Endangered Species Act Section 7 Consultation Programmatic Biological and Conference Opinion on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Proposed Vessel General Permit and Small Vessel General Permit U.S. Fish and Wildllife Service Endangered Species Program Arlington, Virginia Consultation History ................................................................................................................... 2 DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED ACTION ..................................................................... 3 Vessel General Permit (VGP) ..................................................................................................... 4 Discharges to be Authorized by the VGP ............................................................................... 5 VGP Vessel-Class-Specific Requirements ........................................................................... 24 VGP Inspections, Recordkeeping, Reporting, Compliance, and Enforcement .................... 30 Small Vessel General Permit (sVGP) ....................................................................................... 38 Discharges to be Authorized by the sVGP ........................................................................... 38 sVGP Recordkeeping, Inspections, Compliance, and Enforcement ..................................... 45 Additional Specific Actions Taken by EPA to Conserve Listed Resources ............................. 47 Reinitiation Clause ................................................................................................................ 47 VGP Requirements ............................................................................................................... 47 sVGP Requirements .............................................................................................................. 48 VGP Compliance .................................................................................................................. 48 sVGP Compliance ................................................................................................................. 49 Monitoring of Stressors (ANS and Pollutants) ..................................................................... 50 APPROACH TO THE ASSESSMENT .................................................................................... 52 OVERVIEW OF FWS’ ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK ...................................................... 53 Application of this Approach in this Consultation ................................................................... 57 Evidence Available for the Consultation .................................................................................. 62 Treatment of “Cumulative Impacts” (in the sense of NEPA) ..................................................... 63 ACTION AREA .......................................................................................................................... 64 STATUS OF THE SPECIES AND CRITICAL HABITAT AND ENVIRONMENTAL BASELINE .................................................................................................................................. 65 Species and Critical Habitat Not Likely to be Adversely Affected by the Proposed Action ... 82 Species and Critical Habitat Likely to be Adversely Affected by the Proposed Action .......... 82 ENVIRONMENTAL BASELINE ............................................................................................. 83 The Changing Landscapes of the United States ....................................................................... 84 Status and Trends of Waters of the United States ..................................................................... 86 Aquatic Nuisance Species ..................................................................................................... 87 Climate Change ..................................................................................................................... 87 Clean Water Act .................................................................................................................... 90 San Francisco Bay as an Example of the Impact .................................................................. 91 Integration and Synthesis of the Environmental Baseline ........................................................ 92 EFFECTS OF THE PROPOSED ACTION, TRADITIONAL APPROACH ...................... 93 Vessel Populations Covered by the VGPs ................................................................................ 94 VGP Vessels ......................................................................................................................... 94 sVGP Vessels ........................................................................................................................ 98 Aquatic Nuisance Species ....................................................................................................... 101 Exposure Analysis .............................................................................................................. 101 Stressors .............................................................................................................................. 111 Response Analysis .............................................................................................................. 112 Extinction and Endangerment as a Result of ANS Invasions ............................................. 120 Traditional Pollutants .............................................................................................................. 122 Exposure Analysis .............................................................................................................. 122 Response Analysis .............................................................................................................. 157 EFFECTS OF THE PROPOSED ACTION, PROGRAMMATIC APPROACH .............. 183 (1) Scope ................................................................................................................................. 183 (2) Stressors ............................................................................................................................ 185 ANS..................................................................................................................................... 185 Pollutants............................................................................................................................. 186 (3) Exposure to potentially harmful impacts .......................................................................... 188 Uncertainties in Exposure Estimates Identified by EPA .................................................... 188 Services Assessment of Uncertainty in the Exposure Analysis .......................................... 189 ANS..................................................................................................................................... 190 (4) Monitoring/Feedback ........................................................................................................ 191 (5) Effects on Listed Resources .............................................................................................. 195 Uncertainty in Effects Analysis Identified by EPA ............................................................ 195 Services Assessment of Uncertainty in the Repose Analysis ............................................. 197 ANS..................................................................................................................................... 198 (6) Compliance........................................................................................................................ 198 (7) Adequacy of Controls........................................................................................................ 204 CUMULATIVE EFFECTS ...................................................................................................... 206 INTEGRATION AND SYNTHESIS....................................................................................... 206 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................... 210 INCIDENTAL TAKE STATEMENT..................................................................................... 211 Amount or Extent of Take ...................................................................................................... 211 Reasonable and Prudent Measures .......................................................................................... 212 Terms and Conditions ............................................................................................................. 212 CONSERVATION RECOMMENDATIONS ........................................................................ 213 REINITIATION NOTICE ....................................................................................................... 213 LITERATURE CITED ............................................................................................................ 214 LIST of TABLES Table 1. Species Listed or Proposed as Threatened, Endangered, and their Designated and Proposed Critical Habitat in the Action Area. There are 45 Candidates for listing also included and treated herein as “Proposed.” ................................................................................................. 65 Table 2. Phenomena associated with projections of global climate change including levels of confidence associated with projections ........................................................................................