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

002386

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19945

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Fed.r.1 Reglot.r I Vol. 51. No. 106 I Tu..day. June 3. 1986 I Rul.. and Regulalion.

contu.lon. tho blol"lllcal ......m.nt
provl.lon. &nI pl.ced In . upar.t.
..ctlon. la.m.dJ.t.ly b.fore Wonn.1
con.ult.tlon. Although. F.der.1 .g.ncy
m.y prepare. biological ......m.nt
whU. I"volv.d In lnfonn.1 con.ull.tlon
wtth tho Servlc.. th.re I. no requirement
that It do '0.
ReferencflI to conference. early
con.u1t.Ucn. and Cormal con.uttatJen in
propo..d 1402.1Z (b)(7) (third through
fifth ..ntence.) .nd (b)(10) have bo.n
deleted becaule C'OI.-reCerencel to the
biological a.....m.nt requlrem.nt have
bo.n In.erl.d In 1140z.10. 4OZ.11. .nd
4OZ.14 to .xplaln tho Int.rrelatlon.hlp of
the.e procell".
Th. purpo.. of a "blologlcal
......m.Dt... .. .tat.d In I40Z.1Z(.).I.
to .valuat. the poteDtlal .ffect. of the
1 action on lilted or propoled l!Ipeclee or
.~,. de.lgoat.d or propo.ed critlcel habitat
-". and determln. whethar any .uch .pacle.
,. and habitat &nI Uk.ly 10 be adveroely
affected by tho actloD. Blologlcel
.aae,lmentJ are dulgned to aaalll
Fed.r.1 q.nele. In "dalermlnlng
whether .ectlon 7(a)(Z) con.ultatlon
.hould b. Inltlated by Identifying
.Ddang.red or threaten.d .p.cle. that
may bo pre..nt in the area affected hy
th.1r propo.ed proj.cl and by
Id.nllMn8 tho Impacta of tho.. proj.ct.
OD .uch .peel..," H.R. R.p. No. a97. 96th
Cong.. 1.t Se... 14 (11179). Such
.,lealmenlJ are delfsned to promote
tho ".arly dJ.covery of and .lueldatlDn"
Df poteDtlal endangered and threatenad
.peele. confllcta wtth propo.ed q.ncy
.CtlOOl. The.. revl.w. .hould take
1 place well before the agency exerclls,
u\l;1'l14acreUOD 10 authorize. fund. or cany
.' .' :. 'quI '''!' .CtlOD. H.R. R.p. No.l6Z5. 95th
:' ,", 'Corig.. zd Se... ZO (11178).
; ,.';"j' 00. comm.Dt.r ..ked that.
ref.rence bo In.aarl.d for preparation of
"preliminary biological ......ment.,'.
Th. Service doe. Dot require .dv.nc.
review of draft biological ......m.Dt.;
tha reque.t.d procedure would .dd to
.talutory requlrem.Dt.. Therefore. the
.ddJtlon h.. DDI bo.D made.
8oclIOD 4OZ.1Z(b)(1) of tho final rule
.clcnowlodg.. that tha Act ox.mplo
from tha bIological ......moat
requlnm.Dt tho.. .ctlOIU for whlch
cootractJ were let or coDltrucUon wa.
.\arled OD or bafore the .ffactlve d.ta of
tha 11178 Amoadmanta. One comm.Dt.r
arvuad thai tha ......moat requlnmaDI
muol Dot ba retroactlv.. but .hould
.pply only \0 CWTlIDt .ctlOIU .. of the
luuaDCI of the I\.oaI rul.. Tho 8ervIce
muol foUow tha Act on th!I point and
.dopt tha rula .. propoood. nu. will Dot
operata \0 tho dJ..dvanlqa of any
Fiodara!lI8GlCY lnYolvold In . oectIon 7
CODIUltatloo, bacol1N tha 8ervIoa bat
baaa roquIr\DI the prop&nl lion of

