Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 197 / Friday, October 10, 2014 / Notices 61333 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

[FWS–R8–2014–N171; 

FXES11120800000F2–112–FF08E00000] 

Incidental Take Permit Application and 

Draft Environmental Assessment for 

the RE Cinco Solar Facility Project 

Habitat Conservation Plan, Kern 

County, California 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of availability; request 

for comment. 

SUMMARY: We, the Fish and Wildlife 

Service (Service), announce receipt of 

an application from RE Barren Ridge 1 

LLC, a subsidiary of Recurrent Energy 

LLC (applicant), for a 40-year incidental 

take permit (permit). The Service, in 

cooperation and coordination with the 

applicant, has prepared a draft 

Environmental Assessment (EA) under 

the National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA) for the applicant’s permit 

application and proposed RE Cinco 

Solar Facility Habitat Conservation Plan 

(HCP), as required by the Endangered 

Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). 

If approved, the permit would authorize 

incidental take for the federally 

threatened desert tortoise, associated 

with construction, operation, 

maintenance, and decommissioning of a 

photovoltaic solar facility in the County 

of Kern. 

DATES: To ensure consideration, please 

send your written comments on or 

before December 9, 2014. 

ADDRESSES: Obtaining Documents: You 

may request a copy of the proposed HCP 

and draft EA by email, telephone, fax, 

or U.S. mail (see below). These 

documents are also available for public 

inspection by appointment during 

normal business hours at the office 

below. Please send your requests or 

comments by any one of the following 

methods, and specify ‘‘Cinco Solar 

Facility HCP’’ in your request or 

comment. 

Submitting Comments: You may 

submit comments or requests for copies 

or more information by one of the 

following methods: 

• Email: fw8cfwocomments@fws.gov. 

Include ‘‘Cinco Solar Facility’’ in the 

subject line of the message. 

• Telephone: Raymond Bransfield, 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife, 805–644–1766. 

• Fax: Raymond Bransfield, U.S. Fish 

and Wildlife Service, 805–644–3958, 

Attn: Cinco Solar Facility HCP. 

• U.S. mail: Raymond Bransfield, 

Attn: Cinco Solar Facility HCP, U.S. 

Fish and Wildlife Service, 2493 Portola 

Road, Suite B, Ventura, CA 93003. 

• In-Person Drop-off, Viewing, or 

Pickup: Call 805–644–1766 to make an 

appointment during regular business 

hours at the above address. 

Hardbound copies of the 

environmental assessment and habitat 

conservation plan are available for 

viewing at the following locations: 

1. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2493 

Portola Road, Suite B, Ventura, CA 

93003. 

2. Kern County Library, Boron Branch, 

26967 20 Mule Team Road, Boron, 

CA 93516. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Raymond Bransfield, Fish and Wildlife 

Biologist, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service, at 805–644–1766 (telephone). If 

you use a telecommunications device 

for the deaf, please call the Federal 

Information Relay Service at 800–877– 

8339. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Introduction 

We announce the availability of our 

draft EA for the proposed Cinco Solar 

Facility HCP, in accordance with the 

National Environmental Policy Act of 

1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 

seq.; NEPA), and NEPA implementing 

regulations in the Code of Federal 

Regulations (CFR) at 40 CFR 1506.6, as 

well as the availability of the applicant’s 

section 10(a)(1)(B) permit application in 

compliance with section 10(c) of the 

Endangered Species Act (Act) of 1973, 

as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). The 

draft EA considers the environmental 

effects associated with issuing the 

applicant’s requested incidental take 

permit and implementation of the 

proposed HCP, including impacts to the 

threatened desert tortoise (Gopherus 

agassizii). Take of desert tortoise would 

be incidental to the applicant’s activities 

associated with the construction, 

operation, maintenance, and 

decommissioning of a photovoltaic solar 

facility in Kern County, California. 

Background 

Section 9 of the Act and 

implementing Federal regulations in the 

Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) at 50 

CFR 17 prohibit the ‘‘take’’ of wildlife 

species listed as endangered or 

threatened. The Act defines the term 

‘‘take’’ as ‘‘to harass, harm, pursue, 

hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, 

or collect listed species, or to attempt to 

engage in such conduct’’ (16 U.S.C. 

