Availability of an Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report and Receipt of an Application for an Incidental Take Permit for the San Joaquin County Multi-Species Habitat Conservation and Open Space Plan in California

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

Availability of an Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental

Impact Report and Receipt of an Application for an Incidental Take

Permit for the San Joaquin County Multi-Species Habitat Conservation

and Open Space Plan in California

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The San Joaquin Council of Governments has applied to the Fish

and Wildlife Service (Service) for an incidental take permit pursuant

to section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as

amended (Act). The San Joaquin Council of Governments has applied on

behalf of the cities of Escalon, Lathrop, Lodi, Manteca, Ripon,

Stockton, and Tracy; San Joaquin County; the East Bay Municipal Utility

District; California Department of Transportation-District 10 within

San Joaquin County; San Joaquin Council of Governments; San Joaquin

Area Flood Control Agency; Stockton East Water District; and the South

San Joaquin Irrigation District (applicants). The proposed permit would

authorize incidental take of 16 federally listed species. The proposed

taking of these species would be incidental to the implementation of

the San Joaquin County Multi-Species Habitat Conservation and Open

Space Plan, which provides, in part, for the conversion of open space

to non-open space uses. The proposed permit also would authorize future

incidental take of 84 currently unlisted species, should any of them

become listed under the Act during the life of the permit. The proposed

permit duration is 50 years. The permit application, available for

public review, includes a Habitat Conservation Plan (Plan) which

describes the proposed program and mitigation, and the accompanying

Implementing Agreement.

The Service also announces the availability of a joint draft

Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report (Impact

Statement/Report) for the incidental take permit application. All

comments received, including names and addresses, will become part of

the official administrative record and may be made available to the

public.

PUBLIC HEARING: A public hearing will be held November 9, 1999, from

6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Hutchens Street Square, 125 South

Hutchens St., Lodi, California. For additional hearing information,

contact Ms. Amy Augustine at (209) 532-7376. Oral and written comments

will be received at the meeting.

DATES: Written comments should be received on or before January 7,

2000.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be addressed to the Field Supervisor, Fish

and Wildlife Service, Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office, 2800 Cottage

Way, W-2605, Sacramento, California 95825. Written comments may be sent

by facsimile to (916) 414-6711.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Cay C. Goude, Assistant Field

Supervisor, at the above address, telephone (916) 414-6601.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Availability of Documents

Individuals wishing copies of the application, draft Impact

Statement/Report, Plan, and Implementing Agreement for review should

immediately contact the San Joaquin Council of Governments by telephone

at (209) 468-3913 or by letter to the San Joaquin Council of

Governments at 6 S. El Dorado St., Suite 400, Stockton, California

95202. Copies of the draft Impact Statement/Report, Plan, and

Implementing Agreement also are

[[Page 53402]]

available for public inspection at branch libraries in San Joaquin

County during regular business hours.

Background Information

Section 9 of the Act and Federal regulation prohibit the ``take''

of animal species listed as endangered or threatened. That is, no one

may harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture or

collect listed animal species, or attempt to engage in such conduct (16

USC 1538). Under limited circumstances, the Service, however, may issue

permits to authorize ``incidental take'' of listed animal species

(defined by the Act as take that is incidental to, and not the purpose

of, the carrying out of an otherwise lawful activity). Regulations

governing permits for threatened species and endangered species,

respectively are at 50 CFR 17.32 and 50 CFR 17.22.

