8020

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 8020
• Author: Horak, G. C.
• Title: Proceedings of the Symposium on Mitigating Developmental Impacts on Fish and Wildlife.
• USFW Year: 1979.
• USFW - Doc Type: March 1979.
• Copyright Material: NO

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Fish and Wildlife Service. Projects authorized previous to the passage of
the Act but not substantially completed (60% of estimated construction cost
being obligated for expenditure) are authorized to include fish and wild-
life preservation measures. The Senate Committee Report on Amending the
Coordination Act (16) states that 1I...S0me benefits from authorized pro-
ject purposes may have to be diminished in some slight degree in order to
obtain benefits from fish and wildlife conservation measures adopted to
compensate for losses to these resources or to enhance and develop fish and
wildlife...1I Thus federal resource development project construction and
permitting agenci es have been given the authori ty to modify projects and
their operation to provide consideration for fish and wildlife.
Of particular significance is the Act's provision for land acquisition
by the construction agency for fish and wildlife mitigation which is sub-
ject to Congressional approval. The land may be acquired as part of the pro-.
ject "packagell or under separate authorization. It shoul d be kept in mi nd,
however, that the Act does not give either the Fish and Wildlife Service or
state fish and game departments any veto power over project authorization
and/or construction. In addition, it is not required that the sponsoring
agency adopt recommendations for fish and wildlife mitigation.
The protection of fish and wildlife Has aided by the passage of the
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in 1970 (15). NEPA requires
sponsoring agencies to deal with the recommendations and alternative courses
of action proposed by FWS and other concerned parties in an Environmental
Impact Statement. The St~tement gives other agencies and the public the
chance to incorporate environmental values in a project before authorization
takes place. NEPA requires construction agencies to treat fish and wildlife
as an equal project purpose but in addition, to incorporate fish and wildlife
as a part of the necessary consideration in each of the other project purposes.

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