~ OlDI(DIXJI-WA Y..-.-I3.u.",

blolosloal ......m.nl. .lnc. tho
.ff.ctlv. d.t. of tho 11178 Am.ndm.nt..
Section 4OZ.12(b)(1) .1.0 rocognl...
th.1 vlrtu.lly any F.d...1 ag.ney. St.le
or loc.l...ncy. privat. o'V.ntzatlon. or
IndJvtdu.1 (pot.DtI.1 .x.mptlon
.ppllcanta) m.y volunt.rily prepare.
blologlcel......m.nl con.l.t.nt with
tho proc.dure. ..t forth In thl. .ectlon
10 ...I.t II In fulfilling It. ..ctlon 7
re.pon.lbllltl.a. On. comm.nt.r urged
tha Service to d.l.t. the ..ntenca
ref.rrIng to volunlary prep.r.lIon of
......ment. In propolOd t40Z.1Z(b)(l)
b.cau.e con.ultaUon I. termlnat.d If a
bIological a.....m.nll. not required.
The commenter'. It.tement I. only tnJe
for an .ctlon If no lI.t.d .p.cl.. or
crillcal habltal &nI pre..nlln tho
propo..d action &nI'. Th. placement of
thai ..nlence In the propo.ed rule w..
contu.ing. .nd thus tho final rula h..
be.n clarlfl.d. Th. Service would like to
. make it cIsar. however. that whether a
blologlcal a.....m.nt I. required or
voluntary bears no relation to whether 8
conference (:. (ormal consultation III
requlnd u' "r It40UOor 4OZ.14.
respactlvelj '("be ...s..ment I, a tool
u.ed to Idan; ,fy Imp.cta tD .peele. or
habitat .0 thai a d.cI.lon can be mad.
.. to wh.th.r a propo..d action I. likely
10 adve...ly aff.ct lI.tad apecl.. or
critlcel habitat. Th. biological
BlseSlIment can be ulad to determJne
whether I conference or fannal
con.ultatlon I. requlnd.
Tha Acl provld.. th.tany p...on who
may wI.b to apply for an ex.mptlon
from tho requlnment. of .actlon 7(a)(Z)
m.y voluntarily conducl .ueb an
8s8SlIment. In cooperation with the
Service and under the .upervl.lon of th.
appropriate Fad.ral q.DCY. Th...
pot.ntlal exemption appUcanta mu.1
foUow the procedure. d..crlbad In
140Z.1Z. UDder IOctlon ?[b)(Z). .n
ex.mptloD I. Dot perman.nt unla.. a
biological ......m.Dt h.. baeD
prepar.d. A p.rmaneDt .x.mptlon
rom.1n.a In fon:a for. p.rtlcular F.d.ral
.ctlOD rosardl... of tho natlng of
.ddJtlonal .peel.. In the action .rea.
wh..... an ordinary .x.mptlon I.
1ImJled to tho .pacl.. Irvolv.d In tho
_tlOD 7 coD.ultatlOD. Parqr.ph (b}(1)
.clcnowlodg.. the.. .latulory
provlllo....
Th.refore. tho 8ervIce retalna the
n.xlbUlly lnh.reDt In paragr.ph (b)(1)
th.1 allow. for tho preparation of
biological ......m.DIo In thOIO
In.atance. wb... th.y &nI DDt
.paclfloaIly requlnd by thla rul..
Although requ..tad by anoth.r
commoator. tho 8arvIoa dacI1na. to"l
,wdo1lnao for the .xarcI.. of d1ocratIOD
by other Fod.ra1 ....a1H or .ppltcanta

P001.PM'I',,.[1ll.3O)..4-15-8l1

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on Ih. d.el.lon to volunt.rily prep.re
...ellmentJ.
P.r.gr.ph (b)(Z) h.. b..n .dded In
re.polU. 10 public comment.. The
limit. lion In ..ctlon 7(c)(1) of Ihe Act on
ent.ring conlract. or .tarllng
con.tructlon on .n .ctlon whll. the
prepar.tlon of. biological a..e..m.nt i.
p.ndlng h.. be.n Included In the.e
regulation.. nu, con.tnlctton rettTlelion
.ppll.. 10 all acllon. Involving the
preparaUon of a blologlcal.lleument.
Th. fact that a blol"lllcala..e..ment
t. not requlrad for all action. do.. nol
mean that 1I.led or propo.ed .peciel or
dOllgnated or propo..d critlcel habitat
receive Ie.. prolecUon. Federal agencies
.tlU hav. an obligation to r.vlew all of
their .cllon. to d.termln. wh.ther
formal con.ultatlon under I40U4 I.
requlnd. In addJtlon, Federal agencies
mu.t conter on actio.. th.1 are likely to
leopardJz. tho continued exl.lence of
propo.ad .pecl.. or re.ult In the
d..tructlon or .dve... modJficeUon of
propo..d critical h.bitat.
00. comm.nt.r a.ked that Federal
ag.ncl.. ba requlnd to docwoent any
finding of "no effect" on lI.ted .peelea or
critlcel habltal for octlon. not Involving
the prepar.tlon of a blologlcal
allBSlment. The Service hal no /
authorily to Impo.. .uch a requirement. .,
but doel encourage Federal agencies to
u.e th.1r NEPA documentation to
lI1u.trate th.1r analy.l. of Endanaered
Specl.. Actl..u...
Th. Service re.erv.. the rlghlto
reque.t th.t on qency prepare a
biological a..e..meDt. Ooe commenler
qu..tlon.d tho right of the Service 10
requelt alaealment. when auch are not
oth.rwi.. required by tho Act. Another
comm.nter f.&nId thaI tho Service
would roulln.ly requ..t fi.ld .ludie.
wtth many of the charact.ri.Uc. of
biological ......m.Dt.. ros.rdI... of the
.CtloD'. pOI.DtI.1 .fraclo. tha
.ccepl.bUlly of a gon.ral field
reconnol..ance. or tho obllS.tloD of the
Service 10 provld. guidance and data.
Th. Servlca'. requ.'1 for. bIological
......m.Dt or for fi.ld .ludJ.. II not of
mand.tory .ff.ct; . Fed.ralll8ency moy
reJocI any .uch requ..t. Th. Service
recogolza. th.1 cOlUultatlon InvolvOl a
two-Wfty now of Wonn. tlOD. It wtll
a1w.y. .trtv. to provld. d.ta that ore
.vall.bl. and to ...I.t In d..i8ntna or In
coDductlng .tudJ.. (wtthln budget.ry
COlUtralDta and .vallabl. .t.ffing) or In
g.th.rIng data throush coD.ult.tlDn.
Parqraph (c) of 140Z.1Z cove.. tho
req....t by . Fed.ral oaaDcy for.
opaaIoa lI.t from tha 8ervIce. Tbl.
paragraph w.. .dopted from
140Z.U(h}(1) (Bret oantanca) of the
propoaadnd..Pa:a,rapb(d)ofl~lZ