68472 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 217 / Thursday, November 10, 2005 / Notices 

for the meeting online at http:// 

restoration.doi.gov/faca or may request 

the draft agenda from Ms. Schmalz. In 

preparation for the first meeting of the 

Advisory Committee, the Committee 

and the public can find helpful 

background information at the 

Restoration Program website http:// 

restoration.doi.gov. The site provides a 

good introduction to the program for 

those who are relatively new to the 

damage assessment and restoration 

arena and a useful reference for 

seasoned practitioners and policy 

leaders. Links to the statutory and 

regulatory framework for the program 

are found at http://restoration.doi.gov/ 

laws.htm. DOI Program policies are 

found at http://restoration.doi.gov/ 

policy.htm. 

Agenda for Meeting 

The agenda will cover the following 

principal subjects: 

—Keynote/Kickoff address by senior 

Departmental official 

—Discussion and finalization of committee 

by-laws 

—Program Authorities, Responsibilities, and 

Application 

—Formal public input (if any) 

—Charge to the Committee 

Meeting Access: Individuals requiring 

special accommodation at this meeting 

must contact Ms. Barbara Schmalz (see 

contact information below) by noon 

eastern standard time on November 21, 

2005, so that appropriate arrangements 

can be made. 

DATES: November 30, 2005, from 1 p.m. 

to 5 p.m. (administrative business 

meeting) December 1, 2005, from 8 a.m. 

to 3 p.m. (open to the public). 

ADDRESSES: Auditorium, U.S Fish and 

Wildlife Service National Conservation 

and Training Center, 698 Conservation 

Way, Shepherdstown, WV 25443. 

All individuals attending the 

Committee Meeting will be required to 

present photo identification to NCTC 

security to gain access to the Training 

Center campus. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Barbara Schmalz, U.S. Department of 

the Interior, Denver Federal Center, 6th 

Avenue & Kipling, Building 56 Room 

1003 Mail Stop D–108, Denver, CO 

80225–0007; phone 303–445–2500; fax 

303–445–6320 or 

barbara_schmalz@ios.doi.gov. 

Dated: November 4, 2005. 

Frank M. DeLuise, 

Designated Federal Officer, DOI Natural 

Resource Damage Assessment and 

Restoration Advisory Committee. 

[FR Doc. 05–22392 Filed 11–9–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

Draft Environmental Assessment/ 

Habitat Conservation Plan; Incidental 

Take Permit Amendment for the 

Struthers Ranch Property, Colorado 

Springs, El Paso County, CO 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of availability and 

receipt of application. 

SUMMARY: WL Homes, LLC, doing 

business as John Laing Homes 

(Applicant), has applied to the Fish and 

Wildlife Service (Service) for an 

incidental take permit pursuant to 

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

Species Act (Act) of 1973, as amended. 

The requested permit amendment 

would authorize the incidental take of 

the federally threatened Preble’s 

meadow jumping mouse, Zapus 

hudsonius preblei (Preble’s), through 

loss and modification of its habitat 

associated with the expansion and 

amendment of the Struthers Ranch 

Property Environmental Assessment/ 

Habitat Conservation Plan (EA/HCP) in 

El Paso County, Colorado. The EA/HCP 

is available for public review and 

comment. It fully describes the 

proposed project and the measures the 

Applicant would undertake to minimize 

and mitigate project impacts to the 

Preble’s. 

The Service requests comments on the 

EA/HCP and associated documents for 

the proposed issuance of the incidental 

take permit. All comments on the EA 

and permit amendment application will 

become part of the administrative record 

and will be available to the public. 

DATES: Written comments on the permit 

amendment application and EA/HCP 

should be received on or before 

December 12, 2005. 

ADDRESSES: Comments regarding the 

permit amendment application and EA/ 

HCP should be addressed Susan Linner, 

Field Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service, Colorado Field Office, 755 

Parfet Street, Suite 361, Lakewood, 

Colorado 80215. Comments also may be 

submitted by facsimile to (303) 275–

2371. Individuals wishing copies of the 

EA/HCP and associated documents for 

review or public inspection should 

immediately contact the above office 

during normal business hours at the 

above address. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Adam Misztal, Fish and Wildlife 

Biologist, Colorado Field Office (see 

ADDRESSES above), telephone (303) 275–

2377. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Section 9 of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 

et seq.) and Federal regulations prohibit 

the ‘‘take’’ of a species listed as 

endangered or threatened. Take is 

defined under the Act, in part, as to kill, 

harm, or harass a federally listed 

species. However, the Service may issue 

permits to authorize ‘‘incidental take’’ of 

listed species under limited 

circumstances. Incidental take is 

defined under the Act as take of a listed 

species that is incidental to, and not the 

purpose of, the carrying out of an 

otherwise lawful activity under limited 

circumstances. Regulations governing 

permits for threatened species are 

promulgated in 50 CFR 17.32. 

