Spotted Owl - Photo from USDA Forest Service |
To ensure that a proposed federal action is compliant with the requirements of the Endangered Species Act and meets WSDOT Biological Assessment (BA) standards, a process of environmental evaluation, documentation, and review is initiated. The purpose of the BA is to evaluate the potential effects of proposed federal actions on listed and proposed wildlife, fish, and plant species as well as critical habitats that are likely to occur in the vicinity of the project. This document serves as the basis for consultation with USFWS or NOAA Fisheries to ensure a proposed project is in compliance with ESA regulations.
Consultation Process
WSDOT's BA development and consultation process can be divided into eight general phases:
WSDOT Biological Assessment Content
The Endangered Species Act requires preparation of a BA for any major construction project with a federal nexus. The purpose of a BA is to evaluate the potential effects of a proposed project on listed and proposed wildlife, fish, and plant species and designated or proposed critical habitats that are likely to occur in the vicinity of the project. To ensure compliance with the ESA, some agencies, including WSDOT, prepare BAs for projects that would not be considered major construction.
The BA should use the “best available scientific and commercial information” (USFWS, NOAA Fisheries 1998). This information is used to help analyze project impacts and is the basis for the effect determination. This information must have been evaluated by the Services and found to be acceptable. For example:
- Appendix A of the NOAA Fisheries matrix document (NOAA Fisheries 1996) identifies key habitat elements and activities that affect them and also provides references for species under NOAA Fisheries jurisdiction (see the compact disc accompanying the Advanced Training Manual).
- Status reports for species provide numerous references.
Project biologists may contact the Services for additional species-specific information, including contact information for local area habitat biologists or academic experts. This website also provides a list of useful standard references (pdf 179 kb).
The components of the BA are discussed in detail in the Advanced Training Manual: Biological Assessment Preparation for Transportation Projects, and the main parts or sections are summarized in the Example BA Format table (pdf 78 kb).
Additional guidance is also available for what to include in the Reference section of the BA or in the Appendices of the report.
Using the WSDOT Example BA Format table above can help to ensure that all necessary topics are addressed in a BA. In addition, to ensure that all required information has been included in a BA, project biologists may use the BA Review Checklist (doc 137 kb) that was prepared for WSDOT BA reviewers and the BA template.
Guidance for Specific Topics
Please see Part 3, Chapter 19 of the Advanced Training Manual: Biological Assessment Preparation for Transportation Projects for complete information on submitting a BA or no-effect letter.
Western Washington Highway Runoff Dilution and Loading Stormwater Model
The HI-RUN Model should only be used for stormwater analysis associated with biological assessments, and should not be used as a design tool.
*Please contact Matt Vasquez at vasquem@wsdot.wa.gov if you encounter problems or errors when using the HI-RUN Model.
Eastern Washington Stormwater Guidance - Under Development
Stormwater Whitepapers - Posted April, 2008
For Projects with Pile Driving: New Fish Noise Exposure Criteria Beginning October 1, 2008
As a result of a multiagency agreement, new fish noise exposure criteria will be implemented after August 12, 2008. All WSDOT projects with pile driving activities that may impact fish, which will begin consultation after this date, will be required to use these new criteria when assessing potential impacts to fish.
- Interim Criteria Agreement (793 kb pdf) - Posted August 12, 2008 - Memorandum on the Agreement in Principle for Interim Criteria for Injury to Fish from Pile Driving Activities
- Interim Hydroacoustic Criteria (118 kb pdf) - Posted August 12, 2008 - This table displays the interim criteria for injury to fish from pile driving activities
A Hydroacoustic Workshop addressing the change was held on August 11, 2008. The National Marine Fisheries Service's calculator for calculating the distance to the new thresholds for fish is available below.
The tables below provide information on the typical number of pile strikes for steel piles, peak sound pressure levels and sound exposure levels for various sizes and types of piles. The data in these tables can be used to estimate sound pressure and cumulative sound exposure levels (SELcum) for various pile diameters and types. The link to the CalTrans Pile Driving Compendium (pdf 7 mb) is also provided for comparison.
USFWS Calculator for Estimating the Area of Effect from Underwater Noise for Marbled Murrelets
Noise Tutorial - March, 2008
Links to Additional Acoustical Information
WSDOT has developed this brief guidance to facilitate consultations related to listed plants. For help on identification of plant species and their habitats, the Washington State Department of Natural Resources' Natural Heritage Program and the Spokane District of the U.S.D.I. Bureau of Land Management prepared a Field Guide to Selected Rare Plants of Washington.
This supplements the 2003 guidance on indirect effects and is intended to identify what types of information WSDOT/FHWA will provide when there is a disagreement on indirect effects. Please follow the original 2003 indirect effects guidance when preparing a BA, and refer to this guidance if the Services have additional questions or are disagreeing with the indirect effects analysis.
This guidance is a National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) memorandum prepared for the Northwest Region of the NMFS that clarifies how the Northwest Region will conduct section 7 consultations on ESA-listed marine mammals. The memorandum includes preliminary guidance describing criteria for making a "no effect" or a "not likely to adversely affect" determination for Southern Resident killer whale, Southern Resident killer whale critical habitat, and Steller sea lion.
