Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 210 / Thursday, October 30, 2014 / Notices 64619 

• Kretschmarr Cave mold beetle 

(Texamaurops reddelli). 

• Madla Cave meshweaver (Cicurina 

madla). 

• Peck’s Cave amphipod 

(Stygobromus (=stygonectes) pecki). 

• Robber Baron Cave meshweaver 

(Cicurina baronia). 

• Texas blind salamander (Eurycea 

rathbuni). 

• Tooth Cave ground beetle (Rhadine 

persephone). 

• Tooth Cave pseudoscorpion 

(Tartarocreagris texana). 

• Tooth Cave spider (Neoleptoneta 

(=Leptoneta) myopica). 

Permit TE—082496 

Applicant: Joint Base San Antonio, 

San Antonio, Texas. 

Applicant requests a renewal to a 

current permit for research and recovery 

purposes to conduct presence/absence 

surveys of the following species within 

Texas: 

• Bee Creek Cave harvestman 

(Texella reddelli). 

• Black-capped vireo (Vireo 

atricapilla). 

• Bone Cave harvestman (Texella 

reyesi). 

• Braken Bat Cave meshweaver 

(Cicurina venii). 

• Coffin Cave mold beetle (Batrisodes 

texanus). 

• Cokendolpher Cave harvestman 

(Texella cokendolpheri). 

• Golden-cheeked warbler (Dendroica 

chrysoparia). 

• Government Canyon Bat Cave 

meshweaver (Cicurina vespera). 

• Government Canyon Bat Cave 

spider (Neoleptoneta microps). 

• Ground beetle (Unnamed) (Rhadine 

exilis). 

• Ground beetle (Unnamed) (Rhadine 

infernalis). 

• Helotes mold beetle (Batrisodes 

venyivi). 

• Kretschmarr Cave mold beetle 

(Texamaurops reddelli). 

• Madla Cave meshweaver (Cicurina 

madla). 

• Robber Baron Cave meshweaver 

(Cicurina baronia). 

• Texas blind salamander (Eurycea 

rathbuni). 

• Tooth Cave ground beetle (Rhadine 

persephone). 

• Tooth Cave pseudoscorpion 

(Tartarocreagris texana). 

• Tooth Cave spider (Neoleptoneta 

(=Leptoneta) myopica). 

Permit TE—004439 

Applicant: Albuquerque BioPark, 

Albuquerque, New Mexico. 

Applicant requests an amendment 

current permit for research and recovery 

purposes to conduct husbandry and 

holding of Zuni bluehead sucker 

(Catostomus discobolus yarrowi) at the 

BioPark in New Mexico. 

Permit TE—209033 

Applicant: Gene Wilde, Lubbock, 

Texas. 

Applicant requests an amendment to 

a current permit for research and 

recovery purposes to collect 7,500 

smalleye (Notropis buccula) and 7,500 

sharpnose (Notropis oxyrhynchus) 

shiners from the wild each year for the 

life of the permit for genetic research 

within Texas. 

Permit TE—676811 

Applicant: U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service¥mdash; Region 2, 

Albuquerque, New Mexico. 

Applicant requests an amendment to 

a current permit for research and 

recovery purposes to conduct presence/ 

absence surveys of smalleye shiner 

(Notropis buccula), sharpnose shiner 

(Notropis oxyrhynchus), and Zuni 

bluehead sucker (Catostomus discobolus 

yarrowi); and to capture, radio collar, 

draw blood, and release Gray wolf 

(Canis lupus) within Region 2 of the 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 

Permit TE—43777A 

Applicant: Sea Life U.S., LLC., 

Grapevine, Texas. 

Applicant requests a renewal to a 

current permit for research and recovery 

purposes to conduct husbandry and 

holding of green (Chelonia mydas), 

Kemps ridley (Lepidochelys kempii), 

and hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) 

turtles within the facility in Texas. 

Permit TE—053085 

Applicant: U.S. Bureau of 

Reclamation, Boulder City, Nevada. 

Applicant requests a renewal to a 

current permit for research and recovery 

purposes to conduct presence/absence 

surveys of the following species within 

Arizona, California, and Nevada: 

• Bonytail chub (Gila elegans). 

• Razorback sucker (Xyrauchen 

texanus). 

• Southwestern willow flycatcher 

(Empidonax traillii extimus). 

• Yuma clapper rail (Rallus 

longirostris yumanensis). 

National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA) 

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

4321 et seq.), we have made an initial 

determination that the proposed 

activities in these permits are 

categorically excluded from the 

requirement to prepare an 

environmental assessment or 

environmental impact statement (516 

DM 6 Appendix 1, 1.4C(1)). 

