA may

obtain a copy by writing the Service’s

Southeast Regional Office, Atlanta,

Georgia. Documents will also be

available for public inspection by

appointment during normal business

hours at the Regional Office, 1875

Century Boulevard, Suite 200, Atlanta,

Georgia 30345 (Attn: Endangered

Species Permits), or U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service, 1360 U.S. Highway 1,

Suite 5, Vero Beach, Florida 32961–

2676. Written data or comments

concerning the application, EA, or HCP

should be submitted to the Regional

Office. Requests for the documentation

must be in writing to be processed.

Comments must be submitted in writing

to be adequately considered in the

Service’s decision-making process.

Please reference permit number PRT–

837313 in such comments, or in

requests of the documents discussed

herein.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.

Rick G. Gooch, Regional Permit

Coordinator, (see ADDRESSES above),

telephone: 404/679–7110; or Mr. Mike

Jennings, Fish and Wildlife Biologist,

South Florida Ecosystem Office, Vero

Beach, Florida (see ADDRESSES above),

telephone: 561/562–3909.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

Florida scrub-jay (FSJ) is geographically

isolated from other subspecies of scrub

jays found in Mexico and the Western

United States. The FSJ is found

exclusively in peninsular Florida and is

restricted to scrub habitat. The total

estimated population is between 7,000

and 11,000 individuals. Due to habitat

loss and degradation throughout the

State of Florida, it has been estimated

that FSJ numbers have been reduced by

at least half in the last 100 years. In

Charlotte County alone, it is estimated

that as of 1992, only 1,793 acres of scrub

habitat remained. Many of the

remaining FSJ now occupy small,

isolated patches of habitat and are

vulnerable to extirpation because of

habitat fragmentation, fire suppression,

increased predation, natural stochastic

events, and other anthropogenic

impacts. Most of the scrub habitat on

the Project site is also overgrown or was

previously altered due to land clearing.

The Service, through consultation with

other experts, believes that FSJ will

decline, over time, in these type of

situations without active management of

remaining habitat patches.

Based on existing soils data, much of

the FSJ habitat that was once

widespread along coastal and riverine

portions of Lee, Charlotte, and Sarasota

Counties has been lost or degraded,

including xeric habitat within the

Project area and adjoining lands. Even

with the large loss of habitat, FSJ using

the Project are still considered to be part

of a larger complex of demographically

connected FSJ that occupy xeric

uplands of southwest Florida. This

complex of FSJ families is considered

one of five remaining areas where

relatively large numbers of birds remain

demographically linked. The continued

survival of FSJ in southwest Florida

may be dependent on the maintenance

of suitable habitat and the restoration of

unsuitable habitat in northern Charlotte

County, including the Project site and

adjoining lands.

FSJ use of the Project site and

adjacent lands has been assessed on two

occasions. In 1994, banding studies

revealed that five scrub-jay families

containing at least 20 individuals used

parts of the Project site. However, no

single territory was exclusively

encompassed within the Project site nor

were any nests documented within the

Project site. Nesting surveys conducted

in 1997 located five nests on vacant lots

in the subdivision adjacent to the

Project site. The principal value of the

Project site to FSJ is for foraging and

cover.

Construction of the Project’s

infrastructure and subsequent

construction of the individual homesites

will likely result in death of, or injury

to, FSJ incidental to the carrying out of

these otherwise lawful activities.

Habitat alteration associated with the

proposed residential development will

reduce the availability of feeding and

sheltering habitat.

The Applicant’s HCP and the

Service’s EA describe the following

minimization and mitigation strategy to

be employed by the Applicant to offset

the impacts of the Project to the FSJ:

• Micro sighting of access roads,

driveways, home foundations to avoid

or minimize impacts to xeric vegetation.
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 241 / Tuesday, December 16, 1997 / Notices 65817

• To compensate for the destruction

of 18 acres of FSJ habitat by preserving,

restoring, and managing about 37 acres

of xeric uplands. Seventeen acres of the

proposed mitigation will be

implemented within the boundaries of

the Project.

• The Applicant will conserve an

additional 20 acres of FSJ habitat, via a

perpetual management agreement,

within Serene Estates (section 20,

Township 40 East, Range 24 South,

Charlotte County), a 200 acre parcel of

land controlled by the Applicant.

• Within the larger 200 acre parcel

owned by the Applicant, the Applicant

has also agreed to preserve and manage

an additional 80 acres of xeric uplands.

Although not intended for the

mitigation needs of the Project, the

Applicant has requested that the 80

acres of habitat be available for use as

a future private mitigation bank.

• Funding and perpetual management

of the on-site conserved area

encompassing 17 acres and the 20 acre

off-site mitigation area will be provided

via terms and conditions of the ITP and

an Implementation Agreement (IA),

respectively. The IA will be executed

between the Service and the Applicant,

and will outline specific funding and

management commitments for the onsite and off-site mitigation areas for a 99

year period. A copy of the final IA will

be provided to interested parties upon

request.

