[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 17 (Wednesday, January 26, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4039-4040]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-01437]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R3-ES-2021-0158; FXES11140300000-212]


Draft Environmental Assessment and Proposed Habitat Conservation 
Plan; Receipt of an Application for an Incidental Take Permit, Sugar 
Creek Wind Project, Logan County, Illinois

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

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

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), have 
received an application from Sugar Creek Wind One, LLC (applicant), for 
an incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act, for 
its Sugar Creek Wind Project (project). The applicant requests the ITP, 
which would be for a 30-year period, for the take of the federally 
listed endangered Indiana bat and threatened northern long-eared bat 
incidental to the otherwise lawful activities associated with the 
project. The applicant proposes a conservation program to minimize and 
mitigate for the unavoidable incidental take as described in their 
habitat conservation plan (HCP). The Service requests public comment on 
the application, which includes the applicant's proposed HCP, and the 
Service's draft environmental assessment, prepared pursuant to the 
National Environmental Policy Act. The Service provides this notice to 
seek comments from the public and Federal, Tribal, State, and local 
governments.

DATES: We will accept comments received or postmarked on or before 
February 25, 2022.

ADDRESSES:
    Document availability: Electronic copies of the documents this 
notice announces, along with public comments received, will be 
available online in Docket No. FWS-R3-ES-2021-0158 at http://www.regulations.gov.
    Comment submission: In your comment, please specify whether your 
comment addresses the proposed HCP, draft EA, or any combination of the 
aforementioned documents, or other supporting documents. You may submit 
written comments by one of the following methods:
    <bullet> Online: http://www.regulations.gov. Search for and submit 
comments on Docket No. FWS-R3-ES-2021-0158.
    <bullet> By hard copy: Submit comments by U.S. mail to Public 
Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No. FWS-R3-ES-2021-0158; U.S. Fish 
and Wildlife Service; 5275 Leesburg Pike, MS: PRB/3W; Falls Church, VA 
22041-3803.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kraig McPeek, Field Supervisor, 
Illinois-Iowa Ecological Services Field Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service, 1511 47th Ave., Moline, IL 61265; telephone: 309-757-5800, 
extension 202; or Andrew Horton, Regional HCP Coordinator, U.S. Fish 
and Wildlife Service--Interior Region 3, 5600 American Blvd. West, 
Suite 990, Bloomington, MN 55437-1458; telephone: 612-713-5337.
    Individuals who are hearing impaired or speech impaired may call 
the Federal Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339 for TTY assistance.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Section 9 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA; 
16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), and its implementing regulations prohibit the 
``take'' of animal species listed as endangered or threatened. ``Take'' 
is defined under the ESA as to ``harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, 
wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect [listed animal species], or to 
attempt to engage in such conduct'' (16 U.S.C. 1538). However, under 
section 10(a) of the ESA, we may issue permits to authorize incidental 
take of listed species. ``Incidental take'' is defined by the ESA as 
take that is incidental to, and not the purpose of, carrying out an 
otherwise lawful activity. Regulations governing incidental take 
permits for endangered and threatened species, respectively, are found 
in the Code of Federal Regulations at 50 CFR 17.22 and 50 CFR 17.32.

Applicant's Proposed Project

    The applicant requests a 30-year ITP for take of the federally 
endangered Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis) and federally threatened 
northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis). The applicant 
determined that wind farm activities on this land are reasonably 
certain to result in incidental take of these federally listed species. 
Activity that could result in incidental take of Indiana bats and 
northern long-eared bats is the operation of 57 wind turbines occurring 
in Logan County, Illinois across approximately 12,120 acres of private 
land. The estimated level of take from the project is up to 90 Indiana 
bats and 60 northern long-eared bats over the 30-year project duration.
    The proposed conservation strategy in the applicant's proposed HCP 
is designed to avoid, minimize, and mitigate the impacts of the covered 
activity on the covered species. The biological goals and objectives 
are to minimize potential take of Indiana bats and northern long-eared 
bats through on-site minimization measures and to provide habitat 
conservation measures for Indiana bats and northern long-eared bats to 
offset any impacts from operations of the project. On-site minimization 
measures include feathering turbine blades until wind speeds reach 3.0 
meters per second (m/s) when temperatures are above 40 degrees 
Fahrenheit during the spring, summer, and fall (March 15 to November 
15). Additionally, on-site minimization measures include feathering of 
turbine blades until wind speeds reach 5.0 m/s during fall (August 1 to 
October 15) when temperatures are above 50 degrees Fahrenheit. 
Minimization measures will be implemented nightly from sunset to 
sunrise. To offset the impacts of the taking of Indiana bats and 
northern long-eared bats, the applicant proposes to protect known 
maternity colony habitat for both covered species. The Service requests 
public comments on the permit application, which includes a proposed 
HCP, and an EA prepared in accordance with the National Environmental 
Policy Act (NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).
    The applicants' HCP describes the activities that will be 
undertaken to implement the project, as well as the mitigation and 
minimization measures proposed to address the impacts to the covered 
species. Pursuant to NEPA, the EA analyzes the impacts the ITP issuance 
would have on the covered species and the environment.

National Environmental Policy Act

    The issuance of an ITP is a Federal action that triggers the need 
for compliance with NEPA. We prepared a draft EA that analyzes the 
environmental impacts on the human environment resulting from three 
alternatives: A no-action alternative, the applicant's proposed action, 
and a more restrictive alternative consisting of feathering at a rate 
of wind speed that results in less impacts to bats.

[[Page 4040]]

Next Steps

    The Service will evaluate the permit application and the comments 
received to determine whether the application meets the requirements of 
section 10(a) of the ESA. 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 above findings, we will 
determine whether the permit issuance criteria of section 10(a)(l)(B) 
of the ESA have been met. If met, the Service will issue the requested 
ITP to the applicant.

Request for Public Comments

    The Service invites comments and suggestions from all interested 
parties during a 30-day public comment period (see DATES). In 
particular, information and comments regarding the following topics are 
requested:
    1. The direct, indirect, or cumulative effects that implementation 
of any alternative could have on the human environment;
    2. Whether or not the significance of the impact on various aspects 
of the human environment has been adequately analyzed; and
    3. Any other information pertinent to evaluating the effects of the 
proposed action on the human environment.

Availability of Public Comments

    You may submit comments by one of the methods shown under 
ADDRESSES. We will post on http://regulations.gov all public comments 
and information received electronically or via hardcopy. All comments 
received, including names and addresses, will become part of the 
administrative record associated with this action. Before including 
your address, phone number, email address, 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 request in your 
comment that we withhold your personal identifying 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.

Authority

    We provide this notice under section 10(c) of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 
1531 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (50 CFR 17.22) and the 
NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4371 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (40 CFR 
1506.6; 43 CFR part 46).

Lori Nordstrom,
Assistant Regional Director, Ecological Services.
[FR Doc. 2022-01437 Filed 1-25-22; 8:45 am]
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