Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 77 / Friday, April 20, 2012 / Notices 23745 

encourage written comments from 

interested parties. 

Public Comments 

The primary purpose of the scoping 

process is for the public to assist the 

Service and WDNR in developing the 

DEIS by identifying important issues 

and alternatives related to WDNR’s 

proposed HCP amendment. To 

constructively guide the development of 

the DEIS, the WDNR and Service jointly 

identified the Need, Purpose, and 

Objectives of the proposed action to be 

consistent with those of the current 

WDNR HCP as follows: 

• Need: To obtain long-term certainty 

for timber harvest and other 

management activities on forested State 

trust lands and to contribute to longterm conservation for the marbled 

murrelet, consistent with commitments 

in the 1997 Habitat Conservation Plan. 

• Purpose: To develop a long-term 

habitat conservation strategy for 

marbled murrelets on forested State 

trust lands in the six west-side planning 

units, subject to DNR’s fiduciary 

responsibility to the trust beneficiaries 

as defined by law and the Service’s 

responsibilities under the ESA. 

• Objectives: 

1. Trust Mandate: Generate revenue 

and other benefits for each trust by 

meeting DNR’s trust responsibilities, 

including: Making trust property 

productive, preserving the corpus of the 

trust, exercising reasonable care and 

skill in managing the trust, acting 

prudently with respect to trust property, 

acting with undivided loyalty to trust 

beneficiaries, and acting impartially 

with respect to current and future trust 

beneficiaries. 

2. Marbled Murrelet Habitat: Provide 

forest conditions in strategic locations 

on forested trust lands that minimize 

and mitigate incidental take of marbled 

murrelet resulting from DNR’s forest 

management activities. In 

accomplishing this objective, we expect 

to make a significant contribution to 

maintaining and protecting marbled 

murrelet populations. 

3. Active Management: Promote 

active, innovative and sustainable 

management on the forested trust land 

base. 

4. Operational Flexibility: Provide 

flexibility to respond to new 

information and site-specific conditions. 

5. Implementation Certainty: Adopt 

feasible, practical, and cost-effective 

actions that are likely to be successful 

and can be sustained throughout the life 

of the HCP. 

The Service requests that comments 

be specific. In particular, we request 

information regarding: 

• Baseline environmental conditions 

in the plan area; 

• Need, Purpose, and Objectives 

identified above; 

• Other possible alternatives that 

meet the Need, Purpose, and Objectives; 

• Direct, indirect, and cumulative 

impacts that implementation of a 

proposed amendment or other 

alternatives that are based upon the 

Need, Purpose, and Objectives could 

have on marbled murrelets and other 

species, and their communities and 

habitats; 

• Marbled murrelet ecology; 

• Potential adaptive management 

and/or monitoring provisions; 

• Funding issues; 

• Other plans or projects that might 

be relevant to this proposed project; 

• Minimization and mitigation 

concepts; 

• Any other information pertinent to 

evaluating the effects of the proposed 

action on the human environment. 

Comments regarding these issues as 

they relate to management of WDNR 

lands for marbled murrelet conservation 

should be submitted by one of the 

methods listed in ADDRESSES. 

The WDNR and the Service intend to 

develop an initial set of conceptual 

alternatives to aid in the assessment of 

the appropriate range of alternatives to 

be analyzed in the DEIS. The conceptual 

alternatives are intended to broadly 

describe different approaches to the 

long-term conservation strategy for the 

marbled murrelet on WDNR HCPcovered lands for the purpose of public 

feedback prior to refinement of 

alternatives in the DEIS. We intend to 

provide the public the opportunity to 

comment on the initial set of conceptual 

alternatives before completing the 

selection of the range of alternatives that 

will be formally presented in the DEIS. 

We do not expect to publish a notice in 

the Federal Register for this 

opportunity. To enable the public to 

comment on conceptual alternatives 

before the DEIS is published, the 

Service and the WDNR will announce 

this opportunity on our respective web 

sites (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT) and in other forms of media, 

and we will also send notification to 

people who respond to this scoping 

notice, attend our public scoping 

meeting attendees, or requests to be 

notified. 

The DEIS is expected to be completed 

and available to the public in the winter 

of 2012. Once the DEIS is prepared, 

there will be an additional opportunity 

announced for public comment on all 

aspects and content of the DEIS through 

a Federal Register notice of availability. 

Public Availability of Comments 

All comments and materials 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 

comments, 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. Comments and materials we 

receive will be available for public 

inspection by appointment, during 

normal business hours, at our office (see 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT). 

