Great Lakes Wind Collaborative U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

1. Great Lakes Wind Collaborative U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Wildlife Considerations in Great Lakes Offshore Wind Development September24, 2009 Bob Krska

2. The Service’s mission is, working with others, to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American public

3. Species and Areas of Concern • Threatened and Endangered birds/bats • Bald eagles • Birds of Conservation Concern • Sensitive areas ▫Migratory corridors ▫ Concentrations, e.g., waterfowl rafting areas, stopover and colonial bird nesting islands, Points, National Wildlife Refuges, Important Bird Areas, bat hibernacula

4. Potential Issues with Offshore Wind • Direct impacts (mortality) of birds/bats, i.e., collision with turbines and other structures, barotrauma (for bats) • Indirect effects □ Disruption of breeding, feeding and wintering patterns (displacement) □ Harassment resulting from project inspection and maintenance activities

5. Potential Issues with Offshore Wind • Habitat impacts □ Fragmentation □ Modification • Avoidance of areas, e.g., European studies observed avoidance by some waterfowl of wind turbines/tall structures • Attraction of fish-eating birds

6. Potential Issues with Offshore Wind • Islands - impacts associated with bird use, e.g., waterbird colonies, migratory stop-overs • Shoreline - bird and bat migration routes and stopover sites • Open water - bird migration routes and staging areas • Fishery impacts □ Spawning and nursery areas □ Currents

7. Cumulative Effects • Combination of past, present, and reasonably foreseeable future impacts from all sources • Projected high numbers of turbines in rare habitats could be critical ▫ Great Lakes islands ▫ Points, peninsulas ▫ Migratory corridors / concentration areas

8. Service’s Role in Offshore Wind • Provide technical assistance ▫Early coordination on project siting ▫Assist in developing pre- and post-construction survey protocols ▫Assess and avoid, minimize, mitigate impacts ▫ Coordinate with agencies, developers, and others • Coordinate with Corps of Engineers ▫ Corps required to consult with the Service ▫ Service may be cooperating agency in NEPA ▫ Currently exploring formation of work group • Coordinate Section 7 consultation

9. Laws and Associated Regulations • Endangered Species Act • Migratory Bird Treaty Act • Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act • Clean Water Act – Section 404 • Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act • National Environmental Policy Act

10. Endangered Species Act Species – piping plover, Kirtland’s warbler, Indiana bat, etc. For offshore projects with Federal nexus, e.g., projects regulated by the Corps: Section 7 - Federal agencies to conserve threatened and endangered species and, in consultation with the Service, to ensure their actions do not jeopardize listed species or destroy or adversely modify critical habitat

11. Migratory Bird Treaty Act • A criminal environmental law that implements 4 international treaties • “…unlawful…to pursue, hunt, take, capture, kill, attempt to take, capture, or kill, possess, offer for sale, sell…any migratory bird…” • No provision expressly authorizing FWS to issue incidental take permits

12. Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act • Affords specific protections to eagles • It is generally unlawful to “take,…at any time or in any manner, any bald eagle...or any golden eagle, alive or dead, or any part, nest, or egg thereof…” • In connection with removal of the bald eagle from the ESA, FWS issued on September 11 proposed regulations that would establish an incidental take permit program

13. DOI and FWS Policies and Initiatives • Secretary of the Interior – Order on Renewable Energy (March 2009) ▫ DOI bureaus will work collaboratively to encourage timely and responsible development of renewable energy and transmission, WHILE ▫ protecting and enhancing the Nation’s water, wildlife, and other natural resources • Federal Advisory Committee to develop guidelines for land-based wind power development

14. DOI and FWS Policies and Initiatives • Great Lakes Restoration Initiative – Service’s Wildlife-friendly Research initiative • Great Lakes Wind Collaborative – Wind Atlas • GL Fish & Wildlife Restoration Act grant to Ohio to study waterfowl offshore of Ohio’s Lake Erie • FWS Region 3 Great Lakes 3-mile buffer

15. Points of Contact for Regulatory or Operational Authority • Ecological Services Field Office for the state (MN, WI, MI, IL, IN, OH) in which a project is proposed/located - click on the state in the map found at:www.fws.gov/midwest/ • For projects in New York, visit: http://www.fws.gov/northeast/nyfo/ • For projects in Pennsylvania, visit: http://www.fws.gov/offices/Directory/OfficeDetail.cfm?OrgCode=52420&CFID=15278295&CFTOKEN=83705997

16. Intra- and Inter-agency Initiatives to Coordinate Offshore Wind Development and Collaborative Opportunities • Development of wildlife-related elements of the GLWC’s wind atlas • Great Lakes Restoration Initiative – wind power migratory bird/bat movement studies • Multi-species Habitat Conservation Plan • Integration of wildlife considerations into all appropriate products and initiatives of the GLWC

17. Contact us for more information • Jeff Gosse (Region 3 – Upper GL) 612-713-5138 • Tim Sullivan (Region 5 – Lower GL) 607-753-9334 • Visit: www.fws.gov/midwest/wind and www.fws.gov/habitatconservation/wind