Appendix a Eagle Conservation Plan
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Appendix A Marengo I and II Eagle Take Permit Application Applicant’s Eagle Conservation Plan Marengo I & II Wind Facilities Eagle Conservation Plan Columbia County, WA Submitted to: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Pacific Region Migratory Bird Permit Office 911 NE 11th Avenue Portland, OR 97232-4181 Submitted by: PacifiCorp 1407 West North Temple, Suite 110 Salt Lake City, UT 84116 December 2019 Marengo I & II Wind Facilities Eagle Conservation Plan Confidential Business Information Table of Contents 1.0 INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE .................................................................................... 1 1.1 History and Description .................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Corporate Policy ............................................................................................................. 6 1.3 Purpose of the Eagle Conservation Plan ........................................................................ 6 1.4 Contents of the Eagle Conservation Plan ....................................................................... 7 1.5 Regulatory Framework ................................................................................................... 7 2.0 SITE SUITABILITY AND PRE-CONSTRUCTION SURVEYS ........................................... 9 2.1 Existing Conditions ......................................................................................................... 9 2.2 Pre-Construction Field Surveys ...................................................................................... 9 2.2.1 Fixed-Point Avian Use Surveys ............................................................................. 10 2.2.2 Raptor Nest Surveys ............................................................................................. 12 2.2.3 Bald Eagle Surveys ............................................................................................... 16 2.3 Post-Construction Avian Fatality Monitoring ................................................................. 16 2.3.1 Standardized Avian Carcass Searches ................................................................. 16 2.4 Comparison to Other Regional Projects ....................................................................... 20 3.0 RISK ASSESSMENT ....................................................................................................... 21 3.1 Collision ........................................................................................................................ 21 3.1.1 Eagle Fatality Predictions ...................................................................................... 22 3.1.2 Electrocution .......................................................................................................... 22 3.1.3 Disturbance and Displacement ............................................................................. 22 3.1.4 Habitat Fragmentation ........................................................................................... 22 3.2 Categorizing Site According to Risk ............................................................................. 23 3.2.1 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 23 3.3 Cumulative Effects ........................................................................................................ 23 4.0 AVOIDANCE AND MINIMIZATION OF RISKS IN PROJECT DESIGN .......................... 25 4.1 Site Selection and Project Design ................................................................................ 25 4.2 Construction ................................................................................................................. 25 4.3 Post-Construction Grading, Erosion Control, and Project Clean-up ............................. 27 4.4 Operations and Maintenance ....................................................................................... 27 4.5 Decommissioning and Restoration ............................................................................... 29 5.0 EAGLE MONITORING .................................................................................................... 30 5.1 Standardized Carcass Surveys .................................................................................... 30 Marengo I & II Wind Facilities Eagle Conservation Plan Confidential Business Information 5.2 Bias Correction Surveys ............................................................................................... 30 5.2.1 Searcher Efficiency Trials ...................................................................................... 31 5.2.2 Carcass Removal Trials ........................................................................................ 31 5.2.3 Adjusted Fatality Estimates ................................................................................... 32 5.2.4 Detection Procedures and Protocols ..................................................................... 32 5.3 Annual Reports ............................................................................................................. 33 5.4 Long-term Monitoring ................................................................................................... 33 6.0 COMPENSATORY MITIGATION AND ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT ............................. 35 6.1 Compensatory Mitigation through Power Pole Retrofitting ........................................... 35 6.1.1 Methods for Identifying Power Poles to Retrofit .................................................... 35 6.1.2 Tracking Retrofit Work during the Permit Term ..................................................... 36 6.1.3 Post-Installation of Retrofit Monitoring .................................................................. 36 6.2 Tiered Mitigation Approach with Adaptive Management .............................................. 36 7.0 LITERATURE CITED ....................................................................................................... 38 List of Tables Table 1-1. Turbine Locations .................................................................................................... 2 Table 2-1. Seasonal Eagle Observations ............................................................................... 12 Table 2-2. Golden Eagle Nest Locations within a 10-mile Radius of the Marengo I & II Wind Facilities ................................................................................................................ 13 Table 6-1. Anticipated Conservation Measures using Adaptive Management ....................... 37 List of Figures Figure 1-1. Marengo I & II Wind Project Locations .................................................................... 5 Figure 2-1. Avian Survey Locations ......................................................................................... 11 Figure 2-2. Marengo I & II Wind Projects Bald and Golden Eagle Nest Locations .................. 15 List of Appendices Appendix A Marengo I & II Wind Energy Facility Avian Protection Plan Appendix B Revised Avian Flight Height and Exposure Index Analysis for the Marengo Wind Facility Appendix C Marengo Wildlife Incident Reporting and Handling System Appendix D PacifiCorp Renewable Resources Retrofit Plan Marengo I & II Wind Facilities Eagle Conservation Plan Confidential Business Information List of Acronyms and Abbreviations APLIC Avian Power Line Interaction Committee BGEPA Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act Blue Sky Blue Sky Wind, LLC CFR Code of Federal Regulations Columbia County Columbia County Department of Planning and Building CRM collusion risk model CRP Conservation Reserve Program CUP conditional use permit EA environmental assessment ECP Eagle Conservation Plan ECP Guidance Eagle Conservation Plan Guidance, Module 1 – Land-based Wind Energy, Version 2 eagle take permit eagle incidental take permit EMU eagle management unit FAA Federal Aviation Administration ft feet GPS Global Positioning System Guidelines Land-based Wind Energy Guidelines km kilometer LAP local area population m meters MBTA Migratory Bird Treaty Act MDNS mitigated determination of non-significance MET tower meteorological tower mi miles min minute MW megawatt NEPA National Environmental Policy Act O&M operations and maintenance OLE Office of Law Enforcement Projects Marengo I & II Wind Facilities REA resource equivalency analysis RSA Rotor Swept Area SEPA State Environmental Policy Act SPUT special purpose utility permit TAC Technical Advisory Committee USFWS U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service UTM Universal Transverse Mercator WDFW Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife WEST Western EcoSystems Technology WIRHS Wildlife Incident Reporting and Handling System Marengo I & II Wind Facilities Eagle Conservation Plan Confidential Business Information 1.0 INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE PacifiCorp owns and operates the 117-turbine, 210.6-megawatt (MW) nameplate capacity Marengo I and II Wind Facilities (Projects) in Columbia County, Washington. The Projects currently utilize Vestas V80 1.8-MW wind turbines with an 80-meter (m) rotor diameter and a 107- m overall turbine height. PacifiCorp is upgrading the existing wind turbine nacelles and rotors to Vestas V100 components with a 100-m rotor diameter and 117-m overall height. The new, larger rotor diameter may change the risk to bald and golden eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus and Aquila chrysaetos) and other avian species of colliding with turbine blades due to this increased size of the