WSP00396

• File Number: 8065
• Description: Section D General Statewide Issues - Endangered Species Act - Fisheries
• State: CO
• Basin: Statewide
• Date: 6/3/1986
• Author: Unknown
• Title: Fish and Wildlife Service-NOAA - Interagency Cooperation - Endangered Species Act of 1973 - As Amended - Final Rule - Federal Register - Volume 51-Number 106 - Rules and Regulations
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Publication

002379

19938

Federal RasI.l.r I Vo\. 51. No. 106 I Tue.d.y. June 3. 1986 I Rule. and Regula lion.

One Pede..l ..-ncy commented thel
the counterpart regulltlon procell I, .
tlmlll-conlumlng altemllllve. The Service
admlb :hallnlonnal rul.m.klng tak..
lime and arror~ but bell.v.. Ihal tho
"fine luning" that could occur throush
the development of counterpart
regulalion. might. In tho long run.
provide a .olld ....twn In tlm. and
relource. aaved through the ule of 8
more compatible con.ultatlon
procedure.

~ction 402.05 Erntll'8~ncie6.

Soclion 402.05 provide. a modified
consultation procedure for the Service to
respond to emergency .Uuation.. This
provision applies to .Huation. Involvina
acta of God. casualties. dlaaaterw,
national defense or security emersencie.
(added to the rule In re.ponae 10 public
comment.). etc.
Upon requeat by the F.daral ag.ncy.
the Servir.e may carry out coneultation
through pracedW1l' other than tho.e
provided under the.. reguJallona. a.
long .1 IUch emergency procedure. are
con.iatent with .ecllon. 7(aHd) of the
Act. Thil allows, tor example.
consultation through informal means
(e.g.. a telepbone caU) and. th.refore,
rapid responses to emeraency situation..
Several commenters luggelted that
, ',' .peetfic procedure. .houJ<i be ..t oul to
.. provide guidance to Federal agenclel
. .. ut-f'facin8 emergency .ltuationJ. One
~, ; .tcpmmenter 'usselted that conlultatioD
~ '. ,.....J'coiild be initiated LnformaUy. .uch..
~ '... , ': !iJr<!nh a tel.phone call. and the Sorvica
could then communicate iI. Lnformation
~;) ..,.. and recommendation. over the
, telephcDe. Because or the severe time
conltraint, inherent in an emergency,
!hi. informal approach i. tho method the
, .' Sorvica .nticipate. will be u..d by a
Federal agency ,to conduct.
conaultation fot a bona fide ell!.rgency.
, One commenter felt !hat minimum
requirement. .hould Include
"documentation of the nature of tho
em.rgency .nd luLllflcatlon for an
expedited conaullation." Th. Servica
agreea and h.. required. In a n.w
paragraph (hJ 10 !hla ..ction. th.t the
nature 01 the emergency .nd tho
ju.tifi<.etlon lor u'lnB .n expedit.d
proce.. be document.d and forwarded
10 the Somca. How.ver. the Servica h..
nol required thaI thl. be done during tha
em.rgency or expedtted conaultatlon. ..
Ihi. m.y not .Iw.y. be po..lble. Tha
new paragr.pb (h) require. that tho
Yederal .,.ncy conduct an "after tha
I.ct" coOlultallon. Tha Sarvica will
evaluat. the Lnformatlon .ubmlned by
!he p.deral osencY. i.tI.. tha nature of tha
emergenCY actlona.luotiftcatloa for tho
expedited conaultallon. IDd ID
.v.luatlon of the ImpecIJ \0 Uatad

S-07_ OOI4(OO)(Jt-MA Y-a6-ua""9j

~

.p.e1.. and crttlcal hablla~ .nd I..u. a
biologic. I opinion Includlng tho
Infonnatlon and recommendation. given
during tho .mergency con.ullatlon. Thi.
will .erv. nol only 10 docwn.nt fully th.
con.u1I.Uon. but may ...I.t tho Pederal
.gency In r..ponding to .lmUar
emergencle..
One commenter argued that, when
d.aUng with a fir.. nood, .arthquake. or
Ilonn, there II not enough time or
opportunity for a Federal .s.ncy to
und.rtake con.ultaUon Ihroush .n
alternat. proc... d.termlned hy tho
Director to be conllltent with lection 7.
The Sorvica notal that the utmo.t
n.xibllity I. ne.ded 10 handle the mo.t
extreme emergenclel and believes thal
the Lnfonnal proce.. outlined In thta
.ection would latilfy the commenter'.
concarn lor tho avaU.bUlty 01 prompt
conaultaUon and decl.lonmaklnB In
emergency .ttuatlon..
The Somca Iurth.r recognize. tha t It
II lometimel necellary to take
Immediate .tep. 10 contain. Itml~ or
alleviate an em.rgency In order to
protect health. .afety. and w.lfare prior
to In/Ilating 'DY form of coruulta/ion.
However. tho Sorvica would Uke to
.lrele the lact that It. early Involvement
I. importanlln order to lake advantage
of III .xperti.. In m!nlmlzlng tho errecll
of emergency responle actlvitiel on
endangered and threatened species.
Federal agencies mUlt exercise
di.cretlOD wh.n re.pondlng 10 an
emera:ency BS to when to consult with
the Servica. Thl. wiU depend on tha
nature of the amergaDcy and the actiona
thai are Imm.dlately require" The
Federal agency .bould contact the
Sorvica .. .oon aa practicabl.. keeping
In mlnd the Lnformal n. lure of
emargeDcy conaultalloD and Sarvica
expertllO In mInImIzlna tha Impacll 01
emergency relponse actlvitial on
.ndangered and threatanad .peel...