Public Availability of Comments 

All comments and materials we 

receive in response to this request will 

be available for public inspection, by 

appointment, during normal business 

hours at the address listed in the 

ADDRESSES section of this notice. 

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. 

Authority 

We provide this notice under section 

10 of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) 

Dated: October 22, 2014. 

Joy E. Nicholopoulos, 

Acting Regional Director, Southwest Region, 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 

[FR Doc. 2014–25835 Filed 10–29–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

[FWS–R6–ES–2014–0048; FF06E22000–145– 

FXES11130600000] 

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife 

and Plants; Permits; Draft 

Environmental Impact Statement and 

Habitat Conservation Plan for the RProject Transmission Line in Nebraska 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of intent; announcement 

of public scoping meetings; request for 

public comments. 

SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service, intend to prepare a 

draft environmental impact statement 

(DEIS) under the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to 

consider potential impacts on the 

human environment from the proposed 

issuance of an incidental take permit 

(permit) and required implementation of 

a Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP). The 

Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD) 

is proposing to apply for the permit for 

take of the American burying beetle 

associated with the construction, 

operation, and maintenance of the RProject Transmission Line in northcentral Nebraska. The American burying 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
64620 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 210 / Thursday, October 30, 2014 / Notices 

beetle is federally listed as an 

endangered species. 

We provide this notice to (1) describe 

the proposed action; (2) advise other 

Federal and State agencies, potentially 

affected tribes, and the public of our 

intent to prepare an DEIS; (3) announce 

the initiation of a 60-day public scoping 

period; and (4) obtain suggestions and 

information on the scope of issues and 

possible alternatives to be included in 

the DEIS. The intended effect of this 

notice is to gather information from the 

public for consideration when 

developing alternatives to the proposed 

action that will avoid, minimize, and 

mitigate the effects of incidental take to 

the maximum extent practicable and to 

address other potential impacts to the 

human environment. 

DATES: To ensure consideration, we 

must receive your written comments on 

or before December 29, 2014. Three 

scoping meetings will be held, from 4 

p.m. until 7 p.m. on the following dates, 

at the following locations: 

American Legion—November 18, 2014, 

4 p.m. to 7 p.m., 657 G Street, 

Burwell, NE 68823; 

Village Municipal Offices (Village of 

Sutherland Community Building)— 

November 19, 2014, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., 

1200 First Street, Sutherland, NE 

69165; and 

Thomas County Fairgrounds— 

November 20, 2014, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., 

83861 Highway 83, Thedford, NE 

69166. 

ADDRESSES: Send your comments 

regarding the proposed action and the 

proposed DEIS by any one of the 

following methods: 

Electronically: www.regulations.gov. 

Follow the instructions for submitting 

comments on Docket No. FWS–R6–ES– 

2014–0048. 

U.S. Mail: Public Comments 

Processing, Attn: FWS–R6–ES–2014– 

0048; Division of Policy and Directives 

Management; U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service; MS: BPHC; 5275 Leesburg Pike; 

Falls Church, VA 22041–3803. 

In-Person Drop-off, Viewing, or 

Pickup: Written comments will also be 

accepted at the public meetings (see 

DATES). 

We request that you send comments 

only by the methods described above. 

We will post all comments on http://

www.regulations.gov. This generally 

means that we will post any personal 

information you provide us (see the 

Public Availability of Comments section 

below for more information). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Eliza Hines, Acting Field Supervisor, by 

phone at (308) 382–6468, and by U.S. 

mail at U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 

9325 South Alda Road, Wood River, NE 

68883. Individuals who are hearing or 

speech impaired may call the Federal 

Relay Service at (800) 877–8337 for TTY 

assistance. 

Reasonable Accommodations: 

Persons needing reasonable 

accommodations to attend and 

participate in the public meetings 

should contact Eliza Hines. To allow 

sufficient time to accommodate 

requests, please call no later than one 

week before the meeting. Information 

regarding the proposed action is 

available in alternative formats upon 

request. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We intend 

to prepare a DEIS under NEPA (42 

U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) to consider potential 

impacts on the human environment 

from the proposed issuance of an 

incidental take permit (permit) and 

required implementation of a Habitat 

Conservation Plan (HCP). The Nebraska 

Public Power District (NPPD) is 

proposing to apply for the permit for 

take of the American burying beetle 

(Nicrophorous americanus) associated 

with the construction, operation, and 

maintenance of the R-Project 

Transmission Line in north-central 

Nebraska. The American burying beetle 

is federally listed as an endangered 

species. 

