47140 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 160 / Monday, August 23, 2021 / Notices 

Service, Ecological Services, 5600 

American Blvd. West, Suite 990, 

Bloomington, MN 55437–1458. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Nathan Rathbun, 612–713–5343 

(phone); permitsR3ES@fws.gov (email). 

Individuals who are hearing or speech 

impaired may call the Federal Relay 

Service at 1–800–877–8339 for TTY 

assistance. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The Endangered Species Act of 1973, 

as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et 

seq.), prohibits certain activities with 

endangered and threatened species 

unless authorized by a Federal permit. 

The ESA and our implementing 

regulations in part 17 of title 50 of the 

Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 

provide for the issuance of such permits 

and require that we invite public 

comment before issuing permits for 

activities involving endangered species. 

A recovery permit issued by us under 

section 10(a)(1)(A) of the ESA 

authorizes the permittee to conduct 

activities with endangered species for 

scientific purposes that promote 

recovery or for enhancement of 

propagation or survival of the species. 

Our regulations implementing section 

10(a)(1)(A) for these permits are found 

at 50 CFR 17.22 for endangered wildlife 

species, 50 CFR 17.32 for threatened 

wildlife species, 50 CFR 17.62 for 

endangered plant species, and 50 CFR 

17.72 for threatened plant species. 

Permit Applications Available for 

Review and Comment 

We invite local, State, and Federal 

agencies; Tribes; and the public to 

comment on the following applications: 

Application No. Applicant Species Location Activity Type of take Permit 

action 

PER0016072 .. Brittany Rogness, 

Urbana, IL.

Indiana bat (Myotis 

sodalis), gray bat 

(Myotis 

grisescens), northern long-eared bat 

(M. 

septentrionalis).

IL, IN, IA, KS, MI, 

MN, MO, WV, WI.

Conduct presence/ 

absence surveys, 

document habitat 

use, conduct population monitoring, 

evaluate impacts.

Capture, handle, 

harp trap, mistnet, band, collect 

tissue samples, 

radio-tag, enter 

hibernacula, release.

New. 

ES95228C ...... Terry VanDeWalle, 

Brandon, IA.

Add: New species— 

Rusty patched 

bumble bee 

(Bombus affinis)— 

to existing authorized species: 

Eastern 

Massasauga 

(Sistrurus 

catenatus).

IL, IN, IA, MI, MN, 

MO, WI.

Conduct presence/ 

absence surveys, 

document habitat 

use, conduct population monitoring, 

evaluate impacts.

Capture, handle, 

temporary hold, 

release.

Amend. 

ES72093B ...... Rebecca 

Winterringer, Euclid, OH.

34 freshwater mussel species.Add: New location— 

KS—to existing 

authorized locations: AL, AR, IL, 

IN, IA, KY, LA, 

MD, MI, MN, MS, 

MO, NJ, NY, NC, 

OK, OH, PA, TN, 

VA, WV, WI.

Conduct presence/ 

absence surveys, 

document habitat 

use, conduct population monitoring, 

evaluate impacts.

Capture, handle, 

temporary hold, 

release.

Amend. 

Public Availability of Comments 

Written comments we receive 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. 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. 

Next Steps 

If we decide to issue permits to any 

of the applicants listed in this notice, 

we will publish a notice in the Federal 

Register. 

Authority 

We publish this notice under section 

10(c) of the Endangered Species Act of 

1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et 

seq.). 

Lori Nordstrom, 

Assistant Regional Director, Ecological 

Services. 

[FR Doc. 2021–17995 Filed 8–20–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4333–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

[Docket No. FWS–R4–ES–2021–0074; 

FXES11140400000–212–FF04EF4000] 

Renewal of Enhancement of Survival 

Permit and Modification of Safe Harbor 

Agreement for the Florida Scrub-Jay, 

Volusia County, FL; Categorical 

Exclusion 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of availability; request 

for comment and information. 

SUMMARY: We, the Fish and Wildlife 

Service (Service), have received a 

written request from Daytona State 

College (applicant) to renew the 

enhancement of the survival permit 


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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 160 / Monday, August 23, 2021 / Notices 47141 

permit) with minor amendments to an 

existing safe harbor agreement (SHA). 

