[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 203 (Monday, October 21, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 84186-84188]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-24261]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2024-0155; FXES11140400000-245-FF04EG1000]


Receipt of Incidental Take Permit Application and Proposed 
Habitat Conservation Plan for the Eastern Indigo Snake; Decatur County, 
GA; Categorical Exclusion

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments and information.

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SUMMARY: We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce receipt 
of an application from Tri-State II Solar Project, LLC (applicant) for 
an incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act. The 
applicant requests the ITP to take the federally listed threatened 
eastern indigo snake incidental to the construction and operation of a 
solar facility in Decatur

[[Page 84187]]

County, Georgia. 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 
low-effect 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: We must receive your written comments on or before November 20, 
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 Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2024-0155 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-R4-ES-2024-0155.
    <bullet> U.S. mail: Public Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No. 
FWS-R4-ES-2024-0155; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: PRB/3W; 5275 
Leesburg Pike; Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michele Elmore, Georgia Ecological 
Services Field Office, by phone at 706-613-9493 or via email at 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#eaadabafb9b58b999983999e8b84898faa8c9d99c48d859c"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="8ec9cfcbddd1effdfde7fdfaefe0edebcee8f9fda0e9e1f8">[email protected]</span></a>. 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 Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), 
announce receipt of an application from Tri-State II Solar Project, LLC 
(applicant) for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered 
Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). The 
applicant requests the ITP to take the federally listed threatened 
eastern indigo snake (Drymarchon couperi) incidental to the 
construction and operation of a solar facility in Decatur County, 
Georgia. 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 ITP qualifies as low 
effect, and 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 low-effect screening form, 
both of which are also available for public review.

Proposed Project

    The applicant requests a 10-year ITP to take three eastern indigo 
snakes and one nest via the conversion of approximately 600 acres (ac) 
of occupied nesting, foraging, and sheltering habitat incidental to the 
construction and operation of a solar facility on a 788-ac parcel. The 
parcel is approximately 3 miles northwest of the city of Bainbridge, 
Georgia, between Highways 27 and 84. The applicant proposes to avoid 
and minimize take of the species to the greatest extent possible by 
implementing the Service's standard protection measures for the eastern 
indigo snake during implementation of activities associated with the 
construction and operation of the solar facility. The applicant 
proposes to mitigate for take of the eastern indigo snake by 
contributing $157,500.00 to the Wildlife Foundation of Florida's 
Eastern Indigo Snake Conservation Fund. These funds will be used for 
the management or restoration of eastern indigo snake habitat, purchase 
of occupied habitat, purchase of development rights of occupied 
habitat, or a combination thereof, in Georgia. The Service would 
require the applicant to provide the contribution of the funds prior to 
engaging in any phase of the project.

Our Preliminary Determination

    The Service has made a preliminary determination that the 
applicant's proposed project, including the construction and operation 
of the solar facility, would individually and cumulatively have a minor 
effect on the eastern indigo snake and the human environment. 
Therefore, we have preliminarily determined that the proposed ESA 
section 10(a)(1)(B) permit would be a low-effect ITP that individually 
or cumulatively would have a minor effect on eastern indigo snakes and 
may 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. A low-effect ITP is one 
that would result in (1) minor or nonsignificant effects on species 
covered in the HCP; (2) nonsignificant effects on the human 
environment; and (3) impacts that, when added together with the impacts 
of other past, present, and reasonable foreseeable actions, would not 
result in significant cumulative effects to the human environment.

Next Steps

    The Service will evaluate the application and the comments to 
determine whether to issue the requested ITP. We will also conduct an 
intra-Service consultation pursuant to section 7 of the ESA to evaluate 
the effects of the proposed take. After considering the preceding and 
other matters, we will determine whether the permit issuance criteria 
of section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA have been met. If met, the Service 
will issue ITP number PER12687707 to Tri-State II Solar Project, LLC.

Public Availability of Comments

    Before including your address, phone number, email address, or 
other personal identifying information in your comment, be aware that 
your entire comment, including your personal identifying information, 
may be made available to the public. If you submit a comment at https://www.regulations.gov, your entire comment, including any personal 
identifying information, will be posted on the website. If you submit a 
hardcopy comment that includes personal identifying information, such 
as your address, phone number, or email address, you may request at the 
top of your document that we withhold this information from public 
review. However, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. 
Moreover, 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

    The Service provides this notice under section 10(c) of the 
Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and

[[Page 84188]]

its implementing regulations (50 CFR 17.32) and the National 
Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and its implementing 
regulations (40 CFR 1500-1508 and 43 CFR 46).

Peter Maholland,
Field Supervisor, Georgia Ecological Services Office.
[FR Doc. 2024-24261 Filed 10-18-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P


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