58786 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 191 / Monday, October 2, 2000 / Notices

effects of urban and agricultural

development over the past 100 years,

much of the remaining scrub-jay habitat

is now relatively small and isolated.

What remains is largely degraded due to

the exclusion of fire which is needed to

maintain xeric uplands in conditions

suitable for scrub-jays.

Recent scrub-jay surveys in urban

areas of southwest Florida documented

that the subject residential parcel is part

of the territory of one family of birds

that is composed of seven individuals.

A one-day survey undertaken by the

Applicant supported these findings

when two juvenile birds were

documented within the subject

residential parcel. The extent of the

territory and its relative importance to

the resident family of scrub-jays has not

been determined. However, the

residential parcel is composed of native

xeric vegetation of sufficient quality to

provide food resources and nesting and

sheltering habitat for scrub-jays.

Scrub-jays using the subject

residential lot and adjacent properties

are part of a larger complex of scrub-jays

located in urban settings in coastal areas

of southern Sarasota County and

western Charlotte County. Thirteen

scrub-jay families are known to occupy

urban areas within about three miles of

the subject residential parcel. More than

100 scrub-jay families may still exist

within the metapopulation of birds

found in the matrix of urban and natural

areas of coastal Sarasota and Charlotte

counties. However, scrub-jays in urban

areas are particularly vulnerable and

typically do not successfully produce

young that survive to adulthood.

Persistent urban growth in this area will

likely result in further reductions in the

amount of suitable habitat for scrubjays. Increasing urban pressures are also

likely to result in the continued

degradation of scrub-jay habitat as fire

exclusion due to safety concerns slowly

results in vegetative overgrowth. The

continued survival of a large scrub-jay

population in southwest Florida will be

dependent on the protection and

management of large preserves.

Construction of the Project’s

infrastructure and facilities will result

in harm to scrub-jays, incidental to the

carrying out of these otherwise lawful

activities. Habitat alteration associated

with the proposed residential

construction will reduce the availability

of feeding, nesting, and sheltering

habitat of resident scrub-jays.

The Applicant proposes to minimize

take of scrub-jays by reducing

disturbance to occupied habitat.

Approximately 25 percent (or 0.13

acres) of occupied habitat on the

residential lot will not be disturbed

during land clearing and construction

activities. In addition, the Applicant

proposes to remove up to four pine trees

on the residential lot. Removal of these

trees will eliminate perch sites for

predatory birds and may reduce the risk

that raptors will kill scrub-jays.

As earlier stated, the Service has

determined that the HCP qualifies as a

Categorically-Excluded, ‘‘low-effect’’

HCP as defined by Service’s Habitat

Conservation Planning Handbook

(November 1996). Low-effect HCPs are

those involving: (1) minor or negligible

effects on federally listed and candidate

species and their habitats, and (2) minor

or negligible effects on other

environmental values or resources. The

Applicant’s HCP qualifies for the

following reasons:

1. Approval of the HCP would result

in minor or negligible effects on the

Florida scrub-jay. The Service does not

anticipate significant direct or

cumulative effects on this species

resulting from the construction of the

Project.

2. Approval of the HCP would not

have adverse effect on known

geographic, historic or cultural sites, or

involve unique or unknown

environmental risks.

3. Approval of the HCP would not

result in any significant adverse effects

on public health or safety.

4. The project does not require

compliance with Executive Order 11988

(Floodplain Management), Executive

Order 11990 (Protection of Wetlands), or

the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act,

nor does it threaten to violate a Federal,

State, local or tribal law or requirement

imposed for the protection of the

environment.

5. Approval of the HCP would not

establish a precedent for future action or

represent a decision in principle about

future actions with potentially

significant environmental effects.

The Service has therefore determined

that approval of the HCP qualifies as a

categorical exclusion under NEPA, as

provided by the Department of the

Interior Manual (516 DM 2, Appendix 1

and 516 DM 6, Appendix 1). No further

NEPA determination will therefore be

prepared.

The Service will evaluate the HCP

and comments submitted thereon to

determine whether the application

meets the requirements of Section 10(a)

of the Act. If it is determined that those

requirements are met, an ITP will be

issued for the incidental take of one

family of Florida scrub-jay. 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 intra-Service Section 7 consultation.

The results of the consultation, in

combination with the above findings,

will be used in the final analysis to

determine whether or not to issue the

ITP.

