Endangered Species Act Section 7 Biological Opinions in the Southeast

Under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act, federal agencies must consult with NOAA Fisheries on activities that may affect ESA-listed species. These federal agency consultations are designed to help federal agencies in fulfilling their duty to ensure that their actions do not jeopardize the continued existence of a species, or destroy or adversely modify designated critical habitat.

NOAA Fisheries Southeast Regional Office, Protected Resources Division, issues Biological Opinions to document our Opinions on how federal agencies’ actions affect ESA-listed species and critical habitat in the Southeast. Where appropriate, these Opinions provide an exemption for the “take” of listed species (e.g., harassment, harm, pursuit, hunting, shooting, wounding, killing, trapping, capturing, or collecting) while specifying the extent of take allowed, the reasonable and prudent measures that would minimize impacts from the federal action, and the terms and conditions with which the federal action agency must comply.

Biological Opinions Available Online

Biological Opinions of significance are linked below, by action agency. Biological Opinions issued since 2010 can be found in the NOAA library repository. The Environmental Consultation System (ECO) is available to search ESA section 7 consultations from 2017 to present. If you are looking for information on consultations completed before 2019 that is not available in ECO, you may send an email with specific details on your information request to NMFS.Historic.Consultations@noaa.gov.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 

South Atlantic Regional Biological Opinion for Dredging and Material Placement Activities in the Southeast United States (2020 SARBO) (PDF, 653 pages) 

• The 2020 SARBO was revised July 31, 2020, and all future projects covered under SARBO 2020 will be required to adhere to the PDCs as modified.  See Appendix L of the Opinion for more information

Biological Opinion on the Regional General Permit SAJ-82 (SAJ-2007-1590), Florida Keys, Monroe County, Florida (PDF, 166 pages)

Programmatic Biological Opinion on 10 Categories of Minor In-Water Activities Occurring in Florida and the U.S. Caribbean - JAXBO (PDF, 334 pages)

Revision No. 2 Regional Biological Opinion on Hopper Dredging of Navigational Channels and Borrow Areas in the Gulf of Mexico - GRBO (PDF, 19 pages) 

• Revision No. 1 Regional Biological Opinion on Hopper Dredging of Navigational Channels and Borrow Areas in the Gulf of Mexico (PDF, pages 28) 
• Regional Biological Opinion on Hopper Dredging of Navigational Channels and Borrow Areas in the Gulf of Mexico (PDF, pages 128)

NOAA Fisheries 

Framework Biological Opinion on Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Final Programmatic Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan and Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PDF, pages 414)

• Appendix A: Avoidance of Effects of Select Restoration Activities Eligible for Streamlined Project-Level Consultation through Implementation of Specified Project
  Design Criteria (PDF, 38 pages) 

Biological Opinion on the Continued Authorization and Implementation of National Marine Fisheries Service' s Integrated Fisheries Independent Monitoring Activities (PDF, 428 pages) 

Reinitiation of Endangered Species Act (ESA) Section 7 Consultation on the Implementation of the Sea Turtle Conservation Regulations under the ESA and the Authorization of the Southeast U.S. Shrimp Fisheries in Federal Waters under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Management and Conservation Act (PDF, 297 pages) 

Biological Opinion on the Continued Authorization of the Fishery Management Plan for Coastal Migratory Pelagic Resources in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Management and Conservation Act (PDF, 226 pages)

Other Federal Action Agencies 

Biological Opinion on the Re-licensing of South Carolina Public Service Authority Hydroelectric Project (PDF, 132 pages)

Return to the Southeast Region's ESA Section 7 Interagency Consultation main page here.