Sites Reservoir Project Geotechnical Evaluation Eagle Permit NEPA Documents

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service received an application from Sites Project Authority requesting eagle take coverage under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act.  The application requested authorization for incidental disturbance take of eagles in the vicinity of geotechnical evaluation surveys for the Sites Reservoir Project.  Sites Authority will be conducting geotechnical surveys to evaluate the site of the proposed Sites Reservoir for the initial stages of the project.  The project is located in in Antelope Valley west of the town of Maxwell, California, and Interstate-5, in Colusa and Glenn Counties, California.  The geotechnical surveys will occur over 48 months, from approximately January 2023 through December 2026.

We prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA), pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act, to assess impacts of the proposed action of issuance of the requested eagle take permit to the applicant, as well as alternatives to the proposed action. The proposed action of issuing a permit required implementation of measures to avoid and minimize adverse effects to eagles to the maximum extent practicable and compensatory mitigation to fully offset eagle take. Details of the minimizations measures and compensatory mitigation can be found in the EA document. The analysis detailed in the EA resulted in selection of the proposed action and a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI). The FONSI and final EA documents are provided here.