Receipt of Incidental Take Permit Application and Proposed Habitat Conservation Plan for the Eastern Indigo Snake; Citrus County, FL; Categorical Exclusion

Receipt of Incidental Take Permit Application and Proposed Habitat Conservation Plan for the Eastern Indigo Snake; Citrus County, FL; Categorical Exclusion

Dates

We must receive your written comments on or before May 2, 2024.

Supplementary Information

We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce receipt of an application from Florida Department of Transportation-Florida's Turnpike Enterprise (applicant) for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq. ). The applicant requests the ITP to take federally listed eastern indigo snake ( Drymarchon corais couperii ) incidental to the construction of Suncoast Parkway 2 Segment 3A from CR 486 to CR 495 in Citrus County, Florida. We request public comment on the application, which includes the applicant's habitat conservation plan (HCP), and on the Service's preliminary determination that this proposed ITP qualifies as low effect, and may qualify for a categorical exclusion pursuant to the Council on Environmental Quality's National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations (40 CFR 1501.4), the Department of the Interior's (DOI) NEPA regulations (43 CFR 46), and the DOI's Departmental Manual (516 DM 8.5(C)(2)). To make this preliminary determination, we prepared a draft environmental action statement and low-effect screening form, both of which are also available for public review.

Proposed Project

The applicant requests a 10-year ITP to take eastern indigo snakes via the conversion of approximately 28 acres (ac) of suitable eastern indigo snake foraging and sheltering habitat incidental to the construction of the Suncoast Parkway 2 Segment 3A from CR 486 to CR 495, located in Section 34, Township 17S, Range 17E; Sections 2-4, 9, 11, 13-14, 24 Township 18S, Range 17E; and Sections 19, 30, Township 18S, Range 18E, Citrus County, Florida. The applicant proposes to mitigate for take of the eastern indigo snake through a contribution of $4,564 to the Fish and Wildlife Foundation of Florida's Eastern Indigo Snake Conservation Fund. The Service would require the applicant to make this purchase prior to engaging in any construction activities associated with the project.

Our Preliminary Determination

The Service has made a preliminary determination that the applicant's proposed project, including the construction of the Suncoast Parkway 2 Segment 3A and associated infrastructure (such as land clearing, toll facilities, and storm water ponds), would individually and cumulatively have a minor or negligible effect on the eastern indigo snake and the human environment. Therefore, we have preliminarily determined that the proposed ESA section 10(a)(1)(B) permit would be a low-effect ITP that individually or cumulatively would have a minor effect on the eastern indigo snake and may qualify for application of a categorical exclusion pursuant to the Council on Environmental Quality's NEPA regulations, DOI's NEPA regulations, and the DOI Departmental Manual. A low-effect incidental take permit is one that would result in (1) minor or negligible effects on species covered in the HCP; (2) nonsignificant effects on the human environment; and (3) impacts that, when added together with the impacts of other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable actions, would not result in significant cumulative effects to the human environment.

Next Steps

The Service will evaluate the application and the comments to determine whether to issue the requested permit. We will also conduct an intra-Service consultation pursuant to section 7 of the ESA to evaluate the effects of the proposed take. After considering the preceding and other matters, we will determine whether the permit issuance criteria of section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA have been met. If met, the Service will issue ITP number PER 8411208 to Florida Department of Transportation-Florida's Turnpike Enterprise.

Public Availability of Comments

Before including your address, phone number, email address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, be aware that your entire comment, including your personal identifying information, may be made available to the public. While you may request that we withhold your personal identifying information, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.

Authority

The Service provides this notice under section 10(c) of the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq. ) and its implementing regulations (50 CFR 17.32) and the National Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. ) and its implementing regulations (40 CFR 1500-1508 and 43 CFR 46).