33384 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 117 /Thursday, June 18, 1998 / Notices

Fairfax Drive, Rm 700, Arlington,

Virginia 22203, phone (703) 358–2104

or Fax (703) 358–2281.

Dated: June 12, 1998.

MaryEllen Amtower,

Acting Chief, Branch of Permits, Office of

Management Authority.

[FR Doc. 98–16156 Filed 6–17–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior

Availability of an Environmental

Assessment and Receipt of an

Application for an Incidental Take

Permit for the Bonny Doon Quarries,

Santa Cruz County, CA

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

SUMMARY: RMC Lonestar of Pleasanton,

California, has applied to the Fish and

Wildlife Service for an incidental take

permit pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(B)

the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as

amended. The proposed 10-year permit

would authorize the incidental take of

the California red-legged frog (Rana

aurora draytonii), federally listed as

threatened, during operation and

maintenance of settlement ponds in the

Bonny Doon Quarries in Santa Cruz

County, California.

This notice announces the availability

of the permit application and the

environmental assessment for public

comment. The permit application

includes a habitat conservation plan for

the Bonny Doon Quarries’ settlement

ponds and an implementation

agreement. All comments received,

including names and addresses, will

become part of the administrative record

and may be made available to the

public.

DATES: Written comments should be

received on or before July 20, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be

addressed to Diane K. Noda, Field

Supervisor, Fish and Wildlife Service,

2493 Portola Road, Suite B, Ventura,

California 93003. Written comments

also may be sent by facsimile to (805)

644–3958.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

David Pereksta, Fish and Wildlife

Biologist, at the above address (805–

644–1766).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Availability of Documents

Individuals wishing copies of the

documents should immediately contact

the Service’s Ventura Fish and Wildlife

Office at the above referenced address or

telephone. Documents will also be

available for public inspection, by

appointment, during normal business

hours at the above address.

Background Information

RMC Lonestar proposes to continue

operation and maintenance of five of

seven settlement ponds and associated

culverts and open drains that serve

active and formerly active operational

areas, including both quarrying and

waste disposal areas, at the Bonny Doon

Quarries. The site is known to support

populations of the California red-legged

frog. As a component of recent

environmental review conducted by the

County of Santa Cruz (County) for RMC

Lonestar’s operations and as a condition

of RMC Lonestar’s mining permit, the

County now requires regular cleaning of

an engineered drainage system that

includes the five settlement ponds and

associated culverts and open drains

noted above. Operational areas are

either owned or leased by RMC Lonestar

and covered by the mining permit. The

County may add these maintenance

requirements to two additional ponds

and their associated culverts and drains.

At a minimum, each settlement pond

must have adequate capacity to hold

run-off from a 10-year, 2-hour rainfall

event falling in its catchment area. To

maintain this pond capacity, RMC

Lonestar must perform general

maintenance and remove accumulated

sediment each year from at least some

of the ponds in the late summer or early

fall. The pond maintenance cannot

begin before April 15 and must be

completed by October 15 to satisfy the

County’s objectives for the protection of

water quality.

RMC Lonestar needs an incidental

take permit from the Service because

listed wildlife species are protected

against ‘‘take’’ pursuant to section 9 of

the Endangered Species Act. That is, no

one may harass, harm, pursue, hunt,

shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture or

collect listed animal species, or attempt

to engage in such conduct (16 USC

1538). The Service, however, may issue

permits to take listed animal species if

such taking is incidental to, and not the

purpose of, otherwise lawful activities.

Regulations governing permits for

threatened species are found at 50 CFR

17.32.

The Service proposes to issue a 10-

year permit to RMC Lonestar for

incidental take of California red-legged

frogs during operation and maintenance

of settlement ponds, associated culverts,

and open drains at the Bonny Doon

Quarries. The proposed project would

result in the loss of California red-legged

frogs and their habitat within the

settlement ponds, associated culverts,

and open drains as the natural

vegetation communities in which they

are found and the hydrological

conditions that provide suitable habitat

are removed or altered during operation

and maintenance activities.

The proposed action would authorize

the incidental take of California redlegged frogs within the 5-acre area of the

settlement ponds serving the 455-acre

Bonny Doon Quarries. During 1997,

California red-legged frogs were found

in three of the seven settlement ponds;

breeding occurred within two of those

three. California red-legged frogs also

were found along Liddell Creek and at

RMC Lonestar’s mitigation ponds along

Liddell Creek.

RMC Lonestar’s habitat conservation

plan contains the following measures to

minimize and mitigate impacts to the

California red-legged frog and its habitat

from the operation and maintenance of

the settlement ponds and to further the

conservation of the species: (1) training

programs to familiarize employees and

subcontractors of RMC Lonestar with

the biology of the species and the

protection provided to the frog under

the Endangered Species Act; (2) a

community outreach program for

distribution to local schools and

community associations in Davenport

and Bonny Doon; (3) annual breeding

surveys at all settlement ponds and

mitigation ponds; (4) pre-maintenance

activity surveys for California red-legged

frogs; (5) avoidance of impacts to or

removal from harm’s way of juvenile or

adult California red-legged frogs to the

greatest extent possible; (6) timing of

water releases to minimize impacts to

breeding populations of California redlegged frogs; (7) the use of speed limits,

trash control, and predator control as

necessary to protect California redlegged frogs; (8) minimization of

disturbance to and enhancement of

habitat within Settlement Pond 1,

consistent with other regulatory

objectives; (9) deepening and

maintaining the depth of the mitigation

ponds to provide benefits to the

California red-legged frog; (10)

monitoring of project impacts and

success of mitigation measures for the

term of this habitat conservation plan

and for 5 years following the term of the

permit; and (11) submission of an

annual report of the activities conducted

under this habitat conservation plan

during the previous year.

Environmental Assessment

The environmental assessment

considers the environmental

consequences of the proposed action
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 117 /Thursday, June 18, 1998 / Notices 33385

and no-action alternatives. The

proposed action alternative is issuance

of the incidental take permit and

implementation of the habitat

conservation plan as submitted by RMC

Lonestar. Two other alternatives were

considered, but were not advanced for

detailed analysis because they were

neither technically nor economically

feasible.

Under the no-action alternative, the

Service would not issue an incidental

take permit to RMC Lonestar and a

habitat conservation plan would not be

implemented. No maintenance activities

would be performed on the ponds, and

the incidental take associated with those

activities would be avoided. Therefore,

no permit would be needed. This

alternative is not being used because

RMC Lonestar is under a legal obligation

to carry out these maintenance activities

by the County and the Regional Water

Quality Control Board. These objectives

are in place to protect water quality in

the streams below the quarry areas. If

the ponds were allowed to fill with

sediment, the protection to water

quality provided by the ponds would be

lost and increased sedimentation of

downstream areas would result.

California red-legged frogs inhabiting

downstream habitat would likely be

adversely affected. For these reasons,

this alternative was rejected.

This notice is provided pursuant to

section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered

Species Act and Service regulations for

implementing the National

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (40

CFR 1506.6). The Service will evaluate

the application, associated documents,

and comments submitted thereon to

determine whether the application

meets the requirements of law. If the

Service determines that the

requirements are met, a permit will be

issued for the incidental take of the

listed species. A final decision on

permit issuance will be made no sooner

than 30 days from the date of this

notice.

Dated: June 11, 1998.

David L. McMullen,

Acting Regional Director, Region 1, Portland,

Oregon.

[FR Doc. 98–16267 Filed 6–17–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[WO–420–1050–01 24 1A]

Notice of New Information Collection

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management,

Interior.

ACTION: Notice and request for

comments.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the

Bureau of Land Management (BLM)

announces its intention to request

approval from the Office of Management

and Budget (OMB) to collect certain

information from Alaska natives, groups

of Alaska natives, or associations or

corporations of Alaska natives who

want to graze reindeer on public lands

in Alaska that are vacant and

unappropriated. This information

allows BLM to determine whether or not

applicants are qualified to receive a

reindeer grazing permit. BLM also

collects information from permittees to

determine whether or not they are using

their permits according to the terms and

conditions.

DATES: BLM must receive comments on

the proposed information collection by

August 17, 1998 to assure consideration

of them.

ADDRESSES: Mail comments to: Director

(630), Bureau of Land Management,

1849 C St., NW, Mail Stop 401LS,

Washington, DC 20240. Send comments

via Internet to:

WoComment@wo.blm.gov. Please

include ‘‘Attn: 1004-NEW’’ and your

name and return address in the Internet

message.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Frances Watson, (202) 452–5006.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In

accordance with 5 CFR 1320.12(a), BLM

is required to provide a 60-day notice in

the Federal Register concerning a

collection of information from 10 or

more people who are not Federal

employees on (a) whether a proposed

collection of information is necessary

for the proper performance of agency

functions, including whether the

information will have practical utility;

(b) the accuracy of the agency’s estimate

of the burden of the proposed collection

of information, including the validity of

the methodology and assumptions used;

(c) ways to enhance the quality, utility,

and clarity of the information to be

collected; and (d) ways to minimize the

burden of collecting the information on

those who are to respond, including

through the use of appropriate

automated, electronic, mechanical, or

other technological techniques or other

forms of information technology. BLM

will receive and analyze any comments

sent in response to this notice and

include them with its request for

approval from OMB.

BLM conducts the reindeer grazing

program under the authority of the Act

of September 1, 1937, which authorizes

the Secretary of the Interior to manage

the reindeer industry in Alaska to

maintain a self-sustaining industry for

natives of Alaska. The Act also

authorizes the Secretary to issue permits

to those natives for grazing reindeer on

public lands.

BLM uses the information on the

Grazing Permit Application to

determine an individual or group’s

qualifications to receive a grazing lease

or permit. The information requested on

the form includes: the applicant’s name

and address; a legal description of the

land applied for; whether or not the

applicant is an Alaska native, citizen of

the United States, or a qualified

corporation; whether or not the

applicant has examined the land and

whether there are any improvements on

the land, in which case a list of the

owners; whether or not the applicant

has previously used the land; how many

acres of adjoining land, if any, the

applicant controls; whether or not the

applicant can furnish a statement of

financial responsibility; and the types

and numbers of livestock the applicant

intends to graze on the land.

The Reindeer Grazing Permit requires

permittees to file a report describing his

or her grazing operations for the

preceding year. The report is filed

annually with BLM before April 1.

There is an average of six applicants

annually for grazing permits, and six

permittees file annual reports with

BLM. The estimated time for collecting

the information, filling out and filing

each permit application is 1 hour, for a

total of 6 burden hours. The estimated

time for collecting the information and

providing it for the annual report is 15

minutes, for a total of 1.5 burden hours.

The total number of respondents for this

collection is therefore six respondents

and 7.5 burden hours annually.

Dated: June 11, 1998.

Carole Smith,

Bureau of Land Management, Information

Collection Officer.

[FR Doc. 98–16220 Filed 6–17–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–84–M

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[CO–078–98–1310–00]

Notice of Availability of the Draft

Supplemental Environmental Impact

Statement (SEIS) on Oil and Gas

Leasing in the Glenwood Springs

Resource Area

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management.

ACTION: Notice of availability.