ESA determinations are easy…if you know where to look
Do you know if your brownfield site is home to a small family of pygmy rabbits? Or could that nearby stream be a passageway for migrating salmon? It’s not just the contamination that requires assessment. These species are protected by the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA), and that means you need to take them into account when tackling a brownfield.
The idea that an endangered or threatened species–wildlife or plant–could be living in or close to your project can be intimidating, even more so when you try to learn more about the impact of the ESA. When doing the research, the maze of Web sites meant to help you through the process could just as easily cause you to throw your hands up in desperation. In fact, when one Washington official suggested this newsletter do a story to help navigate others through the maze, hands went up around EPA Region 10, echoing her proposal.
Sharon Kophs, Washington State Community, Trade and Economic Development brownfields program manager, has been doing these ESA reviews herself in the pre-assessment stage of various projects. “The first time I did an ESA review, it took me two days and lots of help from federal and state agencies,” Kophs says. “The second time was about five hours and two glasses of wine. And the third try was less than two hours.” Only by trial and error—and practice—was Kophs able to determine a path.
For this issue of Building on Brownfields, Kophs has written a guide to the Web sites and the process she uses to determine whether an ESA consultation is necessary. And she offers some encouraging words, reminding folks that just because a listed species is in your project area, that doesn’t mean your project will be shut down, only that a mitigation plan should be added to the site plan.
Her guide provides resource lists with the information needed to make an ESA determination and also outlines step by step the consultation process. Many of us just need to know where to start when engaging in this ESA determination process. Kophs puts us on the right path. Read the guide at http://www.nwbrownfields-update.com/2006/03/key-web-sites-guide-you-through-esa-process/.