Dated: September 25, 2000.

H. Dale Hall,

Acting Regional Director.

[FR Doc. 00–25145 Filed 9–29–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

Receipt of an Application for an

Incidental Take Permit for Road

Improvement in Perry County,

Mississippi

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service,

Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: The Perry County Board of

Supervisors (Applicant) has made an

application for 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.

The proposed permit would allow take

of the gopher tortoise (Gopherus

polyphemus), a federally listed

threatened species, incidental to

surfacing a 0.25-mile section of dirt road

with gravel. The permit would authorize

take of up to two gopher tortoises. As

described in the Applicant’s habitat

conservation plan (HCP), impacts will

be minimized and mitigated by

relocating the tortoises from their

burrows along the edge of the road to

adjacent burrows within the tortoise

colony. The habitat conservation plan is

further described in the SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION section below. The Service

has determined that the Applicant’s

proposal, including the proposed

mitigation and minimization measures,

will individually and cumulatively have

a minor or negligible effect on the

species covered in the HCP. Therefore,

the ITP is a ‘‘low effect’’ project and

would qualify as a categorical exclusion

under the National Environmental

Policy Act (NEPA), as provided by the

Department of Interior Manual (516

DM2, Appendix 1 and 516 DM 6,

Appendix 1).

The Service announces the

availability of the HCP for the incidental

take application. Copies of the HCP may

be obtained by making a request to the

Regional Office (see ADDRESSES).

Requests must be in writing to be

processed. This notice is provided

pursuant to Section 10 of the

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 191 / Monday, October 2, 2000 / Notices 58787

Endangered Species Act and NEPA

regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).

The Service specifically requests

information, views, and opinions from

the public via this Notice on the Federal

action. Further, the Service specifically

solicits information regarding the

adequacy of the HCP as measured

against the Service’s Permit issuance

criteria found in 50 CFR Parts 13 and

17.

We specifically request information,

views, and opinions from the public via

this Notice on the Federal action.

Further, we specifically solicit

information regarding the adequacy of

the Plan as measured against the

Service’s Permit issuance criteria found

in 50 CFR Parts 13 and 17.

If you wish to comment, you may

submit comments by any one of several

methods. Please reference permit

number TE026748–0 in such comments.

You may mail comments to the

Service’s Regional Office (see

ADDRESSES). You may also comment via

the internet to ‘‘david_dell@fws.gov’’.

Please submit comments over the

internet as an ASCII file avoiding the

use of special characters and any form

of encryption. Please also include your

name and return address in your

internet message. If you do not receive

a confirmation from the Service that we

have received your internet message,

contact us directly at either telephone

number listed below (see FURTHER

INFORMATION). Finally, you may hand

deliver comments to either Service

office listed below (see ADDRESSES). Our

practice is to make comments, including

names and home addresses of

respondents, available for public review

during regular business hours.

Individual respondents may request that

we withhold their home address from

the administrative record. We will

honor such requests to the extent

allowable by law. There may also be

other circumstances in which we would

withhold from the administrative record

a respondent’s identity, as allowable by

law. If you wish us to withhold your

name and address, you must state this

prominently at the beginning of your

comments. We will not; however,

consider anonymous comments. We

will make all submissions from

organizations or businesses, and from

individuals identifying themselves as

representatives or officials of

organizations or businesses, available

for public inspection in their entirety.

DATES: Written comments on the permit

application and HCP should be sent to

the Service’s Regional Office (see

ADDRESSES) and should be received on

or before November 1, 2000

ADDRESSES: Persons wishing to review

the application, HCP, and supporting

documentation 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 Jackson Field

Office, 6578 Dogwood View Parkway,

Jackson, Mississippi, 39213 (Attn: Will

McDearman). Written data or comments

concerning the application, HCP, or

supporting documents should be

submitted to the Regional Office.

Requests for the documentation must be

in writing to be processed. Please

reference permit number TE026748–0 in

requests for the documents discussed

herein.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.

David Dell, Regional Permit

Coordinator, (see ADDRESSES above),

telephone: 404/679–7313; or Mr. Will

McDearman, Fish and Wildlife

Biologist, Jackson Field Office, (see

ADDRESSES above), telephone 601/321–

1124.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

gopher tortoise was listed in 1987 as a

threatened species in the western part of

its geographic range, west of the

Tombigbee and Mobile Rivers in

Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana.

