[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 180 (Tuesday, September 17, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76130-76132]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-20625]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R1-ES-2024-0119; FXES11140100000-245-FF01E00000]


Receipt of Incidental Take Permit Application and Proposed 
Habitat Conservation Plan for Olympia Pocket Gopher; Tumwater 
Operations and Maintenance Facility, Thurston County, WA; Categorical 
Exclusion

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have received an 
application from the City of Tumwater Transportation and Engineering 
Department (applicant) for an incidental

[[Page 76131]]

take permit (ITP) pursuant to the Endangered Species Act. The ITP would 
authorize the applicant's take of the federally threatened Olympia 
subspecies of the Mazama pocket gopher (Thomomys mazama pugetensis) 
(``covered species''), incidental to their otherwise lawful 
construction and infrastructure improvements at two locations in the 
City of Tumwater, Thurston County, Washington. We request public 
comment on the application, which includes the applicant's proposed 
habitat conservation plan (HCP), and on the Service's preliminary 
determination that the proposed permitting action may be eligible for a 
categorical exclusion pursuant to the Council on Environmental 
Quality's National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations, the 
Department of the Interior's (DOI) NEPA regulations, and the DOI 
Departmental Manual. To make this preliminary determination, we 
prepared a draft environmental action statement and categorical 
exclusion screening form, both of which are also available for public 
review. We invite comment from the public and local, State, Tribal, and 
Federal agencies.

DATES: Please submit written comments by October 17, 2024.

ADDRESSES: 
    Obtaining documents: The documents this notice announces, as well 
as any comments and other materials that we receive, will be available 
for public inspection online in on Docket No. FWS-R1-ES-2024-0119 at 
https://www.regulations.gov.
    Submitting comments: If you wish to submit comments on any of the 
documents, you may do so in writing by one of the following methods:
    <bullet> Online: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments on Docket No. FWS-R1-ES-2024-0119.
    <bullet> U.S. Mail: Public Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No. 
FWS-R1-ES-2024-0119; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Headquarters, MS: 
PRB/3W; 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kevin Connally, Washington Fish and 
Wildlife Office, by email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#503b3526393e0f333f3e3e313c3c29103627237e373f26"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="7a111f0c131425191514141b1616033a1c0d09541d150c">[email protected]</span></a>, or by telephone at 
360-753-9440. Individuals in the United States who are deaf, deafblind, 
hard of hearing, or have a speech disability may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or 
TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay services. Individuals 
outside the United States should use the relay services offered within 
their country to make international calls to the point-of-contact in 
the United States.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 
(Service), received an incidental take permit (ITP) application from 
the City of Tumwater pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered 
Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). The ITP, 
if issued, would authorize the incidental take of the Olympia pocket 
gopher (Thomomys mazama pugetensis) (covered species), resulting from 
otherwise lawful construction and infrastructure improvements at two 
locations in the City of Tumwater, Thurston County, Washington. We 
request public comment on the application, which includes the 
applicant's habitat conservation plan (HCP), and on the Service's 
preliminary determination that this proposed permitting action may 
qualify for a categorical exclusion pursuant to the Council on 
Environmental Quality's National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 
regulations (40 CFR 1501.4), the Department of the Interior's (DOI) 
NEPA regulations (43 CFR 46), and the DOI's Departmental Manual (516 DM 
8.5(C)(2)). To make this preliminary determination, we prepared a draft 
environmental action statement and categorical exclusion screening 
form, both of which are also available for public review.

