HOW WIND WILL USE NEW BIRD RULES

How Wind Developers Can Successfully Navigate FWS Siting Guidelines

David Stout, 5 July 2012 (North American Windpower)

“The U.S. wind industry has made an unprecedented and extraordinary commitment to develop projects that are compatible with the highest environmental standards…[as laiod out by] the Secretary of the Interior's Windpower Siting Guidelines Committee…[T]he U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) [guidelines] provide the template for consistent, reasonable and scientifically justified analysis that facilitates environmentally compatible wind power projects.

“Scientific data, which allow the wind community to better understand wind power/wildlife interactions, are steadily being acquired…[O]perational modifications to reduce bat mortality, bat deterrents, use of radar to detect incoming birds and bats, and post-construction surveys for mortalities have been very informative…[Results] are quickly filling in knowledge gaps and are reducing the uncertainty of environmental-impact predictions…”

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“…Site studies should be narrowly focused on legitimate scientific uncertainty for environmental conditions and project configuration…[I]conic species such as the golden eagle need enhanced baseline population studies to establish the status and trends of the population range-wide...[G]uidelines are fundamentally a template for risk assessment…[T]he ultimate decision regarding an acceptable level of risk is up to the developers…

“…The primary incentive the FWS can offer is enforcement discretion...[Developers should be able to expect that the FWS will work with the company to alleviate the adverse impact, rather than commence an enforcement action under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act…Service enforcement actions concerning bird mortalities due to transmission lines and oil and gas facilities are not unusual and have resulted in substantial fines; to date, there have been no FWS enforcement actions against a wind facility… ”

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