Environmental Assessment : Pierce County Planning and Public Works Flood Risk Reduction Structures Maintenance and Operations Habitat Conservation Plan and Incidental Take Permits

The Pierce County Planning and Public Works, Surface Water Management Division (Pierce County, or County) seeks incidental take permits (ITPs) from the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) (collectively, “the Services”) pursuant to Section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973, as amended (ESA). The ESA defines “take” as “to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or to attempt to engage in any such conduct.” The ITPs would authorize incidental take of the following species (hereafter referred to as covered species). • Bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) • Puget Sound Evolutionarily Significant Unit (ESU) Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) • Puget Sound/Strait of Georgia ESU coho salmon (O. kisutch) • Puget Sound Distinct Population Segment (DPS) steelhead (O. mykiss) • Pacific lamprey (Entosphenus tridentatus) • River lamprey (Lampetra ayresii) • Western brook lamprey (L. richardsoni)