Background

    Section 9 of the ESA prohibits the taking of fish and wildlife 
species listed as endangered or threatened. The ESA defines ``take'' 
means to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, 
or collect, or to attempt to engage in any such conduct (16 U.S.C. 
1532(19)). The term ``harm,'' as defined in our regulations, includes 
significant habitat modification or degradation that results in death 
or injury to listed species by significantly impairing essential 
behavioral patterns, including breeding, feeding, or sheltering (50 CFR 
17.3).
    Section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA contains provisions that authorize 
the Service to issue permits to non-Federal entities for the take of 
endangered and threatened species caused by otherwise lawful 
activities, provided the following criteria are met: (1) the taking 
will be incidental to, and not the purpose of, carrying out an 
otherwise lawful activity; (2) the applicant will, to the maximum 
extent practicable, minimize and mitigate the impact of such taking; 
(3) the applicant will ensure that adequate funding for the 
conservation 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 applicant will carry out any other measures that 
the Service may require as being necessary or appropriate for the 
purposes of the HCP. Regulations governing permits for threatened 
species are found at 50 CFR 17.32. The Service's general permitting 
regulations are found at 50 CFR part 13.

Proposed Project

    The applicant proposes to construct and maintain seven new 
buildings, parking, access roads, a staging area for materials, a park 
and recreational features, a rain garden, landscaping, frontage 
improvements on 79th Avenue SE, and a roundabout and storm water 
facilities at the intersection of Old Highway 99 SE and 79th Ave. SE, 
and also to carry out other ground-disturbing activities described in 
the HCP. The 26.2-acre (ac) project site (permit area) contains a total 
of 8.6 ac of occupied Olympia pocket gopher habitat.
    The proposed action is anticipated to impact up to 8.6 ac of 
Olympia pocket gopher habitat in the permit area. The applicant 
proposes to mitigate for unavoidable impacts to Olympia pocket gopher 
by use of 8.6 ac of credits in the Service-approved Deschutes Corridor 
conservation site purchased in 2017, which is currently occupied by the 
Olympia pocket gopher. The advance mitigation credit purchase was 
approved by the Service in 2017. The purchase of these credits fully 
funds the permanent management, monitoring, and adaptive management on 
8.6 ac of the Deschutes Corridor conservation site. The conservation 
site will be managed for successful Olympia pocket gopher feeding, 
breeding, and sheltering.

Our Preliminary Determination

    The Service has made a preliminary determination that the 
applicant's proposed project, including the construction of the 
buildings and associated infrastructure, would individually and 
cumulatively have a minor effect on the covered species and the human 
environment. Therefore, we have preliminarily determined that the 
proposed ESA section 10(a)(1)(B) permit would qualify for application 
of a categorical exclusion pursuant to the Council on Environmental 
Quality's NEPA regulations, DOI's NEPA regulations, and the DOI 
Departmental Manual.

Public Comments

    You may submit your comments and materials by one of the methods 
listed in ADDRESSES. We specifically request

[[Page 76132]]

information, views, and suggestions from interested parties regarding 
our proposed Federal action, including, without limitation, adequacy of 
the HCP, whether the HCP meets requirements for permits at 50 CFR parts 
13 and 17, and adequacy of the EAS pursuant to the requirements of 
NEPA.

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 personally identifiable 
information in your comments, you should be aware that your entire 
comment--including your personally identifiable information--may be 
made publicly available at any time. While you can ask us in your 
comment to withhold your personally identifiable 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 at https://www.regulations.gov.

Next Steps

    After the public comment period ends (see DATES), we will evaluate 
the permit application, associated documents, and any comments received 
to determine whether the permit application meets the requirements of 
section 10(a)(2)(B) of the ESA. We will also evaluate whether issuance 
of the requested permit would comply with section 7 of the ESA by 
conducting an intra-Service consultation under section 7(a)(2) of the 
ESA on the proposed action. The final NEPA and permit determinations 
will not be completed until after the end of the 30-day comment period 
and will fully consider all comments received during the comment 
period. If we determine that all requirements are met, we will issue an 
ITP under section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA to the applicant for the take 
of the covered species, incidental to otherwise lawful covered 
activities.

Authority

    We provide this notice in accordance with the requirements of 
section 10(c) of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and its implementing 
regulations (50 CFR 17.32), and NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and its 
implementing regulations (40 CFR 1500-1508 and 43 CFR 46).

Bridget Fahey,
Deputy Regional Director, Pacific Region, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-20625 Filed 9-16-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P


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