Tag:BGEPA

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Eagle Take Permit Program Revamped – Longer Permits and Clearer Mitigation Requirements
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U.S. Fish & Wildlife’s Double Take on Eagle Take Permits

Eagle Take Permit Program Revamped – Longer Permits and Clearer Mitigation Requirements

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service recently proposed revisions to its regulations authorizing take of bald and golden eagles.

The Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (“BGEPA”) imposes criminal and civil penalties against “whoever . . . shall take . . . any bald . . . or any golden eagle, alive or dead, or any part, nest, or egg thereof . . . .” “Take” is broadly defined to mean “pursue, shoot, shoot at, poison, wound, kill, capture, trap, collect, molest or disturb.” The United States has expressed its intent to pursue companies that violate BGEPA.

Read the full alert on K&L Gates HUB.

U.S. Fish & Wildlife’s Double Take on Eagle Take Permits

If there wasn’t enough uncertainty about the process and standards for obtaining a programmatic eagle take permit, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service just made it more difficult.  Since 2009, energy developers and operators – from oil & gas to wind & solar – have been able to apply for a permit for the incidental take of eagles.  That permit program, which has evolved over the past several years through regulatory revisions and agency guidance, may be poised to change in dramatic fashion. 

On June 19, 2014, the American Bird Conservancy and other individual plaintiffs (the “ABC Plaintiffs”) filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (“USFWS”).[1]  The ABC Plaintiffs are challenging the USFWS’ revision to its eagle take rule.  Specifically, the ABC Plaintiffs are challenging the agency’s determination to extend the maximum term for an incidental eagle take permit (“ETP”) to 30 years on two ground: first, USFWS revised the eagle take rule without analyzing environmental impacts under the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”); and second, the rule violates the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (“BGEPA”) by subverting basic eagle protections and safeguards without adequate explanation. Read More

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