• Clearing of vegetation and/or

construction would not be allowed

within 150 feet of any active FSJ nest

during the nesting season,

approximately March 1 to June 30 to

comply with State law.

The EA considers the environmental

consequences of four alternatives. Two

alternatives involve a project design of

a lesser construction footprint (e.g.,

lesser number of homesites and

associated infrastructure). The no action

alternative may result in loss of habitat

for FSJ and exposure of the Applicant

under Section 9 of the Act. The

proposed action alternative is issuance

of the ITP according to the HCP as

submitted and described above. Under

the proposed alternative, the effect of

the minimization and mitigation

strategy will be that the majority of the

FSJ habitat on site will be conserved for

FSJ use, even after the Project is

completed. Further, the restoration/

conservation of the 20 acres of off site

FSJ habitat, along with the Applicant’s

commitment to manage an additional 80

acres of FSJ habitat, will result in a

protected and managed area capable of

supporting about five families of FSJ

under optimal habitat. Though the

proposed mitigation bank will be used

to off-set future impacts to FSJ in

portions of southwest Florida, the

Service believes that the protection of

an 80 acre block of xeric habitat along

with the 20 acres needed for mitigating

Project impacts will enhance FSJ

survival in this part of the state.

Suitable or restorable FSJ habitat also

exists on property surrounding the

Serene Estates mitigation site. Future

land acquisition by the County, State, or

for other mitigation needs may result in

additional protected lands adjoining the

off-site mitigation area. Increases in the

size of protected and managed FSJ

habitat in this area will increase the

probability of FSJ persistence in

northern Charlotte County.

As stated above, the Service has made

a preliminary determination that the

issuance of the ITP is not a major

Federal action significantly effecting the

quality of the human environment

within the meaning of Section 102(2)(C)

of NEPA. This preliminary information

may be revised due to public comment

received in response to this notice and

is based on information contained in the

EA and HCP. An appropriate excerpt

from the FONSI reflecting the Service’s

finding on the application is provided

below:

Based on the analysis conducted by

the Service, it has been determined that:

• Issuance of the ITP will not

appreciably reduce the likelihood of

survival and recovery of the affected

species in the wild.

• The HCP contains provisions which

sufficiently minimize and/or mitigate

the impacts of issuing the ITP.

• Issuance of the ITP would not have

significant effects on the human

environment in the project area.

• The proposed take is incidental to

an otherwise lawful activity.

• Adequate funding will be provided

to implement the measures proposed in

the submitted HCP and authorizing ITP.

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 intraService Section 7 consultation. The

results of the biological opinion, in

combination with the above findings,

will be used in the final analysis to

determine whether or not to issue the

ITP.

Dated: December 4, 1997.

H. Dale Hall,

Deputy Regional Director.

[FR Doc. 97–32719 Filed 12–15–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Indian Affairs

Draft Department of the Interior and

Department of Health and Human

Services Internal Agency Procedures

Manual for Contracting Under Title I of

the Indian Self-Determination and

Education Assistance Act

AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs and

Indian Health Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: The congress has declared

that each provision of the Indian SelfDetermination and Education

Assistance Act (Act) and each provision

of contracts entered into thereunder

shall be liberally construed for the

benefit of the Indian tribes or tribal

organizations (T/TO). To carry out this

policy, the Department of the Interior

and Department of Health and Human

Services Internal Agency Procedures

Manual for Contracting Under Title I of

the Indian Self-Determination and

Education Assistance Act (Manual) was

drafted to facilitate and enhance

contracting with T/TOs under Title I of

the Act, as amended, 25 U.S.C. 450 et

seq., and the regulations promulgated

thereunder, 25 CFR part 900 (published

in the Federal Register on June 24,

1996, and effective on August 23, 1996).

The public is invited to review and

comment on the draft Manual.

DATES: All written comments on the

Manual should be submitted by January

15, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Written comments must be

addressed to: Merry L. Elrod, Office of

Tribal Programs, Indian Health Service,

5600 Fishers Lane, Room 6A–05,

Rockville, Maryland 20857.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For

additional information and/or to receive

copies of the manual and letter dated

October 30, 1997, to tribal leaders and

other interested parties inviting

comments on the draft Manual, the

public may contact either: James

Thomas, Division of Self-Determination

Services, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 1949

C Street, NW. , MS 4603–MIB,

Washington, D.C., 20240, telephone

202/208–5727, or Merry Elrod, Office of

Tribal Programs, Indian Health Service,

5600 Fishers Lane, Parklawn Building,

Room 6A–05, Rockville, MD, 20857,

telephone 301/443–1044.

Dated: December 9, 1997.

Hilda A. Manuel,

Deputy Commissioner of Indian Affairs.

[FR Doc. 97–32696 Filed 12–15–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–02–P