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

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19941

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Feder.1 Resl.ler / Vu\. 51. No. 106 / Tue.day. June 3. 1986 / Rule. and Resulatlon.

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''In/onn.1 con.ull.Uon" Includll .11
the contlcll (dl.cunlon.. .
coml.pond.nc.. etc.) between the
Federel ..eney or It. de.lineled non.
Feder.1 repr...nl.Uv. .nd the Service
thallalt. place prior 10 the lolU.llon 01
any neculary formal con.ultatlon.
In/ormal conlultaUon may be ulld by
th. Fed...1 "lI.ncy In d.l.nnlnlng
whether (annal con.ullllUon under
1402.14 or a conI.renca under 1402.10 I.
required.
"Form.1 con.ultaUon" I. required
under .acUon 7(.)(2) 01 tha Act. A
F.d.rel ..ency mUlllnlUat. lormal
con.ultaUon lllt delannln.. thai It.
acUon "may affect" any lIated .pecles or
III crlUcal b.bil.t unIenll detannlne.
throush Informal conoullalion or
biological .......m.nl procadure.. with
the written UlnC>UTence 01 the Service.
that III acUon "I. nolllkaly to advenely
.ffect" .uch .p.ele. or ha~ltat. U the
acUon l. a "maJor con.trucUon activity,"
the biological BI.8l1ment requirement
mUll be aaU.ned before formal
colUullaUon may begin. Formal
con.ultaUon I. concluded within 90 day.
or .xtended In accordance with tha
provl.loDl of 1402.14. Within 45 day.
.lter concluding formal con.ultaUon. the
Service will deliver III biological
OplnJOD alating whether or not the action
I. likely 10 jeopardize the continued
exl.tence of lI.t.d .peel.. or re.ult In
the de.trucUon or advene modification
of crlUcal babl14t. U formal cOlUullaUon
re.ulllln a "j.opardy" biological
opinion. re..onable and prod.en.
alt.rnaUve.. II any. will be Includ.d In
the oplnlon.
Theae procedure. are diaculled more
Cully below. logether with tho oocUon.
soverntns po.I-COlUul14Uon
re'polUlbWU.. of F.deral "lIenelll and
th. facto.. that require relnltlaUon of
lormal colUultaUon. Specific public
comm.nll are treatad on a sectlon-by-
oecUon b..l..

S<<:tion 402.10 ConferenCtl on Propo.ed
Sped.. or PropooeJ Critical HobitaL

'I11e 19711 Amendm.nll added tho
requ\renlelllln aectlon 7(.)(4) thet
Fedaral asoncJ.. conIer with tho Service
on any F.deralacUon that 10 1Ikaly 10
joopardlsa tho contlnu.d .xIatance of
any PlOpooed .peeI.. or re.ullln tha
deotrucUon or .dv..... modiflcaUon of
PlOpoHd crlUcal babllat. 'I11e purpo.. of
thio Nqu\renlelll 11 10 Identify and
reoolv. pol8lltlal oonlUcII between an
acUon and propooed .peela. or
~.opoood crlUcal babllal .t an ..rly
point In tbc cIecIotonmaIdnt ptO'>On.
Cooloroncotl will be conducted on an
Informal buIa betw.... the Fed.ral
apncy and the s.rvtce. 'I11e ServIoo will
IIl&ke reoommmdaUol1l.ll any. 10

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minimize or avoid .dv.... .ff.ct. 01 the
Ictton on propolld .peclel or propoaed
crlUc.1 hablt.t. Th... r.comm.nd.Uon.
are .dvl.ory In nalur.. b.c.u.. the
"Jeopardy" prohlblllon of ncllon 7(.)(2)
dOli not apply until the .p.cl..l. lI.t.d
or the crillcal habU.t I. d..Iin.t.d.
How.v.,. the F.d.ral "s.ney .nd any
.ppllcant .hould glvo .eriou.
con.ldaraUon 10 Impl.m.ntIna tho
recomm.ndaUon. .lnce.lf tho .pecl.. I.
lal.r 1I.I.d or crlUcal babU.t d..lgnatad.
tha F.d.ral .s.ney mu.t revl.w It.
acllon. reglrdl.n of It. .I"lIe of
compl.tlon. to dat.nnln. wh.th.r
con.ullaUon I. r.qulred.1n certeln
In.tanc.. the F.d.ral os.ncy and the
Service may conduct the conference In
.uch a thoroush mann.r that It would
.aU.fy tho con.ultatlon requirement. of
..ctlon 7(8)(2J U the propo.ed lI.tIna or
de.lgnatlon I. .ub..quenUy complet.d.
The conference procedure. a1'8 not
repeUtlv. of work p.rformed In the
preparaUon of a blologlcala.....ment.
.. .1I88..ted by three comm.nl.... Flret.
tho conI.rence requlrem.nl applle. to
all F.deral acUon.. while the bIological
allles.ment requirement only applies to
action. that are "major construction
actlvltl..:. Second. tha conference
requlremant applle. to propo.ad .pecl..
and propo..d crlUcal habitat, whereas
bIological a..e..m.nll are required only
wben lI.t.d .p.e1.. or crlUcal babltal
may be prelent 10 the action area
(althoush proposed .poele. or propo..d
crlUcal babltal .bould b. cov.red In tha
a.le.lment If they alia may be present
In the acUon area). Thu.. tho conIorence
proce.. BIll tha n.ad 10 alert Federal
"lI.nel.o of pOlllbl. .t.p. that tho
"lIenoy mlsht taIr.. al an .erly .t"ll. 10
.dju.1 their acUon. to avoid
jeopardlxlns 0 propo.ed .peel... The
Service .trungly .ncourasa. tho
Impl.menl.Uon of tho recommandatlon.
10 tho .cUon would not vlolal. ..cUon
7(aJl2) II tho .pecl..l.ll.l.d or tho
crlUcal babllal d.'linated.
Altar revl.wing . biological
allBllment or other Ilvallable
Inform.tlon, tho Servlce may d.t.rmIn.
thel a conI.rence I. required for tho
propoHd .peel.. or propo.ed crlUcal
babllal. A ..nl.nce b.. been add.d to
tho n.w paragr.pb (b) of 1402.10
[proposed 1402.18('11 10 polnl oul tha
Service'. reopolUlbllity 10 Nqu..1 a
F.deral ...ncy 10 conf.r aft.r a review
of .vallabl. lnformaUon. Th. la'l
"DI.nce of the proposed paragrapb (.)
b.. be.n d.l.ted .lnoo tho n.w 1402.08
claarly d.nn.. the rol. of tho d"linaled
non-Federal rep....nla!lv.. Th. Service
doclJne. 10 take the pooItlon thetlt can
"require" tha lnltlaUon of . conl.renoo.
hooallH tha Foderal aaency boa.. the

