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Receipt of Application for an Incidental Take Permit by Culebra Northshore, S.E. for Development of a Residential Project in Culebra, PR
Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.
[Federal Register: May 30, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 104)]
[Notices]
[Page 34491-34493]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr30my00-69]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
Receipt of Application for an Incidental Take Permit by Culebra
Northshore, S.E. for Development of a Residential Project in Culebra,
PR
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: Culebra Northshore, S.E. (Applicant), seeks an incidental take
permit (ITP) from the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), pursuant to
section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (Act), as
amended. The ITP would authorize incidental take of hatchlings from two
nests of the leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) or the
hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata), both endangered species,
on Tortola Beach for a period of twelve (12) years. The proposed taking
is incidental to lighting and other activities associated with the
development and occupation of a single-family residential project on a
66.80cuerda (64.8-acre) lot adjacent to Tortola Beach, Culebra, Puerto
Rico (Project). Nest surveys on this beach indicate that both sea
turtle species use the beach for nesting, although in very low numbers.
The Applicant's Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) describes the
mitigation and minimization measures proposed to address the effects of
the Project to the protected species. These measures are outlined in
the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. The Service has determined
that the Applicant's proposal, including the proposed mitigation and
minimization measures, will individually and cumulatively have a minor
or negligible effect on the species covered in the HCP. Therefore, the
ITP is a low effect project and would qualify as a categorical
exclusion under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), as
provided by the Department of Interior Manual (516 DM2, Appendix 1 and
516 DM 6, Appendix 1).
The Service also announces the availability of the HCP and our
determination of Categorical Exclusion for the incidental take
application. Copies of the HCP and Service supporting documents may be
obtained by making a request to the Regional Office (see ADDRESSES).
Requests must be in writing to be processed. This notice is provided
pursuant to Section 10 of the Endangered Species Act and NEPA
regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).
The Service specifically requests information, views, and opinions
from the public via this notice on the Federal action. Further, the
Service specifically solicits information regarding the adequacy of the
HCP as measured against the Service's Permit issuance criteria found in
50 CFR parts 13 and 17.
If you wish to comment, you may submit comments by any one of
several methods. You may mail comments to the Service's Regional Office
(see ADDRESSES). You may also comment via the internet to
daviddellfws.gov. Please submit comments over the internet as an ASCII
file avoiding the use of special characters and any form of encryption.
Please also include your name and return address in your internet
message. If you do not receive a confirmation from the Service that we
have received your internet message, contact us directly at either
telephone number listed below (see FURTHER INFORMATION). Finally, you
may hand deliver comments to either Service office listed below (see
ADDRESSES). Our practice is to make comments, including names and home
addresses of respondents, available for public review during regular
business hours. Individual respondents may request that we withhold
their home address from the administrative record. We will honor such
requests to the extent allowable by law. There may also be other
circumstances in which we would withhold from the administrative record
a respondent's identity, as allowable by law. If you wish us to
withhold your name and address, you must state this prominently at the
beginning of your comments. We will not; however, consider anonymous
comments. We will make all submissions from organizations or
businesses, and from individuals identifying themselves as
representatives or officials of organizations or businesses, available
for public inspection in their entirety.
DATES: Written comments on the permit application, supporting
documentation, and HCP should be sent to the Service's Regional Office
(see ADDRESSES) and should be received on or before June 29, 2000.
ADDRESSES: Persons wishing to review the application, supporting
documentation, and HCP may obtain a copy by writing the Service's
Southeast Regional Office, Atlanta, Georgia. Documents will also be
available for public inspection by appointment during normal business
hours at the Regional Office, 1875 Century Boulevard, Suite 200,
Atlanta, Georgia 30345 (Attn: Endangered Species Permits), or Field
Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, P.O. Box 491, Boquern,
Puerto Rico 00622. Written data or comments concerning the application,
or HCP should be submitted to the Regional Office. Requests for the
documentation must be in writing to be processed. Please reference
permit number TE0261140 in such comments, or in requests of the
documents discussed herein.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. David Dell, Regional Permit
Coordinator, (see ADDRESSES above), telephone: 404/6797313; or Ms.
Marelisa Rivera, Fish and Wildlife Biologist, Boquern Field Office,
(see ADDRESSES above), telephone 787/8517297.
[[Page 34492]]
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Nesting grounds of the leatherback sea
turtle are distributed world-wide. In the Caribbean, the species nests
in French Guiana, Surinam, Guyana, Colombia, Venezuela, Panama, and
Costa Rica. In the U.S. Caribbean, nesting has been reported from St.
Croix, St. Thomas, St. John, and Puerto Rico. The U.S. Caribbean may
support nesting by 150 to 200 adult females per year, representing the
most significant nesting activity of this species within the United
States. The largest concentration of nesting leatherbacks in the U.S.
Caribbean has been documented at Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge,
St. Croix, and Playa Brava and Playa Resaca on Culebra Island, Puerto
Rico. Nesting females prefer high-energy beaches with deep and
unobstructed access.
The hawksbill sea turtle is found throughout the world's tropical
waters. However, nesting within United States territory occurs in
Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and very infrequently in Florida.
Two important known nesting areas in the U.S. Caribbean are Mona Island
in Puerto Rico and Buck Island Reef National Monument in St. Croix,
U.S.Virgin Islands. The species nests on beaches all around the coast
of Puerto Rico, but the area that receives the highest number of
nesting activities is Mona Island, with approximately 500 nests per
year.
Nesting hawksbill sea turtles prefer low energy sandy beaches with
woody vegetation such as sea grape or saltshrub located within a few
meters of the water line. Suitable nesting habitat can be extremely
variable, and ranges from high energy ocean beaches to tiny pocket
beaches only a few meters in width.
