Availability of an Environmental Assessment, Finding of No Significant Impact, and Receipt of an Application for an Incidental Take Permit for a 48-Acre Mixed Residential/Commercial Development Project, in Volusia County, Florida

Résumé

Mortgage Management, L. P. of Chattanooga, Tennessee (Applicant), is seeking 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 the take of one family of the threatened Florida scrub-jay, Aphelocoma coerulescens and the threatened Eastern indigo snake, Drymarchon corais couperi, in Volusia County, Florida, for a period of ten (10) years. The proposed taking is incidental to land clearing activities and mixed residential/commercial development on a 48-acre project site (Project). The Project contains about 8.2 acres of occupied Florida scrub-jay habitat, and the potential exists for the entire Project to provide habitat to the Eastern indigo snake. A description of the mitigation and minimization measures outlined the Applicant's Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) to address the effects of the Project to the protected species is as described further in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. The Service also announces the availability of an environmental assessment (EA) and HCP for the incidental take application. Copies of the EA and/or HCP m