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Chapter I -Purpose of and Need for Action <br />TIMEFRAME FOR NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICYACT <br />AND PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION <br />The parallel Program development and NEPA analysis processes, which may lead to implementation of a <br />Program, are depicted in figure 1 -3. The First Increment of the Program will begin once the final <br />programmatic EIS and final Biological Opinion are completed, a Record of Decision has been signed by <br />the Secretary, and the three States and Interior have signed an implementing agreement. These actions <br />are scheduled to be completed in 2004 and early 2005. Where necessary, site - specific NEPA compliance <br />will be undertaken prior to construction of Program elements. <br />RELATED ACTIONS AND CUMULATIVE IMPACTS <br />Existing Projects That Have Completed Endangered Species Act <br />Compliance for the Target Species <br />As described in the attachment, History of ESA Consultations on Platte River Target Species, there is a <br />lengthy history of ESA consultations and development of RPAs or other measures which allowed <br />previous projects to be in compliance with the ESA. These projects, such as the Grayrocks Dam and <br />Reservoir in Wyoming, for which mitigation measures have already been implemented, are part of the <br />Present Condition for this DEIS. A list of such projects is provided in the attachment cited above. <br />Existing Projects That Rely Upon a Program for Endangered Species Act <br />Compliance for the Target Species <br />Other existing projects are relying upon implementation of a Program to provide compliance with the <br />ESA for their continued operations during the First Increment of the Program. These projects may not <br />have been subject to complete ESA consultations, or may have license measures or permit conditions <br />imposed as part of a completed consultation process that assumed implementation of a Program. If no <br />Program is implemented, the Service may seek to reinitiate Section 7 consultation with the appropriate <br />Federal action agencies regarding the latter projects. <br />Examples of the former include the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) projects on the North and <br />South Platte Rivers, which will undertake ESA consultation with the Service on their continued <br />operations, and which intend to rely on a Program to provide the measures to offset impacts of historic <br />and continued operations on the habitat of the target species. <br />December 2003 <br />