The NPPD is preparing a draft HCP as 

part of its application for the permit. 

The HCP must include measures to 

avoid, minimize, and mitigate the 

impacts of the take of covered species 

within the plan area during project 

construction, operation, and 

maintenance activities. We provide this 

notice to (1) describe the proposed 

action; (2) advise other Federal and 

State agencies, potentially affected 

tribes, and the public of our intent to 

prepare an DEIS; (3) announce the 

initiation of a 60-day public scoping 

period; and (4) obtain suggestions and 

information on the scope of issues and 

possible alternatives to be included in 

the DEIS. The intended effect of this 

notice is to gather information from the 

public for consideration when 

developing alternatives to the proposed 

action that will avoid, minimize, and 

mitigate the effects of incidental take to 

the maximum extent practicable and to 

address other potential impacts to the 

human environment. 

Background 

Section 9 of the Endangered Species 

Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 

et seq.; ESA), and its implementing 

regulations (50 CFR part 17), prohibit 

‘‘take’’ of threatened and endangered 

fish or wildlife species. Take is defined 

under the ESA as to harass, harm, 

pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, 

capture, collect, or to attempt to engage 

in any such conduct (16 U.S.C. 

1532(19)). We further define ‘‘harm’’ as 

an act, including significant habitat 

modification or degradation, that 

actually kills or injures wildlife by 

significantly impairing essential 

behavioral patterns, including breeding, 

feeding, or sheltering (50 CFR 17.3). We 

further define ‘‘harass’’ as an intentional 

or negligent act or omission which 

creates the likelihood of injury to 

wildlife by annoying it to such an extent 

as to significantly disrupt behavioral 

patterns such as breeding, feeding, and 

sheltering. 

Under certain circumstances, we may 

issue permits to take listed species if 

such taking is incidental to, and not the 

purpose of, otherwise lawful activities. 

Regulations governing permits for 

threatened or endangered species 

incidental take are found at 50 CFR 

17.32 and 50 CFR 17.22, respectively. 

NEPA requires that Federal agencies 

conduct an environmental analysis of 

their proposed actions to determine if 

the actions may significantly affect the 

human environment. Under NEPA, a 

reasonable range of alternatives to a 

proposed project is developed and 

considered in the Service’s 

environmental review. Alternatives 

considered for analysis in a DEIS for an 

HCP may include, but are not limited to: 

Variations in the scope of covered 

activities; variations in the location, 

amount, and type of conservation 

activities; variations in permit duration; 

or a combination of these elements. 

Proposed Action 

The proposed Federal action is our 

issuance of a permit to NPPD that would 

authorize a specified amount and type 

of incidental take of American burying 

beetles during construction, operation, 

and maintenance of a 220-mile, 345- 

kilovolt (kV) transmission line and 

substations in the Sandhills of northcentral Nebraska. The purpose of the RProject is to enhance reliability of 

NPPD’s electric transmission system, 

relieve congestion from existing lines 

within the transmission system, and 

provide additional opportunities for 

development of renewable energy 

projects. The proposed construction, 

operation, and maintenance of the 

NPPD R-Project may affect the American 

burying beetle directly, and possibly 

indirectly, through habitat 

fragmentation and temporary and 

permanent loss of habitat as a result of 

ground disturbance and soil 

compaction. As required for application 

for the permit, NPPD is developing a 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 210 / Thursday, October 30, 2014 / Notices 64621 

HCP that will outline actions to avoid, 

minimize, and mitigate potential 

impacts to the American burying beetle. 

In coordination with NPPD, we will 

determine the duration of the HCP and 

permit, which would depend on the 

anticipated life of the project, time 

needed to realize benefits of the HCP’s 

conservation measures, and the 

timeframe in which adverse effects to 

American burying beetles can be 

reliably predicted. 

Proposed American burying beetle 

conservation measures that may be 

considered for the HCP to adopt 

include: (1) Adjustment in timing of 

certain construction activities to avoid 

American burying beetle active periods; 

(2) avoidance of high-quality habitat 

areas; (3) reduction in habitat 

disturbance by prioritizing use of 

existing disturbed areas for laydown 

and structure placement; (4) reduction 

in direct disturbance by modifying 

construction techniques; (5) reclamation 

of temporarily disturbed areas; (6) 

compensation for habitat loss; and (7) 

removal of carrion. The HCP will also 

include monitoring and adaptive 

management features. Monitoring would 

help determine compliance with and 

effectiveness of the HCP; validate 

assumptions, information, and models 

used to develop the HCP; and provide 

information to support revisions, if 

necessary, to the conservation measures 

over the life of the HCP. 

