Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 105 / Thursday, June 3, 2021 / Notices 29803 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

[FWS–R3–ES–2021–0042; 

FXES11140300000–212] 

Draft Environmental Assessment and 

Proposed Habitat Conservation Plan; 

Receipt of an Application for an 

Incidental Take Permit, California 

Ridge Wind Farm, Champaign and 

Vermilion Counties, Illinois 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of availability of 

documents; request for comment and 

information. 

SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service, have received an 

application from California Ridge Wind 

Energy, LLC (applicant), for an 

incidental take permit (ITP) under the 

Endangered Species Act (ESA), for its 

California Ridge Wind Farm (project). If 

approved, the ITP would authorize the 

incidental take of four bat species. The 

applicant has prepared a habitat 

conservation plan, which is also 

available for review. 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 July 

6, 2021. 

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–2021–0042 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: http://www.regulations.gov. 

Search for and submit comments on 

Docket No. FWS–R3–ES–2021–0042. 

• By hard copy: Submit comments by 

U.S. mail to Public Comments 

Processing, Attn: Docket No. FWS–R3– 

ES–2021–0042; U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service, 5275 Leesburg Pike, MS: PRB/ 

3W, Falls Church, VA 22041–3803. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Kraig McPeek, Field Supervisor, 

Illinois-Iowa Ecological Services Field 

Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 

1511 47th Ave., Moline, IL 61265; 

telephone: 309–757–5800, extension 

202; or Andrew Horton, Regional HCP 

Coordinator, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service—Interior Region 3, 5600 

American Blvd., West, Suite 990, 

Bloomington, MN 55437–1458; 

telephone: 612–713–5337. 

Individuals who are hearing impaired 

or speech impaired may call the Federal 

Relay Service at 1–800–877–8339 for 

TTY assistance. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We, the 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have 

received an application from California 

Ridge Wind Energy, LLC (applicant), for 

an incidental take permit (ITP) under 

the Endangered Species Act, as 

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

for its California Ridge Wind Farm 

(project). If approved, the ITP would be 

for a 20-year period and would 

authorize the incidental take of the 

following four species: Indiana bat 

(federally listed as endangered), 

northern long-eared bat (federally listed 

as threatened), little brown bat 

(currently under discretionary review), 

and tricolored bat (petitioned for listing 

under ESA). The applicant has prepared 

a habitat conservation plan that 

describes the actions and measures that 

the applicant would implement to 

avoid, minimize, and mitigate 

incidental take of the four species. We 

also announce the availability of a draft 

environmental assessment (EA), 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. 

Background 

Section 9 of the ESA 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 any 

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 at 50 CFR 17.22 and 50 CFR 

17.32. 

Applicant’s Proposed Project 

The applicant requests a 20-year ITP 

to take the federally endangered Indiana 

bat (Myotis sodalis), threatened northern 

long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis), 

non-listed little brown bat (Myotis 

lucifugus), and non-listed tricolored bat 

(Perimyotis subflavus) (covered species). 

The applicant determined that take is 

reasonably certain to occur incidental to 

operation of 134 previously constructed 

wind turbines that have a total 

generating capacity of 214.4 megawatts 

and covering approximately 35,270 

acres of private land. The proposed 

conservation strategy in the applicant’s 

proposed HCP is designed to avoid, 

minimize, and mitigate the impacts of 

the covered activity on the covered 

species. The biological goals and 

objectives are to increase the 

understanding of the risk to covered 

species populations resulting from 

operation of wind energy facilities; 

minimize mortality of the covered 

species as a result of wind farm 

operations in the permit area; and to 

support survival and recovery of the 

covered species by maintaining or 

increasing the reproductive capacity of 

the populations of the covered species. 

The HCP provides on-site avoidance 

and minimization measures, which 

include turbine operational 

adjustments. The authorized level of 

take from the project is up to a total of 

100 Indiana bats, 280 northern longeared bats, 780 little brown bats, and 

240 tricolored bats over the 20-year 

project duration. To offset the impacts 

of the taking of covered species, the 

applicant proposes to restore and 

protect up to 563.2 acres of suitable 

habitat for the covered species and up 

to 13 artificial bat roost structures. 

Mitigation will occur in the same or 

immediately adjacent watershed as the 

project. 

National Environmental Policy Act 

The issuance of an ITP is a Federal 

action that triggers the need for 

compliance with NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 

et seq.). We prepared a draft EA that 

analyzes the environmental impacts on 

the human environment resulting from 

three alternatives: A no-action 

alternative, the proposed action, and a 

more restrictive alternative consisting of 

feathering turbines at a wind speed that 

results in less impacts to bats. 

Next Steps 

The Service will evaluate the permit 

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 


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29804 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 105 / Thursday, June 3, 2021 / Notices 

intra-Service 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. 

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 environmental 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; and 

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; and 

4. Any other information pertinent to 

evaluating the effects of the proposed 

action on the human environment. 

You may submit comments by one of 

the methods shown under ADDRESSES. 

We will post on http://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). 

Lori Nordstrom, 

Assistant Regional Director, Ecological 

Services. 

[FR Doc. 2021–11602 Filed 6–2–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4333–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Indian Affairs 

[212A2100DD AAK6006201 

AOR3030.999900] 

Final Environmental Impact Statement 

for the Proposed Southern Bighorn 

Solar Projects, Clark County, Nevada 

AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of availability. 

SUMMARY: This notice advises the public 

that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), 

as the lead Federal agency, with the 

Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the 

Environmental Protection Agency 

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

(USFWS), and the Moapa Band of Paiute 

Indians (Moapa Band) as cooperating 

agencies, intends to file a final 

environmental impact statement (FEIS) 

with the EPA for the proposed Southern 

Bighorn Solar Projects (SBSPs or 

Project). The FEIS evaluates 

photovoltaic (PV) solar energy 

generation and storage projects on the 

Moapa River Indian Reservation 

(Reservation) and collector lines along 

with the use of existing access roads and 

an existing generation interconnection 

(gen-tie) line located on the Reservation, 

Reservation lands managed by BLM, 

and BLM lands. This notice also 

announces that the FEIS is now 

available for public review. 

DATES: To be fully considered, written 

comments on the FEIS must arrive no 

later than 30 days after EPA publishes 

its Notice of Availability in the Federal 

Register. 

ADDRESSES: The FEIS is available at the 

following website: 

www.southernbighornsolar.com/. You 

may mail, email, hand carry or telefax 

written comments to Mr. Chip Lewis, 

Regional Environmental Protection 

Officer, BIA Western Regional Office, 

Branch of Environmental Quality 

Services, 2600 North Central Avenue, 

4th Floor, Mail Room, Phoenix, Arizona 

85004–3008; fax (602) 379–3833; email: 

chip.lewis@bia.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Chip Lewis, BIA Western Regional 

Office, Branch of Environmental Quality 

Services at (602) 379–6750 or Mr. Garry 

Cantley at (602) 379–6750. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

proposed Federal action, taken under 25 

U.S.C. 415, is the BIA’s approval of two 

solar energy ground leases and 

associated agreements entered into by 

the Moapa Band with 300MS 8me LLC 

and 425LM 8me LLC (Applicants). The 

agreements provide for construction, 

operation and maintenance (O&M), and 

eventual decommissioning of the PV 

electricity generation and battery storage 

facilities located entirely on the 

Reservation and specifically on lands 

held in trust for the Moapa Band, in 

Clark County Nevada. 

The PV electricity generation and 

battery storage facilities would be 

located on up to 3,600 acres of tribal 

trust land (2,600 acres for SBSP I and 

1,000 acres for SBSP II) and would have 

a combined capacity of up to 400 

megawatts alternating current (MWac)— 

300 MWac for SBSP I, and 100 MWac 

for SBSP II. The two solar Projects 

include the solar fields, access roads, 

collector lines, and connection with an 

existing transmission gen-tie line. 

Construction of the 300MWac project 

is expected to take approximately 14–16 

months, and construction of the up to 

100MWac project is expected to take 

approximately 8–10 months. The two 

projects may be constructed 

simultaneously or sequentially. The 

electricity generation and storage 

facilities are expected to be operated for 

up to 50 years under the terms of the 

leases, with time for construction and 

decommissioning. Major onsite facilities 

include multiple blocks of solar PV 

panels mounted on fixed tilt or tracking 

systems, pad mounted inverters and 

transformers, collector lines, up to 1,000 

MW-hours of battery storage, access 

roads, and O&M facilities. Water will be 

needed during construction for dust 

control; a minimal amount will be 

needed during operations for 

administrative and sanitary use and for 

panel washing. The water supply 

required for the Projects would be 

leased from the Moapa Band. Access to 

the SBSPs will be provided via North 

Las Vegas Boulevard from the I–15/US 

93 interchange. 

The purposes of the proposed Project 

are, among other things, to: (1) Provide 

a long-term, diverse, and viable 

economic revenue base and job 

opportunities for the Moapa Band; (2) 

assist Nevada to meet their State 

renewable energy needs; and (3) allow 

the Moapa Band, in partnership with 

the Applicant, to optimize the use of the 

lease site while maximizing the 


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