Major threats to all sea turtle species include loss or degradation
of nesting habitat from coastal development and beach armoring;
disorientation or misorientation of hatchlings and females by
artificial lighting; poaching; disease; commercial trawling, longline
and gill net fisheries; and illegal trade, particularly in hawksbill
products.
Habitat degradation associated with the project development
(lighting, boardwalk construction, increased beach use by residents,
use of recreational beach gear at the beach, beach cleaning operations,
among others) may result in death or injury of sea turtle hatchlings
from either sea turtle species, incidental to the carrying out of these
otherwise lawful activities. Section 9 of the Act, and implementing
regulations, prohibits taking nests of leatherback sea turtle and
hawksbill sea turtle. Taking, in part, is defined as an activity that
kills, injures, harms, or harasses a listed endangered or threatened
species. Section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Act provides an exemption, under
certain circumstances, to the section 9 prohibition if the taking is
incidental to, and not the purpose of, otherwise lawful activities.
Beach surveys at Tortola Beach indicate that both sea turtle
species use this beach for nesting. In the last 15 years, a total of 24
sea turtle nesting activities (3 for hawksbills and 21 for
leatherbacks) have been reported at the Tortola Beach. Tortola Beach is
a small pocket beach that measures approximately 90 meters long by 15
meters wide. This beach is located in front of the proposed 45-lot
development. Three of the lots border the beach area of Tortola.
The HCP describes measures the Applicant will take to minimize and
mitigate such taking resulting from the Project. To minimize impacts to
listed species from the proposed project, the Applicant will conduct
the following: (1) Donate/transfer to the Puerto Rico Department of
Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER) a 10 meter litoral zone
(comprising 0.9391 cuerda or 0.91 acre) for additional setback from the
maritime zone determined by this agency, along the beach front of the
property; (2) a setback of 120 feet from the maritime zone will be left
on lots 26, 27, and 29, the only three lots with beachfront property;
(3) establish a central valley conservation easement on 5.71 cuerdas
(5.54 acres) to protect natural forests; (4) no construction activities
such as beach armoring or beach nourishment, no mechanical beach
clearing, no vehicle traffic or animals will be allowed on the beach
and no beach vegetation will be removed or trimmed on the beach; (5)
pedestrian traffic to the beach from the property and from the beach to
the property will be directed to only one boardwalk across the litoral
zone and sand dune area; (6) a low fence will be erected at the end of
the maritime zone (where sand turns into hard soil) to control
pedestrian access and stray animals; (7) no artificial lighting will be
installed on the beach and the beach will be closed to residents from
the property during evening hours; (8) no recreation equipment such as
lounge chairs, toys, kayaks will be allowed to remain on the beach
after sunset and no boating activities, no camping or fires will be
allowed on the beach; (9) each lot will have a site-specific residence
location and no additional land clearing will be allowed on the lot;
(10) all houses will be designed and remain single family units with a
maximum size residence permitted of 2,700 square feet and have a
maximum height of 18 feet; (11) a deed restriction will be included in
each lot to require a lighting plan to address impacts to sea turtles
on Tortola Beach and periodic lighting surveys will be conducted and
corrective measures will be required; (12) no street lighting on the
roadways within the development will be installed, roads will be closed
to the general public during evening hours to minimize vehicular
lighting, and vehicular traffic is routed one way to minimize headlight
glare; and (13) a deed restriction will require that each owner develop
and implement an erosion control plan to reduce potential impacts to
nesting habitat by eroded materials.
To mitigate for the nests to be taken, the applicant will provide
the following: (1) Provide educational materials regarding sea turtles
to all owners and construct an information display board at the
entrance of the boardwalk; (2) will encourage beach cleaning activities
among the owners; (3) will provide trash containers for trash disposal;
(4) turtle nesting activities will be reported, marked off-limit and
protected until DNER personnel work the nest, and (5) will recruit and
facilitate volunteers for sea turtle conservation projects.
As earlier stated, the Service has determined that the HCP
qualifies as a Categorically-Excluded, low-effect HCP as defined by
Service's Habitat Conservation Planning Handbook (November 1996). Low-
effect HCPs are those involving: (1) Minor or negligible effects on
federally listed and candidate species and their habitats, and (2)
minor or negligible effects on other environmental values or resources.
The Applicant's HCP qualifies for the following reasons:
1. Approval of the HCP would result in minor or negligible effects
on the leatherback sea turtle and hawksbill sea turtle, and their
nesting habitats. The Service does not anticipate significant direct or
cumulative effects on these species resulting from the construction of
the Project.
2. Approval of the HCP would not have adverse effect on known
geographic, historic or cultural sites, or involve unique or unknown
environmental risks.
3. Approval of the HCP would not result in any 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,
[[Page 34493]]
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
action or represent a decision in principle about future actions with
potentially significant environmental effects.
The Service has therefore determined that approval of the HCP
qualifies as a categorical exclusion under NEPA, as provided by the
Department of the Interior Manual (516 DM 2, Appendix 1 and 516 DM 6,
Appendix 1). No further NEPA determination will therefore be prepared.
The Service will evaluate the HCP and comments submitted thereon to
determine whether the application meets the requirements of section
10(a) of the Act. If it is determined that those requirements are met,
an ITP will be issued for the incidental take of hatchlings from two
nests of the leatherback sea turtle or hawksbill sea turtle during a
period of 12 years. The Service will also evaluate whether the issuance
of a section 10(a)(1)(B) ITP complies with section 7 of the Act by
conducting an intra-Service section 7 consultation. The results of the
consultation, in combination with the above findings, will be used in
the final analysis to determine whether or not to issue the ITP.
Dated: May 22, 2000.
H. Dale Hall,
Acting Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 0013388 Filed 52600; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 431055P