2023-13491: Categorical Exclusion and Candidate Conservation Plan; Trinity River Authority Candidate Conservation Agreement With Assurances, Trinity River Basin, TX

Summary

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), make available a draft screening form for a categorical exclusion (dCatEx form) under the National Environmental Policy Act and also a candidate conservation agreement with assurances (CCAA) for water supply, water and wastewater treatment, and reservoir operations, as well as operation and maintenance activities for infrastructure associated with these services (e.g., pipelines, levees) in the Trinity River Basin, Texas. The Trinity River Authority (TRA) has applied for an enhancement of survival permit (EOS permit) that would authorize incidental take of four freshwater mussel species and two turtle species. If approved, the TRA would hold the permit and issue certificates of inclusion (CI) authorizing incidental take to participating non-Federal landowners (partners), including the North Texas Municipal Water District, Tarrant Regional Water District, City of Dallas, and City of Fort Worth. The dCatEx form evaluates the impacts of, and alternatives to, implementation of the proposed CCAA. We invite the public and local, State, Tribal, and Federal agencies to comment on the CCAA and EOS permit application, as well as on the Service's preliminary determination that the proposed permitting action may be eligible for a categorical exclusion pursuant to the Council on Environmental Quality National Environmental Policy Act regulations and Department of the Interior (DOI) NEPA regulations and the DOI Departmental Manual. To make this preliminary determination, we prepared the dCatEx form, also available for public review.

The agency’s own summary, as published.