The Applicant currently holds a 

permit for incidental take of Preble’s at 

the Struthers Ranch Property (69 FR 

1998). The permit was issued on 

December 12, 2003, to Struthers Ranch 

Development, LLC, then transferred to 

the Applicant on January 28, 2005, and 

expires on January 28, 2035. The 

Struthers Ranch Property is located 

along Black Forest Creek southeast of 

the Town of Monument, El Paso County, 

Colorado. The Applicant, using the 

Service’s definition of Preble’s habitat, 

has determined that the proposed 

amended project would impact 

approximately 0.2 hectare (0.5 acre) of 

potential Preble’s habitat, in addition to 

the 6.6 hectares (16.4 acres) of impacts 

from the original project, and may result 

in incidental take of the Preble’s in an 

area that may be periodically used as 

foraging, breeding or hibernation 

habitat. 

An HCP has been developed as part 

of the preferred alternative. Three other 

alternatives to this action were 

considered and rejected because the 

environmental impacts would be greater 

than, or similar to, the proposed action, 

but would not provide as great a 

conservation benefit as the proposed 

action, and/or were not economically 

viable. The draft EA analyzes the onsite, 

offsite, and cumulative impacts of the 

proposed project and all associated 

development and construction activities 

and mitigation activities on the Preble’s, 

and also on other threatened or 

endangered species, vegetation, wildlife, 

wetlands, geology/soils, land use, water 

resources, air and water quality, and 

cultural resources. 

Only the threatened Preble’s occurs 

on site and has the potential to be 

adversely affected by the project. 

Activities proposed to be covered by the 

EA/HCP amendment are a larger box 

culvert crossing over Black Forest Creek, 

new road alignment, and relocation 

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 217 / Thursday, November 10, 2005 / Notices 68473 

and/or additional placement of rip-rap 

used to stabilize the drainage. Measures 

will be taken during construction to 

minimize impact to the habitat, 

including the use of silt fencing to 

reduce the amount of sediment from 

construction activities that reaches the 

creek. Mitigation is planned for 

approximately 0.2 hectare (0.5 acre) in 

addition to the 14.4 hectares (35.5 acres) 

of varying amounts of restoration, 

enhancement, and creation of on-site 

upland and riparian Preble’s habitat as 

described in the original HCP. Limited 

enhancement has already occurred on 

3.3 hectares (8.1 acres) of uplands from 

the removal of cattle grazing to 

encourage existing native grass 

recovery. This results in a mitigation 

ratio of 2.14:1 for temporary impacts as 

well as permanent impacts. The 

mitigation will likely provide a net 

benefit to the Preble’s and other wildlife 

by improving and creating new riparian 

areas, planting of native shrubs and 

grasses, and protecting the habitat 

corridor along Black Forest Creek from 

any future development. All of the 

proposed mitigation area is within the 

boundaries of the Struthers Ranch 

property, all of which is included in the 

drainage basin of Black Forest Creek. 

We will evaluate the permit 

amendment application, the EA/HCP, 

and comments submitted therein to 

determine whether the application 

meets the requirements of section 10(a) 

of the Act. If it is determined that those 

requirements are met, a permit 

amendment will be issued for the 

incidental take of the Preble’s in 

conjunction with the Struthers Ranch 

Property. The final permit decision will 

be made no sooner than 30 days after 

the date of this notice. 

Dated: October 14, 2005. 

Ralph O. Morgenweck, 

Regional Director, Region 6. 

[FR Doc. 05–22439 Filed 11–9–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management 

[NV–030–5101–ER–F340; N–76800, N–

76897] 

Notice of Availability for the North 

Valleys Rights-of-Way Projects Final 

Environmental Impact Statement 

AGENCY: Department of the Interior, 

Bureau of Land Management, Carson 

City Field Office, Nevada. 

ACTION: Notice of availability of a final 

environmental impact statement (EIS) 

for the North Valleys Rights-of-Way 

Projects and initiation of a 30-day 

comment period. 

SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 102(2)(C) 

of the National Environmental Policy 

Act (NEPA) and 40 CFR 1500–1508 

Council on Environmental Quality 

Regulations (CEQ), notice is given that 

the Bureau of Land Management, Carson 

City Field Office (BLM) has prepared, 

with the assistance of a third-party 

consultant, a Final EIS for the proposed 

North Valleys Rights-of-Way Projects, 

and has made the document available 

for public and agency review. The 

proposed Projects include the 

construction and operation of two 

separate water supply and transmission 

projects located in Washoe County, 

Nevada. Rights-of-way applications 

were submitted to the BLM from 

Intermountain Water Supply, LTD and 

Fish Springs Ranch, LLC for production 

well(s), pump station(s), transmission 

pipeline(s), terminal water storage tank, 

electrical substation, overhead power 

lines, and access road rights-of-way. 

DATES: Effective Dates: The comment 

period for the Final EIS will commence 

with the publication of this notice. The 

formal comment period will end 30 

days after publication of this notice. 

Comments should be received on or 

before the end of the comment period at 

the address listed below. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments should 

be sent to BLM Carson City Field Office, 

Attn: Terri Knutson, 5665 Morgan Mill 

Road, Carson City, NV 89701; Fax (775) 

885–6147; or e-mail address 

nvalleyswater_eis@blm.gov. A limited 

number of the Final EIS may be 

obtained at the above BLM Field Office 

in Carson City, NV. Comments, 

including names and street addresses of 

respondents, will be available for public 

review at the above address during 

regular business hours (7:30 a.m.–5 

p.m.), Monday through Friday, except 

holidays, and may be published as part 

of the EIS. Individual respondents may 

request confidentiality. If you wish to 

withhold your name or street address 

from public review or from disclosure 

under the Freedom of Information Act, 

you must state this prominently at the 

beginning of your written comment. 

However, we will not consider 

anonymous comments. Such requests 

will be honored to the extent allowed by 

law. 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 inspection in 

their entirety. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

additional information, write to the 

above address or call Terri Knutson 

(BLM Environmental Planner) at (775) 

885–6156 or Ken Nelson (BLM Realty 

Specialist) at (775) 885–6114. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The BLM 

Carson City Field Office received 

separate rights-of-way applications from 

the Fish Springs Ranch, LLC and 

Intermountain Water Supply, LTD, two 

independent water companies, 

proposing to construct and operate 

water transmission pipelines across 

public lands in Washoe County, 

Nevada. The BLM determined that due 

to the same timing, geography, and 

similarity of the types of actions, the 

two proposals would be analyzed in one 

EIS, together known as the North 

Valleys Rights-of-Way Projects. Each 

company is proposing to construct and 

operate water supply and transmission 

projects to meet present and future 

water demands of the Stead/Silver Lake/ 

Lemmon Valley areas (North Valleys) in 

Washoe County. The proposed Projects 

consist of groundwater production 

wells, pump station(s), transmission 

pipeline(s), electrical substation, 

overhead power lines, and terminal 

water storage tank to convey water. The 

Fish Springs Ranch, LLC proposed 

pipeline (carrying 8000 acre-feet per 

year) would begin at the Fish Springs 

Ranch and proceed approximately 33 

miles to the North Valleys. The 

Intermountain Water Supply, LTD 

original proposal included a water 

pipeline to convey approximately 3500 

acre-feet per year that would begin in 

Dry Valley and proceed east a short 

distance before tying into the same 

general route south approximately 24 

miles to the North Valleys. As a result 

of a review of public comments and 

groundwater modeling results for the 

Draft EIS, Intermountain Water Supply, 

LTD has reduced their proposed 

pumping rate to a total of 2500 acre-feet 

per year for the Final EIS. 

The Final EIS assesses the impacts of 

the two proposed rights-of-way actions 

and the No Action alternatives and 

considers an alternative alignment of 

the pipelines. The Final EIS addresses 

issues brought forth through scoping 

and the Draft EIS and has been 

evaluated by an interdisciplinary team 

of specialists. The proposed rights-ofway cross several jurisdictions with 

permitting responsibilities, therefore, 

the following agencies or entities are 

active participants in the EIS process as 

formal cooperating agencies: U.S. Fish & 

Wildlife Service; U.S. Bureau of Indian 

Affairs; U.S. Geological Survey; Sierra 

Army Depot; Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe;