Notice2026-11870
Receipt of Incidental Take Permit Application and Proposed Habitat Conservation Plan for Sand Skink; Lake County, FL; Categorical Exclusion
Primary source
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Published
June 12, 2026
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentFish and Wildlife Service
Abstract
We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce receipt of an application from Lake County Development Partners, LLC (Casa del Rosa) (applicant) for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The applicant requests the ITP to take the federally listed threatened sand skink (Neopseps=(Plestiodon) reynoldsi) (skinks) incidental to the construction of a mixed multi- phase residential and commercial development and the associated clearing, infrastructure, and landscaping in Lake County, Florida. We request public comment on the application, which includes the applicant's proposed habitat conservation plan, and on the Service's preliminary determination that the proposed permitting action may be eligible for a categorical exclusion pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Department of the Interior's (DOI) NEPA regulations, and the DOI Departmental Manual. To make this preliminary determination, we prepared a draft screening form and NEPA statement for habitat conservation plans, which are available for public review. We invite comment from the public and local, State, Tribal, and Federal agencies.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 113 (Friday, June 12, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 113 (Friday, June 12, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35700-35701]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-11870]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2026-1750; FXES11140400000-267-FF04EF4000]
Receipt of Incidental Take Permit Application and Proposed
Habitat Conservation Plan for Sand Skink; Lake County, FL; Categorical
Exclusion
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments and information.
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SUMMARY: We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce receipt
of an application from Lake County Development Partners, LLC (Casa del
Rosa) (applicant) for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the
Endangered Species Act (ESA). The applicant requests the ITP to take
the federally listed threatened sand skink (Neopseps=(Plestiodon)
reynoldsi) (skinks) incidental to the construction of a mixed multi-
phase residential and commercial development and the associated
clearing, infrastructure, and landscaping in Lake County, Florida. We
request public comment on the application, which includes the
applicant's proposed habitat conservation plan, and on the Service's
preliminary determination that the proposed permitting action may be
eligible for a categorical exclusion pursuant to the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Department of the Interior's (DOI)
NEPA regulations, and the DOI Departmental Manual. To make this
preliminary determination, we prepared a draft screening form and NEPA
statement for habitat conservation plans, which are available for
public review. We invite comment from the public and local, State,
Tribal, and Federal agencies.
DATES: We must receive your written comments on or before July 13,
2026.
To ensure your comment is received and considered, you must submit
it using one of the methods identified in the ADDRESSES section of this
document. Comments submitted through any method not authorized in this
document, or sent to an address not listed here, will not be
considered.
ADDRESSES:
Obtaining Documents: The documents this notice announces, as well
as any comments and other materials that we receive, will be available
for public inspection online in Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2026-1750 at
<a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>.
Submitting Comments: All submissions must include the docket number
[FWS-R4-ES-2026-1750] for this document. You must submit comments using
one of the following methods:
<bullet> Online: <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments on Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2026-1750.
<bullet> U.S. mail: Public Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No.
FWS-R4-ES-2026-1750; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: PRB/3W; 5275
Leesburg Pike; Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.
Comments submitted through any method not authorized in this
document, or sent to an address not listed here, will not be
considered. We will not accept comments via email, fax, or hand
delivery. We are not required to consider comments that are submitted
after the comment period ends or that are submitted via a method
outside of these instructions. Comments containing profanity,
vulgarity, threats, or other inappropriate content will not be
considered.
We will post all comments at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>. You may
request that we withhold personal identifying information from public
review; however, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. See
Public Availability of Comments for more information.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Erin Gawera, Jacksonville Ecological
Services Field Office, by phone at 904-404-2464 or via email at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#a1c4d3c8cffec6c0d6c4d3c0e1c7d6d28fc6ced7"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="c5a0b7acab9aa2a4b2a0b7a485a3b2b6eba2aab3">[email protected]</span></a>. 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: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(Service), announce receipt of an application from Lake County
Development Partners, LLC (Casa del Rosa) (applicant) for incidental
take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act, as amended (ESA; 16
U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). The applicant requests the ITP to take the
federally listed threatened sand skink (Neopseps (=Plestiodon)
reynoldsi) incidental to the construction of a mixed multi-phase
residential and commercial development and the associated clearing,
infrastructure, and landscaping in Lake County, Florida.
We request public comment on the application, which includes the
applicant's habitat conservation plans (HCP), and on the Service's
preliminary determination that this proposed ITP may qualify for a
categorical exclusion pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), the Department of the Interior's (DOI)
NEPA regulations (43 CFR part 46), and the DOI's Departmental Manual
(DM; 516 DM 8.5(C)(2)). To make this preliminary determination, we
prepared a draft screening form and NEPA statement for HCPs, both of
which are available for public review.
Proposed Project
The applicant requests a 10-year ITP to take skinks via the
conversion of approximately 0.85 acres (ac) of occupied nesting,
foraging, and sheltering skink habitat incidental to the construction
and operation of a mixed multi-phase residential and commercial
development on 69.25 ac, located 1 mile south of the intersection of
Edwards Road and S. U.S. Highway 27 at latitude 28.890766 North and
longitude -81.908939 West; within Section 28, Township 18 South, Range
24 East, Lady Lake, Lake County, Florida.
The applicant proposes to mitigate for take of the skinks by
purchasing credits equivalent to 1.7 ac of skink-occupied habitat
within the Lake Wales Ridge Conservation Bank or another Service
approved skink conservation bank. The Service would require the
applicant to purchase the credits prior to engaging in any phase of the
project.
Our Preliminary Determination
The Service has made a preliminary determination that reasonably
foreseeable effects of the applicant's proposed project, including the
construction of a mixed multi-phase residential and commercial
development and the associated clearing, infrastructure, and
landscaping, would have a minor effect on skinks and the human
environment and that extraordinary circumstances in 43 CFR 46.215 do
not apply. Reasonably foreseeable effects encompass effects of
implementation of the action including
[[Page 35701]]
effects of the action in addition to other past, present, and
reasonably foreseeable future effects.
Therefore, we have preliminarily determined that the proposed ESA
section 10(a)(1)(B) permit would be a low-effect ITP that may qualify
for application of a categorical exclusion (516 DM 8.5(C)(2)), pursuant
to NEPA, the DOI's NEPA regulations, and the DOI DM. A low-effect ITP
is one that would result in (1) negligible or minor individual or
cumulative effects on species covered in the HCP; (2) no significant
effect on the human environment; and (3) reasonably foreseeable effects
that would not result in significant effects to the human environment.
Next Steps
The Service will evaluate the application and the comments to
determine whether to issue the requested ITP. 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 preceding and
other matters, we will determine whether the permit issuance criteria
of section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA have been met. If met, the Service
will issue ITP number PER25914032 to Lake County Development Partners,
LLC (Casa del Rosa).
Public Availability of Comments
Before including your address, phone number, email address, or
other personal identifying information in your comment, be aware that
your entire comment, including your personal identifying information,
may be made available to the public. If you submit a comment at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>, your entire comment, including any personal
identifying information, will be posted on the website. If you submit a
hardcopy comment that includes personal identifying information, such
as your address, phone number, or email address, you may request at the
top of your document that we withhold this information from public
review. However, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.
Moreover, 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
The Service provides this notice under section 10(c) of the
Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), its implementing
regulations (50 CFR 17.32), National Environmental Policy Act (42
U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), as amended, and the and the Department of
Interior's implementing regulations (43 CFR part 46).
Jose Rivera,
Manager, Division of Environmental Review, Florida Ecological Services
Field Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2026-11870 Filed 6-11-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P
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