Is an EFH Consultation Required?

An EFH consultation is required when a federal agency, authorizes, funds or undertakes an action that adversely affects EFH. Based on this statement, the answer to whether or not an EFH consultation is required depends on three factors:

1) A federal action must be involved. The federal government must authorize, fund, or undertake part or all of the proposed activity for it to be considered federal. For example, if a project proposed by a state or individual requires a federal permit, then this likely constitutes a federal action because the federal government is "authorizing" the project through the issuance of a permit. State actions that do not involve the federal government do not require consultation by the state action agency.

2) The adverse effects must be on EFH. EFH has been described and identified for most federally managed species; however, it does not include all fish habitat. In order to determine if the proposed action is located within or adjacent to EFH, review the EFH descriptions on the appropriate Fishery Management Council page, or contact the Habitat Conservation Division at the NOAA Fisheries Regional Office with jurisdiction over the proposed action. Once the federal action agency determines which EFH species and habitats are of concern for the proposed action, the agency can then conduct the required analysis of the proposed action’s effects on EFH.

3) The action must “adversely” affect EFH. An adverse effect is defined as any impact that reduces quality and/or quantity of EFH. Adverse effects may include direct or indirect physical, chemical, or biological alterations of the waters or substrate and loss of, or injury to, benthic organisms, prey species and their habitat, and other ecosystem components, if such modifications reduce the quality and/or quantity of EFH. Adverse effects to EFH may result from actions occurring within EFH or outside of EFH and may include site-specific or habitat-wide impacts, including individual, cumulative, or synergistic consequences of actions.

If the above three factors are satisfied, an EFH consultation with NOAA Fisheries will be required.