Authority 

The environmental review of this 

proposed action will be conducted in 

accordance with the requirements of 

NEPA, the Council on Environmental 

Quality Regulations (40 CFR 1500– 

1508), other applicable Federal laws and 

regulations, and policies and procedures 

of the Service. This notice is being 

furnished in accordance with 40 CFR 

1501.7 of NEPA to obtain suggestions 

and information from other agencies 

and the public on the scope of issues 

and alternatives to be addressed in the 

DEIS. 

Dated: April 2, 2012. 

Richard Hannan, 

Deputy Regional Director, Pacific Region, U.S. 

Fish and Wildlife Service, Portland, Oregon. 

[FR Doc. 2012–9664 Filed 4–19–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

[FWS–R8–ES–2012–N050; FF08E00000– 

FXES11120800000F2–123–F2] 

Proposed Low-Effect Habitat 

Conservation Plan for the Bay 

Checkerspot Butterfly and Serpentine 

Grasslands, City of San Jose, Santa 

Clara County, CA 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of availability: request 

for comment. 

SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service, have received an 

application from Hoa Cam Tieu 

(applicant) for a 3-year incidental take 

permit for three species under the 

Endangered Species Act of 1973, as 

amended (Act). The application 


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23746 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 77 / Friday, April 20, 2012 / Notices 

addresses the potential for ‘‘take’’ of one 

listed animal, the Bay checkerspot 

butterfly; one listed plant, the Santa 

Clara Valley dudleya; and one nonlisted 

plant, the most beautiful jewelflower. 

The applicant would implement a 

conservation program to minimize and 

mitigate the project activities, as 

described in the applicant’s low-effect 

habitat conservation plan (Plan). We 

request comments on the applicant’s 

application and Plan, and the 

preliminary determination that the Plan 

qualifies as a ‘‘low-effect’’ habitat 

conservation plan, eligible for a 

categorical exclusion under the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as 

amended (NEPA). We discuss our basis 

for this determination in our 

environmental action statement (EAS), 

also available for public review. 

DATES: We must receive written 

comments on or before May 21, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: To request further 

information or submit written 

comments, please use one of the 

following methods, and note that your 

information request or comment is in 

reference to the Low-Effect Habitat 

Conservation Plan for Bay checkerspot 

butterfly and serpentine grasslands, 

Santa Clara County California: 

• U.S. Mail: Ellen McBride, 

Conservation Planning Branch, U.S. 

Fish and Wildlife Service, Sacramento 

Fish and Wildlife Office, 2800 Cottage 

Way, W–2605, Sacramento, CA 95825. 

• In-Person Drop-off, Viewing, or 

Pickup: Call (916) 414–6600 to make an 

appointment during regular business 

hours to drop off comments or view 

received comments at this location: the 

above address. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Mike Thomas, Chief, Conservation 

Planning Division, or Eric Tattersall, 

Deputy Assistant Field Supervisor, at 

the address shown above or at (916) 

414–6600 (telephone). If you use a 

telecommunications device for the deaf, 

please call the Federal Information 

Relay Service at (800) 877–8339. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Availability of Documents 

You may obtain copies of the permit 

application, plan, and EAS from the 

individuals in FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT. Copies of these documents are 

also available for public inspection, by 

appointment, during regular business 

hours, at the Sacramento Fish and 

Wildlife Office (see ADDRESSES). 

Public Availability of Comments 

Before including your address, phone 

number, 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. 

Background Information 

Section 9 of the Act prohibits taking 

of fish and wildlife species listed as 

endangered or threatened under section 

4 of the Act. Under the Act, the term 

‘‘take’’ means to harass, harm, pursue, 

hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, 

or collect, or to attempt to engage in any 

such conduct. The term ‘‘harm’’ is 

defined in the regulations as significant 

habitat modification or degradation that 

results in death or injury of listed 

species by significantly impairing 

essential behavioral patterns, including 

breeding, feeding, or sheltering (50 CFR 

17.3). The term ‘‘harass’’ is defined in 

the regulations as to carry out actions 

that create the likelihood of injury to 

listed species to such an extent as to 

significantly disrupt normal behavioral 

patterns, which include, but are not 

limited to, breeding, feeding, or 

sheltering (50 CFR 17.3). 

However, under specified 

circumstances, the Service may issue 

permits that allow the take of federally 

listed species, provided that the take 

that occurs is incidental to, but not the 

purpose of, an otherwise lawful activity. 

Regulations governing permits for 

endangered and threatened species are 

at 50 CFR 17.22 and 17.32, respectively. 

