Draft Pre-Decisional Document for Agency Review Purposes Only: Do Not Distribute DRAFT Endangered Species Act Section 7 Consultation Biological Opinion on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Proposed Pesticides General Permit National Marine Fisheries Service Office of Protected Resources Silver Spring, MD 20910 Consultation History ................................................................................................................................................. 8 DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED ACTION .................................................................................................. 10 Pesticides General Permit ....................................................................................................................................... 12 Obtaining Authorization under the PGP ............................................................................................................ 12 Protective Measures ........................................................................................................................................... 16 Limitations on Coverage .................................................................................................................................... 24 Overview of NMFS’ Assessment Framework ........................................................................................................ 25 Application of this Approach to this Consultation .................................................................................................. 25 Evidence Available for the Consultation ................................................................................................................ 29 ACTION AREA ......................................................................................................................................................... 30 STATUS OF THE SPECIES AND CRITICAL HABITAT AND ENVIRONMENTAL BASELINE ............... 31 Species and Critical Habitat Not Likely to be Adversely Affected by the Proposed Action .................................. 34 Endangered and Threatened Marine Mammals .................................................................................................. 34 Endangered and Threatened Sea Turtles ............................................................................................................ 35 Endangered and Threatened Marine Fish ........................................................................................................... 36 Endangered and Threatened Marine Invertebrates ............................................................................................. 37 Johnson’s Seagrass ............................................................................................................................................. 38 Climate Change....................................................................................................................................................... 38 Species and Critical Habitat Likely to be Adversely Affected by the Proposed Action ......................................... 42 Anadromous Fish Species .................................................................................................................................. 42 Southern Pacific Eulachon Southern .................................................................................................................. 42 Sturgeon ............................................................................................................................................................. 44 Salmonid Anadromous Fish Species .................................................................................................................. 50 Chum Salmon ..................................................................................................................................................... 64 Coho Salmon ...................................................................................................................................................... 68 Sockeye Salmon ................................................................................................................................................. 74 Steelhead ............................................................................................................................................................ 78 ii Marine Mammals .................................................................................................................................................... 97 Cook Inlet Beluga Whale ................................................................................................................................... 97 Killer Whale Southern Resident Species.......................................................................................................... 101 ENVIRONMENTAL BASELINE .......................................................................................................................... 103 The Changing Landscapes of the United States ............................................................................................... 104 Status and Trends of Waters of the United States ............................................................................................ 106 Integration and Synthesis of the Environmental Baseline ................................................................................ 110 EFFECTS OF THE PROPOSED ACTION .......................................................................................................... 112 Potential Stressors ................................................................................................................................................. 113 Use Patterns to be Authorized by the Proposed Permit .................................................................................... 114 Pesticide Occurrence in Rivers and Streams .................................................................................................... 117 Degradate Occurrence ...................................................................................................................................... 118 Environmental Mixtures ................................................................................................................................... 118 Consequences of Exposing Listed Species and Designated Critical Habitat ................................................... 119 Components of the Proposed PGP Designed to Minimize or Prevent Exposure ............................................. 130 Evaluation of Those Components of the Proposed PGP Designed to Minimize or Prevent Exposure ............ 140 Cumulative Effects ............................................................................................................................................... 151 INTEGRATION AND SYNTHESIS OF EFFECTS ............................................................................................ 151 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................................................ 153 Listed Species and Critical Habitat ....................................................................................................................... 153 REASONABLE AND PRUDENT ALTERNATIVE ............................................................................................ 154 RPA Element 1 ..................................................................................................................................................... 155 Rationale .......................................................................................................................................................... 156 RPA Element 2 ..................................................................................................................................................... 158 Rationale .......................................................................................................................................................... 158 RPA Element 3 ..................................................................................................................................................... 159 Rationale .......................................................................................................................................................... 159 iii INCIDENTAL TAKE STATEMENT ................................................................................................................... 160 Amount or Extent of Take .................................................................................................................................... 160 Reasonable and Prudent Measures ........................................................................................................................ 161 Terms and Conditions ........................................................................................................................................... 162 CONSERVATION RECOMMENDATIONS ....................................................................................................... 162 REINITIATION NOTICE ...................................................................................................................................... 163 LITERATURE CITED 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