27660 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 89 / Monday, May 9, 2022 / Notices 

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. 2022–09837 Filed 5–6–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4333–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

[Docket No. FWS–R3–ES–2022–0003; 

FXES11140300000–223] 

Draft Environmental Assessment and 

Proposed Habitat Conservation Plan 

Amendment; Receipt of an Application 

for an Incidental Take Permit 

Amendment, Fowler Ridge Wind Farm, 

Benton County, Indiana 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of availability; request 

for comments and information. 

SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service, have received an 

application from Fowler Ridge Wind 

Farm LLC, Fowler Ridge II Wind Farm 

LLC, Fowler Ridge III Wind Farm LLC, 

and Fowler Ridge IV Wind Farm LLC, 

collectively referred to as Fowler Ridge 

(applicant), to amend an existing 

incidental take permit (ITP) under the 

Endangered Species Act, for its Fowler 

Ridge Wind Farm (project). If approved, 

the ITP would be extended for an 

additional 10-year period and would 

add authorization of incidental take of 

a threatened species, the northern longeared bat, to the currently existing 

authorization to incidentally take the 

endangered Indiana bat. The applicant 

has prepared a proposed habitat 

conservation plan amendment that 

describes the actions and measures that 

the applicant would implement to 

avoid, minimize, and mitigate 

incidental take of the Indiana bat and 

northern long-eared 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 

June 8, 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–2022–0003 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: 

• Online: https://

www.regulations.gov. Search for and 

submit comments on Docket No. FWS– 

R3–ES–2022–0003. 

• By hard copy: Submit comments by 

U.S. mail to Public Comments 

Processing, Attn: Docket No. FWS–R3– 

ES–2022–0003; 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 by 

telephone at 812–334–4261, extension 

214; or Andrew Horton, Regional HCP 

Coordinator, Interior Region 3, by email 

at andrew_horton@fws.gov, or by 

telephone at 612–713–5337. 

Individuals in the United States who 

are deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or 

have a speech disability may dial 711 

(TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access 

telecommunications relay services. 

Individuals outside the United States 

should use the relay services offered 

within their country to make 

international calls to the point-ofcontact in the United States. 

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 (CFR) at 50 CFR 17.22 and 

50 CFR 17.32. 

Applicant’s Proposed Project 

The applicant requests to amend their 

current 21-year ITP (TE95012A–0). The 

proposed HCP amendment, if approved, 

would extend the current permit term 

by 10 years. Because of the time already 

elapsed since the original issuance of 

the ITP, this extension would result in 

an amended ITP with a total 23-year 

permit term (2022–2044). In addition, 

the HCP amendment would add 

authorization to incidentally take the 

federally threatened northern long-eared 

bat (Myotis septentrionalis) to the ITP, 

and would in effect increase the 

allowable take of the federally 

endangered Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis), 

due to the permit term extension. The 

applicant determined that take is 

reasonably certain to occur incidental to 

operation of the 420 wind turbines at 

the project. The proposed conservation 

strategy in the applicant’s proposed 

HCP amendment 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 amendment provides 

on-site avoidance and minimization 

measures, which include turbine 

operational adjustments. The estimated 

level of take from the project is 120 

northern long-eared bats over the 24- 

year project duration and an additional 

151 Indiana bats (above the 184 Indiana 

bats already authorized in the original 

ITP) due to the 10-year extension. To 

offset the impacts of the taking of 

Indiana bats and northern long-eared 

bats, the applicant proposes to protect 

known maternity colony habitat. 

National Environmental Policy Act 

The issuance of an ITP amendment 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 

applicants’ proposed alternative, and an 

alternative that provides coverage of 

only the northern long-eared bat. 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 89 / Monday, May 9, 2022 / Notices 27661 

Next Steps 

The Service will evaluate the permit 

amendment 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 intraService 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 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 

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 https://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). 

Sean Marsan, 

Acting Assistant Regional Director, Ecological 

Services. 

[FR Doc. 2022–09836 Filed 5–6–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4333–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

National Park Service 

[NPS–WASO–BSD–CONC–NPS0033333; 

PPWOBSADC0, PPMVSCS1Y.Y00000 (222); 

OMB Control Number 1024–0029] 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; National Park Service 

Concessions 

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 to renew an information 

collection. 

DATES: Interested persons are invited to 

submit comments on or before July 8, 

2022. 

ADDRESSES: Please provide a copy of 

your comments to the NPS Information 

Collection Clearance Officer (ADIR– 

ICCO), 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive, 

(MS—242) Reston, VA 20191 (mail); or 

phadrea_ponds@nps.gov (email). Please 

reference OMB Control Number ‘‘1024– 

0029’’ in the subject line of your 

comments. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To 

request additional information about 

this ICR by mail, contact Kurt Rausch, 

Contract Management Team Lead, 

National Park Service, 1849 C Street 

NW, Washington, DC 20240; or by email 

at kurt_rausch@nps.gov. Please 

reference OMB Control Number 1024– 

0029 in the subject line of your 

comments. Individuals in the United 

States who are deaf, deafblind, hard of 

hearing, or have a speech disability may 

dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to 

access telecommunications relay 

services. Individuals outside the United 

States should use the relay services 

offered within their country to make 

international calls to the point-ofcontact in the United States. You may 

also view the ICR at http://

www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 

accordance with the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995, (PRA, 44 U.S.C. 

3501 et seq.) and 5 CFR 1320.8(d)(1), all 

information collections require approval 

under the PRA. 

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 

helps the public understand our 

information collection requirements and 

provide the requested data in the 

desired format. 

We are especially interested in public 

comment addressing the following: 

(1) Whether or not the collection of 

information is necessary for the proper 

performance of the functions of the 

agency, including whether or not the 

information will have practical utility. 

(2) The accuracy of our estimate of the 

burden for this collection of 

information, including the validity of 

the methodology and assumptions used. 

(3) Ways to enhance the quality, 

utility, and clarity of the information to 

be collected. 

(4) How might the agency minimize 

the burden of the collection of 

information on those who are to 

respond, including through the use of 

appropriate automated, electronic, 

mechanical, or other technological 

collection techniques or other forms of 

information technology, e.g., permitting 

electronic submission of response. 

Comments that you submit in 

response to this notice are a matter of 

public record. We will include or 

summarize each comment in our request 

to OMB to approve this ICR. 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 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. 

Abstract: Private businesses under 

contract to the National Park Service 

manage food, lodging, tours, whitewater 

rafting, boating, and many other 

recreational activities and amenities in 

more than 100 national parks. These 

services gross more than $1 billion 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES