Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 160 / Monday, August 18, 2008 / Notices 48239 

conservation easement would be held 

by the Center for Natural Lands 

Management, a non-profit conservation 

organization located in Fallbrook, 

California. 

The impacts from the construction 

activities and use of the property 

associated with this residential 

construction project are considered to 

be negligible to the three species as a 

whole because: (1) The amount of 

habitat being disturbed is small relative 

to the amount of habitat available 

within the Applicant’s property, Santa 

Cruz area, and within the range of the 

species; (2) no individual Santa Cruz 

tarplants and Gairdner’s yampahs have 

been observed above ground in the 

project site since 1993; (3) most of the 

areas that will be disturbed during 

construction support few if any Ohlone 

tiger beetles; and (4) construction 

activities are expected to have negligible 

effects to the three covered species at 

the property. 

The Service’s proposed action is to 

issue an incidental take permit to the 

Applicant, who would then implement 

the HCP. Two alternatives to the taking 

of listed species under the proposed 

action are considered in the HCP. Under 

the No-Action Alternative, no permit 

would be issued, the proposed project 

would not occur, and the HCP would 

not be implemented. This would avoid 

immediate effects of construction and 

use of the property on the Ohlone tiger 

beetle, Santa Cruz tarplant, and 

Gairdner’s yampah. However, under this 

alternative, the Applicant would not be 

able to develop the property, and 

conservation measures for the Ohlone 

tiger beetle, Santa Cruz tarplant, and 

Gairdner’s yampah would not be 

implemented. A second alternative 

would result in a redesigned project 

with the reduction in the number of 

homes constructed and/or relocation of 

the development footprint to another 

portion of the parcel. However, much of 

the property is too steep to be 

developed, and relocation of the 

footprint elsewhere on the property 

would result in the removal of coastal 

terrace prairie that is known to be 

occupied by, and provides essential 

habitat for, the Ohlone tiger beetle, 

Santa Cruz tarplant, and Gairdner’s 

yampah. The Service considers the 

proposed development footprint as 

more desirable than development 

elsewhere on the property because the 

modification of habitat for the Ohlone 

tiger beetle, Santa Cruz tarplant, and 

Gairdner’s yampah would be minimal, 

and establishment of a conservation 

easement would benefit the three 

species. 

The Service has made a preliminary 

determination that the HCP qualifies as 

a ‘‘low-effect’’ habitat conservation plan 

as defined by its Habitat Conservation 

Planning Handbook (November 1996). 

Our determination that a habitat 

conservation plan qualifies as a loweffect plan is based on the following 

three criteria: (1) Implementation of the 

plan would result in minor or negligible 

effects on federally listed, proposed, and 

candidate species and their habitats; (2) 

implementation of the plan would result 

in minor or negligible effects on other 

environmental values or resources; and 

(3) impacts of the plan, considered 

together with the impacts of other past, 

present, and reasonably foreseeable 

similarly situated projects would not 

result, over time, in cumulative effects 

to environmental values or resources 

that would be considered significant. As 

more fully explained in our EAS and 

associated Low Effect Screening Form, 

the Applicant’s proposed HCP qualifies 

as a ‘‘low-effect’’ plan for the following 

reasons: 

(1) Approval of the HCP would result 

in minor or negligible effects on the 

Ohlone tiger beetle, Santa Cruz tarplant, 

and Gairdner’s yampah and their 

habitats. The Service does not anticipate 

significant direct or cumulative effects 

to the Ohlone tiger beetle, Santa Cruz 

tarplant, or Gairdner’s yampah resulting 

from development and use of the Santa 

Cruz Gardens site. 

(2) Approval of the HCP would not 

have adverse effects on unique 

geographic, historic or cultural sites, or 

involve unique or unknown 

environmental risks. 

(3) Approval of the HCP would not 

result in any cumulative or growth 

inducing impacts and, therefore, would 

not result in significant adverse effects 

on public health or safety. 

(4) The project does not require 

compliance with Executive Order 11988 

(Floodplain Management), Executive 

Order 11990 (Protection of Wetlands), or 

the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act, 

nor does it threaten to violate a Federal, 

State, local, or tribal law or requirement 

imposed for the protection of the 

environment. 

(5) Approval of the HCP would not 

establish a precedent for future actions 

or represent a decision in principle 

about future actions with potentially 

significant environmental effects. 

The Service therefore has made a 

preliminary determination that approval 

of the HCP qualifies as a categorical 

exclusion under the National 

Environmental Policy Act, as provided 

by the Department of the Interior 

Manual (516 DM 2, Appendix 1 and 516 

DM 6, Appendix 1). Based upon this 

preliminary determination, we do not 

intend to prepare further National 

Environmental Policy Act 

documentation. The Service will 

consider public comments in making its 

final determination on whether to 

prepare such additional documentation. 

We will evaluate the permit 

application, the HCP, and comments 

submitted thereon to determine whether 

the application meets the requirements 

of section 10(a) of the Act. If the 

requirements are met, the Service will 

issue a permit to the Applicant. 

Public Review and Comment 

If you wish to comment on the permit 

application, draft Environmental Action 

Statement or the proposed HCP, you 

may submit your comments to the 

address listed in the ADDRESSES section 

of this document. Our practice is to 

make comments, including names, 

home addresses, etc., of respondents 

available for public review. Individual 

respondents may request that we 

withhold their names and/or home 

addresses, etc., but if you wish us to 

consider withholding this information 

you must state this prominently at the 

beginning of your comments. In 

addition, you must provide a rationale 

demonstrating and documenting that 

disclosure would constitute a clearly 

unwarranted invasion of privacy. In the 

absence of exceptional, documented 

circumstances, this information will be 

released. All submissions from 

organizations or businesses, and from 

individuals identifying themselves as 

representatives or officials of 

organizations or businesses, are 

available for public inspection in their 

entirety. 

The Service provides this notice 

pursuant to section 10(c) of the Act and 

pursuant to implementing regulations 

for NEPA (40 CFR 1506.6). 

Dated: August 11, 2008. 

Diane K. Noda, 

Field Supervisor, Ventura Fish and Wildlife 

Office, Ventura, California. 

[FR Doc. E8–19074 Filed 8–15–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management 

[F–14837–A, F–14837–E2; AK–965–1410–

KC–P] 

Alaska Native Claims Selection 

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of decision approving 

lands for conveyance. 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES
48240 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 160 / Monday, August 18, 2008 / Notices 

SUMMARY: As required by 43 CFR 

2650.7(d), notice is hereby given that an 

appealable decision approving the 

surface and subsurface estates in certain 

lands for conveyance pursuant to the 

Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act 

will be issued to Beaver Kwit’chin 

Corporation. The lands are in the 

vicinity of Beaver, Alaska, and are 

located in: 

Fairbanks Meridian, Alaska 

T. 18 N., R. 1 E., 

Secs. 1 to 12, inclusive; 

Secs. 16 to 21, inclusive. 

Containing approximately 9,821 acres. 

T. 17 N., R. 4 E., 

Secs. 4 to 9, inclusive; 

Secs. 17, 18, 19, and 30. 

Containing approximately 5,652 acres. 

Total aggregate of approximately 15,473 

acres. 

Notice of the decision will also be 

published four times in the Fairbanks 

Daily News Miner. 

DATES: The time limits for filing an 

appeal are: 

1. Any party claiming a property 

interest which is adversely affected by 

the decision shall have until September 

17, 2008 to file an appeal. 

2. Parties receiving service of the 

decision by certified mail shall have 30 

days from the date of receipt to file an 

appeal. 

Parties who do not file an appeal in 

accordance with the requirements of 43 

CFR Part 4, Subpart E, shall be deemed 

to have waived their rights. 

ADDRESSES: A copy of the decision may 

be obtained from: Bureau of Land 

Management, Alaska State Office, 222 

West Seventh Avenue, #13, Anchorage, 

Alaska 99513–7504. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The 

Bureau of Land Management by phone 

at 907–271–5960, or by e-mail at 

ak.blm.conveyance@ak.blm.gov. Persons 

who use a telecommunication device 

(TDD) may call the Federal Information 

Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–800–877–

8330, 24 hours a day, seven days a 

week, to contact the Bureau of Land 

Management. 

Robert Childers, 

Land Law Examiner, Land Transfer 

Adjudication II. 

