Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 157 / Tuesday, August 14, 2018 / Notices 40327 

is issued, the applicant would receive 

assurances under the Service’s No 

Surprises policy, as codified at 50 CFR 

17.22(b)(5). 

The applicant proposes to operate a 

maximum of 100 wind turbines and 

associated facilities (described below) 

for a period of 27 years in Randolph 

County, Indiana. The project consists of 

wind turbines, associated access roads, 

an underground and aboveground 

electrical collector system, one 

substation containing transformers that 

feed electricity into an existing 345- 

kilovolt (kV) electrical tie-in line, a 10- 

mile generator lead line, three 

permanent meteorological towers, and 

an operations and maintenance 

building. Project facilities and 

infrastructure are placed on private land 

via long-term easement agreements 

between the applicant and respective 

landowners. 

The draft HCP describes the impacts 

of take associated with the operation of 

the Headwaters Wind Farm and 

includes measures to avoid, minimize, 

mitigate, and monitor the impacts of 

incidental take on the Indiana bat and 

the northern long-eared bat. The 

applicant will mitigate for take and 

associated impacts through protection 

and restoration of maternity colony 

habitat and/or swarming habitat, and 

gating of an Indiana bat hibernacula. 

Habitat mitigation, including any 

restored habitat, will occur on private 

land and be permanently protected by 

restrictive covenants approved by the 

Service. Chapter 5 of the HCP describes 

the Conservation Program, including 

details of avoidance and minimization 

measures, compensatory mitigation, and 

adaptive management that will limit 

and mitigate for the take of Indiana bats 

and northern long-eared bats. 

The Service is soliciting information 

regarding the adequacy of the HCP to 

avoid, minimize, mitigate, and monitor 

the proposed incidental take of the 

covered species and to provide for 

adaptive management. In compliance 

with section 10(c) of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 

1539(c)), the Service is making the ITP 

application materials available for 

public review and comment as 

described above. 

We invite comments and suggestions 

from all interested parties on the draft 

documents associated with the ITP 

application (HCP and HCP Appendices), 

and request that comments be as 

specific as possible. In particular, we 

request information and comments on 

the following topics: 

1. Whether adaptive management and 

monitoring provisions in the Proposed 

Action alternative are sufficient; 

2. Any threats to the Indiana bat and 

the northern long-eared bat that may 

influence their populations over the life 

of the ITP that are not addressed in the 

draft HCP or draft EA; 

3. Any new information on whitenose syndrome effects on the Indiana 

bat and the northern long-eared bat; and 

4. Any other information pertinent to 

evaluating the effects of the proposed 

action on the Indiana bat and the 

northern long-eared bat. 

Alternatives in the Draft EA 

The DEA contains an analysis of four 

alternatives: (1) No Action alternative, 

in which all 100 turbines would be 

feathered from 1⁄2 hour before sunset to 1⁄2 hour after sunrise up to 5.0 meters 

per second (m/s) from March 15 through 

May 15 and up to 6.9 m/s from August 

1 through October 15. In addition, 10 

turbines within 1,000 feet of suitable 

habitat would be feathered up to 6.9 m/ 

s with the rest of the turbines feathered 

up to manufacturer’s cut-in speed (3.0 

m/s) from May 16 through July 31. This 

curtailment regime would occur each 

year during the operational life (27 

years) of Headwaters; (2) the 5.0 m/s 

Cut-In Speed (feathered) Alternative 

including implementation of the HCP 

and issuance of a 27-year ITP; (3) the 6.5 

m/s Cut-In Speed (feathered) 

Alternative, including implementation 

of the HCP and issuance of a 27-year 

ITP; and (4) the 4.0 m/s Cut-In Speed 

(feathered) Alternative, including 

implementation of the HCP and 

issuance of a 27-year ITP. The DEA 

considers the direct, indirect, and 

cumulative effects of the alternatives, 

including any measures under the 

Proposed Action alternative intended to 

minimize and mitigate such impacts. 

The DEA also identifies two additional 

alternatives that were considered but 

were eliminated from analysis as 

detailed in Section 3.4 of the DEA. 

The Service invites comments and 

suggestions from all interested parties 

on the content of the DEA. In particular, 

information and comments regarding 

the following topics are requested: 

1. The direct, indirect, or cumulative 

effects that implementation of any 

alternative could have on the human 

environment; 

2. Whether or not the significance of 

the impact on various aspects of the 

human environment has been 

adequately analyzed; and 

3. Any other information pertinent to 

evaluating the effects of the proposed 

action on the human environment. 

Public Comments 

You may submit your comments and 

materials related to the draft HCP, DEA, 

or other supporting documents by one 

of the methods listed in ADDRESSES. We 

request that you send comments by only 

one of the methods described in 

ADDRESSES. 

Comments and materials we receive, 

as well as documents associated with 

the notice, will be available for public 

inspection by appointment, during 

normal business hours, at the Indiana 

Ecological Services Field Office in 

Bloomington, Indiana (see FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT). Before including 

your address, phone number, email 

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 you 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 under section 

10(c) of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) 

and its implementing regulations (50 

CFR 17.22) and the NEPA (42 U.S.C. 

4371 et seq.) and its implementing 

regulations (40 CFR 1506.6; 43 CFR part 

46). 

Dated: April 18, 2018. 

Lori H. Nordstrom, 

Assistant Regional Director, Ecological 

Services, Midwest Region. 

[FR Doc. 2018–17485 Filed 8–13–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4333–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

[FWS–R2–ES–2018–N065; 

FXES11140200000–189–FF02ENEH00] 

Incidental Take Permit Applications 

Received To Participate in the 

American Burying-Beetle Amended Oil 

and Gas Industry Conservation Plan in 

Oklahoma 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of availability; request 

for public comments. 

SUMMARY: Under the Endangered 

Species Act (ESA), as amended, we, the 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, invite 

the public to comment on Federallylisted American burying-beetle 

incidental take permit (ITP) 


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40328 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 157 / Tuesday, August 14, 2018 / Notices 

applications. The applicants anticipate 

American burying-beetle take as a result 

of impacts to Oklahoma habitat the 

species uses for breeding, feeding, and 

sheltering. The take would be incidental 

to the applicants’ activities associated 

with oil and gas well field and pipeline 

infrastructure (gathering, transmission, 

and distribution), including geophysical 

exploration (seismic), construction, 

maintenance, operation, repair, 

decommissioning, and reclamation. If 

approved, the permits would be issued 

under the approved American Burying 

Beetle Amended Oil and Gas Industry 

Conservation Plan (ICP) Endangered 

Species Act Section 10(a)(1)(B) Permit 

Issuance in Oklahoma. 

DATES: To ensure consideration, written 

comments must be received on or before 

September 13, 2018. 

ADDRESSES: You may obtain copies of 

all documents and submit comments on 

the applicants’ ITP applications by one 

of the following methods. Please refer to 

the proposed permit number when 

requesting documents or submitting 

comments. 

• Email: fw2_hcp_permits@fws.gov. 

• U.S. Mail: U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service, Endangered Species—HCP 

Permits, P.O. Box 1306, Room 6093, 

Albuquerque, NM 87103. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Marty Tuegel, Branch Chief, by U.S. 

mail at U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Environmental Review Division, P.O. 

Box 1306, Room 6078, Albuquerque, 

NM 87103; or by telephone at 505–248– 

6651. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Introduction 

Under the Endangered Species Act 

(ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), we, the 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, invite 

the public to comment on ITP 

applications to take the Federally-listed 

American burying-beetle (Nicrophorus 

americanus) during oil and gas well 

field infrastructure geophysical 

exploration (seismic) and construction, 

maintenance, operation, repair, and 

decommissioning, as well as oil and gas 

gathering, transmission, and 

distribution pipeline infrastructure 

construction, maintenance, operation, 

repair, decommissioning, and 

reclamation in Oklahoma. 