Background

The San Joaquin Council of Governments seeks a permit for take of

the following federally listed species: threatened Aleutian Canada

goose (Branta canadensis leucopareia), giant garter snake (Thamnophis

gigas), California red-legged frog (Rana aurora draytonii), delta smelt

(Hypomesus transpacificus), Sacramento splittail (Pogonichthys

macrolepidotus), vernal pool fairy shrimp (Branchinecta lynchi), valley

elderberry longhorn beetle (Desmocerus californicus dimorphus), fleshy

owl's-clover (Castilleja campestris ssp. succulenta), Colusa grass

(Neostapfia colusana), and endangered San Joaquin kit fox (Vulpes

macrotis mutica), Conservancy fairy shrimp (Branchinecta conservatio),

longhorn fairy shrimp (Branchinecta longiantenna), vernal pool tadpole

shrimp (Lepidurus packardi), large-flowered fiddleneck (Amsinckia

grandiflora), palmate-bracted bird's-beak (Cordylanthus palmatus), and

Greene's tuctoria (Tuctoria greenei). This take would be incidental to

the applicants' conversion of open space to non-open space uses within

the 900,000+ acre planning area in San Joaquin County, California. The

proposed permit also would authorize future incidental take of 84

species that are not currently federally listed, should any of them

become listed under the Act during the life of the permit. The 84

currently unlisted species include 24 plant species, 2 fish species, 5

invertebrate species, 3 amphibian species, 3 reptile species, 32 bird

species, and 15 mammal species (9 of which are bats). Collectively, the

100 listed and unlisted species addressed in the Plan are referred to

as the ``covered species'' for the San Joaquin County Multi-Species

Habitat Conservation and Open Space Plan.

In the Plan, the applicants have proposed the conversion of

approximately 109,302 acres from open space to non-open space uses

throughout the life of the permit, primarily by activities already

addressed in adopted plans of the local cities and County. These

activities include residential, commercial, and industrial development;

aggregate mining; construction and maintenance of transportation

facilities, public utilities, schools, and parks and trails; minor

dredging, non-federal flood control and irrigation district projects;

agricultural conversions of vernal pool grasslands; managing reserves;

and other anticipated projects. A more detailed description of covered

activities is provided in the Plan.

The Plan classifies the County's land uses into four general

categories: Natural Lands, Agricultural Lands, Multi-Purpose Open

Space, and Urban Lands. Habitat preservation and/or creation will be

required to mitigate for loss of Natural and Agricultural Lands. For

Agricultural Land (e.g., row and field crops), 1 acre will be preserved

for each acre impacted. For Natural Lands, mitigation varies according

to habitat type: (a) for non-wetland habitat (e.g., grasslands, oak

woodlands, scrub), 3 acres will be preserved for each acre lost; (b)

for vernal pools in the designated ``Vernal Pool Zone'', 2 acres will

be preserved and 1 acre will be created for each acre lost; (c) for

vernal pools in the ``Southwest Zone'', 3 acres of preservation will be

required for each acre lost (unless vernal pool conservancy shrimp or

vernal pool longhorn shrimp are impacted which will require 5 acres of

preservation for each acre lost); and (d) for wetlands other than

vernal pools (e.g., channel islands, riparian creeks, sloughs), each

acre lost will be mitigated through 3 acres of preservation, at least 1

acre of which will be created. Up to 71,837 acres of Natural and

Agricultural Lands could be converted under the plan, requiring

approximately 100,241 acres of habitat preservation and/or creation.

Additionally, up to 37,465 acres of Multi-Purpose Open Space are

expected to be converted, requiring mitigation in the form of fee

payments to help finance enhancement, management, and administration

costs associated with the preserve system. The amount of land that will

actually be converted during the life of the permit is unknown, but

maximum acreage limits have been set based on existing local land use

plans.

An additional 600 acres will be preserved under the Plan to

compensate for potential impacts to covered species which stray from

preserve lands onto neighboring lands. At the election of landowners

within 0.5 mile of preserve land, agricultural and aggregate mining

activities will receive incidental take authorization for covered

species, except for foraging Swainson's hawks, that become established

on the property after the adjacent land has been preserved. For

foraging Swainson's hawks, landowners within 10 miles of established

preserves may receive neighboring land protections at their discretion.

Exceptions to this coverage and other details regarding these

neighboring land protections are provided in the Plan.

Preservation is anticipated to be achieved primarily through the

purchase of conservation easements (approximately 90 percent) with some

purchase of lands in fee title (approximately 10 percent). Conservation

easements would stress the preservation of existing agricultural

practices which are deemed compatible with the conservation of the

covered species. It is anticipated that about 100,841 acres of Preserve

will be acquired (about 100,241 to mitigate loss of Natural and

Agricultural Lands and 600 acres to mitigate for neighboring land

protections) during the 50-year term of the Plan. These lands would be

preserved and managed for wildlife values in perpetuity.