The gopher tortoise is a burrowing

animal that historically inhabited firemaintained longleaf pine communities

on moderately well drained to xeric

soils in the Coastal Plain. These longleaf

pine communities consisted of

relatively open forests, without a closed

overstory, with a well developed

herbaceous plant layer of grasses and

forbs. About 80% of the original habitat

for gopher tortoises was lost at the time

the species was listed due to the

conversion to urban and agricultural

land use. On remaining forests,

management practices converting

longleaf pine to densely planted pine

stands for pulpwood production, fire

exclusion, and infrequently prescribed

fire further reduced the open forest with

grasses and forbs tortoises need for

burrowing, nesting, and feeding. Over

22,000 gopher tortoises have been

estimated to occur in the listed range.

The tortoise, however, is a long-lived

animal with low reproductive rates.

Remaining populations, though

relatively widespread, are individually

small, fragmented, and usually in poor

habitat without adequate reproduction

for a self-sustaining viable population.

Under section 9 of the Act and its

implementing regulations, ‘‘taking’’ of

endangered and threatened wildlife is

prohibited. However, the Service, under

limited circumstances, may issue

permits to take such wildlife if the

taking is incidental to and not the

purpose of otherwise lawful activities.

The Applicant has prepared an HCP as

required for the incidental take permit

application. The Applicant intends to

open a dead-end road by extending it

about 0.25 mile to another intersection.

The extension is over an existing dirt

road that will be surfaced with gravel.

Two gopher tortoise burrows are located

on the edge of the dirt road. Surveys by

the Applicant and Service found that

one of these burrows was inhabited by

a tortoise. The operation of heavy

equipment for surfacing the road can

collapse these burrows, entombing and

killing or injuring tortoises. The

biological goal of the plan is to avoid

such harm or injury to these tortoises

and to retaining them within the

existing the gopher tortoise colony. To

avoid, minimize and mitigate impacts,

the Applicant will capture and relocate

up to two tortoises in these two burrows

to adjacent unoccupied but suitable

burrows located about 200 feet from the

road. The tortoises at the edge of the

road are part of a small colony of five

tortoises inhabiting privately owned

property adjoining the west side of the

road. Thus, tortoises will be moved to

other burrows within their existing

colony and population. The permit will

authorize incidental take associated

with the capture and relocation of two

tortoises. Upon relocation, the burrows

on the road edge will be collapsed or

blocked to prevent habitation from any

tortoises. To monitor the biological

effect of the HCP, the Applicant will

track relocated tortoises using radiotelemetry until the over-wintering

period of 2000.

As earlier stated, the Service has

determined that the HCP qualifies as a

Categorically-Excluded, ‘‘low-effect’’

HCP as defined by the Service’s Habitat

Conservation Planning Handbook. Loweffect HCPs are those involving: (1)

Minor or negligible effects on federally

listed and candidate species and their

habitats, and (2) minor or negligible

effects on other environmental values or

resources. The Applicant’s HCP

qualifies for the following reasons:

1. Approval of the HCP would result

in minor or negligible effects on the

gopher tortoise and its habitat. We do

not anticipate significant direct or

cumulative effects on this species as a

result of this project.

2. Approval of the HCP would not

have adverse effects on known

geographic, historic or cultural sites, or

58788 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 191 / Monday, October 2, 2000 / Notices

involve unique or unknown

environmental risks.

3. Approval of the HCP would not

result in any significant adverse effects

on public health or safety.

4. The project does not require

compliance with Executive Order 11988

(Floodplain Management), Executive

Order 11990 (Protection of Wetlands), or

the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act,

nor does it threaten to violate a Federal,

State, local, or tribal law or requirement

imposed for protection of the

environment.

5. Approval of the HCP would not

establish a precedent for future action or

represent a decision in principle about

future actions with potentially

significant environmental effects.

The Service has therefore determined

that approval of the HCP qualifies as a

categorical exclusion under NEPA, as

provided by the Department of the

Interior Manual (516 DM 2, Appendix 1

and 516 DM 6, Appendix 1). No further

NEPA determination will therefore be

prepared.

The Service will evaluate the HCP

and comments submitted thereon to

determine whether the application

meets the requirements of Section 10(a)

of the Act. If it is determined that those

requirements are met, an ITP will be

issued for the incidental take of one

family of Florida scrub-jay. 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 intra-Service Section 7 consultation.

