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<br />DRAFT -- August 11, 1999 <br />The courts have held that BlA lease approvals and many other actions involving Indian lands <br />are federal actions requiring compliance with NEP A. It has become apparent that Section 7 <br />consultation can also be a requirement, but BIA and tribes often lack staff with the expertise <br />to prepare Biological Evaluations or otherwise to work with the Service in order to comply <br />with the procedural requirements of the ESA. Many Tribes have entered into Indian Self- <br />Determination Act contracts under Public Law 93-638 to run natural resource programs on <br />their reservations, but by law the approval decisions remain with the BIA, whether the agency <br />has the staff to comply with NEP A and the ESA, or not. Thus, these reservation activities <br />that can and do affect endangered and threatened species should be reviewed for their impact <br />on listed species. This Working Group is addressing how best to assure that FWS, BIA, and <br />tribes work together to meet statutory requirements of ESA and the United States' trustee <br />obligations to tribes. <br /> <br />B. FORMAL CONSULTATION: The Effects of the Action <br />and the Environmental Baseline <br /> <br />When a Federal action may affect listed species or critical habitat, unless the Service has <br />concurred in an agency determination that its action is not likely to adversely affect listed <br />species or critical habitat, formal consultation must be initiated. The agency request for <br />formal consultation must be preceded by any required Biological Assessment, and it must be <br />accompanied by a detailed description of the action and detailed information on the effects of <br />the action on listed species, including an analysis of cumulative effects. This begins the <br />running of a 90-day deadline for completion of the Biological Opinion. However, this <br />deadline may be extended if the agency, Service, and any applicant concur. <br /> <br />An essential threshold inquiry to be made in the course of any Section 7 consultation is what <br />the effects of the proposed agency action will be measured against; this is known as the <br /> <br />24 <br />