Note: Since the memo was released, the in-air disturbance threshold for sea lions has been clarified by NMFS as an rms SPL of 100 dB (flat) re: 20 microPascals.
Biological Assessment Review Policy from NMFS - June, 2006
The NMFS request that WSDOT projects potentially affecting both listed salmonids and marine mammals (i.e., southern resident killer whale and steller sea lion) submit two copies of the biological assessment for review. This policy stems from new biological assessment review procedures that were initiated in the agency to address listed killer whales. One copy of the document will be reviewed by NMFS staff specializing in listed salmonids, and the second copy of the document will be reviewed by staff specializing in marine mammals.
Advanced Training Manual: Biological Assessment Preparation for Transportation Projects (Version 10-08)
Summary of Changes to the Advanced Training Manual from Version 7 to Version 10-08 (pdf 36 kb) - October, 2008
- Part 1 - General Information for BA Authors (pdf 460 kb) - October, 2008
- Ch. 1 Introduction
- Ch. 2 Understanding the Biological Assessment Process
- Ch. 3 Components of a Biological Assessment
- Part 2 - Guidance on Specific BA Topics (pdf 3.1 mb) - October, 2008
- Ch. 4 Components of a Biological Opinion
- Ch. 5 Endangered Species Act and Mitigation
- Ch. 6 Impact Avoidance and Minimization Measures
- Ch. 7 Noise Impact Assessment
- Ch. 8 Action Area
- Ch. 9 Environmental Baseline within the Action Area
- Ch. 10 Indirect Effects
- Ch. 11 Cumulative Effects
- Ch. 12 Effect Determination Language
- Ch. 13 Effect Determination Guidance
- Ch. 14 In-Water Work
- Ch. 15 Performance-Based, Batched, and Programmatic Biological Assessments
- Ch. 16 Essential Fish Habitat
- Ch. 17 Stormwater BMP Impact Assessment
- Part 3 - Additional Resources for BA Authors (pdf 648 kb) - October, 2008
- Ch. 18 Gathering Information for a Biological Assessment
- Ch. 19 Submitting a No-Effect Letter or Biological Assessment
- Ch. 20 Information on Listed Species
- Ch. 21 References
- Ch. 22 Glossary and Abbreviations
Species List/ESA Listing Information
Templates & Protocols Library
WSDOT has developed three templates that can be used for ESA documentation, depending on the level of analysis and effect determination on federally listed species or designated critical habitat. On-call consultants who prepare biological assessments for WSDOT are required to use the format provided in these templates. Use of these templates will help on-call consultants meet WSDOT's quality control standards, ensure that all the necessary topics are addressed, and maintain report consistency.
For projects with a no effect determination on listed species or critical habitat, consultants should speak with their WSDOT biology contact for assistance in determining which no effect documentation to use.
The no effect (NE) letter template (pdf 13 kb) should be used for projects that result in a no effect determination on listed species or designated critical habitat, such as projects with no new impervious surface, no species use of the action area, or no potential indirect effects. The NE letter contains a letter format and is only 2-4 pages in length. To ensure that all the required information is indcluded, the NE letter template should be used in conjunction with the NE Letter Review Checklist (doc 47 kb). The NE letter should only be sent by WSDOT, and should be provided to WSDOT in an electronic form for final formating and signature.
The NE assessment template (*see below for instructions on removing hidden text) should be used for projects that result in a no effect determination but require additional documentation and analysis to support the NE call, such as projects with new impervious surface (i.e. document lack of stormwater impacts), projects with complicated action areas, or projects that require completion of a detailed indirect effects analysis. The NE assessment contains a 5-10 page report and appendices.
The biological assessment template (*see below for instructions on removing hidden text) should be used for projects that result in a not likely to adversely affect (NLTAA) and/or adversely affect (AA) determination. The BA template should be used in conjunction with the BA Review Checklist (doc 137 kb) to guide the level of detail and content for each section of the BA.
* To remove hidden text when viewing the no effect assessment template and the biological assessment template, click the Tools tab at the top of the page, then go to Options and uncheck Hidden text. To remove hidden text for printing, click on the File tab at the top of the page, then click Print. In the Print dialogue box, click on Options at the bottom left corner of the box, then uncheck Hidden Text.
If a project involves impact pile driving where sound pressures generated may be above the disturbance thresholds for aquatic listed species (through in-water transmission or sound flanking), then underwater noise monitoring of pile driving will be required. WSDOT has standardized a protocol to collect hydroacoustic data of sound pressure levels generated from impact pile driving.
The Underwater Noise Monitoring Plan template (doc 100 kb) contains the standard monitoring protocol required for WSDOT projects. The Underwater Noise Monitoring Plan template should be filled in with project specific information and then included in the BA as an appendix. Check this webpage for the most current version of the template prior to using the plan.
WSDOT's Standard Fish Moving Protocol should be used for projects requiring fish removal or exclusion from the project work area due to in-water work and/or de-watering activities. This protocol is also available in the Advanced Training Manual: Biological Assessment Preparation for Transportation Projects, Part 2, Chapter 14, page 14.8.
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