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EPA's Stormwater Construction General Permit for Barton Springs Watershed Receives "No Jeopardy" Biological Opinion from US Fish and Wildlife Service

Release Date: 5/7/2002
Contact Information: For more information contact the Office of External Affairs at (214) 665-2200.

     Today, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service provided the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with a "no jeopardy" biological opinion on EPA's Stormwater Construction General Permit for the Barton Springs watershed in the Austin, Texas area.

     "So long as they are fully enforced, the conditions of EPA's construction general permit protect the Barton Springs salamander," Dale Hall, acting regional director of the Service's Southwest Region, said. "Both federal and state governments have outlined heightened actions to help local government ensure future development complies with these laws, including notification of permit applicants, technical assistance, and an increase in on-site inspections of construction activities."                                                    
     Gregg Cooke, Regional Administrator of the EPA, said, "The pledge of local, state and federal environmental law enforcement agencies, as well as the commitment of local business and industry to comply with the law, is essential to protecting the water quality of this important resource. Heightened enforcement of the law will ensure compliance by future developers in the Austin area."

     "Today's announcement clears the way for continuing economic growth in Austin while providing the strongest environmental protection to the booming Austin area - goals important to the EPA, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the city of Austin and its citizens," Cooke added.

     The EPA's science-based Stormwater Construction General Permit helps business and industry developers by establishing clear and defined requirements to ensure urban growth does not adversely impact the environment -- and specifically the Barton Springs Salamander, an endangered species found only in Austin.

     "When the Service first listed the Barton Springs salamander as endangered, we noted that new developments and construction designed and implemented under state and local water quality protection regulations then in effect would not result in a violation of the 'take' restrictions of the Endangered Species Act," Hall added. "This biological opinion reaffirms that finding."

     The "take" restrictions of the Endangered Species Act cover a wide range of activities, including to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect or attempt to engage in any such conduct. Through regulations implementing the Act, the Secretary of the Interior included significant habitat modification or degradation in the definition of "harm."

     The Endangered Species Act directs all federal agencies to conserve threatened and endangered species and, in consultation with the Service, to ensure that their actions do not jeopardize listed species or destroy or adversely modify critical habitat.  This requirement applies to management of Federal lands as well as other Federal actions that may affect listed species such as Federal permits, licenses, or other actions. The Service's biological opinion states whether or not the Federal action is likely to jeopardize the continued existence of listed species or result in the destruction or adverse modification of habitat.

     The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people.

     EPA's mission is to protect human health and to safeguard the natural environment -- air, water, and land -- upon which life depends. For more than 30 years, EPA has been working for a cleaner, healthier environment for the American people.