Section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Act contains 

provisions for issuing such incidental 

take permits to non-Federal entities for 

the take of endangered and threatened 

species, provided the following criteria 

are met: 

1. The taking will be incidental; 

2. The applicants will, to the 

maximum extent practicable, minimize 

and mitigate the impact of such taking; 

3. The applicants will develop a 

proposed HCP and ensure that adequate 

funding for the plan will be provided; 

4. The taking will not appreciably 

reduce the likelihood of the survival 

and recovery of the species in the wild; 

and 

5. The applicants will carry out any 

other measures that the Service may 

require as being necessary or 

appropriate for the purposes of the HCP. 

Although take of listed plant species 

is not prohibited under the Act, and 

therefore cannot be authorized under an 

incidental take permit, plant species 

may be included on a permit in 

recognition of the conservation benefits 

provided to them under a habitat 

conservation plan. All species included 

in the incidental take permit would 

receive assurances under our ‘‘No 

Surprises’’ regulations (50 CFR 

17.22(b)(5) and 17.32(b)(5)). 

The applicant seeks an incident take 

permit for covered activities within 1.4 

acres of grassland associated with the 

construction of a single family residence 

in Santa Clara County, California. The 

following two federally listed species 

will be included as covered species in 

the applicants’ proposed Plan: 

• Bay checkerspot butterfly 

(Euphydryas editha bayensis) 

(threatened) 

• Santa Clara Valley dudleya 

(Dudleya setchellii) (endangered) 

The Plan does not include any 

unlisted animal species, but would 

include one unlisted plant species: 

• Most beautiful jewelflower 

(Streptanthus albidus ssp. 

peramoenus) 

Collectively, these species are referred 

to as ‘‘covered species’’ in the Plan. For 

these covered species, the applicants 

would seek incidental take 

authorization. 

Covered activities include the 

following: 

• Grading and ground leveling 

• Vegetation removal and planting, 

soil compaction, building 

construction, and use of heavy 

equipment (including, but not 

limited to, bulldozers, cement 

trucks, water trucks, and backhoes) 

• Erosion control structures (such as 

silt fencing and barriers) 

• Dust control (such as watering 

surface soils) 

• Construction of driveways 

• Trenching 

• Animal husbandry units 

• Installation of utilities and 

irrigation systems 

• Landscaping associated with all of 

the above activities and structures 

The applicant proposes to avoid, 

minimize, and mitigate the effects to the 

covered species associated with the 

covered activities by fully implementing 

the Plan. Minimization measures will 

include, but are not limited to: 

• An employee education program, 

• Prior to initial grading, installation 

of permanent perimeter fencing and 

signage around the protected 

serpentine grassland, 

• Temporary construction fencing, 

• Salvage of individual Santa Clara 

Valley dudleya prior to 

construction, and 

• A deed restriction or conservation 

easement on 2.5 acres of the site for 


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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 77 / Friday, April 20, 2012 / Notices 23747 

protection of serpentine habitat. 

General minimization measures will 

include: 

• Limiting staging and work areas to 

the project site only, or to existing 

paved roads, 

• Removal of all food-related trash 

every 3 days, 

• Prohibiting pets from the project 

site during construction, 

• Restricting ground disturbance to 

the period of July 1 through 

November 30 (generally the dry 

season), unless we authorize 

otherwise, and 

• Maintenance of all equipment to 

avoid fluid leaks. 

The applicant proposes to build a 

0.60-acre residential home, which 

includes the single-family residence, 

detached garage, landscaped area, 

underground water line, and driveway. 

This development will be at the top of 

the property. There will be an 

additional septic system and septic 

leach field area of approximately 0.80 

acre slightly west and downslope from 

the residence. Neither the residence nor 

the leach field area will directly affect 

serpentine species, but could result in 

indirect effects. 

Alternatives 

Our proposed action is approving the 

applicant’s Plan and issuance of an 

incidental take permit for the 

applicant’s covered activities. As 

required by the Act, the applicant’s Plan 

considers alternatives to the take under 

the proposed action. The Plan considers 

the environmental consequences of one 

alternative to the proposed action, the 

No Action Alternative. Under the No 

Action Alternative, we would not issue 

a permit; the applicant would not build 

the proposed single-family residence; 

the project area would continue to 

experience illegal off-road vehicle use, 

illegal trash dumping, and trespassing; 

and no take would occur for the 

construction of the residence and its 

associated structures. For these reasons, 

the No-Action Alternative has been 

rejected. 