The results of the consultation, in

combination with the above findings,

will be used in the final analysis to

determine whether or not to issue the

ITP.

Dated: September 25, 2000.

H. Dale Hall,

Acting Regional Director.

[FR Doc. 00–25146 Filed 9–29–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

Notice of Meeting

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service,

Interior

ACTION: Notice of meeting.

SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 10(a)(2) of

the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5

U.S.C. App. I), this notice announces a

meeting of the Klamath Fishery

Management Council, established under

the authority of the Klamath River Basin

Fishery Resources Restoration Act (16

U.S.C. 460ss et seq.). The Klamath

Fishery Management Council makes

recommendations to agencies that

regulate harvest of anadromous fish in

the Klamath River Basin. The objective

of this meeting is to review the progress

of the 2000 Klamath chinook salmon

fishing season and plan for fishery

management in 2001. The meeting is

open to the public.

DATES: The Klamath Fishery

Management Council will meet from

1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday,

October 25, 2000; from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00

p.m. on Thursday, October 26, 2000;

and from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on

Friday, October 27, 2000.

Place: The meeting will be held at the

Yreka Fish and Wildlife Office, 1829

South Oregon Street, Yreka, California.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr.

Ronald A. Iverson, Project Leader, U.S.

Fish and Wildlife Service, 1829 South

Oregon Street, Yreka, California 96097,

telephone (530) 842–5763.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: For

background information on the Klamath

Council, please refer to the notice of

their initial meeting that appeared in the

Federal Register on July 8, 1987 (52 FR

25639).

Dated: September 25, 2000.

Elizabeth H. Stevens.

California/Nevada Operations Manager,

California/Nevada Office, U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service.

[FR Doc. 00–25147 Filed 9–29–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Geological Survey

Request for Public Comments on

Information Collection Submitted to

the Office of Management and Budget

for Review Under the Paperwork

Reduction Act

A request extending the information

collection described has been submitted

to the Office of Management and Budget

(OMB) for approval under the

provisions of the Paperwork Reduction

Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35).

Copies of the proposed collection

instrument may be obtained by

contacting the USGS clearance officer at

the phone number listed below. OMB

has up to 60 days to approve or

disapprove the information collection,

but may respond after 30 days;

therefore, public comments should be

submitted to OMB within 30 days in

order to assure their maximum

consideration. Comments and

suggestions on the proposal should be

made directly to the Desk Officer for the

Interior Department, Office of

Regulatory Affairs, OMB, Washington,

DC 20503 and to the USGS Clearance

Officer, U.S. Geological Survey, 807

National Center, 12201 Sunrise Valley

Drive, Reston, Virginia, 20192.

Telephone 703–648–7313.

Specific public comments are

requested as to:

1. Whether the collection of

information is necessary for the proper

performance of the functions on the

USGS, including whether the

information will have practical utility;

2. The accuracy of the USGS estimate

of the burden of the collection of

information, including the validity of

the methodology and assumptions used;

3. The quality, utility, and clarity of

the information to be collected; and

4. How to minimize the burden of the

collection of information on those who

are to respond, including the use of

appropriate automated, electronic,

mechanical, or other forms of

information technology.

Title: National Atlas of the United

States of America.

Current OMB approval number: 1028–

0057.

Abstract: Potential customers of

electronic national atlas products will

be asked questions that provide (1)

potential uses of these products; (2) type

of personal computer used; (3) current

method of acquiring atlas-type

information; (4) demographic

information; and (5) personal

expectations from the products. Survey

questionnaires will be distributed by

mail in a return postage-paid format and

via the World Wide Web. Focus groups

will be held at various locations across

the United States and could include

prototype product testing. Software

usability studies will be conducted at

various locations and will result in the

development of products that are easier

to use. Customer information gathered

from the questionnaires, focus groups,

and usability studies will be used to

evaluate the National Atlas of the

United States products and to make

development adjustments based on

customer responses. The proposed

collection is limited in scope to the

National Atlas products and the

capability of the products to meet

customer needs. The USGS intends to

develop a cooperative research and

development agreement with private

industry to assist in product

development and to provide an

additional avenue for product

distribution.

Bureau form number: None.

Frequency: An estimated 2–3 surveys,

and 2–5 focus groups studies per year to

evaluate potential customer segments

and reactions.