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

~02397

19U6

Federal RasI.ter I Vol. ~1. No, 100 I Tue.day. June 3.1966 I Rule. and Regulation.

on form.1 ..n.ull.lIon becau.e IW2.14
II the prim.ry m.nd.tory proced\U'1l of
Pa rt 402.
The propo.ed rule provtdad that
consultation terminated with th~
(nuance of 8 "no Jeopardy" opinion
unl... further dlacu..lon took pl.ce.
and. If a "Jeopardy" opinion w...I..ued,
con.ultatlon larmlneted with the
Service'a receipt of the Feder.1 agency'a
decision on the IIcUon. TbJ. noUce
requirement waa a1t1c1zed by .everal
commenterl 81 UMece...ry and 81
extendl"3 con.u1tallon beyond the legal
limeframe. A. dlscu..ed under the
"Definition," lIecUon above. further
discu8sion haa been deleted 8' 8 formal
step in th~ consultation proceas. Further.
to accommodate the concern.,
consultation terminates with lhe
i.auance of the l?lological opinion.
whether "Jeopardy" or "no Jeopardy,"
However, the Service believel that the
Federal agency noUce of final action
with re.pecl to "Jeopardy" oplniona
represents B mJnimal burden and has
retained it under 1402.1l>-
"Responsibilities of Federal agency
followi"3 I..uance of a biological
opinion." The Service agrees the t a copy
of the NEPA record of deci.lon would
meet the notice pro"i.ion. of 1402.15(b):
the Service di.agreea lbatlhi. epproach
CBUlel problelll8 with NEPA
compliance.
.., I Finally. one commenter .ugge.ted that
,'. . wrlllen notice be required 10 tennJnate
, r..... con.ultation If a Federal agency or
. . appllcanl decide. to cancel plana for the
action that i. the eubject of the
. . con.ultaUon. The Service agreea that a
. , writlen notice of termination Is
: preferred. and baa adopted the
" ' G9,mmenter'e auggeatlon In paragraph
(1)[2).

.' -- &ction 402.15 Relpon.ibililie6 of
. ' Fedetf11 Agency Following luuanC8 of 0
BialOSicol Opinion.

Followi"3lbe receipt of lbe Service'.
biological oplnJon. lbe Federal agency
will make III final decl.ion on the
action. Section 402.15 de.cribe. the
.tepe that lb. Federal agency ehould
lake arrer con.ultatlon I. concluded.
Paragraph. (a) and (cJ of We ..ctlon are
adopled .ub.lantlally wllhoul change
from propo.ed 1402.17. Paragr'pb (hJ I.
adopted from propoaed 1402.15(1)(3)
(l"l.entence).
Sav.ral commenler. ..ked that the
Feder.l egency be required to provide.
.talement of III re..on.lr It h.. cho.en
to d/eregard lbe Service', blologlcal
opinion. The Sarvtce decilnea 10
Implement We raquea~ beceuae It
rem.lne the reeponaiblllty of each
Fed...1 .sency to lnaure thatltla In
compllence with HClIon 7(.)(2) and lb.t

S-074999

OOl2(OIXll-1otA Y -I6-llolHI)

"- ~

It h.. ..t.bll.h.d .n admlnl.tratlve
record for a given activity which
demoRltt.te. .uch compliance.
Federal court. h.ve eccorded Servtce
biological oplnlone greel deference. It.
th.re/o.... I. Incumbent upon a Feder.l
.gency to ertlcul.te In It. edmlnJ.lr.tlve
record It. re..on. for dlsagr.eing with
Ihe conclu.lon. of a blologlcel ,'plnlon.
Bullhi.1o a mailer which I. primarily
controlled under the provt.lonl and
judlclel interpretatlone of the
Admlnl.tratlva Proced\U'1l Ac~ notthe.e
regul.tlon.. Thu.. the requeated
modlllcatlon would add nothJns lbal 1.
not alr.ady required.. a mailer of
adminJ,trativa law.
Paragraph (c) polnto out the
availability of an exemption proce.. If
the Federal agency d.termln.e that It.
propo.ed action cannot comply with
.ectlon 7(a)(2). Although not covered In
IW2.15. the epplicant may al.o pUnlue
an exemption ff II rec.ive. a final denial
of It. applicetlon .. a re.u1t of a
"jeopardy" biological apln1on. The
Service dJaagreea with one commenter
that the applicant may .eek an
exemption if the Federal agency luues
the permit or Iicen.e with condltlone
related lo aection 7 consideration.. The
Act requlrea a final agency denial. and
the I..u""ce of a "leopardy" blologlcal
opinion on the action. a. y:o""!:Atea for
an applicant'. entry lnto the exemption
proce.e. See .ectlone 3(12) and 7(8)(IJ of
the Act.
Section 402.16 &initiation of Formal
Con8ultation.
Reinitiation of formal coneultatlon i.
required In certain In.tence6 ..
.pectlled In IW2.18.Tha ~lnJlIatlon
requirement applle. only to actlonalbat
rem.ln eubJectlo eome F.deral
involvement or control. In lbe ca.e
where a permll or llcenae had been
granted, relnJtlatlon would not be
appropriate unle.. the permitting or
llcen.ing agency retelned juri.dlctlon
over the matter under the terma 01 tb",
permit or IIcenae or .a otherwiae
authorized by law.
10 reapon.e to one comment, the
Service notee lto lack of authority to
require Fede..1 agenele. to relnltlata
coneultatlon If they choo.e not to do eo.
Neverthele... tbe Sarvlce .hall reque.t
relnJtlallon when It bell.v.. that any
condition deecribed In W. .ectlon
.ppllee.
Purauant 10 .everel public commenll.
.everal minor change. have been m.de
101402.10 (propo.ed 1402.18). Propo.ed
paragr.pb (aJ. deallnt with
nonconllrm.atton of preliminary
blologicel opinion.. ..... deleted .lnce It
I. more properly coventd. In the
d1OCUNlon or early conaullallon. Th.

F4701.FMl'... [1ll,SOj...4-15-8tJ

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et.nderd for ..lnItI.tlon on Inc1denlal
l.ke elllemen II I. c1ariJ1ed In new
parqraph (aJ. Perqr.ph (c) I. clarified
to .how thai ch.ap. to tha .ctlon thaI
do not cauae effecta different from or
.ddltlonal to lbOM conald....d In the
blologicel oplnJon will not require
relnJtI.tlon of formal conaulllllon.

8W11D1U)'

The AmendmenlllD.lde ./snlllcant
ch'''3e. In lbe conaullltlon
requlremcnll of Mctlan 7. and the
Servtce bellev.. that e coDllatent
re.pen.. by the Foderal asend.. to
lboee Amendmenll. .. Impl.mented by
W. final rula. will f.cIUlIle .ucce..fuJ
compliance with eecllon 7 of lbe Act.
The Service bellev.. lbat theM
regul.tlona will earve .. an effective
tool for the early relOlullon of potenllal
conlllcta involving lI.ted .peclee.
Tha primary .uthor. of lbIa final rule
are Michael Young and Nancy Sweeney.
Department ut ~18 Interior: p.trlda
Carter. PalriC1L ,,^.JntanJo. and Michael
Go.lIner. Departmont of Commerce.
The Depar;",'nt of the Interlor. ..
lead agency h, ';'" devdlopment of the.e
regulallona. hae prepared an
environmental .ateaament In
conjunction with thl. rulemaldng. On lbe
b..le of tha environmental ......m""~
It h.. been determined thaI We I. nota
major Federal acllon elgnlflcanUy
affecting lbe quaJjty nf lbe human
environment wllbin the meaning of
eecllon 102(2)(C) of tha National
Environmental Policy Act or 1989
(lmplementad .t4O CPR Parte 1500-
1508). Therefo.... an environmental
Impact .tatement need not be prepared.
TheM procedural reguI.tloDl .lmply
provtde a unfform .pproach for .
coDlultetlon required by ..ctlon 7 of the
Act Compliance with the prnc:eduree in
lbeM reguI.tlona will not h.ve any
.lgnIflcant. direct, or indirect .dve....
envlronmentallmp.ct It a110 h.. be.n
determined lbelthe.. resuletlOlll do not
conalllute malor rulea .. d.fined In
Executive Order 12291. The Department
of tha Interior h.. certified. under lbe
term. of t!.e Regulatory FlextbtUty Act (5
U.S.c. 801). that theM reguI.tlona will
not bave . .lgnJflcanl economic Impact
on . .ubetantlal number of am.aIJ
entltlee. The r8Ru1.lIoDl are directed .t
F.deral ectlnna. The COlli to IIID8ll
entltl.. are tho.e InvolYed with lImIna
and d.te s.therfn8. If raqueated by the
Federal asency. Even ff lbe COlli ware
paued CKI, lbe analyW under lba
ResuJatory FlexlbtUty Act b..
concluded that thay are not .ub.lantIaL
The Department ba. determined that
theM rulea do not contain "collection of
lofotlQlIan" ~ ncordknpln8

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