Continued implementation of the SHA 

is intended to benefit the recovery of the 

federally listed threatened Florida 

scrub-jay in Volusia County, Florida. 

The Service is making the proposed 

permit renewal, which includes the 

applicant’s proposed updated SHA 

(November 9, 2020), and our draft 

environmental action statement, 

available for public review and 

comment. 

DATES: We must receive your written 

comments on or before September 22, 

2021. 

ADDRESSES: 

Obtaining Documents: You may 

obtain copies of the documents online 

in Docket No. FWS–R4–ES–2021–0074 

at http://www.regulations.gov. 

Submitting Comments: If you wish to 

submit comments on any of the 

documents, you may do so in writing by 

any of the following methods: 

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

Follow the instructions for submitting 

comments on Docket No. FWS–R4–ES– 

2021–0074. 

• U.S. mail or hand-delivery: Public 

Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No. 

FWS–R4–ES–2021–0074; U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service, MS: JAO/1N, 5275 

Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041– 

3803. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Erin 

Gawera, by telephone at 904–731– 

3121or via email at erin_gawera@

fws.gov. Individuals who are hearing or 

speech impaired may call the Federal 

Relay Service at 1–800–877–8339 for 

TTY assistance. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We, the 

Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), 

have received a written request from 

Daytona State College (applicant) to 

renew an existing enhancement of 

survival permit (permit) for an 

additional 10 years beyond its current 

expiration date. The Service and the 

applicant have mutually agreed to 

minor amendments to the Safe Harbor 

Agreement (SHA). The existing permit 

associated with the SHA was issued on 

November 15, 2010, under the 

Endangered Species Act of 1973, as 

amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), 

and is in effect until November 15, 

2030. Renewing the permit associated 

with the SHA is intended to benefit the 

recovery of the federally listed 

threatened Florida scrub-jay 

(Aphelocoma coerulescens) on 76 

enrolled acres (ac) of State-owned lands 

in Volusia County, Florida. The Service 

is making the proposed permit renewal, 

the modified SHA, and our draft 

environmental action statement (EAS) 

available for public review and 

comment. The draft EAS supports the 

Service’s preliminary determination that 

the proposed permit renewal associated 

with the modified SHA is eligible for a 

categorical exclusion under the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA; 42 

U.S.C. 4231 et seq.). To make this 

determination, we used our 

environmental action statement and 

low-effect screening form, which are 

also available for public review. 

Background 

Section 9 of the ESA prohibits the 

take of fish and wildlife species listed 

as endangered or threatened under 

section 4 of the ESA. Under the ESA, 

the term ‘‘take’’ means to harass, harm, 

pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, 

capture, or collect, or to attempt to 

engage in any such conduct (16 U.S.C. 

1532(19)). The term ‘‘harm,’’ as defined 

in our regulations, includes significant 

habitat modification or degradation that 

results in death or injury to listed 

species by significantly impairing 

essential behavioral patterns, including 

breeding, feeding, or sheltering (50 CFR 

17.3). The term ‘‘harass’’ is defined in 

our regulations as an intentional or 

negligent act or omission which creates 

the likelihood of injury to wildlife by 

annoying it to such an extent as to 

significantly disrupt normal behavioral 

patterns, which include, but are not 

limited to, breeding, feeding, or 

sheltering (50 CFR 17.3). Under 

specified circumstances, however, we 

may issue permits that authorize take of 

federally listed species, provided the 

take is incidental to, but not the purpose 

of, an otherwise lawful activity. 

Regulations governing permits for 

threatened species are at 50 CFR 17.32. 

Under a safe harbor agreement, 

participating landowners voluntarily 

undertake management activities on 

their property to enhance, restore, or 

maintain habitat benefiting species 

listed under the ESA. Safe harbor 

agreements, and the subsequent permits 

issued to participating landowners 

pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(A) of the 

ESA, encourage private and other nonFederal property owners to implement 

conservation actions for federally listed 

species by assuring the landowners that 

they will not be subjected to increased 

property use restrictions as a result of 

their efforts to either attract listed 

species to their property, or to increase 

the numbers or distribution of listed 

species already on their property. 

Enrolled landowners may make lawful 

use of the enrolled property during the 

permit term and may incidentally take 

the listed species named on the permit. 

Application requirements and issuance 

criteria for permits associated with safe 

harbor agreements are found in the Code 

of Federal Regulations (CFR) at 50 CFR 

17.22(c) and 17.32(c). As provided for in 

the Service’s final Safe Harbor Policy 

(64 FR 32717; June 17, 1999), safe 

harbor agreements provide assurances 

that allow the property owner to alter or 

modify their enrolled property, even if 

such alteration or modification results 

in the incidental take of a listed species, 

to such an extent that the property is 

returned back to the originally agreed 

upon baseline conditions. Private 

landowners may voluntarily terminate a 

safe harbor agreement at any time, in 

accordance with 50 CFR 13.26. If this 

occurs, landowners must relinquish the 

associated incidental take permit 

pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(A) of the 

ESA. 

Safe Harbor Agreement 

The State lands covered under the 

existing SHA and valid permit consist of 

76 ac on the Daytona State College 

campus in Volusia County, Florida. The 

baseline established in 2010 was 1.4 ac 

of occupied Florida scrub-jay habitat. 

Daytona State College has managed the 

property above baseline and has not 

proceeded with facility development 

since entering the SHA. Proposed minor 

changes within the SHA-enrolled 

property include a revision to the 

master campus facility development 

plan. The revision would not affect the 

2010 established baseline of 1.4 ac of 

occupied Florida scrub-jay, nor would it 

affect the SHA management actions. 

Under the modified SHA, the applicant 

will continue to undertake the following 

habitat maintenance and enhancement 

actions intended to benefit the Florida 

scrub-jay on the enrolled property: (1) 

Remove sand pine canopy; (2) create 

open sandy areas through mechanical 

means (including chopping and/or 

rootraking) or by using herbicides; and 

(3) manage habitat using prescribed fire 

and/or mechanical means. Under 

comment and review is the request to 

renew the existing valid Permit 

associated with the SHA that was issued 

November 15, 2010, under ESA, and is 

in effect until November 15, 2030. The 

applicant is requesting to extend the 

Permit period for an additional 10 years 

beyond its current expiration date. 

National Environmental Policy Act 

Compliance 

The renewal of the permit is a Federal 

action that triggers the need for 

compliance with NEPA. The Service has 

made a preliminary determination that 

the proposed permit renewal is eligible 

for categorical exclusion under NEPA, 


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47142 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 160 / Monday, August 23, 2021 / Notices 

based on the following criteria: (1) 

Implementation of the SHA would 

result in minor or negligible adverse 

effects on federally listed, proposed, and 

candidate species and their habitats; (2) 

implementation of the SHA would 

result in minor or negligible adverse 

effects on other environmental values or 

resources; and (3) impacts of the SHA, 

considered together with the impacts of 

other past, present, and reasonably 

foreseeable similarly situated projects, 

would not result, over time, in 

cumulative adverse effects to 

environmental values or resources 

which would be considered significant. 

To make this determination, we used 

our EAS and low-effect screening form, 

which are also available for public 

review. 

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. While you may 

request that we withhold your personal 

identifying information, we cannot 

guarantee that we will be able to do so. 

Authority 

The Service provides this notice 

under section 10(c) (16 U.S.C. 1539(c)) 

of the ESA and NEPA regulation 40 CFR 

1506.6 and 43 CFR 46.305. 

Jay Herrington, 

Field Supervisor, Jacksonville Field Office. 

[FR Doc. 2021–17986 Filed 8–20–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4333–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

[FWS–R8–ES–2021–N029; 

FXES11140800000–212–FF08EVEN00] 

Habitat Conservation Plan for the 

Mount Hermon June Beetle; 

Categorical Exclusion for the Encore 

Development Project; Santa Cruz 

County, California 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of availability; request 

for comments. 

SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service (Service), announce the 

availability of a draft habitat 

conservation plan (HCP) and draft 

categorical exclusion (CatEx) for 

activities associated with an application 

for an incidental take permit (ITP) under 

the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as 

amended. The ITP would authorize take 

of the federally endangered Mount 

Hermon June beetle incidental to 

activities associated with the Encore 

Development Project. The applicant 

developed the draft HCP as part of their 

application for an ITP. The Service 

prepared a draft low-effect screening 

form and environmental action 

statement in accordance with the 

National Environmental Policy Act to 

evaluate the potential effects to the 

natural and human environment 

resulting from issuing an ITP to the 

applicant. We invite public comment on 

these documents. 

DATES: Written comments should be 

received on or before September 22, 

2021. 

ADDRESSES: 

To obtain documents: You may 

download a copy of the draft habitat 

conservation plan and categorical 

exclusion screening form, which 

includes the environmental action 

statement, at http://www.fws.gov/ 

ventura/, or you may request copies of 

the documents by U.S. mail (below) or 

by electronic mail (see FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT). 

To submit written comments: Please 

send us your written comments using 

one of the following methods: 

• U.S. mail: Stephen P. Henry, Field 

Supervisor, Ventura Fish and Wildlife 

Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 

2493 Portola Road, Suite B, Ventura, CA 

93003. 

• Electronic mail: chad_mitcham@

fws.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Chad Mitcham, Fish and Wildlife 

Biologist, by phone at 805–644–1766, 

via email at chad_mitcham@fws.gov, or 

by U.S. mail to the Ventura Fish and 

Wildlife office (see ADDRESSES). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We, the 

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

announce the availability of a draft 

habitat conservation plan (HCP) and 

draft low-effect screening form and 

environmental action statement for 

activities associated with an application 

for an incidental take permit (ITP) under 

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

Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA; 

16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). The applicant 

has developed a draft habitat 

conservation plan (HCP) that includes 

measures to minimize, avoid, and 

mitigate impacts to the federally 

endangered Mount Hermon June beetle 

(Polyphylla barbata). The permit would 

authorize take of the Mount Hermon 

June beetle incidental to otherwise 

lawful activities associated with the 

draft HCP for the Encore Development 

Project. The Service prepared a draft 

low-effect screening form and 

environmental action statement in 

accordance with the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 

(NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) to 

evaluate the potential effects to the 

natural and human environment 

resulting from issuing an ITP to the 

applicant. We invite public comment on 

these documents. 

Background 

The Service listed the Mount Hermon 

June beetle as endangered on January 

24, 1997 (62 FR 3616). Section 9 of the 

ESA (16 U.S.C. 1538) prohibits the 

‘‘take’’ of fish or wildlife species listed 

as endangered; by regulation, the 

Service may extend the take prohibition 

to fish or wildlife species listed as 

threatened. ‘‘Take’’ is defined under the 

ESA to include the following activities: 

‘‘[T]o harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, 

wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or 

to attempt to engage in any such 

conduct’’ (16 U.S.C. 1532); however, 

under section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA (16 

U.S.C. 1539(a)(1)(B)), we may issue 

permits to authorize incidental take of 

listed wildlife species. Incidental take is 

take that is incidental to, and not the 

purpose of, carrying out an otherwise 

lawful activity. Regulations governing 

incidental take permits for endangered 

wildlife are in the Code of Federal 

Regulations (CFR) at 50 CFR 17.22. 

Issuance of an incidental take permit 

also must not jeopardize the existence of 

federally listed fish, wildlife, or plant 

species. 

Proposed Project Activities 

Chris Perri has applied for a permit 

for incidental take of the Mount Hermon 

June beetle. The take would occur in 

association with activities including the 

construction of 16 apartments and 

associated infrastructure within a 1.487- 

acre project area. The entire 1.487-acre 

project area consists of suitable habitat 

for the Mount Hermon June beetle. The 

HCP includes avoidance and 

minimization measures for the Mount 

Hermon June beetle and mitigation for 

unavoidable loss of suitable habitat 

through the purchase of conservation 

credits at a Service-approved 

conservation bank. 

Public Comments 

If you wish to comment on the draft 

HCP and categorical exclusion screening 

form, you may submit comments by one 

of the methods in ADDRESSES. 

Before including your address, phone 

number, email address, or other 

personal identifying information in your 

comment, you should be aware that 


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