If approved, the permits would be 

issued to the applicants under the 

American Burying Beetle Amended Oil 

and Gas Industry Conservation Plan 

(ICP) Endangered Species Act Section 

10(a)(1)(B) Permit Issuance in 

Oklahoma. The original ICP was 

approved on May 21, 2014, and the ‘‘no 

significant impact’’ finding notice was 

published in the Federal Register on 

July 25, 2014 (79 FR 43504). The draft 

amended ICP was made available for 

comment on March 8, 2016 (81 FR 

12113), and approved on April 13, 2016. 

The ICP and the associated 

environmental assessment/finding of no 

significant impact are available on our 

website at http://www.fws.gov/ 

southwest/es/oklahoma/ABBICP. 

However, we are no longer taking 

comments on these finalized, approved 

documents. 

Applications Available for Review and 

Comment 

We invite local, state, Tribal, and 

Federal agencies, and the public to 

comment on the following applications 

under the ICP, for incidentally taking 

the Federally-listed American buryingbeetle. Please refer to the appropriate 

proposed permit number (TE84779C, 

TE84778C, or TE84781C) when 

requesting application documents and 

when submitting comments. Documents 

and other information the applicants 

have submitted are available for review, 

subject to Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a) 

and Freedom of Information Act (5 

U.S.C. 552) requirements. 

Permit TE84779C 

Applicant: Midship Pipeline Company, 

LLC, Houston, TX. 

Applicant requests a permit for oil 

and gas upstream and midstream 

production, including oil and gas well 

field infrastructure geophysical 

exploration (seismic) and construction, 

maintenance, operation, repair, and 

decommissioning, as well as oil and gas 

gathering, transmission, and 

distribution pipeline infrastructure 

construction, maintenance, operation, 

repair, decommissioning, and 

reclamation in Oklahoma. 

Permit TE84778C 

Applicant: Blue Water Resources, LLC, 

Tulsa, OK. 

Applicant requests a permit for oil 

and gas upstream and midstream 

production, including oil and gas well 

field infrastructure geophysical 

exploration (seismic) and construction, 

maintenance, operation, repair, and 

decommissioning, as well as oil and gas 

gathering, transmission, and 

distribution pipeline infrastructure 

construction, maintenance, operation, 

repair, decommissioning, and 

reclamation in Oklahoma. 

Permit TE84781C 

Applicant: VM ARKOMA Stack, LLC, 

Oklahoma City, OK. 

Applicant requests a permit for oil 

and gas upstream and midstream 

production, including oil and gas well 

field infrastructure geophysical 

exploration (seismic) and construction, 

maintenance, operation, repair, and 

decommissioning, as well as oil and gas 

gathering, transmission, and 

distribution pipeline infrastructure 

construction, maintenance, operation, 

repair, decommissioning, and 

reclamation in Oklahoma. 

Public Availability of Comments 

Written comments we receive become 

part of the public record associated with 

this action. Before including your 

address, phone number, email 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 request in your comment that 

we withhold your personal identifying 

information from public review, we 

cannot guarantee that we will be able to 

do so. All submissions from 

organizations or businesses, and from 

individuals identifying themselves as 

representatives or officials of 

organizations or businesses, will be 

made available for public disclosure in 

their entirety. 

Authority 

We provide this notice under the 

ESA, section 10(c) (16 U.S.C. 1531 et 

seq.) and its implementing regulations 

(50 CFR 17.22) and the National 

Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 

4321 et seq.) and its implementing 

regulations (40 CFR 1506.6). 

Dated: May 14, 2018. 

Amy L. Lueders, 

Regional Director, Southwest Region, U.S. 

Fish and Wildlife Service. 

[FR Doc. 2018–17502 Filed 8–13–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4333–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management 

[LLNVL03000 L58480000.EU0000 241A; 14– 

08807; MO #4500116369; TAS: 14X1109] 

Notice of Realty Action: Competitive 

Sale of Nine Parcels of Public Land in 

Lincoln County, NV 

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of realty action. 

SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land 

Management (BLM) proposes to offer by 

competitive sale 9 parcels of public land 

totaling 296.09 acres in Lincoln County, 

Nevada, pursuant to the Lincoln County 


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