[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 212 (Friday, November 1, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 87395-87396]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-25455]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2024-0149; FXES11140400000-245-FF04EF4000]


Receipt of Application for Renewal of an Incidental Take Permit 
for the Sand Skink; Lake County, FL; Categorical Exclusion

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce receipt 
of an application from Sunterra Communities, LLC (applicant) for 
renewal of an incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species 
Act. If granted, the renewed ITP would authorize take of the federally 
listed as threatened sand skink (Neoseps reynoldsi) incidental to the 
construction of a residential and commercial development in Lake 
County, Florida. The applicant requests the renewal of the ITP to 
extend the expiration date for 5 additional years. There is no request 
for additional take or increases in development levels. The proposed 
renewal maintains the existing levels of take and renews the permit 
through June 14, 2029. We request public comment on the application, 
which includes the applicant's original unchanged habitat conservation 
plan (HCP), and the Service's determination that the proposed renewal 
remains 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 used our existing 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 December 2, 
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-2024-0149 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-2024-0149;
    <bullet> U.S. mail: Public Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No. 
FWS-R4-ES-2024-0149; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: PRB/3W, 5275 
Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Erin Gawera, via email at 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#6a0f180304350d0b1d0f180b2a0c1d19440d051c"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="96f3e4fff8c9f1f7e1f3e4f7d6f0e1e5b8f1f9e0">[email protected]</span></a> or by telephone at 904-404-2464. 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 Sunterra Communities, LLC for 
renewal of incidental take permit (ITP) number TE13200D-0 under the 
Endangered Species Act (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). The applicant 
requests the renewal of the ITP for 5 additional years. The proposed 
ITP renewal would

[[Page 87396]]

grant the applicant additional time to complete the residential and 
commercial development. The amendment to renew does not include any 
changes in the covered area, activity, amount or type of take, or 
species to be covered by the permit. The applicant's existing habitat 
conservation plan (HCP) provides measures to mitigate for the 
incidental take of the species.
    We request public comment on the renewal application, which 
includes the applicant's HCP, and on the Service's preliminary 
determination that this proposed ITP renewal qualifies as low effect, 
and qualifies 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 used our 
environmental action statement and low-effect screening form, both of 
which are also available for public review.

Proposed Project Renewal

    The applicant requests to extend the ITP expiration date for 5 
additional years and does not propose any other changes that alter the 
original review analyses by the Service. There is no request for 
additional take or increases in development levels; the proposed time 
extension maintains the existing levels of take, and would merely 
extend the covered activities out to June 14, 2029, instead of June 14, 
2024.

Our Preliminary Determination

    The Service has made a preliminary determination that the 
applicant's proposed permit renewal, extending the expiration date of 
the original ITP for 5 additional years, would individually and 
cumulatively have a minor effect on the covered species and the human 
environment. Therefore, we have preliminarily determined that renewal 
of the ITP for this project would be a low-effect ITP that individually 
or cumulatively would have a minor effect on the species and qualifies 
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 any comments received 
to determine whether to renew the current permit. 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 a renewal of this ITP (TE13200D-0) under 
number PER11067884 to Sunterra Communities, 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 ESA (16 
U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and 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).

Robert L. Carey,
Division Manager, Environmental Review, Florida Ecological Services 
Office.
[FR Doc. 2024-25455 Filed 10-31-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P


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