Receipt of Incidental Take Permit Application and Habitat Conservation Plan for the Taylor’s Checkerspot Butterfly and Four Subspecies of the Mazama Pocket Gopher in Thurston and Pierce Counties, Washington, Puget Sound Energy; Categorical Exclusion

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is proposing to issue an incidental take permit (ITP) associated with Puget sound Energy’s 30-Year Habitat Conservation Plan for Taylor’s Checkerspot Butterfly and Four Subspecies of the Mazama Pocket Gopher in accordance with section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973, as amended. The ITP would authorize the applicant’s take of four threatened subspecies of the Mazama pocket gopher and the endangered Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly incidental to otherwise lawful activities during replacement, repair, and upgrade of existing utility systems in Thurston and portions of Pierce Counties, Washington. The Service prepared a draft environmental action statement (EAS) for our preliminary determination that the habitat conservation plan (HCP) and our permit decision may be eligible for a categorical exclusion under the National Environmental Policy Act. We invite public comments on the proposed HCP and EAS from the public and Federal, State, and local governments.