The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed today to revise regulations
governing the issuance of permits under the Bald and Golden Eagle
Protection Act in order to facilitate development of renewable energy and
other projects, while ensuring that those operations minimize and avoid
impacts to bald and golden eagles. The Service is also inviting ideas from
the public on how the permit program can be improved.
The proposed changes would extend the maximum term for programmatic
permits from 5 to 30 years, if the permits incorporate specific adaptive
conservation measures that may be necessary to ensure the preservation of
eagles. The Service has also proposed to increase the fees associated with
the review and issuance of permits in order to cover its true costs and
ensure effective monitoring of projects over the extended permit terms.
“We’ve worked hard with our partners to protect eagle populations
nationwide, and will make sure they continue to thrive. These proposed
changes will help facilitate the responsible development of renewable
energy and other projects, while conserving bald and golden eagles by
requiring key conservation and monitoring measures to be implemented,”
said Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe. “We are committed to
monitoring the impact of projects on eagle populations over the life of
the permits to ensure these measures are effective.”
The proposed changes, if approved, would amend permit regulations
finalized on September 11, 2009 under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection
Act for the take of eagles that may occur as the unintended result of
various activities. The regulations provide for both standard permits and
programmatic permits. Standard permits cover individual instances of take
that cannot practicably be avoided, while programmatic permits are
necessary to authorize projects where recurring, unavoidable take occurs
over the long term, such as with wind energy projects, electric utilities,
and timber operations. Most take authorized by these permits has been in
the form of disturbance to eagles and their habitat; however, permits may
authorize lethal take that is incidental to an otherwise lawful activity.
Since publication of the 2009 final rule, it became evident that the
5-year term limit on permits did not correspond to the timeframe of
projects operating over the long-term and was insufficient to enable
project proponents to secure the funding, lease agreements, and other
necessary assurances to move forward with projects.
Under the proposed rule, only those applicants who commit to adaptive
management measures to ensure the preservation of eagles would be
considered to receive permits with terms longer than five years. Any such
measures would be negotiated with the permittee and specified in the terms
and conditions of the permit.
This rule would also amend the schedule of permit fees set forth by
increasing the fees for programmatic eagle take permits to reflect the
increased cost to the Service of developing adaptive mitigation measures
and monitoring the effectiveness of the terms and conditions over the life
of the permit. For programmatic permits with tenures of 5 years (the
maximum period allowed under current regulations), the permit application
processing fee would be increased to $36,000.
In addition, the regulations propose an “administration fee” linked to the
duration of the permits to enable the Service to recover its costs for
monitoring and working with the permittees over the life of the permits.
The proposed administration fee ranges from $2,600 for permits with
tenures of 5 years or less to $15,600 for 30-year permits. The regulations
propose a reduced application processing fee of $5,000 for permit
applications for small wind projects and other activities not expected to
have significant effects on eagles. The Service will be accepting comments
on this proposed rule for 30 days (or until May 14, 2012).
“Feedback from developers indicates that these permit fees are considered
a small part of the large investments of most projects requiring
programmatic permits.” said Jerome Ford, the Service’s Assistant Director
for Migratory Birds. “By enabling us to improve our permit processing and
ensure adequate monitoring over the life of the permit, these increases
will help ensure a more efficient and effective permit process.”
In addition, the Service published an Advanced Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking (ANPR) to solicit ideas, suggestions and information that could
help guide other potential improvements to the 2009 final regulations.
Through this public process, the Service is seeking recommendations to
create a more efficient permit process to preserve and protect eagle
populations. The Service is particularly interested in public ideas and
suggestions that would help clarify the permit issuance criteria; help
determine appropriate compensatory mitigation; and better define the Eagle
Act’s preservation standard. The comment period for the ANPR will be open
for 90 days (or until July 12, 2012).
Written comments and information concerning the proposed permit regulation
changes must be submitted by May 14, 2012. Docket Number
FWS-R9-MB-2011-0054
Written comments and information concerning the Advanced Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking must be submitted by July 12, 2012. Docket Number
FWS-R9-MB-2011-0094
Comments must be submitted separately for the proposed permit regulation
changes and for the ANPR and may be submitted by one of the following
methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments to Docket No. FWS-R9-MB-2011-0054 or
Docket No. FWS-R9-MB-2011-0094;
U.S. mail or hand delivery: Division of Migratory Bird Management,
Attn: RIN 1018–AV11, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 4401 N. Fairfax
Drive, MBSP– 4107, Arlington, Virginia 22203
Email: EaglePermitRegulation@fws.gov.
Include the ‘Docket Number FWS-R9-MB-2011-0054 or Docket Number
FWS-R9-MB-2011-0094” in the subject line of the message. Please submit
electronic comments in plain text files, avoiding the use of special
characters and encryption.
The Service will post all comments on http://www.regulations.gov. This
generally means any personal information provided through the process will
be posted.
For more information about the proposed rule changes and the ANPR process,
visit: http://www.fws.gov/
http://www.oysterradio.com e-mail manager@oysterradio.com with comments
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