Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 27 / Wednesday, February 9, 2022 / Notices 7491 

Number of Respondents: 1,796. 

Estimated Annual Burden Hours: An 

estimated 2,095 hours annually. 

Dated: February 4, 2022. 

Christina A. Walsh, 

TSA Paperwork Reduction Act Officer, 

Information Technology. 

[FR Doc. 2022–02690 Filed 2–8–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 9110–05–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

[Docket No. FWS–R3–ES–2021–0160; 

FXES11140300000–223] 

Draft Environmental Assessment and 

Proposed Habitat Conservation Plan; 

Receipt of an Application for an 

Incidental Take Permit, Headwaters II 

Wind Farm, Randolph County, Indiana 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of availability; request 

for comment and information. 

SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service, have received an 

application from Headwaters II Wind 

Farm LLC (applicant) a subsidiary of 

EDP Renewables North America LLC, 

for an incidental take permit (ITP) under 

the Endangered Species Act, for its 

Headwaters II Wind Farm (project). If 

approved, the ITP would be for a 30- 

year period and would authorize the 

incidental take of an endangered 

species, the Indiana bat, and a 

threatened species, the northern longeared bat. The applicant has prepared a 

habitat conservation plan that describes 

the actions and measures that the 

applicant would implement to avoid, 

minimize, and mitigate incidental take 

of the Indiana bat and northern longeared bat. We also announce the 

availability of a draft environmental 

assessment, which has been prepared in 

response to the permit application in 

accordance with the requirements of the 

National Environmental Policy Act. We 

request public comment on the 

application and associated documents. 

DATES: We will accept comments 

received or postmarked on or before 

March 11, 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–2021–0160 at 

http://www.regulations.gov. 

Comment submission: 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: 

• Online: http://www.regulations.gov. 

Search for and submit comments on 

Docket No. FWS–R3–ES–2021–0160. 

• By hard copy: Submit comments by 

U.S. mail to Public Comments 

Processing, Attn: Docket No. FWS–R3– 

ES–2021–0160; U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service; 5275 Leesburg Pike, MS: PRB/ 

3W; Falls Church, VA 22041–3803. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Scott Pruitt, Field Supervisor, Indiana 

Ecological Services Field Office by 

email at scott_pruitt@fws.gov, or 

telephone at 812–334–4261, extension 

214; or Andrew Horton, Regional HCP 

Coordinator, Interior Region 3 by email 

at andrew_horton@fws.gov or telephone 

at 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 

to take the federally endangered Indiana 

bat (Myotis sodalis) and threatened 

northern long-eared bat (Myotis 

septentrionalis). The applicant 

determined that take is reasonably 

certain to occur incidental to operation 

of 49 wind turbines that have a total 

generating capacity of 198 megawatts 

and cover approximately 10,435 acres of 

private land. 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. The HCP 

provides on-site avoidance and 

minimization measures, which include 

turbine operational adjustments. The 

authorized level of take from the project 

is 359 Indiana bats and 93 northern 

long-eared bats over the 30-year project 

duration. To offset the impacts of the 

taking of Indiana bats and northern 

long-eared bats, the applicant proposes 

to protect known maternity colony 

habitat and staging/swarming habitat. 

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 

proposed action, and a more restrictive 

alternative consisting of feathering at a 

rate of wind speed that results in less 

impacts to bats. 

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 environmental 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; 

3. Any threats to the Indiana bat and 

the northern long-eared bat that may 

influence their populations over the life 

of the ITP that are not addressed in the 

proposed HCP or EA; and 


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7492 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 27 / Wednesday, February 9, 2022 / Notices 

4. 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. 2022–02649 Filed 2–8–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4333–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

[FWS–R2–ES–2021–N196; 

FXES11160200000–223–FF02ENEH00] 

Draft Environmental Assessment for 

Amendments to the Candidate 

Conservation Agreement/Candidate 

Conservation Agreement With 

Assurances for the Lesser PrairieChicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) 

and Dunes Sagebrush Lizard 

(Sceloporus arenicolus) in New Mexico 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of availability of 

documents; request for public comment. 

SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service (Service), announce the 

availability of a draft environmental 

assessment (EA), under the National 

Environmental Policy Act, that 

evaluates the impacts of proposed 

amendments to the Candidate 

Conservation Agreement/Candidate 

Conservation Agreement with 

Assurances for the Lesser Prairiechicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) 

and Dunes Sagebrush Lizard 

(Sceloporus arenicolus) in New Mexico 

(CCA/CCAA). We invite comments on 

the draft EA and related documents 

from the public and Federal, Tribal, 

State, and local governments. 

DATES: Comments: To ensure 

consideration, written comments must 

be received or postmarked on or before 

March 11, 2022. Any comments we 

receive after the closing date or not 

postmarked by the closing date may not 

be considered in the final decision on 

this action. 

ADDRESSES: 

Obtaining documents: You may 

obtain copies of the draft EA, proposed 

amendments, or other related 

documents on the internet at https://

www.fws.gov/southwest/es/NewMexico/. 

Submitting comments: You may 

submit written comments by email to 

nmesfo@fws.gov. Please note that your 

comment is in reference to the abovereferenced CCA/CCAA. For more 

information, see Public Availability of 

Comments. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Shawn Sartorius, Field Supervisor, U.S. 

Fish and Wildlife Service, Albuquerque, 

New Mexico, Ecological Services Office; 

telephone 505–761–4781. Hearing or 

speech impaired individuals may call 

the Federal Relay Service at 800–877– 

8339 for TTY service. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We, the 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), 

announce the availability of a draft 

environmental assessment (EA), under 

the National Environmental Policy Act 

of 1969 (NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), 

that evaluates the impacts of proposed 

amendments to the Candidate 

Conservation Agreement (CCA) and 

Candidate Conservation Agreement with 

Assurances (CCAA) for the Lesser 

Prairie-chicken (LPC) and Dunes 

Sagebrush Lizard (DSL) in New Mexico. 

This notice advises the public that we 

have gathered the information necessary 

to determine impacts of the proposed 

amendments on the CCA/CCAA and the 

associated enhancement of survival 

permit (permit) under section 

10(a)(1)(A) of the Endangered Species 

Act of 1973, as amended (ESA; 16 

U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). We are accepting 

comments on the proposed amendments 

and the draft EA. 

Background 

The CCA/CCAA were signed by 

Federal and State authorities in 2008 for 

20 years (2008–2028). The CCA/CCAA 

are voluntary candidate conservation 

agreements, administered by the Center 

of Excellence (CEHMM), that allow for 

implementation of conservation 

measures to benefit the LPC and DSL in 

a landscape-level approach on both 

Federal and non-Federal lands. The 

CCA allows for enrollment by Federal 

lessees and permittees, including 

ranchers and industry lessees, giving 

them a high degree of certainty that no 

additional conservation measures will 

be required of participants if either 

species were to be listed. In the event 

that either species is listed, incidental 

take coverage will be provided by an 

ESA section 7 biological opinion for 

conservation actions undertaken on 

Federal lands. Under the CCAA, 

conservation of the LPC and DSL will be 

implemented on non-Federal lands by 

enrolled participants. Through the 

CCAA, enrolled landowners or 

cooperators receive assurance that they 

will not incur additional land use 

restrictions on enrolled lands in the 

event either species is listed. 

Proposed Action 

The Service is proposing to amend the 

CCA/CCAA to remove barriers to 

increased participation in the CCA/ 

CCAA. The amendments will: Add an 

enrollment option to cover all activities 

for participants in the covered area, 

reclassify habitat categories based on 

LPC habitat and lek locations, add 

certificates of participation and/or 

inclusion (CP/CI) tailored to companies 

that develop linear infrastructure (e.g., 

midstream, transmission, and utility), 

reduce enrollment fees for new parcelby-parcel enrollments, and add an 

annual inflation adjustment for all 

habitat conservation fees. Conservation 

measures and covered activities will not 

change from the original CCA/CCAA. 

The CCA/CCAA covers all lands 

currently occupied or potentially 

occupied by the LPC or DSL in New 

Mexico. This includes approximately 

2,200 square miles in the southeastern 

section of the State, within portions of 

Lea, Eddy, DeBaca, Curry, Roosevelt, 

Quay, and Chaves Counties. The Service 

has assessed the potential impacts of the 

proposed amendments on the CCA/ 

CCAA and the associated permit that 

was issued with the original CCA/CCAA 

in 2008, as well as the original EA from 

2008. There are no proposed changes to 

the federally listed species, or the area 


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