Presentation
Endangered Species Act Section 7 and National Historic Preservation Act Section 106: Navy On-Scene Coordinator Emergency Consultations During Response to Sunken Vessel
DescriptionIn January 2023 a Navy security vessel, sank in approximately 150 feet of water, after an allision with a buoy, within the Navy property fenceline. After discussions with the United States Coast Guard (USCG) Sector Puget Sound (SPS), it was determined that emergency consultations under Endangered Species Act (ESA) Section 7 and the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) Section 106 would need to be initiated. USCG SPS recommended that Navy personnel take the lead on the emergency consultation process for both ESA Section 7 and NHPA Section 106 for the boat salvage operation, as well as actions that might need to be taken to respond to any oil that might be released during the vessel salvage. The Navy On-Scene Coordinator representative (NOSC) for Navy Region Northwest (NRNW) coordinated closely with the Naval Base Kitsap Bangor OHS Spill Response Manager to identify a team of Navy experts, including ESA biologists, cultural resource specialists and tribal liaisons to coordinate assemble the required information. The ESA Section 7 and NHPA Section 106 emergency consultation process in the Northwest (NW) are greatly expedited by a well-designed set of tools within the Northwest Area Contingency Plan which were developed by a team of experts, particularly from the Department of Interior (DOI), US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of Response and Restoration OR&R), and others. The ESA Section 7 and NHPS Section 106 emergency consultation for the moose boat salvage operation were initiated through early discussions with DOI and the NOAA Scientific Support Coordinator (SSC), who helped coordination with the Services, USFWS and NMFS. Having the guidance and support from DOI, and the NOAA SSC to coordinate the emergency consultation information to these services was invaluable and greatly expedited the consultation process. Due to all the upfront work done by the Northwest Area Committee (NWAC) to put together these ESA Section 7 and NHPA Section 106 Emergency Consultation tools in their contingency plan, the process of being able to determine exactly what information Navy should include in their consultations to the Services on the proposed actions, as well as knowing the specific points of contact within the Services to work with, was greatly expedited. Additionally, the Services representatives, after having worked closely with the NWAC have a clear understanding of the needs for rapid review and feedback on emergency consultation requests.
Event Type
Paper
TimeThursday, May 16th1:10pm - 1:30pm CDT
Location278-280
Response