[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 85 (Wednesday, May 5, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23978-23979]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-09362]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[Docket No. FWS-HQ-MB-2017-0092; 91200-FF09M20300-189-FXMB123109EAGLE]


Updated Collision Risk Model Priors for Estimating Eagle 
Fatalities at Wind Energy Facilities

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces our adoption of updated species-specific 
eagle exposure and collision probabilities used to generate fatality 
estimates for consideration in issuing eagle incidental take permits to 
wind-energy facilities under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act. 
This action will improve our ability to carry out our statutory 
responsibility to ensure conservation of bald eagles and golden eagles 
when issuing those permits.

DATES: May 6, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Information related to this notice, including the public 
comments received in response to the previous Federal Register notices, 
is available at the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov in Docket No. FWS-HQ-MB-2017-0092.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brian Millsap, at 505-559-3963 
(telephone), or [email protected] (email). Individuals who are 
hearing impaired or speech impaired may call the Federal Relay Service 
at 800-877-8337 for TTY assistance.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (16 U.S.C. 668-668d; 
``Act'') prohibits take of bald eagles and golden eagles except 
pursuant to Federal regulations. The Act authorizes the Secretary of 
the Interior to issue regulations to permit the ``taking'' of eagles 
for various purposes, provided the taking is compatible with the 
preservation of eagles. Under regulations in part 22 of title 50 of the 
Code of Federal Regulations, we, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 
(hereafter, ``the Service''), issue permits to authorize take of eagles 
that is incidental to an activity (50 CFR 22.26).
    In carrying out our responsibility to issue these types of permits 
for wind-energy facilities, we use a collision-risk model (CRM) to 
predict the number of bald and golden eagles that may be taken at 
facilities (USFWS 2013; New et al. 2015). The CRM allows the Service to 
produce conservative initial take estimates for new wind energy 
facilities, as well as to produce more precise updated estimates for 
operating facilities that have collected fatality monitoring data. The 
take estimates provided by the CRM allow the Service to ensure 
authorized eagle take numbers are within the eagle management unit take 
limits, and provide the data necessary to assess effects of take 
permits on local area eagle populations, both required actions under 
our Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for eagle take permits 
(USFWS 2016a). The CRM incorporates prior information (priors) on eagle 
exposure and eagle collision probability, and these priors are updated 
as new information becomes available as part of the adaptive management 
process associated with eagle take permitting (USFWS 2016b).
    In 2017 the Service undertook a review of newly available 
information and generated updated priors for the CRM. The Service 
announced the updated priors and availability of a report summarizing 
the analysis in a June 21, 2018, Federal Register notice (83 FR 28858) 
that solicited public comment on the proposed priors and how the 
Service should use the updated bald eagle priors in the CRM. The report 
is available at: https://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/pdf/management/crmpriorsreport2018.pdf or as described above in ADDRESSES (at 
www.regulations.gov in Docket No. FWS-HQ-MB-2017-0092). At the request 
of wind-industry representatives, the Service reopened the comment 
period for another 30 days on November 13, 2018 (83 FR 56365).

Alternatives Considered and Summary of Responses

    In our notice of availability, we presented updated priors for 
golden eagle exposure and golden eagle collision probability. We also 
developed and presented for the first time priors for bald eagle 
exposure and collision probability. These updated and new priors 
incorporate substantial new information, and their adoption thus 
constitutes an improvement in the scientific information used by the 
Service to estimate the effects of our take permits on eagle 
populations.
    The alternatives for both eagle species that we considered and 
presented for public comment are as follows:
    Alternative 1--Use the updated species-specific priors, and use the 
80th quantile of the CRM fatality estimates as the initial permitted 
take number for permits, as is the current practice.

[[Page 23979]]

    Alternative 2--Use the updated species-specific priors, and because 
bald eagle populations are increasing and additional take is 
sustainable (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 2016a,c), accept a more 
risk-tolerant CRM approach for the initial permitted take number for 
bald eagles.
    Alternative 3--Given the limitations in data available to inform 
the bald eagle priors, initiate an expert-elicitation process to 
further refine the bald eagle priors.
    Of the 58 comments received during the two comment periods, we 
received substantive comments from several entities, including States, 
environmental organizations, and wind-energy organizations or 
companies. Many of the comments stated that the Service's CRM either 
overestimated or underestimated eagle fatalities, or stated that 
another method for estimating exposures and collisions should be 
adopted. Because the CRM has been the subject of three prior peer 
reviews and three rounds of public comment (February 18, 2011; May 2, 
2013; May 6, 2016 [U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 2011, 2013, 2016]), 
including being considered in detail as part of the 2016 revisions to 
the regulations pertaining to incidental take of eagles and eagle nests 
(81 FR 91494, December 16, 2016), we regarded these comments as outside 
the scope of this notice and we did not consider them further.
    Most of the comments were in support of Alternative 1, use of the 
80th quantile of the species-specific fatality distributions. However, 
many comments from the wind industry opposed Alternative 1 and asserted 
that approach was not based on best available science and results in 
unduly burdensome higher costs for eagle take that is unlikely to 
occur.
    Industry largely objected to Alternative 2 because the underlying 
priors are still based on data that does not represent all locations in 
the United States. One energy coalition suggested that Alternative 2 
should not be used because a confidence interval should not be 
prematurely selected until the Service has validated the model. This 
validation process should include public input to ensure that those 
impacted by the take estimates have an opportunity to evaluate and 
opine on the impacts of any confidence interval selected. A major trade 
association commented that Alternative 2 using the 50th or 60th 
quantile of the fatality distribution for bald eagles as the permitted 
take number would be preferable to the current use of the 80th 
quantile.
    Industry rejected Alternative 3 on the grounds that available data 
and reports on eagle and wind interaction exist that could be used to 
inform a reasonable risk assessment approach without the need for 
eliciting scientific and technical judgments from experts. However, of 
the State fish and wildlife agencies that commented, most supported 
Alternative 3 because a further refined national bald eagle prior using 
expert elicitation would help to inform the uncertainty in the exposure 
and collision probability for bald eagles given their variable 
densities across the landscape.

Service Decision

    The Service is adopting Alternative 2 as the best approach given 
currently available data and status of eagle populations. We will use 
the 80th quantile of the fatality distribution as the initial permitted 
take number for golden eagles and the 60th quantile of the fatality 
distribution as the initial permitted take number for bald eagles. We 
regard this approach as a suitable balance between the more secure 
status of bald eagles and the uncertainty in their take estimates that 
is consistent with our 2016 Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement 
(USFWS 2016a).
    With regard to initiating an expert elicitation process, we agree 
with many States that gathering additional information from either 
experts or industry has the potential to further refine the bald eagle 
priors. For this reason, we may choose to engage in an expert 
elicitation process in the future. In the meantime, the best method to 
gain the information needed to develop a more accurate assessment is 
through fatality monitoring of permitted projects. The fatality-
estimation process using the CRM is an exercise in adaptive management, 
and as more data are collected the Service will continue to revise and 
update the priors over time. Should it become apparent that a different 
risk balance is appropriate based on additional data, we will address 
that scenario in conjunction with a future update of the CRM. In order 
to streamline the adaptive management process and ensure rapid adoption 
of new scientific information going forward, in the future the Service 
will update and implement the updated priors for both eagle species as 
soon as sufficient new information becomes available to warrant an 
update. We will notify the public of future updates by posting them on 
the Service's Eagle Management web page (https://www.fws.gov/birds/management/managed-species/eagle-management.php) or the equivalent.
    Upon publication of this notice, we will use the following data and 
risk tolerances for initial fatality predictions at wind energy 
facilities: The updated species-specific exposure and collision priors 
for both eagle species; the 80th quantile of the fatality distribution 
as the permitted take number for golden eagles; and the 60th quantile 
of the fatality distribution as the permitted take number for bald 
eagles. We will use the updated priors for all eagle incidental take 
permits issued to wind facilities, including those issued under the 
Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) when eagles are covered 
in a habitat conservation plan as a non-listed species. (See 50 CFR 
22.11(a).)

Literature Cited

    U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2011. Migratory Birds; Draft 
Eagle Conservation Plan Guidance. 76:9529-9530.
    U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2013. Migratory Birds; Eagle 
Conservation Plan Guidance: Module 1--Land-Based Wind Energy, 
Version 2. Federal Register 78:25758.
    U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2016a. Programmatic 
Environmental Impact Statement for the Eagle Rule Revision. Division 
of Migratory Bird Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 
Washington, DC USA. https://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/pdf/management/FINAL-PEIS-Permits-to-Incidentally-Take-Eagles.pdf.
    U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2016b. Eagle Permits; Revisions 
to Regulations for Eagle Incidental Take and Take of Eagle Nests. 
Federal Register 242:91494-91553.
    U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2016c. Bald and golden eagles: 
Population demographics and estimation of sustainable take in the 
United States, 2016 update. Status Reports, Division of Migratory 
Bird Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington, DC USA. 
https://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/pdf/management/EagleRuleRevisions-StatusReport.pdf.

Martha Williams,
Principal Deputy Director, Exercising the Delegated Authority of the 
Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2021-09362 Filed 5-4-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P