Under the Proposed Action 

Alternative, we would issue an 

incidental take permit for the 

applicant’s proposed project, which 

includes the activities described above. 

The Proposed Action Alternative would 

result in permanent loss of 1.40 acres of 

grassland habitat for the Bay 

checkerspot butterfly, Santa Clara 

Valley dudleya, and most beautiful 

jewelflower. To mitigate for these 

effects, the applicant proposes to 

protect, enhance, and manage in 

perpetuity 2.5 acres of on-site 

serpentine grassland. 

National Environmental Policy Act 

As described in our EAS, we have 

made the preliminary determination 

that approval of the proposed Plan and 

issuance of the permit would qualify as 

a categorical exclusion under NEPA (42 

U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), as provided by 

Federal regulations (40 CFR part 1500, 

5(k), 1507.3(b)(2), 1508.4) and the 

Department of the Interior Manual (516 

DM 2 and 516 DM 8). Our EAS found 

that the proposed plan qualifies as a 

‘‘low-effect’’ habitat conservation plan, 

as defined by our Habitat Conservation 

Planning Handbook (November 1996). 

Determination of low-effect habitat 

conservation plans is based on the 

following three criteria: (1) 

Implementation of the proposed plan 

would result in minor or negligible 

effects on federally-listed, proposed, 

and candidate species and their 

habitats; (2) implementation of the 

proposed plan would result in minor or 

negligible effects on other 

environmental values or resources; and 

(3) impacts of the plan, considered 

together with the impacts of other past, 

present, and reasonably foreseeable 

similarly situated projects, would not 

result, over time, in cumulative effects 

to environmental values or resources 

that would be considered significant. 

Based upon the preliminary 

determinations in the EAS, we do not 

intend to prepare further NEPA 

documentation. We will consider public 

comments when making the final 

determination on whether to prepare an 

additional NEPA document on the 

proposed action. 

Public Comments 

We request data, comments, new 

information, or suggestions from the 

public, other concerned governmental 

agencies, the scientific community, 

Tribes, industry, or any other interested 

party on this notice. We particularly 

seek comments on the following: 

1. Biological information concerning 

the species; 

2. Relevant data concerning the 

species; 

3. Additional information concerning 

the range, distribution, population size, 

and population trends of the species; 

4. Current or planned activities in the 

subject area and their possible impacts 

on the species; 

5. The presence of archeological sites, 

buildings and structures, historic 

events, sacred and traditional areas, and 

other historic preservation concerns, 

which are required to be considered in 

project planning by the National 

Historic Preservation Act; and 

6. Identification of any other 

environmental issues that should be 

considered with regard to the proposed 

development and permit action. 

Authority 

We provide this notice pursuant to 

section 10(c) of the Act and the NEPA 

public-involvement regulations (40 CFR 

1500.1(b), 1500.2(d), and 1506.6). We 

will evaluate the permit application, 

including the Plan, and comments we 

receive to determine whether the 

application meets the requirements of 

section 10(a) of the Act. If the 

requirements are met, we will issue a 

permit to the applicant for the 

incidental take of the Bay checkerspot 

butterfly, Santa Clara Valley dudleya, 

and most beautiful jewelflower from the 

implementation of the covered activities 

described in the Low-Effect Habitat 

Conservation Plan for the Bay 

Checkerspot Butterfly and Serpentine 

Grasslands, City of San Jose, Santa Clara 

County, California. We will make the 

final permit decision no sooner than 30 

days after the date of this notice. 

Dated: April 13, 2012. 

Susan Moore, 

Field Supervisor, Sacramento Fish and 

Wildlife Office, Sacramento, California. 

[FR Doc. 2012–9543 Filed 4–19–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management 

[LLORP0000.16100000.DQ0000 

LXSS053H0000 HAG10–0234] 

Notice of Availability of the Proposed 

John Day Basin Resource 

Management Plan and Final 

Environmental Impact Statement, 

Oregon. 

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of Availability. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

National Environmental Policy Act of 

1969 and the Federal Land Policy and 

Management Act of 1976, the Bureau of 

Land Management (BLM) has prepared 

a Proposed Resource Management Plan 

(RMP)/Final Environmental Impact 

Statement (EIS) for the John Day Basin 

planning area and by this notice is 

announcing its availability. 

DATES: The BLM planning regulations 

state that any person who meets the 

conditions as described in the 

regulations may protest the BLM’s 

Proposed RMP/Final EIS. A person who 

meets the conditions and files a protest 

must file the protest within 30 days of 

the date that the Environmental 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES