Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Kaua'i Island Utility Cooperative Habitat Conservation Plan, Kaua'i, Hawai'i

<NOTICE> DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR <SUBAGY>Fish and Wildlife Service</SUBAGY> <DEPDOC>[Docket No. FWS-R1-ES-2022-0068; FXES11140100000-256-FF01E00000]</DEPDOC> <SUBJECT>Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Kaua'i Island Utility Cooperative Habitat Conservation Plan, Kaua'i, Hawai'i</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior. <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Notice of availability; notice of public meeting; request for comments. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) has received an incidental take permit (ITP) application from the Kaua'i Island Utility Cooperative (KIUC; applicant), associated with KIUC's proposed habitat conservation plan (proposed HCP) submitted pursuant to the Endangered Species Act. The applicant seeks an ITP from the Service to authorize the incidental take of nine species expected to result from KIUC's operation and modification of existing and future powerlines and lighting activities on the island of Kaua'i as well as implementation of a conservation strategy. In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act, this notice announces the availability of a draft environmental impact statement. With this notice, we also make available the proposed HCP submitted by the applicant and invite public comments. </SUM> <DATES> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> <E T="03">Submitting Comments:</E> We will accept online or hardcopy comments. Comments submitted online at <E T="03">https://www.regulations.gov</E> must be received by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on October 21, 2025. Hardcopy comments must be received or postmarked on or before October 21, 2025 (see <E T="02">ADDRESSES</E> ). <E T="03">Public Scoping Meeting:</E> One public meeting will be held in-person on the island of Kaua'i during the comment period. The date, location and time of any public meeting will be posted to <E T="03">https://www.fws.gov/project/kauai-island-utility-cooperative-habitat-conservation-plan</E> at least two weeks prior to the public meeting date. For more information, see Public Comments and Public Meeting under <E T="02">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION</E> . </DATES> <HD SOURCE="HED">ADDRESSES:</HD> You may submit comments by one of the following methods on the proposed habitat conservation plan and draft environmental impact statement by any of the following methods: • <E T="03">Internet: https://www.regulations.gov</E> (search for Docket No. FWS-R1-ES-2022-0068). • <E T="03">U.S. Mail:</E> Public Comments Processing; Attn: Docket No. FWS-R1-ES-2022-0068; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Headquarters, MS: PRB/3W; 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803. • <E T="03">In-Person:</E> Oral and hand-written comments will be accepted at the public meeting. <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> Koa Matsuoka, Pacific Islands Fish and Wildlife Office, by telephone at 808-210-6295 or by email at <E T="03">KIUCLongTermHCP@fws.gov.</E> 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. </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announce the availability of a draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) to evaluate the proposed issuance of an incidental take permit (ITP) to the Kaua'i Island Utility Cooperative (KIUC; applicant). In accordance with the requirements of the Endangered Species Act, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 <E T="03">et seq.</E> ), the applicant seeks an ITP authorizing take of federally listed threatened and endangered species that may occur incidental to the operation and modification of existing and future powerlines and lighting, as well as implementation of a conservation strategy, on the island of Kaua'i, Hawai'i for a period of 50 years. In support of the ITP application, KIUC prepared a proposed habitat conservation plan (HCP) to specify the impacts that will likely result from the incidental take of covered species and the steps the applicant would take to avoid, minimize, and mitigate such impacts, among other components. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Background</HD> Section 9 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 <E T="03">et seq.</E> ) prohibits the “take” of fish and wildlife species listed as endangered under section 4 of the statute (16 U.S.C. 1538 and 16 U.S.C. 1533). The ESA implementing regulations extend, under certain circumstances, the prohibition of take to threatened species (50 CFR 17.31). Under section 3 of the ESA, the term “take” means to “harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or to attempt to engage in any such conduct” (16 U.S.C. 1532(19)). Under section 10(a) of the ESA, the Services may issue permits to authorize incidental take of listed fish and wildlife species (16 U.S.C. 1539(a)). “Incidental take” is take that is incidental to, and not the purpose of, the carrying out of an otherwise lawful activity (16 U.S.C. 1539(a)(1)(B)). Requirements for issuing ITPs to non-Federal entities for the take of endangered and threatened species are included in statute (section 10(a)(2)(B) of the ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1539(a)(2)) and regulations (50 CFR 17.22(b) and 17.32(b)), provided the following criteria are met (16 U.S.C. 1539(a)(2)(B) and 50 CFR 17.22(b)(2) and 17.32(b)(2)): 1. The taking will be incidental; 2. The applicant will, to the maximum extent practicable, minimize and mitigate the impact of the taking; 3. The applicant will ensure that adequate funding for the conservation plan implementation will be provided; 4. The applicant has provided procedures to deal with unforeseen circumstances; 5. The taking will not appreciably reduce the likelihood of the survival and recovery of the species in the wild; 6. The applicant will carry out any other measures that the Service may require as being necessary or appropriate for the purposes of the HCP; and 7. The applicant will provide any other assurances the Service may require to ensure the conservation plan will be implemented. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Applicant's Proposal</HD> KIUC is requesting authorization of incidental take of the federally listed threatened 'a'o (Newell's shearwater, <E T="03">Puffinus newelli</E> ), endangered 'ua'u (Hawaiian petrel, <E T="03">Pterodroma sandwichensis</E> ), endangered Hawai'i distinct population segment of the 'akē'akē (band-rumped storm-petrel, <E T="03">Hydrobates castro</E> ), endangered ae'o (Hawaiian stilt, <E T="03">Himantopus mexicanus knudseni</E> ), engangered koloa maoli (Hawaiian duck, <E T="03">Anas wyvilliana</E> ), endangered 'alae ke'oke'o (Hawaiian coot, <E T="03">Fulica alai</E> ), endangered 'alae 'ula (Hawaiian common gallinule, <E T="03">Gallinula galeata sandvicensis</E> ), threatened nēnē (Hawaiian goose, <E T="03">Branta sandvicensis</E> ), and threatened honu (green sea turtle, <E T="03">Chelonia mydas</E> ) (together, the covered species) likely to occur incidental to proposed covered activities on the island of Kaua'i. KIUC is seeking authorization of incidental take for (1) powerline operations including modifications, (2) lighting operations (facility lights and streetlights) and use of night lighting for repairs, and (3) implementation of a conservation strategy that may result in effects on covered species. These activities and the effects on covered species and the environment are described further in the proposed HCP and DEIS. The proposed permit term is 50 years. Measures to minimize and mitigate impacts to covered species are described in the HCP for each covered species guided by the biological goals and objectives of the HCP's conservation strategy. KIUC would monitor implementation of these measures for compliance and effectiveness. Minimization and mitigation measures are subject to adaptive management to ensure achievement of the HCP's biological goals and objectives. These measures are discussed in more detail within the proposed HCP and DEIS. The HCP includes funding information and assurances, monitoring requirements, adaptive management, and provisions for changed and unforeseen circumstances to ensure conservation outcomes for the covered species over the permit term. Annual reports to the Service would confirm the amount, type, and location of impacts and mitigation as well as the status of monitoring, adaptive management, changed circumstances, and funding. <HD SOURCE="HD1">National Environmental Policy Act</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD2">Draft Environmental Impact Statement</HD> The proposed issuance of an ITP supported by an HCP is a Federal action under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 4321 <E T="03">et seq.</E> ). The Service, with input from the State of Hawai'i's Department of Land and Natural Resources, Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) as a cooperating agency, prepared the DEIS pursuant to the statutory requirements of NEPA and the Department of the Interior's NEPA regulations at 43 CFR part 46, consistent with the purpose and goals of NEPA. In addition, the conservation measures proposed in the HCP would occur on State land triggering environmental review under the Hawai'i Environmental Policy Act (HRS Chapter 343; HAR Chapter 11-200). Therefore, this DEIS has also been prepared in accordance with Hawai'i Revised Statutes (HRS) Chapter 343, Environmental Impact Statements, and Hawai'i Administrative Rules (HAR), Title 11, Chapter 200.1, Environmental Impact Statement Rules. The DEIS analyzes the proposed action (Alternative B; identif ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 19k characters. 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