Notice of Availability and Request for Comments

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FY 2009 RURAL HOUSING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM GRANTEES—Continued
Grantee

State

Ohkay Owingeh Housing Authority ...................................................................................................................................
Community Area Resource Enterprise ..............................................................................................................................
Mescalero Apache Housing Authority ...............................................................................................................................
Muscogee (Creek) Nation ..................................................................................................................................................
Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma ....................................................................................................................................................
Citizen Potawatomi Community Development Organization .............................................................................................
Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians ................................................................................
Allendale County Alive, Inc ................................................................................................................................................
Catawba Indian Nation ......................................................................................................................................................
The Lakota Fund, Inc ........................................................................................................................................................
Mazaska Owecaso Otipi Financial, Inc .............................................................................................................................
Sicangu Wicoti Awayankapi Corporation ..........................................................................................................................
First Nations Oweesta Corporation ...................................................................................................................................
Buffalo Valley, Inc ..............................................................................................................................................................
West Tennessee Legal Service, Inc ..................................................................................................................................
Douglas-Cherokee Economic Authority, Inc ......................................................................................................................
Neighborhood Housing Services of Dimmit County, Inc ...................................................................................................
Motivation Education & Training, Inc .................................................................................................................................
Upper Rio Grande Workforce Development Board ...........................................................................................................
Proyecto Azteca, Inc ..........................................................................................................................................................
Makah Tribe .......................................................................................................................................................................
Lummi Indian Nation ..........................................................................................................................................................
Spokane Tribe of Indians ..................................................................................................................................................
Quinault Indian Nation .......................................................................................................................................................
Neighborhood Housing Services of Richland Center ........................................................................................................
Lau Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin ..................................................................
Southern Appalachian Labor School .................................................................................................................................

NM
NM
NM
OK
OK
OK
OR
SC
SC
SD
SD
SD
SD
TN
TN
TN
TX
TX
TX
TX
WA
WA
WA
WA
WI
WI
WV

Amount
awarded
300,000.00
300,000.00
300,000.00
300,000.00
296,496.00
300,000.00
190,000.00
300,000.00
273,608.75
300,000.00
160,000.00
300,000.00
1,000,000.00
300,000.00
300,000.00
214,038.00
300,000.00
300,000.00
300,000.00
300,000.00
300,000.00
279,304.00
300,000.00
300,000.00
300,000.00
300,000.00
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
Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
AGENCY:

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

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SUMMARY:

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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

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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.

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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

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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.

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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

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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

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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

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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]
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