Restoration Project ESA Consultation Options

1. RestorationProject ESAConsultationOptions

2. Restoration Project ESA Consultation Options • Aquatic Habitat Restoration Activities Programmatic – BIA, FS, BLM (ARBO) • Habitat Improvement Program – BPA (HIP II) • USFWS Restoration Program • NOAA Restoration Center Programmatic • COE Fish Passage and Restoration Programmatic • Washington State 4d Limit 8

3. 2008 COE Fish Passage and Restoration Programmatic • Joint USFWS and NMFS consultation for Washington state for fish passage improvement and habitat restoration projects with a COE regulatory permit nexus

4. Actions covered for all salmonid ESUs (except Lake Ozette sockeye) • Fish Passage • Installation of Instream Structures • Levee Removal and Modification • Side Channel/Off-Channel Habitat Restoration and Reconnection • Salmonid Spawning Gravel Restoration • Forage Fish Spawning Restoration • Hardened Fords and Fencing for Livestock Stream Crossings • Irrigation Screen Installation and Replacement • Debris and Structure Removal

5. Fish Passage • Culvert Replacement and Relocation • Retrofitting Culverts • Culvert Removal • Tidegate Removal • Removal or Modification of Sediment Bars or Terraces that Block or Delay Salmonid Migrations • Temporary Placement of Sandbags, Hay Bales, and Ecology Blocks to Improve Salmonid Passage • Construction of Structures to Provide Passage Over Small Dams

6. Implementation Process • Applicant fills out SPIF (Specific Project Information Form) which may be part of the JARPA process • COE reviews and sends SPIF to Services which have 30 days to respond with an electronic approval

7. Streambank Stabilizationis NOT a covered action • The Services gets questions regarding which restoration projects with bank stabilization elements qualify. For a project to qualify it needs to: • Have restoration as its primary objective. Bank protection features need to be secondary to the habitat focus. These are projects that might well have been proposed even in the absence of concern for the eroding bank. • Result in significant habitat benefit relative to both pre-project conditions and what would happen later if the project did not occur. For example, re-activation of a side-channel in order to reduce erosive force on a bank could qualify. • Tie into a watershed or species recovery plan. • All elements of the action need to be covered for the programmatic consultation to be used at the ESA consultation path.

8. Habitat Restoration Program 4(d) Rule, Limit 8

9. Projects must meet ALL of the following criteria: Must have the potential to impact fish listed as threatened under the Federal Endangered Species Act. Must be part of the habitat portion of a salmon recovery plan which has been approved by a regional salmon recovery organization and the State of Washington, and been published in the federal register by NMFS.

10. Must be part of an adopted implementation work schedule developed by a regional organization to implement the habitat portion of its salmon recovery plan. Must be funded in part or wholly by the SRFB or other approved funding sources. Must be consistent with the technical and procedural criteria outlined by the SRFB. Must be done for the purpose of habitat restoration and fit within the list of eligible actions.

11. Eligible Restoration Projects • Instream passage • Instream diversion screening • Instream habitat restoration • Riparian habitat restoration • Upland habitat restoration or protection • Estuarine and marine nearshore habitat restoration • Monitoring

12. Eligible Threatened Salmon • Columbia River chum salmon • Middle Columbia River steelhead • Lower Columbia River steelhead • Lower Columbia River Chinook salmon • Lower Columbia River coho salmon • Hood Canal summer-run chum salmon • Puget Sound Chinook salmon • Snake River spring/summer-run Chinook • Snake River steelhead • Puget Sound steelhead

13. How to Apply Application consists of a self-certification form (available from the RCO website) filled out by the project sponsor and sent to their RCO Grant Manager and to the COE as part of their JARPA.

14. X Restoration Project COE Fish Passage and Habitat Restoration Programmatic WA Habitat Restoration Program 4(d) Rule, Limit 8 OR No Federal Funding Nexus Required SRFB or Other Approved Funding Nexus Endangered and Threatened Species Threatened Species Only COE Regulatory Permit Required COE Regulatory Permit Not Required ESA Consultation

15. Use information • COE Restoration Programmatic: • 2011 38 actions • 2010 39 actions • 43 actions • Looking through PRISM I estimate that similar numbers of projects use Limit 8 for ESA consultation annually

16. Common Questions • What about bull trout? USFWS/COE FPRP • What about PS steelhead? Reinitiated in 2011 • What about EFH? Included • What about restoration projects not specifically covered? • What about bank stabilization? Depends/Consult • What if I can’t use either expedited consultation? Consult and allow plenty of time

17. Contacts • For COE Restoration Programmatic • NMFS: Dale Bambrick for Eastside, Mike Grady for WSDOT, Stephanie Ehinger and Randy McIntosh for Westside • USFWS: Martha Jensen for Westside, various staff for Eastside • For Limit 8 • Randy McIntosh, NMFS • Randy.mcintosh@noaa.gov, 360-534-9309