Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Permit; Construction and Operation of Kaheawa II Wind Energy Generation Facility, Maui, HI; Draft Habitat Conservation Plan and Draft Environmental Assessment

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), have received an application from Kaheawa Wind Power II, LLC (KWP II) (Applicant) for an incidental take permit (permit) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA). The Applicant is requesting an incidental take permit under the ESA to authorize take of three Federally endangered and one threatened bird species. The permit application includes a draft Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) and a draft Implementing Agreement (IA). We also announce the availability of a draft Environmental Assessment (EA) that has been prepared in response to the permit application in accordance with requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). We are making the permit application package and draft EA available for public review and comment.