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ulllmato re'polUlblllly 10 ...... the
likelihood of j.op.rdy 10 propo.ed
.p.cl.. by III .ctlon.. Howev.r. lh.
Service will vlsllonlly revl.w biological
......ment. and other Ivallable
Information and fulnllU. duty to make
F.d.ral as.ncl.. awar. of tholr
...pon.lbIIlUe. under Ih. Act.
Th. Service .mph..lze. the need lor
Federal1l88nclBl to confer because lIuch
efforll m.y nol only minimize or avoid
Injury 10 propo..d .p.cl.. bul might
al.o prevent tho haUlng of an acUon If
the .peel.. I. .ub..quently lI.t.d:
Obvloualy. F,deral...ncllI1rrlver1!lbly
commltUns r..oUI'CCI' and roredo'lns
.1t.maUve. 10 aD actJoD thalllll.kaly 10
J.opardize . propo.ed 'r:cle. do .0 with lhe
rt.1r. thai the .peele. wU eventually be
formaU)' 11I1.d and the prohlblUon. of HclJon
7 will become applicable. The coaleree. do
nol beUeve thai any Pederal .,.ney or
permJnee .bouJd make aDY ttteverslble or
bnlrlnable coaunJlmen.lJ of nlOUl"Ce' for
th. purpoH or witb the Inlenl of fonclo.ing
olh.rwi.e rea,oDabl..alternalJve. or In order
10 secure an eX8mptJon punuanllo Metton
7(h).

H.R. ConI. R.p. No. 897. 96th Cons.. 111
Sen. 13 (1979).
Th.re I. no requirement tha1 Federal
as.nele. conI.r with the Servlce on
.p.e1.. that are candldat.. for Uottna
propolal.. However. for the rea.ons
Id.ntlfled by Congro.. In the Conference
R.portlo the 19711 Amandm.nl. on
propo.ed .peel... the Service
.ncourag.. Fed.rel "lIenele. to conIer
Informally on candldat. opecle. when
d..m.d appropriate to avoid laopardy
and 10 .vold potential economic 10..
tbroush proj.ct modification U tho
.peel.. I. lal.r lI.ted.
Several .peclflc chllll8e. were
recomm.nd.d for propo.ed peragrapb
[a) [paragrapb. (0) and (b) In the final
rul.]. On. comm.nt.r f.11 that tho
ref.rence 10 "pot.nUeI endllll8.red
.peele. conIl1ct." w.. 100 re.trIctlve.
Th. Snrvlce agra.. thai tha propo..d
rulo rnJsbt bav. be.n con. trued .0 a. to
.xcluda threat.nad .peel... Therefore.
tho ..nt.nce ba. b..n adju.t.d to refer
10 all pol.DUeI conIl1cl..
On. comment.r urged tha Service 10
cbanse tho .Iandard for InIUattna a
'Kllon 7[a)(4) conIarence from "lIkaly to
I.opardlza" to ''would .dv.....ly aff.ct."
The regulation troclu the .lalul.. The
Servlca l.clu tho authority to malt. tho
..que.led cbanse.
Sev.ral commenl... urged tha Servle
to malt. provl.lon. for .ppllcant
Involv.menlln the conI.rence proce...
Th. 8avIoo ....... and ba. added
11IIIU....1n paragraphl (.). (c). and (e)
of 1402.10 10 a"lIre thai .ppUcanla have
an DJ>>-tuDity 10 participate In the

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