Appendix C List of Commenters The following individuals and organizations provided comments during the scoping period for the EIS. In addition, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provided preliminary scoping comments on the EIS and MSHCP in May 2015. The following table lists each commenter, their affiliation, the date the comment was received, and the source through which the comment was received. A copy of all comments received during the scoping period are provided in Appendix D. List of Commenters No. Commenter Affiliation Date Source 1 Terry McGovern Individual 7/21/2015 Regulations.gov 2 Jim Bembinster Individual 7/16/2015 Regulations.gov 3 Tom Stacy Individual 7/23/2015 Email 4 Julia Johnson Individual/Union 7/21/2015 Comment form and Email Neighbors United 5 James E. Krause Individual 7/20/2015 Comment form 6 Laurie Werner Sheboygan County 7/15/2015 Email Communities for Responsible Energy 7 Berkshire Hathaway Berkshire Hathaway 8/11/2015 Regulations.gov Energy Energy 8 Bat Conservation Bat Conservation 8/11/2015 Regulations.gov International International 9 Alexis Andiman Conservation Law Center 8/11/2015 Regulations.gov 10 Kandace Andriadis Individual 8/11/2015 Regulations.gov 11 Anonymous Individual 8/10/2015 Regulations.gov 12 L. Menefee Individual 8/10/2015 Regulations.gov 13 Scott Davis The Nature Conservancy 7/29/2015 Regulations.gov 14 Erin Basiger Indiana Department of 8/11/2015 Emailed letter Natural Resources 15 EPA U.S. EPA Regions 5 and7 8/11/2015 Emailed letter 16 C G Spies Individual 6/17/2015 Emailed letter 17 EPA U.S. EPA Regions 5 and 7 5/21/15 Email Appendix D Scoping Comments Regulations.gov - Comment Page 1 of 2 Submitted Electronically via eRulemaking Portal This is a Comment on the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Comment Now! Notice: Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Midwest Wind Energy Multi-Species Habitat Due Aug 11 2015, at 11:59 PM ET Conservation Plan For related information, Open Docket Folder ID: FWS-R3-ES-2015-0033-0003 Tracking Number: 1jz-8k1m-4ccq Comment Document Information Industrial wind energy has already been given an incidental Date Posted: take permit for bald and golden eagles, now they want Jul 21, 2015 permission to kill millions of bats across our country, Show More Details including bats already being decimated by white nose disease in the Midwest. Given the species of bats most effected by white nose have only one pup per year and Submitter Information already 50% of pups die each year, the remaining population will become extinct. This is not a 'take permit' it is Submitter Name: a extinction permit which goes completely against the Fish Terry McGovern and Wildlife's Mission to "...to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats for the City: continuing benefit of the American people." Seeing industrial Earlville wind partner with the U.S. Chamber to pressure FWS to Country: make decisions against its core mission and one of its core United States principles (Threatened and Endangered Species: Achieving Recovery and Preventing Extinction) is troubling. My hope is State or Province: the men and women of FWS rally behind their mission and IA core beliefs and not cave to the wind lobbyists who care ZIP/Postal Code: little about bat habitats. Mike Prior, head of the Iowa Wind 52041 Energy Association, told IowaWatch (17 July): "While we want to evolve wind energy in a way not to hurt wildlife, bat deaths are not a concern and will not impact wind energy." (http://www.spencerdailyreporter.com/story/221444 2.html). Someone has to stand up for the bats as that population has no voice and they are clearly not a concern to the Wind Energy Association. The environmental impact statement for Midwest Wind Energy Multi-species conservation plan should note that industrial wind turbines kill a wide range of avian species at a disproportionately high rate compared to other man-made structures. This includes endangered species such as our national symbol, the bald eagle, and other protected species at a rate that could cause extinction for populations already dealing with other life-threatening circumstances. Hence hours of operations, minimum wind speed activation, http://www.regulations.gov/ 7/24/2015 Regulations.gov - Comment Page 2 of 2 location, tower heights, and all other means necessary to dissuade bats, local avian populations and migratory populations from flying near industrial turbines must be exhausted. I'd like to see some commentary related to a percentage of annual revenue generated by wind farms returned to local county conservation boards to allow for bat / bird habitat support and conservation in other areas of counties far removed from the turbine kill zones. Finally, I believe the impact statement must include commentary about the expected increase in pesticide use as bat populations are thinned. Considering this systemically, the negative ecological impact of greater pesticide usage should also be noted on bee populations which are greatly stressed now, as well as other species, and human health impacts as well. As a final note, it is unethical to create a policy then ignore it or provide purchased waivers to it. Threatened and Endangered Species guidelines are clear--to allow one industry limitless kills of protected species is wrong. It is especially wrong when the industry is killing birds, bats, and raptors at a rate never before seen by a single man-made structure. When is too many too many? Is there an acceptable number or percentage of avian populations we are comfortable with destroying? All this for an energy source that is grossly inefficient, astronomically expensive, and has only a token impact on the global carbon problem. http://www.regulations.gov/ 7/24/2015 Regulations.gov - Comment Page 1 of 2 Submitted Electronically via eRulemaking Portal This is a Comment on the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Comment Period Closed Notice: Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Aug 11 2015, at 11:59 PM ET Proposed Midwest Wind Energy Multi-Species Habitat Conservation Plan For related information, Open Docket Folder ID: FWS-R3-ES-2015-0033-0002 Tracking Number: 1jz-8k0d-9lwy Document Information Comment Date Posted: Please consider the impact wind turbines have had on bird Jul 16, 2015 and bat populations. With all the things that birds and bats must overcome for survival wind turbines are an additional Show More Details and very serious source of bird and bat mortality. We Energies Post Construction Bird and Bat mortality Submitter Information report: This report from the Blue Sky/Green Field wind project in Submitter Name: Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin shows that wind turbine Jim Bembinster related bat kills at 41.5 kills per turbine per year is ten times City: higher than the predicted average of 4 kills per year. The Evansville state of Wisconsin is tied only with Pennsylvania as having the highest wind turbine related bat kills in North America. Country: One could question the accuracy of this report as it is United States provided by the violator as self reported. My opinion is you State or Province: could increase the kill numbers by a factor of 2.5 and be WI close to real time conditions. ZIP/Postal Code: 53536 This report is only a best guess based on what could be found. Birds and bats killed by turbines would be difficult to find in a corn or soy bean field. There would not be much left to find of a bird or bat hit by a turbine blade moving 175 MPH. I am sure you are well aware that bats do not have to be struck by the blades to be killed, they need only fly into the low pressure area behind the turbine blades. The low pressure area behind the turbine blades will cause the bats lungs to rupture. Barotrauma is a significant cause of bat deaths and may help explain the high fatality rates in Wisconsin. Also please consider the negative impact to agriculture by the reduced bat populations. If Wisconsin reaches its RPS with wind turbines by 2025 bat kills would increase to 500,000 per year minimum. Bats will never overcome this high kill rate. http://www.regulations.gov/ 8/12/2015 Regulations.gov - Comment Page 2 of 2 Curtailment should be considered at night during the months that the majority of bat kills occur. Bird and bat detection radar is also available and was tested in Wisconsin years ago. But never implemented, why? The wind industry wants no restrictions and in their opinion no sacrifice is too great so that they can sell wind turbines. No industry should be given the right to kill anything under and circumstances. The idea that the wind industry be given a permit to kill birds and bats is outrageous. With the wind industry its take, take, take, with no end in sight. Just say no. Thank you for your time and consideration, Jim Bembinster 18002 W Cr C Evansville, WI 53536 http://www.regulations.gov/ 8/12/2015 Piggott, Jennifer From: Zohn, April Sent: Tuesday, August 04, 2015 6:23 PM To: Piggott, Jennifer Subject: FW: Wind energy minimum cut-in speed strategy financial implication estimation methodology Attachments: USFWS wind bat draft procedure for revenue profit impact of cut in speed minimum.pdf Hi Jennifer, This should be considered a scoping comment. I’ll let you make sure it gets to the correct location on sharepoint. Thanks. A. From: Amidon, Rick [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, July 28, 2015 9:06 AM To: Zohn, April <[email protected]>; Scott Pruitt <[email protected]>; Forest <[email protected]>; Sean Marsan <[email protected]>; Megan Seymour <[email protected]>; Jane_Ledwin <[email protected]>; Erik <[email protected]> Subject: Fwd: Wind energy minimum cut‐in speed strategy financial implication estimation methodology FYI ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Tom Stacy <[email protected]> Date: Thu, Jul 23, 2015 at 6:29 PM Subject: Re: Wind energy minimum cut-in speed strategy financial implication estimation methodology To: [email protected] I would like to retract and replace the attachment provided in my previous email.