The Plan includes measures to avoid and minimize incidental take

for each of the covered species, emphasizing project design

modifications to protect both habitats and species individuals. A

monitoring and reporting plan will gauge the Plan's success, based on

biological success criteria, and ensure that compensation keeps pace

with open space conversions. The Plan also includes adaptive management

which allows for changes in the conservation program if the biological

success criteria are not met, or new information becomes available to

improve the efficacy of the Plan's conservation strategy.

In addition to incidental take avoidance measures, the Plan

includes requirements for conserving corridors for the San Joaquin kit

fox and for avoiding the creation of linear barriers to species

dispersal. The Plan also establishes limits on Natural Land conversions

and for particular species covered by the Plan. Details of avoidance

and minimization measures, and preserve design and management are

presented in the Plan.

[[Page 53403]]

The Plan would be implemented by a Joint Powers Authority which

would be advised by a Technical Advisory Committee including

representatives from the Fish and Wildlife Service, California

Department of Fish and Game, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, among

others. Additional assistance will be provided to the Joint Powers

Authority by conservation, agricultural, and business interests, and

other stakeholders in the County.

Funding for the Plan is anticipated to be provided by multiple

sources including development fees (to fund 67 percent of the Plan);

local, state and federal funding sources (16 percent of Plan funding);

Plan-generated income (e.g., through lease revenues--approximately 5

percent of funding); conservation bank revenues (2 percent); and

revolving funds (10 percent).

The draft Impact Statement/Report considers five alternatives,

including the Proposed Action and the No-Action Alternatives. Under the

No-Action Alternative, landowners within the County would continue to

apply for individual incidental take permits on a case-by-case basis,

resulting in piecemeal planning that would establish isolated patches

of mitigation land scattered throughout the County. This could result

in cumulatively significant adverse impacts to those species which

would benefit from larger tracts of interconnected habitats.

Under the Reduced Land Acquisition/Increased Preserve Enhancement

Alternative, mitigation would focus on habitat enhancement which could

interfere substantially with agricultural activities, creating

significant adverse impact to agricultural productivity in the County.

This alternative would have questionable benefits to the covered

species because habitat enhancement is unpredictable and may be

unsuccessful.

Under the No Wetlands Coverage Alternative, landowners within the

County would continue to apply for individual permits pursuant to the

Federal Clean Water Act, resulting in piecemeal planning. Mitigation

lands would consist of smaller and more widely scattered habitat blocks

than would occur with the Proposed Action, resulting in cumulatively

significant adverse impacts to those wetland-dependent species which

would benefit from larger tracts of interconnected habitats.

Under the Preserve Location Outside of the County Alternative,

significantly less habitat within the County would be preserved than

with the Proposed Action, adversely impacting some covered species by

creating gaps in the species' range and potentially disrupting the

genetic integrity of some populations. This alternative could also

adversely impact relatively immobile species that are unable to

relocate to distant newly created habitats.

The California Department of Fish and Game intends to use this

draft Impact Statement/Report and the Plan as a basis for issuing state

permits for incidental take equivalent to the actions described above.

In addition, under a separate action, the U.S. Army Corps of

Engineers may use this draft Impact Report/Statement and the Plan as a

basis for developing a programmatic general permit pursuant to section

404(e) of the Federal Clean Water Act [33 CFR 322.2(f) and 323.2(h)] in

consultation with the Environmental Protection Agency covering Waters

of the United States for the San Joaquin County Multi-Species Habitat

Conservation and Open Space Plan covered activities conducted on

jurisdictional lands. In conjunction, these documents will be used by

the California State Water Resources Control Board or Central Valley

Regional Water Quality Control Board to consider the issuance of a

water quality certification or waiver pursuant to section 401 of the

Federal Clean Water Act after issuance of the programmatic section

404(e) general permit.

This notice is provided pursuant to section 10(a) of the Endangered

Species Act and Fish and Wildlife Service regulations for implementing

the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (40 CFR 1506.6).

Dated: September 22, 1999.

Elizabeth H. Stevens,

Deputy Manager, Region 1, California/Nevada Operations Office,

Sacramento, California.

[FR Doc. 99-25140 Filed 9-30-99; 8:45 am]

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