9590 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 34 / Friday, February 18, 2011 / Notices 

FY 2009 RURAL HOUSING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM GRANTEES—Continued 

Grantee State Amount 

awarded 

Ohkay Owingeh Housing Authority ................................................................................................................................... NM 300,000.00 

Community Area Resource Enterprise .............................................................................................................................. NM 300,000.00 

Mescalero Apache Housing Authority ............................................................................................................................... NM 300,000.00 

Muscogee (Creek) Nation .................................................................................................................................................. OK 300,000.00 

Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma .................................................................................................................................................... OK 296,496.00 

Citizen Potawatomi Community Development Organization ............................................................................................. OK 300,000.00 

Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians ................................................................................ OR 190,000.00 

Allendale County Alive, Inc ................................................................................................................................................ SC 300,000.00 

Catawba Indian Nation ...................................................................................................................................................... SC 273,608.75 

The Lakota Fund, Inc ........................................................................................................................................................ SD 300,000.00 

Mazaska Owecaso Otipi Financial, Inc ............................................................................................................................. SD 160,000.00 

Sicangu Wicoti Awayankapi Corporation .......................................................................................................................... SD 300,000.00 

First Nations Oweesta Corporation ................................................................................................................................... SD 1,000,000.00 

Buffalo Valley, Inc .............................................................................................................................................................. TN 300,000.00 

West Tennessee Legal Service, Inc .................................................................................................................................. TN 300,000.00 

Douglas-Cherokee Economic Authority, Inc ...................................................................................................................... TN 214,038.00 

Neighborhood Housing Services of Dimmit County, Inc ................................................................................................... TX 300,000.00 

Motivation Education & Training, Inc ................................................................................................................................. TX 300,000.00 

Upper Rio Grande Workforce Development Board ........................................................................................................... TX 300,000.00 

Proyecto Azteca, Inc .......................................................................................................................................................... TX 300,000.00 

Makah Tribe ....................................................................................................................................................................... WA 300,000.00 

Lummi Indian Nation .......................................................................................................................................................... WA 279,304.00 

Spokane Tribe of Indians .................................................................................................................................................. WA 300,000.00 

Quinault Indian Nation ....................................................................................................................................................... WA 300,000.00 

Neighborhood Housing Services of Richland Center ........................................................................................................ WI 300,000.00 

Lau Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin .................................................................. WI 300,000.00 

Southern Appalachian Labor School ................................................................................................................................. WV 300,000.00 

25,030,464.75 

[FR Doc. 2011–3740 Filed 2–17–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4210–67–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

[FWS–R9–FHC–2011–N013; 94300–1122– 

0000–Z2] 

RIN 1018–AX45 

Fisheries and Habitat Conservation 

and Migratory Birds Programs; Draft 

Land-Based Wind Energy Guidelines 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of availability. 

SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service (Service), announce the 

availability for public comment of draft 

Wind Energy Guidelines (Guidelines). 

These draft Guidelines are intended to 

supersede the Service’s 2003 voluntary, 

interim guidelines for land-based wind 

development. Additionally, they are 

intended to respond to accelerated 

development of land-based, wind 

energy generation projects in the United 

States. These draft voluntary Guidelines 

provide developers and agency staff 

with an iterative process to make the 

best possible decisions in selecting sites 

to avoid and minimize negative effects 

to fish, wildlife and their habitats 

resulting from construction, operation 

and maintenance of land-based, wind 

energy facilities. 

DATES: These voluntary draft Guidelines 

are effective February 18, 2011. We 

must receive any comments by the end 

of the day on May 19, 2011. 

ADDRESSES: The draft Guidelines may be 

downloaded from http://www.fws.gov/ 

windenergy. To request a copy of the 

draft Guidelines by U.S. Mail, write: 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 4401 

North Fairfax Drive; Room 840, 

Arlington, VA 22203. You may also 

send an e-mail request to: 

windenergy@fws.gov. Please specify 

whether you want to receive a hard 

copy by U.S. mail or and electronic 

copy by e-mail. To submit your 

comments, see ‘‘Request for Public 

Comments’’ under SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION. 

You may submit e-mail comments to 

windenergy@fws.gov. Please include 

‘‘Wind Energy Guidelines Comments’’ in 

the subject line of the message, and your 

full name and return address in the 

body of your message. Please note that 

the e-mail address will be closed when 

the public comment period closes. 

Alternatively, you may submit 

comments or recommendations by mail 

to: Attention: Wind Energy Guidelines; 

Division of Fisheries and Habitat 

Conservation; U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service; 4401 North Fairfax Drive, Mail 

Stop 4107; Arlington, VA 22203–1610. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Christy Johnson-Hughes, Division of 

Habitat and Resource Conservation, U.S. 

Fish and Wildlife Service, Department 

of the Interior, (703) 358–1922. 

Individuals who are hearing-impaired or 

speech-impaired may call the Federal 

Relay Service at 1–800–877–8337 for 

TTY assistance, 24 hours a day, 7 days 

a week. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service is to work with others to 

conserve, protect and enhance fish, 

wildlife, plants and their habitats for the 

continuing benefit of the American 

people. As part of this, we are charged 

with implementing statues including 

the Endangered Species Act, the 

Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and the Bald 

and Golden Eagle Protection Act. These 

statutes prohibit taking of Federally 

listed species, migratory birds and 

eagles unless otherwise authorized. 

Increased energy demands and the 

nationwide goal to increase energy 

production from renewable sources 

have intensified the development of 

energy facilities, including wind energy. 

The Service supports renewable energy 

development that is compatible with 

fish and wildlife conservation. 

WReier-Aviles on DSKGBLS3C1PROD with NOTICES

Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 34 / Friday, February 18, 2011 / Notices 9591 

These draft Guidelines provide 

recommendations that are intended to: 

(1) Promote compliance with relevant 

wildlife laws and statutes; 

(2) Encourage scientifically rigorous 

survey, monitoring, assessment, and 

research designs proportionate to the 

risk to affected species; 

(3) Produce potentially comparable 

data across the Nation; 

(4) Avoid, minimize, and/or 

compensate for potential adverse effects 

on fish, wildlife and their habitats; and, 

(5) Improve the ability to predict and 

resolve effects locally, regionally, and 

nationally. 

The Service encourages project 

proponents to use the process described 

in these draft voluntary Land-based 

Wind Energy Guidelines (draft 

Guidelines) to address risks to fish and 

wildlife resources. The Service 

anticipates that these draft Guidelines, 

when used in concert with the 

appropriate regulatory tools and other 

existing policies, will provide the best 

practical approach for conservation of 

species of Federal trust responsibility. 

The Service will initiate a peer review 

of the draft Guidelines during the public 

comment period. 

Background 

In July 2003, the Service released for 

public comment a set of voluntary, 

interim guidelines for land-based, wind 

energy projects to assist developers in 

avoiding, minimizing and/or 

compensating for effects to fish, 

wildlife, and their habitats related to 

land-based, wind energy facilities. 

Following a 2-year public comment 

period, and receipt of 25 public 

comments for the record, in March 

2007, the Secretary of the Interior 

(Secretary) established the Wind 

Turbine Guidelines Advisory 

Committee (Committee) under the 

Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 

U.S.C. Appx 2). The Committee 

submitted final recommendations to the 

Secretary on March 4, 2010. The Service 

appreciates all the time and effort that 

members of the Committee devoted to 

developing their recommendations. The 

Service convened an internal working 

group representing several Service 

programs to review the Committee 

Recommendations and used the 

Recommendations as a basis to develop 

the Service’s draft wind energy 

Guidelines. 

The draft voluntary Guidelines 

describe the information needed to 

identify, assess, mitigate, and monitor 

the potential adverse effects of wind 

energy projects on fish, wildlife, plants 

and their habitats, using a consistent 

and predictable approach, while 

providing flexibility to accommodate 

the unique circumstances of each 

project. The framework within the draft 

Guidelines is intended to standardize 

methods and metrics, resulting in 

greater consistency of information, and 

aid in understanding future effects of 

these projects. The framework also 

helps developers understand how to 

avoid or minimize effects to certain 

species, which is important for 

compliance with a number of laws, 

including: the Migratory Bird Treaty Act 

(MBTA; 16 U.S.C. 703–711), the Bald 

and Golden Eagle Protection Act 

(BGEPA or Eagle Act; 16 U.S.C. 668– 

668d), and the Endangered Species Act 

(ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). 

The levels of surveying, monitoring, 

assessing, and collecting other 

information will vary among different 

wind-energy projects due to the diverse 

geographic, climatological, and 

ecological features of potential wind 

development sites. Founded upon a 

‘‘tiered approach’’ for assessing potential 

effects to fish, wildlife, and their 

habitats, the guidelines are intended to 

promote: Compliance with relevant laws 

and statutes; the use of scientifically 

rigorous survey, monitoring, assessment 

and research designs proportionate to 

the potential risk to affected species; the 

accumulation of comparable data across 

the landscape; the identification of 

trends and patterns of effects; and, 

ultimately the improved ability to 

predict and resolve effects locally, 

regionally and nationally. 

These draft Guidelines are not 

intended nor shall they be construed to 

limit or preclude the Service from 

exercising its authority under any law, 

statute, or regulation; to limit or 

preclude the Service from taking 

enforcement action against any 

individual, company, or agency; or to 

relieve any individual, company, or 

agency of its obligations to comply with 

any applicable Federal, State, Tribal, or 

local laws, statutes, or regulations. The 

methods described in the draft 

Guidelines are intended to provide 

information for assessment of effects, as 

well as information to guide the creation 

of avoidance, minimization, and 

compensatory measures. Developers 

that use and follow the draft Guidelines 

also demonstrate a good-faith effort to 

develop and operate projects consistent 

with the intent of local, Tribal, State, 

and Federal laws. The Service will 

regard such voluntary adherence and 

communication as evidence of due care 

with respect to avoiding, minimizing, 

and mitigating significant adverse 

impacts to species protected under the 

MBTA and BGEPA. 

Comparison of Committee 

Recommendations With the Resulting 

Draft Guidelines 

The responsibility of the Service is to 

protect and conserve fish, wildlife, and 

their habitat (fish and wildlife). With 

the development of these draft 

Guidelines, the Service is providing a 

clear and readily usable path for the 

protection and conservation of fish and 

wildlife. Although voluntary, the 

Service hopes developers will utilize 

the final Guidelines to reduce the 

impacts wind energy facilities can have 

on fish and wildlife, while enabling the 

Nation to increase its renewable energy 

portfolio. The Guidelines encourage the 

wind industry to coordinate early and 

often with the Service to avoid, 

minimize, and/or compensate for 

potential adverse effects on fish, 

wildlife and their habitats. 

As the Service developed these draft 

Guidelines based on the Committee 

Recommendations it modified, 

accentuated, and reduced some 

sections. The Department has co-equal 

responsibilities to promote sustainable 

renewable energy development and 

conserve wildlife. In the draft 

Guidelines, the Service addresses issues 

of utmost importance to meet our 

conservation goals and conform to 

statutes, regulations, and policies. The 

following is an overview of some of the 

differences between the 

Recommendations and the draft 

Guidelines. 

Study Duration and Intensity: The 

Committee Recommendations did not 

mention specific study duration. The 

draft Guidelines recommend 3 years for 

pre-construction studies and 2 years 

minimum for post-construction studies 

because these timelines should be of 

sufficient duration and intensity to 

ensure adequate data are collected to 

accurately characterize wildlife use of 

the area. 

Decision Process: The Committee 

Recommendations noted that the 

developer makes key decisions. The 

draft Guidelines recommend that the 

developer coordinate early and often 

with the Service when making decisions 

about when and whether to proceed to 

the next tier to gain joint understanding 

of data analysis and project planning. 

Implementation: The Committee 

recommended that the Service delay 

implementation of the Guidelines for 24 

months to account for projects that are 

in planning or under construction and 

to have an opportunity for Service and 

wind industry personnel to learn about 

them. The draft Guidelines 

accommodate projects that are in 

various stages of development, from 

WReier-Aviles on DSKGBLS3C1PROD with NOTICES

9592 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 34 / Friday, February 18, 2011 / Notices 

early planning to operational. The 

Service has committed to developing 

and providing training to practitioners 

on the final Guidelines to assure 

uniform interpretation. 

Adverse Effect: The Committee 

Recommendations use a threshold of 

‘‘significant adverse effect’’ for those 

impacts that need to be studied or 

addressed. The draft Guidelines 

removed ‘‘significant’’ from the phrase. 

Because the Service intends to use the 

term in a manner similar to that 

described in the Committee 

Recommendations, the inclusion of the 

word ‘‘significant’’ would be redundant. 

Use of Project Descriptors and Other 

Terms: The Committee 

Recommendations used the terms ‘‘area 

of interest,’’ ‘‘project area,’’ ‘‘project site,’’ 

‘‘species of concern, and species of 

fragmentation concern.’’ The draft 

Guidelines modified the terms to be 

consistent with Service practices and 

policies. The terms are now ‘‘area of 

influence, project site, extent of direct 

effects, extent of indirect effects, 

affected species, and species sensitive to 

habitat fragmentation.’’ 

Adaptive Management: The 

Committee Recommendations used 

Adaptive Management concepts from a 

variety of sources. The Service uses the 

Department of the Interior Adaptive 

Management Handbook. 

Noise: The Committee 

Recommendations do not include a 

discussion of noise impacts to wildlife. 

The draft Guidelines include a 

discussion on noise and incorporates 

noise in the tier questions based on 

comments and recommendations 

received from other Federal agencies. 

Habitat Fragmentation: The 

Committee Recommendations include 

an extensive discussion on the effects of 

habitat fragmentation on sage grouse 

and prairie chickens. The draft 

Guidelines expanded the discussion to 

include habitat loss and degradation 

and moved the sage-grouse-specific 

discussion to the Service Wind Energy 

Web site. Extensive species-specific 

references were moved to the Web site 

to focus on process. 

Tiers 4 and 5: The Committee 

Recommendations separate postconstruction fatality studies into Tier 4 

and habitat studies into Tier 5. The draft 

Guidelines expanded Tier 4 to assure 

comprehensive fatality monitoring (Tier 

4a) and monitoring other effects, 

including habitat (Tier 4b). We also 

included in Tier 5 research to address 

gaps in knowledge, evaluate the 

effectiveness of best management 

practices, address questions that exist 

across multiple projects, and as a 

component of an adaptive management 

program. 

Mitigation: The Committee 

Recommendations included a brief 

discussion of general mitigation 

considerations. The draft Guidelines 

include an expanded discussion on 

mitigation under the Migratory Bird 

Treaty Act and Bald and Golden Eagle 

Protection Act because mitigation may 

be an important component of site 

planning for many projects. 

Conflict Resolution: The Committee 

Recommendations identified a specific 

individual in the Headquarters Office to 

respond to conflicts. The draft 

Guidelines modified this to the standard 

chain of command for the Service 

because Service policies call for 

resolving issues at the lowest 

appropriate level. 

Legal White Paper: The Committee 

Recommendations included a Legal 

White Paper that discussed statutes, as 

well as various options such as ‘‘bird 

letters,’’ migratory bird permits, 

conservation banking and other ideas. 

The draft Guidelines include a 

discussion of the Service’s legal 

authorities and statutes. 

Web Site 

The Service has established a public 

Web site that will provide support to 

developers and stakeholders as they use 

the draft Guidelines. Information on the 

Web site will be reviewed periodically 

to ensure that it remains current and 

applicable. The Web site currently 

includes: the Committee 

Recommendations, the Service’s 2003 

interim wind guidelines, and supporting 

documents for the draft Guidelines. 

Future additions to the Web site will 

include: recommendations on risk 

assessment tools, survey and monitoring 

protocols, research designs, applicable 

policies and regulations, best 

management practices, best available 

technologies, recommendations for 

reducing adverse effects; map-based 

risk-assessment products, information 

on buffers and noise effects, and other 

pertinent literature. 

The Web site is still being developed, 

but the Service welcomes public review 

and comment of its progress: visit 

http://www.fws.gov/windenergy to 

review and comment. We also welcome 

comments on how to improve the 

applicability of this Web site. 

Request for Public Comments 

We request comments on the draft 

Guidelines. We are particularly seeking 

comments regarding the cost 

effectiveness of these draft Guidelines 

for all wind turbines, including 

community scale operations. All 

comments we receive by the date 

specified above in DATES will be 

considered during preparation of the 

final guidelines. We prefer to receive 

comments via e-mail, but you may 

alternately submit your comments by 

any one of the other methods mentioned 

above. If you submit your comment by 

e-mail, please include ‘‘Draft LandBased Wind Energy Guidelines 

Comments’’ in the subject line of your 

message, and your full name and return 

U.S. mailing address in the body of your 

message. Please note that e-mail address 

windenergy@fws.gov will be closed 

when the public comment period closes. 

We will take into consideration the 

relevant comments, suggestions, or 

objections that we receive by the 

comment due date indicated above in 

DATES. These comments, suggestions, or 

objections, and any additional 

information we received, may lead us to 

adopt final guidelines that differ from 

these draft Guidelines. Comments 

merely stating support of or opposition 

to the draft Guidelines without 

providing supporting data or rationale 

are not as helpful. 

Public Availability of Comments 

Before including your address, phone 

number, e-mail address, or other 

personal identifying information in your 

comment, you should be aware that 

your entire comment—including your 

personal identifying information—may 

be made publicly available at any time. 

You can ask us in your comment to 

withhold your personal identifying 

information from public review, but we 

cannot guarantee that we will be able to 

do so. 

As published elsewhere in today’s 

Federal Register, the Service is 

simultaneously soliciting comments on 

the draft Eagle Conservation Plan 

Guidance. 

Authority: The authorities for this action 

are the Endangered Species Act of 1973 as 

amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); the 

Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 as 

amended (16 U.S.C. 703–711); and the Bald 

and Golden Eagle Protection Act of 1940, as 

amended, (16 U.S.C. 668–668d). 

Dated: January 31, 2011. 

Rowan Gould, 

Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 

[FR Doc. 2011–3699 Filed 2–17–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P 

WReier-Aviles on DSKGBLS3C1PROD with NOTICES