[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 85 (Thursday, May 2, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Page 25758]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-10387]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R9-MB-2012-N094; FF09M29000-112-FXMB123209EAGL0L2]
RIN 1018-AX53
Migratory Birds; Eagle Conservation Plan Guidance: Module 1--
Land-Based Wind Energy, Version 2
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce
that Eagle Conservation Plan Guidance: Module 1--Land-based Wind
Energy, Version 2 is available. The guidance provides recommendations
for agency staff and developers to use an iterative process to avoid
and minimize negative effects on eagles and their habitats resulting
from the construction, operation, and maintenance of land-based, wind
energy facilities in the United States.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. George Allen, Division of
Migratory Bird Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 4401 North
Fairfax Drive, Arlington, Virginia 22203-1610, or 703-358-1825.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Service is charged with implementing
many statutes that provide protection to bald and golden eagles,
including the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (BGEPA) (16 U.S.C.
668-668c), the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) (16 U.S.C. 703-12), and
the Endangered Species Act (ESA) (16 U.S.C. 1531-44). Under these
statutes, the Service implements permit programs for eagles as
authorized by implementing regulations in title 50 of the Code of
Federal Regulations (CFR). In 2009, the Service promulgated regulations
in 50 CFR part 22 authorizing issuance of permits for nonpurposeful
take of eagles (74 FR 46836, September 11, 2009). On February 18, 2011,
we issued a draft of The Eagle Conservation Plan Guidance: Module 1--
Land-based Wind Energy for public comment (76 FR 9529). We received 124
comments by the end of the comment period on May 19, 2011.
We have considered the public comments received on the draft
guidance and now issue the Eagle Conservation Plan Guidance: Module 1--
Land-based Wind Energy, Version 2 (ECPG) to assist potential permit
applicants and to promote compliance with BGEPA with respect to such
permits. The ECPG describes a process for wind energy developers, in
coordination with the Service, to collect and analyze information that
could support an application for a programmatic permit to authorize
unintentional take of eagles at wind energy facilities. The ECPG
provides recommendations for the development of eagle conservation
plans (ECPs) to support issuance of eagle programmatic take permits for
wind facilities.
Programmatic take permits will authorize limited nonpurposeful
mortality and disturbance of eagles at wind facilities, provided that
effective offsetting conservation measures that meet regulatory
requirements are carried out. To comply with the permit regulations,
conservation measures must avoid and minimize take of eagles to the
maximum degree practicable, and, for programmatic permits necessary to
authorize ongoing take of eagles, advanced conservation practices must
be implemented, if available, such that any remaining take is
unavoidable.
Further, for eagle management populations that the Service has
determined cannot sustain additional mortality, any remaining take must
be offset through compensatory mitigation such that the net effect on
the eagle management population is, at a minimum, no net loss. The ECPG
interprets and clarifies the permit requirements in the regulations at
50 CFR 22.26 and 22.27 and does not impose any binding requirements
beyond those specified in the regulations.
The Service recommends that ECPs be developed in five successive
stages. The process is intended to be a progressive, increasingly
intensive look at potential effects of the development and operation of
a particular site and design configuration to eagles. The objectives,
recommended actions, and recommended data sources for each of the five
stages in the ECP are described in the Stage Overview table in the
guidance. The ECPG recommends that project developers or operators
employ specific procedures in their site assessments so the data can be
combined with that from other facilities in a formal adaptive
management process. This adaptive management process is designed to
reduce uncertainty about the effects of wind facilities on eagles.
Project developers or operators are not required to use the
recommended procedures in this ECPG. However, if different approaches
are used, the developer or operator should coordinate with the Service
in advance to ensure that approaches being considered will provide
comparable data and meet the regulatory requirements. Additionally,
Service review time for applications that employ different approaches
will likely be longer than if the recommendations in the ECPG were
followed.
The ECPG recommends that, at the end of each of the first four
stages, project developers or operators determine, in consultation with
the Service, which of the following categories the project, as planned,
falls into: (1) High risk to eagles, with little opportunity to
minimize effects; (2) high or moderate risk to eagles, but with an
opportunity to minimize effects; or (3) minimal risk to eagles.
The ECPG is posted online at http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds. You
can request a printed copy of the guidance by writing to the address or
calling the phone number listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
Dated: April 24, 2013.
Daniel M. Ashe,
Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2013-10387 Filed 5-1-13; 8:45 am]
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