[FR Doc. E8–19087 Filed 8–15–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–JA–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management 

[NV–056–5853–ES; N–82798; 8–08807; 

TAS:14X5232] 

Notice of Realty Action: Lease/ 

Conveyance for Recreation and Public 

Purposes of Public Lands in Clark 

County, NV 

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: Recreation and Public 

Purposes (R&PP) Act request for lease 

and subsequent conveyance of 

approximately 5 acres of public land in 

the City of Las Vegas, Clark County, 

Nevada. The City of Las Vegas proposes 

to use the land for a public park. 

DATES: Interested parties may submit 

written comments regarding the 

proposed lease/conveyance of the lands 

until October 2, 2008. 

ADDRESSES: Mail written comments to 

the BLM Field Manager, Las Vegas Field 

Office, 4701 N. Torrey Pines Drive, Las 

Vegas, NV 89130–2301. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Kimber Liebhauser, (702) 515–5088. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

following described land in Clark 

County, Nevada has been examined and 

found suitable for lease and subsequent 

conveyance under the provisions of the 

R&PP Act, as amended (43 U.S.C. 869 et 

seq.). The parcel of land is located on 

the northeast corner of Farm Road and 

Tee Pee Lane, Las Vegas, Nevada, and 

is legally described as: 

Mount Diablo Meridian, Nevada 

T. 19 S., R. 60 E., 

Sec. 18, W1⁄2SW1⁄4SE1⁄4NE1⁄4. 

The area described contains 5 acres, more 

or less. 

In accordance with the R&PP Act, the 

City of Las Vegas has filed an R&PP 

application to develop the above 

described land as a public park with 

related facilities to meet the park space 

needs of this rapidly growing area. 

Related facilities include picnic 

shelters, walking paths, open space play 

areas, restrooms, parking lot, off-site 

improvements including street grading 

and paving, street signage and traffic 

signal construction. Additional detailed 

information pertaining to this 

application, plan of development, and 

site plan is in case file N–82798, which 

is located in the Bureau of Land 

Management (BLM) Las Vegas Field 

Office at the above address. 

Cities are a common applicant under 

the public purposes provision of the 

R&PP Act. The City of Las Vegas is a 

political subdivision of the State of 

Nevada and is therefore a qualified 

applicant under the R&PP Act. The land 

is not required for any Federal purpose. 

The lease/conveyance is consistent with 

the BLM Las Vegas Resource 

Management Plan, dated October 5, 

1998, and would be in the public 

interest. The lease/conveyance, when 

issued, will be subject to the provisions 

of the R&PP Act and applicable 

regulations of the Secretary of the 

Interior, and will contain the following 

reservations to the United States: 

1. A right-of-way thereon for ditches 

or canals constructed by the authority of 

the United States, Act of August 30, 

1890 (43 U.S.C. 945). 

2. All minerals shall be reserved to 

the United States, together with the 

right to prospect for, mine and remove 

such deposits from the same under 

applicable law and such regulations as 

the Secretary of the Interior may 

prescribe. 

The lease/conveyance will be subject 

to: 

1. Valid existing rights; and 

2. A right-of-way for natural gas line 

granted to Southwest Gas Corporation, 

its successors and assigns, by right-ofway N–76829, pursuant to the Act of 

February 25, 1920, 041 Stat. 0437, 30 

U.S.C. 185, Sec. 28. 

Upon publication of this notice in the 

Federal Register, the land described 

above will be segregated from all other 

forms of appropriation under the public 

land laws, including the general mining 

laws, except for lease/conveyance under 

the R&PP Act, leasing under the mineral 

leasing laws and disposals under the 

mineral material disposal laws. 

Interested parties may submit written 

comments regarding the specific use 

proposed in the application and plan of 

development, whether BLM followed 

proper administrative procedures in 

reaching the decision to lease/convey 

under the R&PP Act, or any other factor 

not directly related to the suitability of 

the land for R&PP use. Any adverse 

comments will be reviewed by the BLM 

Nevada State Director, who may sustain, 

vacate, or modify this realty action. In 

the absence of any adverse comments, 

this realty action will become the final 

determination of the Department of the 

Interior. Before including your address, 

phone number, e-mail 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 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES