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<br />DRAFT -- August 11, 1999 <br /> <br />such an action. However, there are more specific actions which may trigger Section 7 <br /> <br />consultation, such as signing contracts for rep:lyment of project costs, for water delivery, or <br /> <br />for operation and maintenance of a project, granting or obtaining a right-of-way, or providing <br /> <br />funding for another action related to an existing water project. The requirements for <br /> <br />consulting under Section 7 apply to the Bureau of Indian Affairs as other agencies. Although <br /> <br />there is still considerable debate over the circumstances under which Section 7 consultation is <br /> <br />required, many water users and agency officials believe that federal water resource develop- <br /> <br />ment actions are subject to far more consultations than other kinds of federal actions which fit <br /> <br /> <br />the regulatory definition equally as well. <br /> <br />There are other kinds of federal actions relative to water resources, not involving federally <br /> <br /> <br />constructed or maintained water projects, which trigger Section 7 consultation, such as <br /> <br />permitting by the Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency, Indian lease <br /> <br />and tribal contract approvals by the BIA, and public land resource management actions which <br /> <br /> <br />have an impact on riparian ecosystems. The Commissioner of Reclamation has suggested that <br /> <br />it is these kinds of actions, especially insofar as they are tied to urban development, which <br /> <br /> <br />will play the greatest role in the future of Western water resource development because the <br /> <br />Golden Age of the Western Water Project is over. Thus, the role of the Section 7 consulta- <br /> <br /> <br />tion process has become much more pervasive in Western water systems in recent years, <br /> <br />though the level of compliance still varies greatly from agency to agency and from region to <br /> <br /> <br />regIOn. <br /> <br />An action agency may avoid Section 7 consultation with the Services by making a finding-- <br />usually in connection with its compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act <br />(NEP A)-- that a proposed action does not affect any listed species or critical habitat. If, <br />however, an agency fmds that its action "may affect" a listed species, the process known as <br />informal consultation with the Service begins. Typically, the action agency requests a list of <br />potentially affected species from FWS, and then prepares (I) a Biological Assessment (for <br /> <br />20 <br />