Public Scoping 

The primary purpose of the scoping 

process is for the public to assist the 

Service in developing a DEIS for the 

proposed permit action by identifying 

important issues and alternatives related 

to NPPD’s proposed project, to provide 

the public with a general understanding 

of the background of the proposed HCP 

and activities it would cover, and an 

overview of the NEPA process. To 

ensure that we identify a range of issues 

and alternatives related to the proposed 

permit action, we invite comments and 

suggestions from all interested parties. 

The scoping meetings will consist of 

an open house format from 4 p.m. to 7 

p.m. about the proposed action and 

NEPA process. The open house format 

will provide interested members of the 

public an opportunity to learn about the 

proposed action, permit area, and the 

covered species. We will accept oral and 

written comments throughout the public 

meeting. A court reporter and an 

interpreter will be present if deemed 

necessary. You may also submit your 

comments and materials by one of the 

methods listed in the ADDRESSES

section. 

Public Comments 

We request data, comments, new 

information, or suggestions from the 

public, other concerned governmental 

agencies; the scientific community; 

tribes; industry; or any other interested 

party on this notice. We and NPPD will 

consider these comments in developing 

the DEIS and the draft HCP related to 

the proposed project. We particularly 

seek comments on the following: 

1. The direct, indirect, and 

cumulative effects that implementation 

of any reasonable alternative to the 

proposed project could have on 

endangered or threatened species and 

other unlisted species, including 

migratory birds and their habitats; 

2. Other reasonable alternatives to the 

proposed project and permit issuance 

that should be considered; 

3. Relevant biological data and 

additional information concerning the 

American burying beetle; 

4. Current or planned activities in the 

subject area and their possible impacts 

on the American burying beetle; 

5. The presence of archaeological 

sites, buildings and structures, historic 

sites, sacred and traditional areas, and 

other historic preservation concerns; 

6. The scope of covered activities, 

including potential avoidance, 

minimization, and mitigation measures 

for incidental take of the American 

burying beetle; 

7. Appropriate monitoring and 

adaptive management provisions that 

should be included in the HCP; and 

8. Identification of any other 

environmental issues that should be 

considered regarding the proposed 

project and permit action. 

Public Availability of Comments 

Comments and materials we receive 

in response to this notice and at the 

public meeting, as well as supporting 

documentation we use in preparing the 

DEIS, will become part of the public 

record and will be available for public 

inspection at www.regulations.gov (see 

ADDRESSES). Before including your 

address, phone number, email address, 

or other personal identifying 

information in your comments, 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. 

Environmental Review and Next Steps 

The DEIS will include analyses of 

potential impacts on the American 

burying beetle from the HCP and the 

permit and from each identified 

alternative to the action. The DEIS will 

provide biological descriptions of 

affected species and habitats, as well as 

the effects of the alternatives on other 

resources, such as vegetation, wetlands, 

wildlife, geology and soils, air quality, 

water resources, water quality, cultural 

resources, land use, recreation, water 

use, the local economy, and 

environmental justice. Following 

completion of the environmental 

review, we will publish a notice of 

availability and request for public 

comments on the DEIS, NPPD’s permit 

application, and the draft HCP. The 

DEIS and draft HCP are expected to be 

completed and available for the public 

review during the first three months of 

the 2016 calendar year. 

Authority 

Our environmental review of this 

project will be conducted in accordance 

with the requirements of NEPA (42 

U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), Council of 

Environmental Quality regulations (40 

CFR parts 1500–1508), other applicable 

Federal laws and regulations, and the 

Service’s applicable policies and 

procedures. This notice is being 

furnished in accordance with 40 CFR 

1501.7 of the NEPA regulations to 

obtain suggestions and information from 

other agencies and the public on the 

scope of issues and alternatives to be 

addressed in the DEIS. 

Dated: October 8, 2014. 

Nicole Alt, 

Acting Assistant Regional Director— 

Ecological Services, Mountain-Prairie Region, 

Denver, CO. 

[FR Doc. 2014–25796 Filed 10–29–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management 

[LLCAC06900 L17110000.AL0000 

15XL1109AF] 

Notice of Public Meeting of the Carrizo 

Plain National Monument Advisory 

Committee 

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of public meeting. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Federal Land Policy and Management 

Act and the Federal Advisory 

Committee Act of 1972, the U.S. 

Department of the Interior, Bureau of 

Land Management (BLM) Carrizo Plain 

National Monument Advisory 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES