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

0023';'8 I
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Fed.r.l RqI.ter I Vol. 51, No. 106/ Tue.d.y. June 3. 1986 / Rule. and Regulallon.

19927

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f.

ph.... of th. con.u1t.lIon proc.dur... A
pro.pecllv. permlt or IIc.n.. .ppllcant
m.y ...qu..t F.d.ral.senel.. to Inlll.l.
coDlult.lIon In .dv.nc. of Ollna for .ny
n.ed.d Ucen.. or p.rmit, If th.y hav.
.....on to b.lI.v. th.t th.1r propo..d
acUon. m.y aff.ctll.t.d .p.cl.. or
criUcal h.blt.t. nu. n.w provl.lon.
und.r ..cllon 7(.J(3). for ...arly
con.u1t.lIon" .110' v. a pro.pecllve
.ppllc.nt tho opp-.rtunlty to dl.cov.r.
.nd .Uampt to re.olv.. potanllal
Indangered or threatened specIes
conllJcll .arly In tho pl.nnIng .taga of
tho propo.ad acUon-& 11m. .t which
alt.rallon. In proJ.ct pl.n. could
involve much le.. expen.e and delay.
l'urIh.r Involvem.nt of tho applicant
In tho conaultallon pI'< -.ed'1I'O. I.
provld.d by tha requlrem.nt Lilal the
applicant be Involv.d In lIm.
ext"'::'lon.. Congrea. amended aBction
7(c) to require tho F.deral agency 10 glv.
wrill.n noUce to th. applicant
explaining why any .xten.lon of tho
blologlcala..e..ment deadllna t.
n..ded. U formal con.u1taUon under
...cUon 7(.)(2) I. .xt.nd.d by th.
Service ...d th. Federal ag.ncy for up to
eo day.. the Service mu.l provlda the
.ppllcant with. wriU.n explanallon of
the feUDDI for exlenalon. Any
.xteDllon pa.t eo day. must be
.pproved by tha .ppllcant. C1.arly. tha
permit or llcen.. .ppllcant play. an
acUv. role In tho conaultaUon proca...
.'-' ;"'i'.. The final rule recogni%el thl.lncresled
". . ,role of th. .ppllcant while retaining the
.. ',., requlroment that formal communication.
" , Oow betw..n th. F.deral agency and
:. ... the .Servlce during th. con.ultaUon
.~ . : procell. .
., . In ord.r to Implemenl th....
Amendm.nllto .ecllon 7 and to
otherwl...lmprov. th. Interag.ncy
cooperaUon proca... the Service
publl.bed . propo.ed ruI. on June 29.
11163 (48 Fa 2lllllJO-3OOO4). Although the
Service orlgln.lly .pocl/I.d . lllkIay
comment period for th... revl..d
MClIon 7 regui.Uona. th. comm.nt
period w.. .xlanded untU September 30.
1ll63. lb. Service recelv.d
.pproxlmately 70 comm.nll from other
Fedenlagenel.... Stel. sov.rnm.ntal
aaonele.. prlv.ta organlzaUona. and
oth.r Indlvlduala and .ntiti.. Ofl th.
propoted rule.
Altar carefu1 conaldaroUon of th....
commonll. th. Service h.. modlfl.d the
regulotiona to c1arIfy tho conaulwtion
proceaa and to Improv. th. ovorall
organization of tho reguI.tiona. lb....
technJcaI chanin are more fully
explained In th. NCtIon-by-NCtIon
anaIy.1o below and wore macla to
occximmodato ooaoemo raiMd In th.
public commonll.

s-m4999 0DDJ(lXl)(3 t-NA Y -I6-13a.406)

Gononl Commoata
-., "' .
The m.jorlty of tho comm.nt.
rec.lv.d on tho propo.od rula focu.od
on particular r.suI.tory provl.lon. or
conro.pt.. Th... .p.cIOc commtnt. ar.
dllcu...d In tho ..oUon-by..ecllon
an.lYIII. However. IIveral commenterl
.xpr....d g.n.ral conc.rn. with tho
propo..d rule or .ddr....d m. tt... thai
w.nt b.yond the .cope of tho propo..l.
Th..e sen.r.1 comment. ranaed from
pral.. for the compreh.n.lvene.. of th.
propo..1 to criUcl.m for tha propo.al'.
alleg.d fallur. to requlra the lav.1 of
analy.1I end prot.cllon mandated by
the Act. Th. Service b.llave. that thl:
final rul. prop.rly and eccurat.ly
Impl.m.nt. tho Am.ndment. to the Act
and afford. the prolacllon m.ndatad by
lecllon 7.
The Hou.e of Repre..ntaUv..
Committe. on M.rchanl Marine and
Fllherle. ["Hou.. COmmlU.a..). which
oversee. tho Implemental\on of the Act.
.ubmtU.d comment. on tho propo..d
rule. Th. Commltle. commended the
Servlc. In II. .ffort. to Iran.lat.
complex leglolaUon Into agency poUcy
and not.d .peclftc are.. that It beU.ved
dld not conform 10 the l.gl.laUvelntent.
The.e maU... have b..n clarlO.d In th.
final rule.
One commenter was concerned that
the propo..d rule confuo.d tho Infonnal
(nonmandatory) con.ultallon
compon.nll with tho formal (requlrodJ
components or lb.e consultation procesl.
To elarlfy W. maU.r. tho Service h..
dI.lInsul.bed optional procedure. from
required procedure. In the final rule. For
.xampl.. the conf.rence procedure.
(1402.10) ar. required for Fed.ral
acllon. that ant Uk.ly to J.opardlz.
propo.ed .p.cleo or propo..d crillcal
habttat and the formal con.u1tallon
procedure. [140Z.14) ant requlrod for
acUon. that may aff.ctll.t.d .pecl.. or
criUcal habitat. Addlllon.lly. biological
......m.nll 1140Z.12) .re ",qulrod for
"major con.tructlon .ctivlti..." Early
conaultatlon (140Z.11) and Informal
conault.Uon (140Z.13) are optional
procadure. and ant el.arly de.tgnat.d
.. .uch In th. final ruI..
COncern.d .boullncze..ed
p.perwork burdens and pot.ntial lIm.
commltm.nta re.u1tlng from the
propooal, on. comment.r complaln.d
that the propooad rule 10 burd.naom.,
unooca..ary. and unaocopt.hle. lb.
comm.nt.r not.d that oddlUonal
prot.ction for 1I.led .pocie. or th.1r
habitat would notre.u1t from th..e
all....d In""'.... In .dmln1.lr.tivo
bunt..., and It ura.d thai currently UIod
proca..... be m.lntalnad. Th. 80rvlce
omphlllza. th.t th. propooal w.. not
Intended to Incze... In lD,V .,ay tho

F 4701.PMT ...[18.30]...4-11H16

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pap.rwork burden of Pod.r.l .g.nc:t"
or any oth.r p.rttclp.ntln tho :' -1
conlultlllon procel.. Mor.ov.r.ll\...'t
purpo.. of th. propo..l w..to .IJ.-\
Implem.nt the Amandm.nt. 10 the Acl
In .uch a way II to .1r..mUne Ih.
con.ull.tlon proce.. whll. maintaining
tho prot.cllon. afforded .p.cl.. under
..cUon 7. Th. conc.rn of the comm.nler
h.. be.n .ddr...ad 10 the extent
po..lbl. by tho Servlc.'. effort to clarify
tho con.ultallon proceIPln thl. final
ruI.. Becau.. .ecllon '.Impo... certain
requlremenll on F.d.tail agencl... any
burden. recognlzad lli thl. final rule .re
a creature of .tatutol't law..
Impl.m.nl.d by th..~~regulaUon..
Two comm.nl.rs ....ert.d that the
Act prot.ct. babltat only wh.n Ill.
d..tgnal.d .. tho crill"a. habllal of a
U.ted .p.cie. and. the....fore. the Service
mu.l Id.nUfy are.. of criUcal habltet for
allU.led op.el..to ...uread.quate
protection. Ill. tru. that the Service ha.
not de.tgnat.d critical h.bllat for aU
lI.t.d .peel... The Service h..
con.l.tently taken the po.ltlon that II I.
not prud.ntlo ,...Ign.t. criUcal habitat
for a .p.e1e. U to do .0 would Increa.e
the rI.k that th. .peel.. mtsbt be taken
or would otherwlae nOI ben.O. the
.pecte.. See 50 CPR 4Z4.12(a). How.ver,
tho comm.nt.rs Ignore th. f.cl that
..ction , prol.ctiona ou.ch 10 both
d..lsnated criUcal habItat and to each
individual of a lI.ted .peel.. wlthln the
jurl.dlction of tho United State. or on
the high ...... An .ction could
jeopardJu the conUnu.d .xl.tence of a
U.t.d .peele. through th. d..trucllon or
adv.rs. modlflcaUon of Ita babltat.
regardl... of whether th.t hablrai b..
been de.llinal.d a. "crillcal habllat."
lbu.. the failure of the Servlcit/<i
da.tgnat. critical habItat for 'Slven
.p.ct.. doe. not automaUcaIly'm.an
thai Ita hahlta'l. without protecilon.
Two Stat.. commented th.1 F8d.ral
as.nel.. charged with Implemontlng the
Act .hould recogni%e and coOperat.
with the Stat.. In re.olvin8 waler
re.ourco l..u.. wlthln the cOnt~xt of
..ction 7. COnal.t.nt with the:' '.
Departm.nt'. "sood nelghbor":~Ucy,
on. comm.nt.r .ncouraged tho Service
to .ctiv.ly Include aff.cted S..te. In any
conault.tlon proca... The Service
Int.ncla to cooperal. with all State .nd
local ag.nel..to relOl;'o w.tern.ourco
I..u.. conal.t.n' with tha raqwntit.nta
of the Act. Th. Service .tancla .....dy to
reeelva any and .U comm.nll. dala. or
other Input from any efrectad Stat.. thaI
are Inl.....tad In . parttcular IeClIon' .
conaultallon. Howovar. conaulljlll!in
tuu placa betwean tho Servlco'.tho
Fed.ral apncy and. wh.re. 'pplfcebl.. .
Padanl permit or 1IcaZlIII .ppllcant.

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