Draft Environmental Assessment and Proposed Habitat Conservation Plan; Receipt of an Application for an Incidental Take Permit, Cardinal Point Wind Project, McDonough and Warren Counties, IL

AGENCY:

Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice of availability; request for comment and information.

SUMMARY:

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), have received an application from Cardinal Point Wind Farm, LLC for an incidental take permit under the Endangered Species Act, for its Cardinal Point Wind Project (project). If approved, the permit would authorize the incidental take of two endangered species, the Indiana bat and the northern long-eared bat, and two species under federal review, the tricolored bat and little brown bat. The applicant has prepared a habitat conservation plan in support of their application. 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 invite comments from the public and Federal, Tribal, State, and local governments.

DATES:

We will accept comments on or before July 27, 2023.

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–2023–0080 at https://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: https://www.regulations.gov. Search for and submit comments on Docket No. FWS–R3–ES–2023–0080.

• By hard copy: Submit comments by U.S. mail to Public Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No. FWS–R3–ES–2023–0080; 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, by email at kraig_mcpeek@fws.gov, or telephone at 309–757–5800, extension 202; or Andrew Horton, Regional HCP Coordinator, Midwest Region, by email at andrew_horton@fws.gov, or telephone at 612–713–5337. Individuals in the United States who are deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay services. Individuals outside the United States should use the relay services offered within their country to make international calls to the point-of-contact in the United States.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Section 9 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), 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 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 (ITP) 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 6-year ITP for take of four bat species, including the federally protected Indiana bat ( Myotis sodalis) and northern long-eared bat ( Myotis septentrionalis), the tricolored bat ( Perimyotis subflavus), which is proposed for listing, and the little brown bat ( Myotis lucifugus), which is being considered for listing. These species are hereafter referred to as “covered species.” The applicant determined that wind farm activities on this land are reasonably certain to result in incidental take of these species. The activity that could result in incidental take of the covered species is the operation of 60 wind turbines occurring in McDonough and Warrant Counties, Illinois, on private land. The estimated level of take from the project is up to 240 Indiana bats, 6 northern long-eared bats, 18 tricolored bats, and 18 little brown bats over the 6-year project duration.

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 minimize potential take of the covered species through on-site minimization measures and to provide habitat conservation measures to offset any impacts from operations of the project. On-site minimization measures include feathering turbine blades under specific conditions that are associated with high bat use of the project area, as measured with acoustic bat detectors at the project. To offset the impacts of the taking of the covered species, the applicant proposes to conserve bat habitat by purchasing credits from a bat conservation bank in Illinois or through individually sponsored habitat projects. The Service requests public comments on the permit application, which includes a proposed HCP, and an EA prepared in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).

The applicant's HCP describes the activities that will be undertaken to implement the project, as well as the mitigation and minimization measures proposed to address the impacts to the covered species. Pursuant to NEPA, the EA analyzes the impacts the ITP issuance would have on the covered species and the environment.

National Environmental Policy Act

Issuance of an ITP is a Federal action that triggers the need for compliance with NEPA. 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 below higher wind speeds that results in lower 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 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.

Request for Public Comments

The Service invites comments and suggestions from all interested parties during a 30-day public comment period (see DATES ). 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;

3. Any threats to the covered species that may influence their populations over the life of the ITP that are not addressed in the proposed HCP or environmental assessment; and

4. Any other information pertinent to evaluating the effects of the proposed action on the human environment.

Availability of Public Comments

You may submit comments by one of the methods shown under ADDRESSES . We will post on https://www.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 Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (50 CFR 17.22) and the National Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 4371 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (40 CFR 1506.6; 43 CFR part 46).