Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 164 / Friday, August 27, 2021 / Notices 48243 

implementation of the covered activities 

described in the draft HCP. We will 

make the final permit decision no 

sooner than 30 days after publication of 

this notice in the Federal Register. 

Authority 

We publish this notice in compliance 

with section 10(c) of the Endangered 

Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531–1544 et 

seq.) and its implementing regulations 

at 40 CFR 17.22 and 17.32; and in 

furtherance of objectives under the 

National Environmental Policy Act of 

1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321–4347 

et seq.), and its implementing 

regulations at 40 CFR 1500–1508. 

Kim S. Turner, 

Acting Field Supervisor, Sacramento Fish and 

Wildlife Office, Sacramento, California. 

[FR Doc. 2021–18449 Filed 8–26–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

[FWS–R2–ES–2020–N156; 

FXES11140200000–212–FF02ENEH00] 

Application for an Incidental Take 

Permit; Habitat Conservation Plan and 

Draft Environmental Assessment for 

Wildhorse Mountain Wind Project, 

Pushmataha County, Oklahoma 

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 environmental 

assessment (dEA) under the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and 

application for an incidental take permit 

(ITP) supported by a habitat 

conservation plan (HCP) for the 

operation of an existing wind facility, 

the Wildhorse Mountain Wind project 

(project), in Pushmataha County, 

Oklahoma. Wildhorse Wind Energy, 

LLC (Applicant) has applied for an ITP 

under the Endangered Species Act of 

1973, as amended. The requested ITP, 

which would be in effect for a period of 

30 years, if granted, would cover 

incidental take of the federally 

endangered Indiana bat and threatened 

northern long-eared bat. The potential 

incidental take would be associated 

with activities associated with the 

operation of the existing wind project. 

We invite public comments on the 

permit application, proposed HCP, and 

dEA. 

DATES: Submission of Comments: We 

will accept comments received or 

postmarked on or before September 27, 

2021. 

ADDRESSES: 

Obtaining documents: The documents 

this notice announces are available for 

public inspection by any of the 

following means. 

Internet: You may obtain electronic 

copies of the dEA and HCP on the 

Oklahoma Field Office website at http:// 

www.fws.gov/southwest/es/oklahoma/. 

U.S. Mail: You may obtain the 

documents at the following addresses. 

In your request for documents, please 

note that your request is in reference to 

the Wildhorse Mountain Wind Project 

HCP and dEA. 

• EA and HCP: A limited number of 

CD–ROM and printed copies of the EA 

and HCP are available, by request, from 

Ken Collins, Acting Field Supervisor, 

Oklahoma Ecological Services Field 

Office, Tulsa OK, telephone 918–581– 

7458. 

• The ITP application is available by 

mail from the Regional Director, U.S. 

Fish and Wildlife Service, P.O. Box 

1306, Room 6034, Albuquerque, NM 

87103. 

Submitting Comments 

You may submit written comments by 

one of the following methods: 

• Email: okes_nepa@fws.gov; or 

• Facsimile: 918–581–7467, Attn: 

OKES Wildhorse Mountain Wind 

Project HCP EA. 

• U.S. mail: Field Supervisor, 

Oklahoma Ecological Services Field 

Office, 9014 East 21st Street, Tulsa, 

Oklahoma 74129–1428. 

Please specify that your information 

request or comments concern the 

Wildhorse Mountain Wind Project EA/ 

HCP. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ken 

Collins, by U.S. mail at the U.S. Fish 

and Wildlife Service, Oklahoma 

Ecological Services Field Office (at the 

Tulsa street address above), or by phone 

at 918–581–7458. If you use a 

telecommunications device for the deaf 

(TDD), please call the Federal 

Information Relay Service at 800–877– 

8339. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Applicant has applied to the Service for 

an 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 requested ITP, which would be in 

effect for a period of 30 years, if granted, 

would authorize incidental take of the 

federally endangered Indiana bat 

(Myotis sodalis) and threatened northern 

long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis) 

during the operation of an existing wind 

facility in Pushmataha County, 

Oklahoma. 

In total, the plan area is 13,731.6 

acres, including the 13,641.6-acre wind 

facility and an off-site mitigation area 

(90 acres of contiguous forested habitat 

in Pushmataha County). The facility, 

constructed in 2019, consists of 29 wind 

turbines, with a total generating 

capacity of 100 megawatts. 

Activities potentially causing take 

include the operation of the existing 29 

wind turbines. The Applicant has 

proposed a HCP that would be 

implemented to address project impacts 

to the Indiana bat and northern longeared bat. 

We are notifying the public of the 

Applicant’s proposal of an HCP and 

request to the Service for an ITP to cover 

incidental take of the Indiana bat and 

northern long-eared bat associated with 

the operation of the Wildhorse 

Mountain Wind facility. In addition, we 

are notifying the public of the Service’s 

preparation of a dEA regarding impacts 

of the requested action or feasible 

alternatives, of an opportunity for 

public comment on our action, and of 

our intention to finalize the 

environmental assessment after 

consideration of public comment. 

Background 

Section 9 of the ESA prohibits ‘‘take’’ 

of fish and wildlife species listed as 

endangered or threatened (16 U.S.C. 

1531–1544). Under section 3 of 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’’ is further 

defined by regulation as an act which 

actually kills or injures wildlife. Such 

acts may include significant habitat 

modification or degradation where it 

actually kills or injures wildlife by 

significantly impairing essential 

behavioral patterns, including breeding, 

feeding, or sheltering (50 CFR 17.3). 

Under section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA, 

the Secretary of the Interior may 

authorize the taking of federally listed 

species if such taking occurs incidental 

to otherwise legal activities and where 

a conservation plan has been developed 

under ESA section 10(a)(2)(A) that 

describes (1) the impact that will likely 

result from such taking; (2) the steps an 

Applicant will take to minimize and 

mitigate that take to the maximum 

extent practicable, and the funding that 

will be available to implement such 

steps; (3) the alternative actions to such 

taking that an Applicant considered and 

the reasons why such alternatives are 

not being utilized; and (4) other 

measures that the Service may require 

as being necessary or appropriate for the 

purposes of the plan. Issuance criteria 


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48244 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 164 / Friday, August 27, 2021 / Notices 

under section 10(a)(2)(B) for an 

incidental take permit requires the 

Service to find that (1) the taking will 

be incidental to otherwise lawful 

activities; (2) an Applicant will, to the 

maximum extent practicable, minimize 

and mitigate the impacts of such taking; 

(3) an Applicant has ensured that 

adequate funding for the plan will be 

provided; (4) the taking will not 

appreciably reduce the likelihood of the 

survival and recovery of the species in 

the wild; and (5) the measures, if any, 

we require as necessary or appropriate 

for the purposes of the plan will be met. 

Regulations governing permits for 

endangered and threatened species are 

at 50 CFR 17.22 and 17.32, respectively. 

Proposed Action 

The proposed action is the issuance of 

a 30-year ITP to authorize incidental 

take of up to 8 Indiana bats and 48 

northern long-eared bats during the ITP 

term, resulting from activities covered 

by the HCP and associated with the 

operation of the existing Wildhorse 

Mountain Wind Project in Pushmataha 

County, Oklahoma. The plan area is 

13,731.6 acres, of which 90 acres are 

protected mitigation lands to offset the 

impacts of the project. 

The proposed HCP, which must meet 

the requirements in section 10(a)(2)(A) 

of the ESA, was developed in 

coordination with the Service and 

would be implemented by the 

Applicant. The proposed action will 

allow for the Applicant to comply with 

the ESA, and their renewable windgenerated energy would be made 

available to public utilities. Covered 

activities in the HCP include the 

operation of 29 wind turbines and the 

conservation and preservation of 90 

acres, called the mitigation area. The 

Applicant proposes to minimize and 

mitigate impacts to the Indiana bat and 

northern long-eared bat through 

conservation measures identified in the 

HCP. 

Alternatives 

We considered one alternative to the 

proposed action as part of the 

environmental assessment process: The 

no-action alternative. The no-action 

alternative represents estimated future 

conditions without the issuance of an 

ITP. The no-action alternative 

represents the status quo. 

Under the no-action alternative, the 

Service would not issue the ITP. The 

no-action alternative would be 

implemented if the Service denies 

issuance of a permit or if the Applicant 

chooses to abandon pursuing an ITP. 

The Applicant would operate the 

project without an ITP and would risk 

not being in compliance with section 9 

of the Endangered Species Act if 

implementation of covered activities 

results in take of the Indiana bat or the 

northern long-eared bat without the use 

of a 4(d) rule. 

Next Steps 

We will evaluate the permit 

application, associated documents, and 

comments we receive to determine 

whether the permit application meets 

the requirements of the ESA, NEPA, and 

implementing regulations. If we 

determine all requirements are met, we 

will approve the HCP and issue the ITP 

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

the Applicant, Wildhorse Mountain 

Wind Energy, LLC, for take of Indiana 

bat and northern long-eared bat in 

accordance with the terms of the HCP 

and specific terms and conditions of the 

authorizing permit. We will not make 

our final decision until after the end of 

the 30-day public comment period, and 

we will fully consider all comments we 

receive during the public comment 

period. 

Public Availability of Comments 

Written comments we receive become 

part of the public record associated with 

this action. Requests for copies of 

comments will be handled in 

accordance with the Freedom of 

Information Act, NEPA, and Service and 

Department of the Interior policies and 

procedures. Before including your 

address, phone number, email address, 

or other personal identifying 

information in your comment, you 

should be aware that the entire 

comment—including your personal 

identifying information—may be made 

publicly available at any time. While 

you can ask us in your comment to 

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 the 

authority of section 10(c) of the ESA and 

its implementing regulations (50 CFR 

17.22 and 17.32) and NEPA (42 U.S.C. 

4371 et seq.) and its implementing 

regulations (40 CFR 1506.6). 

Amy L. Lueders, 

Regional Director, Southwest Region, U.S. 

Fish and Wildlife Service. 

[FR Doc. 2021–18450 Filed 8–26–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4333–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

National Park Service 

[NPS–WASO–NRSS–NPS0031626; 

PPWONRADE3, PPMRSNR1Y.NM0000 (211); 

OMB Control Number 1024–NEW] 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Socioeconomic Monitoring 

Study of National Park Service Visitors 

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of Information 

Collection; request for comment. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 we, 

the National Park Service (NPS), are 

proposing a new information collection. 

DATES: Interested persons are invited to 

submit comments on or before October 

26, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: Send your comments on 

this information collection request (ICR) 

by mail to Phadrea Ponds, NPS 

Information Collection Clearance 

Officer, 1201 Oakridge Drive, Fort 

Collins, CO 80525; or by email to 

phadrea_ponds@nps.gov. Please 

reference Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) Control Number 1024– 

NEW (SEM) in the subject line of your 

comments. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To 

request additional information about 

this ICR, contact Bret Meldrum by email 

at bret_meldrum@nps.gov, or by 

telephone at 970–267–7295. Individuals 

who are hearing or speech impaired 

may call the Federal Relay Service at 1– 

800–877–8339 for TTY assistance. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 

accordance with the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) and 5 CFR 

1320.8(d)(1), all information collections 

require approval under the PRA. We 

may not conduct or sponsor and you are 

not required to respond to a collection 

of information unless it displays a 

currently valid OMB control number. 

As part of our continuing effort to 

reduce paperwork and respondent 

burdens, we invite the public and other 

Federal agencies to comment on new, 

proposed, revised, and continuing 

collections of information. This helps us 

assess the impact of our information 

collection requirements and minimize 

the public’s reporting burden. It also 


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