Endangered Species Act Section 7 Alaska Region

NOAA Fisheries helps Federal agencies comply with the requirements of the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the purpose of which is to conserve endangered and threatened species and their ecosystems. Section 7 of the ESA outlines the procedures for Federal interagency cooperation to conserve federally listed species and designated critical habitat.

Under Section 7(a)(1) of ESA, Federal agencies are directed to implement programs for the conservation of threatened and endangered species. Under ESA Section 7(a)(2), Federal agencies must consult with NOAA Fisheries when any project or action they take may affect a NOAA Fisheries-managed ESA-listed marine or anadromous species or designated critical habitat. These interagency, or Section 7, consultations are designed to assist Federal agencies in fulfilling their duty to ensure any action they authorize, fund, or carry out is not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of a listed species or result in the destruction or adverse modification of designated critical habitat. In fulfilling these requirements, each agency must use the best scientific and commercial data available.

Federal agencies that plan to authorize, fund, or carry out an action must engage in ESA section 7 consultation prior to taking that Federal action if the action may have a positive or negative effect on listed species or critical habitat within the action area.

ESA Section 7 consultations can take one of the following forms:

1. No Effect Determination Appropriate if an action will have no positive or negative effects to ESA-listed species or critical habitat. NOAA Fisheries does not consult on, or concur with, no effect determinations.

2. Informal Consultation Appropriate for actions that “may affect, but are not likely to adversely affect,” ESA-listed species or critical habitat. It is appropriate to determine the action is “not likely to adversely affect ESA-listed species or critical habitat if all potential stressors will have insignificant effects, effects that will be extremely unlikely to occur, or the impacts of the action will be entirely beneficial. At the conclusion of informal consultation, NOAA Fisheries issues a Letter of Concurrence.

   
   For projects that are “not likely to adversely affect” listed species AND are routine, non-controversial, and pose minimal threats, the project may qualify for an expedited informal consultation if the action agency provides a very thorough and complete consultation request package. This ultimately allows NOAA Fisheries to respond with a rapid 1-2 page Letter of Concurrence response.

3. Formal Consultation Appropriate for projects that are likely to adversely affect listed species or critical habitat, and therefore require an incidental “take” authorization. At the conclusion of formal consultation, NOAA Fisheries issues a Biological Opinion that includes an Incidental Take Statement which provides coverage for the incidental take that is reasonably certain to occur.
4. Emergency Consultation Appropriate for responses to unexpected incidents or natural disasters (e.g., oil spill response, earthquake damage). Predictable events usually do not qualify as emergencies. This consultation can be either informal or formal.
5. Programmatic Consultation A programmatic consultation is a consultation addressing an agency’s multiple actions on a program, region, or other basis. This consultation can be either informal or formal.
6. Conference The conference process is similar to a consultation but concerns a proposed listing or critical habitat designation (see 50 CFR § 402.10).

Learn more about the consultation process and the different types of consultations

To develop a consultation request package that adequately covers the information NOAA Fisheries needs to evaluate a project, NOAA Fisheries has developed guidance on developing a project description and mitigation measures, determining the action area, identifying ESA listed species,  identifying and evaluating stressors, and information on reporting guidelines. 

Learn more about how to develop a consultation request package

ESA Mapper and Species Information

• Alaska ESA and critical habitat mapper - Use the ESA mapper to determine which species  are in your action area. (Instructions on how to use the ESA mapper)
• National ESA critical habitat mapper - Use the ESA critical habitat mapper to identify critical habitat in your action area. 
• Alaska Region Species Specific Information - For use in evaluating the impacts of the project.
• Stock Assessment Reports - NOAA Fisheries annually prepares marine mammal stock assessment reports for all marine mammals in U.S. waters.
• Biological Opinions - Previous biological opinions have summarized available species information for the biological opinions project area. 
• Occurrence of Listed Humpback Whales in Alaska - This document provides information on the occurrence of three Distinct Population Segments (DPSs) of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in waters off the coast of Alaska.
• Occurrence of Western and Eastern DPS Steller Sea Lions East of 144° W. Longitude - This document provides information about the occurrence of Western and Eastern DPS Steller sea lions in Southeast Alaska.

Consultation Writing Resources

We encourage action agencies to utilize these writing resources while preparing their request for consultation.

Informal & Expedited Consultations

• Informal Request Letter Template - Action agencies can utilize this request letter template and modify it for the project specific needs. 
• Examples of Informal Consultation Request Letter - These are examples of a complete informal consultation request letter that qualifies for an expedited consultation. 
  • Dredging (PDF, 6 pages)
  • Pile Driving (PDF, 14 pages)
  • Aquaculture (coming soon)
• Informal & Expedited Consultation FAQs & Check List (PDF, 4 pages) - This document answers frequently asked questions about  informal consultations and expedited informal consultations and a checklist to help action agencies provide all the necessary information to NOAA Fisheries when requesting section 7 consultation. 
• Example of an Expedited Response Letter (PDF, 23 pages) - This is an example of a response letter NOAA Fisheries would provide to the action agencies if NOAA Fisheries agrees with the action agency’s “may affect but not likely to adversely affect” determination. 

Formal Consultations

• Outline of a Biological Assessment - Example outline of a Biological Assessment.
• Incidental Take Authorizations Under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) Application Process -  The ESA Section 7 consultation process does not evaluate the potential take of marine mammals under the MMPA. The MMPA requires that an incidental take authorization be obtained for the unintentional “take” of marine mammals incidental to activities including construction projects, scientific research projects, oil and gas development, and military exercises. Applicants may request an Incidental Take Authorization under the MMPA. It is important to note that the terms of the Incidental Take Statement become effective only upon the issuance of MMPA authorization to take the marine mammals identified in the Biological Opinion.
  • Technical Guidance - Technical guidance for assessing the effects of anthropogenic sound on marine mammal hearing.

Monitoring, Mitigation, & Reporting

• AKR Standard Mitigation Measures (embedded in request template) - NOAA Fisheries Alaska Region (AKR) has developed standard mitigation measures that are widely implemented by action agencies as part of the project in an effort to reduce potential effects of the project. Their adoption also serves to further expedite the consultation process.  Many of the standard measures will not apply to any given project, and additional measures may be warranted depending upon location, timing, and other project details. Protected Species Observer (PSO) qualifications are provided in this document. 
• Examples of Marine Mammal Monitoring Observation Forms
  • Informal Consultation Marine Mammal Monitoring Observation Forms (Printable PDF)  - This document allows you to print datasheets that are ready to be used for an informal consultation where take of an ESA-listed species is not expected to occur.
  • Informal Marine Mammal Monitoring Observation Forms (Excel Format) - This document allows you access to the informal datasheet to make any project specific updates and manually enter data into spreadsheets for submission. 
  • Formal Consultation Marine Mammal Monitoring Observation Forms (Printable PDF)  - This document allows you to print datasheets that are ready to be used for a formal consultation where take of an ESA-listed species is expected to occur.
  • Formal Consultation Marine Mammal Monitoring Observation Forms (Excel Format) - This document allows you access to the informal datasheet to make any project specific updates and manually enter data into spreadsheets for submission. 
• Examples of Monitoring Reports 
  • Monthly Monitoring Report - Example of the level of content for a monthly monitoring  report.
  • Informal Final Monitoring Report - Example of an informal consultation final monitoring report. 
  • Formal Final Monitoring Report - Example of a formal consultation final monitoring report. 

Completed Consultation Resources

• Environmental Consultation Organizer (ECO) system - View both informal and formal completed consultations in ECO.
• Alaska Biological Opinions - Link to a full list of our completed biological opinions.

Other Resources

• ESA Section 7 Regulation - Link to the ESA in its entirety. 
• MMPA Regulation - Link to the MMPA in its entirety.
• Endangered, Threatened, and Candidate Species in Alaska - Species under NOAA Fisheries Authority deemed endangered, threatened, and/or candidate species and residing in the Alaska region.
• Alaska Region Protected Resources Division (PRD) Contacts - List of staff members and contact information for NOAA Fisheries PRD Alaska Region.
• Multi-Species Pile Driving Calculator (Excel spreadsheet download)
  • Introduction to: NMFS’s Multi-Species Pile Driving Calculator (PowerPoint download).
• National ESA Section 7 website - NOAA Fisheries National ESA Section 7 website.