Seclion 402.otJ Coordinalian with
Othtlr Environmental ~vlaw..

Thl. ..ction on coordin.tlon with
othar environmental revlewI contain.
paragrapbt la) and (h) 01 140Z.10 IDd
paragrapb (c) of 1402.17 of the propoled
ruI.. The .ub.llDca of tha.a paragr.pba
be. been adopt.d. but tho lorm.t haa
been altered.
Th... reguJalloDJ. foUowlng tho IIl'T8
ruI.. allow Pad.ra1 ageDd.. to
coordIn.ta thalr conaultatlon.
conference, and biological a.....mIDI
.....pon.lblUtlaa UDder tho Act with tho
aaency'. .....poDJlbl1ltl.. undar oth.r
.tatut.. .uch aa NEPA lU U.8.c. ~ at
''''1.) or the Flab and WUdIIf.
Coordination Act (YWCA. 10 U.S.C. 001
tit Hq.). Th. Sarvica moo....... PadGraI
qmcI.. \0 ooordInata th..e

F4701.FMT ...[ll1,lIOJ...4-1Hll

, '
... \

rupon.lblllU... but bellove.lIl.
p....ler.bl. 10 .1I0w Pede..l .s.ncl.. to
do 10 In a manner thal be.t contonn. to
th.lr partlcul.r aclloOl aDd wblch they
b.lI.ve I. IDa" .fflel.nl. Th.....lo..... the
a.nt.nca. In tho propoHd 1402.1O(b)
.tallnB thai biological ......m.nll
,hould be Incorporatad Into tho
docum.nl. r.qulred by other .talut..
(Iuch.. NEPA) h.v. be.n dropped from
the flnel ruI..
Sev.ral commenlera .pplauded the..
paragraph. becaUJa tha coordlnallon of
environmental review. would ....duca
duplication 01 paperwork and live lime.
On. commenter ....que.ted auJdaoce on
how a NEPA ....vlew of .ndange....d
.peele. IlIue. .hould be conducted. The
Servica I. not In . po.llIon \0 provld.
crtterla that will.naure .dequat. NEPA
compllanca on .ndangered .peete.
I..ue.. The Sorvica .ugge.1I thai the
comment.r contact the Council on
EnvlronmaDIaI Qu.llty. the ageDcy In
charge of NEPA compUanca. \0 obtain
.uch Lnformatloa.
Anoth.r comm....... expreaaad
concarn that, In .In",\lfylna tha
con.u1talloD proca... '..feauarda .hould
be uaed 10 avoId po\elltlel abuae and
.ub.tantlve problema. The oommenter
feared tha~ wtthout aafeauarda. NEPA
compllanca mJabt be oonalrued aa belna
I... nece..ary on IDdangered .peele.
mattera. The Servlca la aIao concamed
that It relaln .uflIeleot revl.w capabUlty
to Identtfy potenllal oonfilcIJ betweeD
propolOd Faderalactiona and li.ted
.peel... Therefo..... It b.. 'lIahlly altered
III conaultalloD procedure. In thla final
rula to en.ure that all Pederal action.
~at "may aJlocl" li.ted .pede. receive
aOID. dearea of revlllW UDder Lnformal or
fonnal conoultatlon.
Tha concluding IODteDcaa of
paraareph la) .mpbaalze thel a1thouaJ>.
for example. . blologlcal aal8llDlBDt
can be Incorporated Inlo ID EI5, the
procedW1l' of th... reguletlooa aIao
muol be .atlalled to anaura .dequeta
and lIm.ly anaIy... lIurlns tho aactIOD 7
coDJultallon proceu. Th... ..nteocaa
a1.0 expre.. tha Intaat of tha Service to
avoid. frasmanted anaIyala of
envlronmenlal ooDoarDI throaah tha
Servica'. dIntct .lfortJ \0 provide.
coordinated revI.w. The Servlca
decllnea to dal.ta theae IODtaoca. u
requ..tad by MYeraI commantera.
UDder paragraph (h~ the ServlOI
agreu wtth . COlllDl8lll thaI tha
blologlcal opinion ahould be .tated In
tha lInel .nvlrollmll1la1lmpect
.t.tement or eavttoDmental .'M.~aftL
^ .tatamaol of the opinion may be .
'UD1lD8l)' of III f\ndInp and cooclualODJ,
contrary \0 the fear 01 ODe commenlar
thel the IIIt1n oplnloa IlUl8I be ~tad

~.