8630 Supp 6 - Environmental ComplianceINTRA-SERVICE SECTION 7 BIOLOGICAL EVALUATION FORM
Originating Person:
Telephone Number:
Date:
This document is intended to provide general guidance on the type and detail of information that
should be provided to initiate consultation with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and/or
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). This is not intended to be an exhaustive document
as specific projects may require more or less information in order to initiate consultation.
Additional information needs may be identified during consultation.
I. Region: Southwest Region 2
II. Service Activity (i.e. Grant Program):
III. Pertinent Species and Habitat:
This list should include all of the species from the species lists you obtained from USFWS and
NMFS. If it doesn't, include a brief explanation here and a more detailed explanation in your
record to help USFWS, NMFS and future staff understand your thought process for excluding a
species from consideration.
For species under FWS jurisdiction, please develop species list using the FWS Environmental Conservation Online System (ECOS) at http://ecos.fws.gov/ecos/home.action. This consultation
will not consider species that are State-listed, petitioned, or Recovery. Listing these species is unnecessary for the purpose of fulfilling ESA requirements. Species lists should
include Candidate, Proposed, and Threatened/Endangered species, as well as any associated Critical Habitat.
Critical Habitat
Critical habitat should be addressed for any/all species when the critical habitat occurs within or in close proximity to the project area. Address how actions do or do not modify the
designated or proposed critical habitat.
A. Listed Species and/or Their Critical Habitat within the Action Area:
common name (Scientific name) T
common name (Scientific name) E
B. Proposed Species and/or Proposed Critical Habitat within the Action Area:
common name (Scientific name) PT
common name (Scientific name) PE
C. Candidate Species within the Action Area:
common name (Scientific name) C
IV. Geographic Area and Action:
V. Location: WHERE the project is (refer to attached maps)
A. Ecoregion:
B. County and State:
C. Section, Township, and Range (or Latitude and Longitude):.
D. Distance (Miles) and Direction to Nearest Town:
VI. Description of Proposed Action:
The following information is necessary for the consultation process on an action:
1. The action to be authorized, funded, or carried out.
2. When the action will occur, and how long it will last.
3. How the action will be carried out
4. The purpose of the action.
Describe WHO is going to do the action; WHAT the project or action is; WHEN the action is going to take place, including time line and implementation schedules; HOW the action will be
accomplished,
including the the methods; and WHY the action is proposed, including its purpose and need.
VII. Determination of Effects
Explanation of effects of the action:
The purpose of this section is to document your analysis of the potential impacts the proposed
action will have on species and/or critical habitats. This analysis has 3 possible conclusions (listed in Section VIII) for listed species and designated critical habitat:
(1) No Effect – the appropriate conclusion when there no effect is reasonably anticipated. This determination is most likely in projects that are administrative, lab-based, or occurring
in habitat that would not support the ESA species in question.
(2) May Affect, Not Likely to Adversely Affect- the appropriate conclusion when effects on a
listed species are expected to be discountable, insignificant, or completely beneficial.
Beneficial effects - contemporaneous positive effects without any adverse effects
Insignificant effects - relate to the size of the impact and should never reach the scale
where take would occur.
Discountable effects- those that are extremely unlikely to occur. Based on best
judgment, a person would not: (1) be able to meaningfully measure, detect, or evaluate
insignificant effects; or (2) expect discountable effects to occur.
(3) May Affect, Likely to Adversely Affect - the appropriate finding if any adverse effect may occur to listed species or critical habitat as a direct or indirect result of the proposed
action or its interrelated or interdependent actions, and the effect is not discountable, insignificant, or beneficial.
A finding of "may affect" is the primary trigger for initiating formal section 7 consultation.
Any actions that are likely to result in the incidental take of a listed species are automatically considered "likely to adversely affect."
In the case of proposed species or proposed critical habitat, the possible conclusions are:
Species
Likely to Jeopardize the Continued Existence
Not Likely to Jeopardize the Continued Existence
Critical Habitat
Likely to Destroy or Adversely Modify
Not Likely to Destroy or Adversely Modify
Actions to be implemented to reduce adverse effects:
List all conservation measures taken to reduce or eliminate any adverse effects. Examples include – using established pathways to reduce trampling/disturbance, discontinuing actions
while species is present, etc.
VIII. Effect determination and response requested:
State Recommendation:
This is where you put your overall effect determination after you have analyzed the exposure and response of species and habitat to the proposed action. Effect determinations must be
based on a sound reasoning and must be consistent with types of actions in the project description, the biology of the affected species, and the best scientific and commercial information
available.
A. Listed species/designated critical habitat:
no effect:
may effect, is not likely to adversely affect:
may effect, is likely to adversely affect:
B. Proposed species/proposed critical habitat:
no effect:
is not likely to jeopardize proposed species/
adversely modify proposed critical habitat:
is likely to jeopardize proposed species/
adversely modify proposed critical habitat:
C. Candidate species:
no effect:
is not likely to jeopardize:
is likely to jeopardize:
D. Remarks:
State Approval
_________________________________ _________________
Signature Date
Federal Assistance Determination:
A. Listed species/designated critical habitat:
Determination Response requested
no effect:
may effect, is not likely to adversely affect:
may effect, is likely to adversely affect: Formal Consultation
B. Proposed species/proposed critical habitat:
Determination Response requested
no effect:
is not likely to jeopardize proposed species/
adversely modify proposed critical habitat:
is likely to jeopardize proposed species/
adversely modify proposed critical habitat: Conference
C. Candidate species:
no effect:
is not likely to jeopardize:
is likely to jeopardize: Conference
D. Remarks:
Federal Assistance Grant Manager
_________________________________ _________________
Signature Date
Federal Assistance Determination continued:
Federal Assistance Section 7 Comments
GLOSSARY
Action Area - all areas to be affected directly or indirectly by the Federal action and not merely
the immediate area involved in the action.
Beneficial Effects- contemporaneous positive effects without any adverse effects.
Discountable Effects- those that are extremely unlikely to occur. Based on best judgment, a
person would not: (I) be able to meaningfully measure, detect, or evaluate insignificant
effects; or (2) expect discountable effects to occur.
Insignificant Effects- relate to the size of the impact and should never reach the scale where
take would occur.
Likely to Jeopardize the Continued Existence of- to engage in an action that reasonably
would be expected, directly or indirectly, to reduce appreciably the likelihood of both the
survival and recovery of a listed species in the wild by reducing the reproduction, numbers, or
distribution of that species.
May Affect, Likely to Adversely Affect - the appropriate finding if any adverse effect may
occur to listed species or critical habitat as a direct or indirect result of the proposed action or its
interrelated or interdependent actions, and the effect is not discountable, insignificant, or beneficial. Requires that a biological opinion be prepared by the Service.
May Affect, Not Likely to Adversely Affect - the appropriate conclusion when effects on a listed species are expected to be discountable, insignificant, or completely beneficial. Requires
written concurrence from the Service.
No Effect- the appropriate conclusion when a listed species will not be affected, either because
the species will not be present or because the project does not have any elements with the
potential to affect the species. A "no effect" determination does not require written concurrence
from the Service and ends ESA consultation requirements. Action agency should document their
reasoning for this conclusion in their file.