1538). ‘‘Harm’’ includes significant 

habitat modification or degradation that 

actually kills or injures listed wildlife 

by significantly impairing essential 

behavioral patterns, including breeding, 

feeding, and sheltering (50 CFR 17.3). 

Under limited circumstances we may 

issue permits to authorize incidental 

take of listed wildlife species which the 

Act defines as take that is incidental to, 

and not the purpose of, the carrying out 

an otherwise lawful activity. 

Regulations governing permits for 

threatened species and endangered 

species are at 50 CFR 17.32 and 50 CFR 

17.22, respectively. In addition to 

meeting other criteria, activities covered 

by an incidental take permit must not 

jeopardize the continued existence in 

the wild of federally listed wildlife. 

Applicant’s Proposal 

The applicant requests a 40-year 

incidental take permit under section 

10(A)(1)(b) of the Act. If we approve the 

permit, the applicant anticipates taking 

desert tortoise as a result of 

construction, operation, maintenance, 

and decommissioning activities on 500 

acres of land the species uses for 

breeding, feeding, and sheltering. The 

take would be incidental to the 

applicant’s routine activities associated 

with the development and operation of 

a photovoltaic solar facility. The site is 

located in unincorporated Kern County, 

approximately 6.5 miles (10.46 

kilometers (km)) north of the 

community of California City. With the 

exception of a portion of State Route 14, 

which traverses diagonally through the 

southeast corner of the site, and several 

transmission line right-of-ways that 

diagonally traverse the northwest corner 

of the site, the surrounding area is 

entirely comprised of vacant land with 

no outbuildings, residences, or similar 

structures. Desert tortoise protocol 

surveys were conducted in 2010 and 

2011. The Service has determined the 

proposed project will result in take of 

desert tortoise. No other federally listed 

species are known to occur on the site. 

To mitigate take of desert tortoise on 

the project site, the applicant proposes 

to keep the portion of the project site 

east of State Route 14 and west of an 

existing transmission line undeveloped. 

The applicant would also avoid 

development on one area that contains 

wash vegetation and one that contains a 

desert tortoise burrow; both of these 

areas are located at the edge of the 

proposed solar field. The applicant 

proposes to permanently conserve 

approximately 500 acres within the 

western Mojave Desert to mitigate for 

the loss of desert tortoise habitat within 

the proposed project site. The draft HCP 

includes funding for the 

implementation of measures to protect 

desert tortoises during construction, 

operations, maintenance, and 

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61334 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 197 / Friday, October 10, 2014 / Notices 

decommissioning of the solar facility, 

and for enhancement and management 

of the acquired lands. 

The applicant proposes to construct 

and operate a generation tie-in line from 

the solar facility to the nearby Barren 

Ridge Substation. Because this route 

would cross lands managed by the 

Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the 

applicant did not include construction 

and operation of this proposed 

generation tie-in line as covered 

activities under its proposed HCP. The 

BLM and Service would consult on the 

effects of the generation tie-in line on 

the desert tortoise under section 7 of the 

Act. Although BLM is conducting an 

analysis under NEPA for the generation 

tie-in line as part of the applicant’s 

application for a right-of-way to 

construct and operate the line, the draft 

EA prepared for the applicant’s 

incidental take permit application also 

includes an environmental analysis of 

the generation tie-in line to ensure the 

Service considers the effects of the 

applicant’s entire proposed project. 

National Environmental Policy Act 

Compliance 

We provide this notice under section 

10(c) of the Act and Service regulations 

for implementing NEPA. We have 

prepared a draft EA for the proposed 

action and have made it and the 

applicant’s proposed HCP available for 

public inspection (see ADDRESSES). 

NEPA requires that a range of 

reasonable alternatives, including the 

proposed action, be described. The draft 

EA analyzes three alternatives, 

described below. 

Proposed Action (Preferred Alternative) 

Our proposed action is to issue an 

incidental take permit to the applicant, 

who would implement the HCP, 

described above. If we approve the 

permit, incidental take of desert tortoise 

would be authorized for the applicant’s 

routine activities associated with the 

construction, operation, maintenance, 

and decommissioning of a solar facility 

in Kern County. 

No Action Alternative 

The draft EA includes a No Action 

alternative that would not result in take 

of desert tortoise. Under this alternative, 

unless the applicant can determine how 

to build the project in a way that avoids 

take of the desert tortoise, the proposed 

solar facility would not be constructed 

and the private lands would remain in 

their current state and be available for 

other uses in accordance with Kern 

County’s general plan, which classifies 

them as ‘‘resource management’’ lands 

zoned as ‘‘agriculture-floodplain 

combining.’’ Uses authorized for this 

designation and zoning include crop 

production, animal production, 

livestock grazing, utility and 

communication facilities, resource 

extraction, and energy development. If 

this project is not constructed, Kern 

County could permit other uses in the 

future with issuance of a conditional 

use permit, including solar power 

generation, single-family residential 

development, or commercial and 

institutional uses. 

Solar Facility and Gen-Tie Line 

Alternative 

Under this alternative, the solar 

facility would be constructed in an 

identical manner as that described 

above under the Proposed Action; 

however, the applicant would construct 

the generation tie-in line entirely on 

non-Federal land. Therefore, the 

approved incidental take permit would 

also provide coverage for the 

construction and operation of a 

generation tie-in line to be constructed 

solely on non-Federal lands. The 

environmental impacts from the solar 

plant construction, operations, 

maintenance, and decommissioning 

would be identical to those under the 

Proposed Action; however, the 

environmental impacts and cost of this 

alternative would be greater because of 

the increased length of the electrical 

line (1.9 miles (3.06 km) vs. 3.6 miles 

(5.79 km)). 

Public Review 

The Service invites the public to 

comment on the permit application, 

including the proposed HCP and draft 

EA, during the public comment period 

(see DATES). If you wish to comment, 

you may submit your comments via one 

of the means listed in ADDRESSES. 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 may 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. 

Next Steps 

Issuance of an incidental take permit 

is a Federal proposed action subject to 

compliance with NEPA. We will 

evaluate the application, associated 

documents, and any public comments 

we receive to determine whether the 

application meets the requirements of 

NEPA regulations and section 10(a) of 

the Act. If we determine that those 

requirements are met, we will issue a 

permit to the applicant for the 

incidental take of desert tortoise. We 

will make our final permit decision no 

sooner than December 9, 2014. 

Dated: October 6, 2014. 

Alexandra Pitts, 

Deputy Regional Director, Pacific Southwest 

Region, Sacramento, California. 

[FR Doc. 2014–24271 Filed 10–9–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management 

[LLNVS00000.L12100000.DC0000 

LXSS100F0000 241A; 14–08807; MO# 

4500065255] 

Notice of Availability Las Vegas and 

Pahrump Field Offices Draft Resource 

Management Plan and Draft 

Environmental Impact Statement, 

Nevada 

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

National Environmental Policy Act of 

1969, as amended, and the Federal Land 

Policy and Management Act of 1976, as 

amended, the Bureau of Land 

Management (BLM) has prepared the 

Las Vegas and Pahrump Field Offices 

Draft Resource Management Plan 

(RMP)/Draft Environmental Impact 

Statement (EIS), for the Southern 

Nevada District Office, Las Vegas and 

Pahrump Field Offices, and by this 

notice is announcing the opening of the 

comment period on the Draft RMP/Draft 

EIS. 

DATES: To ensure that comments will be 

considered, the BLM must receive 

written comments on the Draft RMP/

Draft EIS within 90 days following the 

date the Environmental Protection 

Agency publishes its notice of the Draft 

RMP/Draft EIS in the Federal Register. 

The BLM will announce any subsequent 

meetings or hearings and any other 

public participation activities related to 

the Draft RMP/Draft EIS at least 15 days 

in advance through public notices, 

media releases, and/or mailings. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

related to the Las Vegas and Pahrump 

Field Offices Draft RMP/Draft EIS by 

any of the following methods: 

• Web site: https://www.blm.gov/eplfront-office/eplanning/planAndProject

Site.do?methodName=renderDefault

PlanOrProjectSite&projectId=2900&

dctmId=0b0003e88009debe 

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